Information processing apparatus, information processing system, and privacy protection program

An information processing system comprising:

• a terminal including a location detection device;
• and
• an information processing apparatus acquiring information on a location detected by the location detection device of the terminal;
• the information processing apparatus including:
• a memory;
• and
• a processor coupled to the memory and configured to execute a process including:
• identifying a presence possible range of the location detection device at a first time, and a presence possible range of the location detection device at a second time earlier than the first time from a combination of information on a first region including a location that the location detection device detects at the first time, and information on a second region including a location that the location detection device detected at the second time, and having been already transmitted as information on a region where the location detection device has been present at the second time to an external apparatus;
• determining whether each of the identified presence possible ranges satisfies a preset condition for a presence possible range where it is allowable that a location of the location detection device is known by a third party;
• when the condition is not satisfied, transmitting the information on a third region including the first region and a region other than the first region, as information on a region where the location detection device is present at the first time, to the external apparatus;
• and
• receiving information relevant to the third region from the external apparatus.

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having stored a privacy protection program for causing a computer to perform a process comprising:

• identifying a presence possible range of a location detection device at a first time, and a presence possible range of the location detection device at a second time earlier than the first time from a combination of information on a first region including a location that the location detection device detects at the first time, and information on a second region including a location that the location detection device detected at the second time, and having been already transmitted as information on a region where the location detection device has been present at the second time to an external apparatus;
• determining whether each of the identified presence possible ranges satisfies a preset condition for a presence possible range where it is allowable that a location of the location detection device is known by a third party;
• when the condition is not satisfied, transmitting the information on a third region including the first region and a region other than the first region, as information on a region where the location detection device is present at the first time, to the external apparatus;
• and
• receiving information relevant to the third region from the external apparatus.

A method of processing information comprising:

• determining whether a location information request has been received;
• receiving current location information and the request;
• generating presence region information based on the current location information;
• executing privacy invasion determination processing;
• determining whether privacy has been invaded;
• generating dummy region information if a determination is made that the privacy has been invaded;
• integrating the presence region information with the dummy region information;
• and
• transmitting the request to a service providing apparatus.