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US 7,444,655 B2Granted
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.
Claims41
A data collection system, comprising:
- client devices each configured to receive content from a content provider:
- a first client device configured to perform a method comprising:
- receiving 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, wherein the aggregated media access information in the anonymous data collection component is configured to maintain anonymity in terms of the one or more client devices from which each of the media access information is received;
- storing media access information of the first client device in the anonymous data collection component, wherein the media access information of tile first client device in the anonymous data collection component is configured to maintain anonymity in terms of the first client device:
- determining whether each client device identified in a set of unique identifiers has received the anonymous data collection component:
- selecting randomly a third client device from the set of unique identifiers if the third client device has not received the anonymous data collection component;
- and
- communicating the anonymous data collection component to the third client device.
5 more elements
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, wherein the aggregated media access information in the anonymous data collection component is configured to maintain anonymity in terms of the one or more of the client devices from which each of the media access information is received;
- 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.
3 more elements
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 perform a method comprising:
- receiving an anonymous data collection component from a client device;
- storing 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, wherein the aggregated media access information in the anonymous data collection component is configured to maintain anonymity in terms of the one or more client devices from which each of the media access information is received:
- determining from a set of unique identifiers each corresponding to a client device whether each client device identified in the set of unique identifiers has received the anonymous data collection component:
- selecting randomly a recipient client device from the set of unique identifiers if each client device identified in the set of unique identifiers has not received the anonymous data collection component;
- and
- communicating the anonymous data collection component to the recipient client device.
5 more elements
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, wherein the aggregated media access information in the anonymous data collection component is configured to maintain anonymity in terms of the one or more client devices from which each of the media access information is received;
- randomly selecting a client device to receive the anonymous data collection component;
- and
- communicating the anonymous data collection component to the client device.
1 more element
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, wherein the aggregated media access information in the first anonymous data collection component is configured to maintain anonymity in terms of the one or more digital video recorders from which each of the media access information is received;
- store media access information in the anonymous data collection component, wherein the media access information in the anonymous data collection component is configured to maintain anonymity in terms of the digital video recording system;
- 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.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.