Methods and systems for determining protected location information based on temporal correlations

A system for determining protected location information of a user, comprising:

• at least one processor;
• and
• a memory, wherein the processor is configured to cause:
• obtaining a first location of at least one user of a mobile user device;
• determining one or more probable locations of the at least one user for a time period from historical location information associated with the at least one user collected by the mobile user device and/or one or more applications stored on the mobile user device;
• determining a reference location based on the first location and/or the one or more probable locations associated with the at least one user;
• determining a set of one or more locations based on the one or more probable locations and/or the reference location and a privacy parameter associated with the at least one user, the set of one or more location points defining a bounded region, wherein the determining the set of one or more locations includes:
• determining a plurality of vectors from the one or more probable locations, wherein the plurality of vectors includes a vector from each probable location extending to remaining probable locations;
• and
• generating a bounded region that includes the plurality of vectors, the bounded region corresponding to a convex polygon;
• determining a second location from the bounded region;
• determining protected location information based on the reference location and the second location;
• and
• communicating the protected location information to a service provider and/or another device communicating with the at least one user device.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions, that when executed by a system comprising a processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:

• obtaining a first location of at least one user of a mobile user device;
• determining one or more probable locations of the at least one user for a time period from historical location information associated with the at least one user collected by the mobile user device and/or one or more applications stored on the mobile user device;
• determining a reference location based on the first location and/or the one or more probable locations associated with the at least one user;
• determining a set of one or more locations based on the one or more probable locations and/or the reference location and one or more privacy parameters associated with the at least one user, the set of one or more location points defining a bounded region, wherein the determining the set of one or more locations includes:
• determining a plurality of vectors from the one or more probable locations, wherein the plurality of vectors includes a vector from each probable location extending to remaining probable locations;
• and
• generating a bounded region that includes the plurality of vectors, the bounded region corresponding to a convex polygon;
• determining a second location from the bounded region;
• determining protected location information based on the reference location and the second location;
• and
• communicating the protected location information to a service provider and/or another device communicating with the at least one user device.