Method and apparatus for protecting identities of mobile devices on a wireless network

A method of operating a processing system on a network, the method comprising:

• encrypting an identifier of a mobile device on a wireless network;
• including the encrypted identifier in a proxy request to a remote processing system on a network, based on a request from the mobile device;
• and
• using the encrypted identifier to control handling of requests by a plurality of remote processing systems on the network to provide information to the mobile device.

A method of operating a proxy on a network, the method comprising:

• storing an association of service providers and cryptographic keys;
• receiving a request from a mobile device, the request directed to a remote server on the network;
• using the stored association to identify a cryptographic key associated with the remote server;
• using the identified cryptographic key to encode an identifier of the mobile device;
• incorporating the encoded identifier into a proxy request;
• and
• sending the proxy request to the remote server on behalf of the mobile device.

A method of operating a proxy on a network, the method comprising:

• storing an association of service providers and cryptographic keys, including a plurality of cryptographic keys and one or more network addresses associated with each of the cryptographic keys;
• receiving a request from a mobile client device, the request directed to a network address representing a remote server on the network;
• using the stored association to identify a cryptographic key associated with the remote server;
• generating a proxy request based on the request received from the mobile client device, by using the identified cryptographic key to encode an identifier of the mobile client device and incorporating the encoded identifier into the proxy request;
• and
• sending the proxy request to the remote server on behalf of the mobile client device.

A processing system coupled to a wireless network and to a wired network, the processing system comprising:

• a processor;
• and
• a storage facility coupled to the processor and storing instructions which configure the processing system to:
• encrypt an identifier of a mobile device on the wireless network;
• include the encrypted identifier in a proxy request to a remote processing system on the wired network, based on a request from the mobile device;
• and
• use the encrypted identifier to control handling of requests by a plurality of remote processing systems on the wired network to provide information to the mobile device.