Anonymous aggregated data collection
AssigneeMicrosoft Corporation
InventorEsteban Sardera
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An anonymous aggregated data collection system aggregates media access information in an anonymous data collection component without associating the media access information with any one particular client device. The anonymous data collection component further prevents a network operator, content provider, or third party from correlating the media access information obtained from a client device with any one particular subscriber by comparing a unique identifier of the client device with corresponding subscription account and subscriber personal identification information.
Claims78
A data collection system, comprising:
- client devices each configured to receive content from a content provider;
- a first client device configured to:
- receive an anonymous data collection component from a second client device, the anonymous data collection component having aggregated media access information for one or more additional client devices;
- and
- store media access information of the first client device in the anonymous data collection component.
A data collection system, comprising:
- client devices each configured to receive content from a content provider;
- a first client device configured to:
- create an anonymous data collection component to maintain aggregated media access information for one or more of the client devices;
- randomly select a second client device to receive the anonymous data collection component;
- and
- communicate the anonymous data collection component to the second client device.
A data collection system, comprising:
- client devices each configured to receive content from a content provider and execute a data collection application;
- each data collection application configured to:
- receive an anonymous data collection component from a client device;
- and
- store media access information of a corresponding client device in the anonymous data collection component, the anonymous data collection component configured to maintain aggregated media access information for one or more of the client devices.
A method for anonymously collecting data, comprising:
- receiving an anonymous data collection component;
- storing media access information in the anonymous data collection component, the media access information being aggregated with additional media access information from one or more client devices;
- determining whether to communicate the anonymous data collection component to a client device.
A method for anonymously collecting data, comprising:
- creating an anonymous data collection component to maintain aggregated media access information for one or more client devices;
- randomly selecting a client device to receive the anonymous data collection component;
- and
- communicating the anonymous data collection component to the client device.
One or more computer-readable media comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed, direct a digital video recording system to:
- create a first anonymous data collection component to maintain aggregated media access information for one or more digital video recorders;
- store media access information in the anonymous data collection component;
- randomly select a digital video recorder to receive the anonymous data collection component;
- obtain a public key and an address identifier corresponding to the digital video recorder;
- encrypt the anonymous data collection component with the public key corresponding to the digital video recorder to generate an encrypted data structure;
- and
- communicate the encrypted data structure to the digital video recorder.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.