# US 10,769,304 B2 · Apparatus and method for transmitting personal information in individually unidentifiable way > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 10,769,304 B2 - Document ID: US10769304B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 15/544,057 - Filed: 2016-01-18 - Published: 2018-03-29 - Granted: 2020-09-08 - Earliest claimed: 2015-01-19 - Assignees: University-Industry Cooperation Group of Kyung Hee University - Applicants: University-Industry Cooperation Group of Kyung Hee University - Inventors: Chang Ho Jihn - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10769304B2 ## CPC - G06F 21/6254: {by anonymising data, e.g. decorrelating personal data from the owner's identification} - G06Q 30/02: Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising - H04L 9/0866: {involving user or device identifiers, e.g. serial number, physical or biometrical information, DNA, hand-signature or measurable physical characteristics} - H04L 63/0414: {during transmission, i.e. party's identity is protected against eavesdropping, e.g. by using temporary identifiers, but is known to the other party or parties involved in the communication} - H04L 2209/42: Anonymization, e.g. involving pseudonyms - G06F: ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING (computer systems based on specific computational models G06N) - G06Q: INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR - H04L: TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION (arrangements common to telegraphic and telephonic communication H04M) ## Abstract An apparatus for transmitting personal information in individually unidentifiable way, includes a communication unit connected with external terminals through a network and performing communication; a controller generating an unidentifiable identifier (ID) of the apparatus and setting a transmission cycle period, at least one acquisition interval and at least one disclosure interval; a list generator acquiring at least one ID list disclosed by an external terminal through the communication unit, and generating an ID list for storage, an ID list acquired in acquisition interval, an ID list for disclosure, and an ID list for transmission; and a memory storing the ID list for storage, the ID list acquired in acquisition interval, the ID list for disclosure, and the ID list for transmission, generated by the list generator. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A method for disclosing personal information in individually unidentifiable way by an apparatus, comprising: (a) generating an unidentifiable identifier (ID) of the apparatus with the personal information; (b) setting a transmission cycle, wherein the transmission cycle is a cycle for transmitting an ID list for transmission to a server, wherein the transmission cycle includes: at least one acquisition interval, which is a time interval during which at least one ID list disclosed by a first external terminal is acquired through a communication unit; and at least one disclosure interval, which is a time interval during which an ID list for disclosure is disclosed to a second external terminal through the communication unit, wherein a start time and a termination time of the acquisition interval and the disclosure interval respectively are set arbitrarily within the transmission cycle, or the start time of the acquisition interval is set to be ahead of the start time of the disclosure interval by a predetermined time, and wherein the transmission cycle of the apparatus is the same as that of the first external terminal; (c) acquiring at least one ID list disclosed by the first external terminal in the acquisition interval; (d) generating an ID list acquired in an acquisition interval by using an ID list disclosed by an unidentifiable communication unit of the first external terminal in the acquisition interval; (e) updating an ID list for storage by using the ID list acquired in the acquisition interval; (f) generating the ID list for disclosure by rearranging the order of IDs or extracting IDs included in the ID list for storage; and (g) disclosing the ID list for disclosure to the second external terminal during the disclosure interval. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising, after (a) step, determining a disclosure interval of the ID list for disclosure. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein (e) step comprises determining whether a redundant ID is included in the ID list acquired from the external terminal and removing the redundant ID. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising, after (g) step, generating an ID list for transmission to be transmitted to a server at a termination time of transmission cycle. ### Claim 5 (depends on 4) The method of claim 4, further comprising, after the generating the ID list for transmission, transmitting the ID list for transmission to the server at the termination time of the transmission cycle. ### Claim 6 (depends on 5) The method of claim 5, wherein the transmission of the ID list for transmission to the server comprises disclosing the ID list for transmission to another terminal when the ID list for transmission includes the ID list acquired in acquisition interval with generation location information, wherein the ID list for transmission is transmitted to the server by the another terminal. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising: after the step (d), estimating generation time of the ID list acquired in the acquisition interval and generation location of the ID list acquired in the acquisition interval; and providing a user interface. ### Claim 8 (depends on 7) The method of claim 7, further comprising, after the step (d), determining whether a first information of a user, input through the user interface, and a second information transmitted from a server, match. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the unidentifiable communication unit comprises a module for Wi-Fi Direct, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or Beacon communication. ### Claim 10 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising, after the step (a), determining the acquisition interval for acquiring the ID list disclosed by the first external terminal, and determining the disclosure interval for disclosing the ID list for disclosure. ### Claim 11 (depends on 10) The method of claim 10, wherein the step (a) is executed by random combination of text, numbers, or symbols. ### Claim 12 (depends on 10) The method of claim 10, wherein, when generation location information is included in the ID list for transmission, the transmission determination module controls the ID list for transmission including the ID list acquired in acquisition interval and the generation location information to be disclosed to other terminal.