| Information processing device and information processing method, service providing system, and computer executable program for the same -> Monitor Keywords |
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 Information processing device and information processing method, service providing system, and computer executable program for the sameRelated Patent Categories: Information Security, Access Control Or Authentication, AuthorizationThe Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20080040799. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
[0001] The present application is a divisional of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/924,621 filed on Aug. 7, 2001. The present application claims priority to Japanese Patent Application No. P2000-238440 filed on Aug. 7, 2000, and Japanese Patent Application No. P2000-238441 filed on Aug. 7, 2000. The above-referenced applications are incorporated herein by reference to the extent permitted by law. BACKGROUND [0002] The present invention relates to an information processing device and information processing method, a service providing system, and a computer-executable program, and particularly relates to an information processing device and information processing method, a service providing system, and a computer-executable program, enabling individuals to exchange information with corporations and order merchandise via a community which is a group of individuals sharing common interests and objects, without disclosing personal information to the corporations, thereby enabling corporations to transmit advertisements to individuals or take questionnaires for example, via the community, so that the corporations can target market segments without checking personal information. [0003] Recent advancements in the Internet have come to allow users to order merchandise from corporations through e-mail or Web contents, send questions and requests to corporations and receive replies, and so forth. Also, corporations have come to carry out questionnaires, run advertisements introducing merchandise or services, and so forth, through e-mail or Web contents. [0004] However, in the event that an individual orders merchandise from a corporation using e-mail or Web contents as the medium for the transaction, the individual must notify the corporation not only of his/her e-mail address, but must also provide personal information such as address, name, telephone number, and if necessary, credit card number, over the Internet. Consumers have shown some resistance to disclosing such personal information over the Internet. Also, in cases where the user sends messages such as questions or requests by e-mail, in which he or she requests a reply, the user is thereby disclosing his/her e-mail address to the corporation. [0005] Further, in the event of corporations carrying out questionnaires with individuals or introducing products or services, the corporations would like to target a specific market segment in order to carry out questionnaires in a meaningful manner or place advertisements effectively, while keeping costs down. However, this requires personal information such as the age, sex, interest, etc., of the object, but the consumer often feels uneasy about giving corporations such personal information. [0006] Also, conventionally, merchandise and services have been planned and marketed by the corporations, so even in the event that individuals make proposals for merchandise and services to the corporations, this was seldom realized, since the corporations could not foresee a great amount being sold. In the same way, in the event that several individuals wanted to join to buy already-existing merchandise in bulk, there has been the problem that it is troublesome to get enough members together. [0007] For example, in the event that a corporations sends an e-mail to an individual introducing a product or a service as part of an advertising campaign, the user may welcome the advertisement if it deals with a field in which the user is interested and the product is beneficial to the user. On the other hand, the user might feel that such as advertisement is itself an invasion of privacy. This would lead to a counterproductive result in which the corporate image is diminished in the eyes of the user. However, until now there have been no reliable and unintrusive ways in which corporations could learn the types of information individual recipient users desired. SUMMARY [0008] The present invention has been made in light of the above, and accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to enable individuals to exchange information with corporations via a community which is a group of individuals sharing common interests and objects, without requiring the individual to disclose personal information to the corporations, and to enable corporations to transmit advertisements to individuals or issue questionnaires for example, via the community, so that the corporations can target market segments without checking the personal information of the individual members of the community. [0009] It is another object of the present invention to allow communities which are groups of individuals having common interests and objects to make proposals to corporations or for corporations to make proposals to the community, thereby enabling the members of the community to receive services which were not readily available to individuals as such. Thus, the corporations can learn the needs of the consumers without mistake, and place advertisements in an effective manner. Further, by providing a third-party organization for monitoring the activity of the community the corporations may obtain reliable information about the community without learning the personal information of the members of the community, so contracts between the community and the corporation can be realized smoothly. [0010] To this end, according to a first aspect of the present invention, an information processing device is provided which exchanges information with other information processing devices via a network. The information processing device includes a first input/output controller for controlling input and output of information to and from a first other information processing device operated by a user and a second input/output controller for controlling input and output of information to and from a second other information processing device. The first input/output controller controls the input of a first set of information corresponding to the personal information of the user, and a substitution takes place wherein personal information of the user contained in the first set of information is substituted with second information corresponding to the personal information of the user on a one-to-one basis. A recording controller controls recording of the personal information of the user and the second information such that the personal information of the user and the second information are recorded in a corresponding manner. The user is registered as a member of a predetermined group, and the second information is determined corresponding to the group. The second input/output controller controls the output of the first information to the second other information processing device, wherein the personal information of the user is substituted with the second information. [0011] The personal information of the user may be, for example, an e-mail address of the user. [0012] The information processing device may further include a generator for generating the second set of information using a hash function, or may further comprise searching function for searching the operational information of the user, the recording of which is controlled by the first recording means based on the second set of information contained in a third set of information which is a reply to the first set of information, the input of which is controlled by the second input/output controller. The first input/output controller controls the output of the third set of information to the first other information processing device, based on the personal information of the users searched by the searching function. [0013] The information processing device may further include a second recording controller for controlling the recording of personal attribute information of the user, and a third recording controller for controlling recording of information identifying the group and attribute information of the group. The attribute information of the group contains a predetermined number of sets of personal attribute information common to a plurality of the users registered to the group, in descending order of degree held in common, wherein the personal attribute information is that which the recording of which is controlled by the second recording controller. [0014] The information processing device may further provide a verifier for verifying permission for access to the attribute information of the group regarding which recording is controlled by the third recording control means. The verifier verifies permission for accessing to the attribute information of the group based on a contract between the group and the holder of the second other information processing device. This information processing device may further include a search function for searching for the attribute information of the group regarding which recording is controlled by the third recording control means, based on information for identifying the group regarding which input is controlled by the second input/output controller, in the event that the verifier verifies the permission to access of the second other information processing device, wherein the second input/output controller controls the output of the attribute information of the group searched by the searching means, to the second other information processing device. The information processing device may further comprise a searching function for searching for information for identifying the group regarding which recording is controlled by the third recording controller, based on information corresponding to the attribute information of the group contained in a fourth set of information regarding which input is controlled by the second input/output controller, in the event that the verifier verifies the permission to access of the second other information processing device. [0015] The second input/output controller may control the output of information for identifying the group searched by the search function to the second other information processing device, and the first input/output controller may control output of the fourth set of information to the first other information processing device which the user registered to the group has, based on information for identifying the group searched by the search function. [0016] The information processing device may further provide a third input/output controller for controlling the input and output of information to and from a third other information processing device. A permission verifier is provided for verifying permission to access personal attribute information of the user regarding which recording is controlled by the second recording controller. A first searching function is provided for searching the personal attribute information of the user regarding which recording is controlled by the second recording controller, based on a fifth set of information regarding which input is controlled by the third input/output controller, in the event that the permission verifier verifies permission to access a third other information processing device. The third input/output controller controls the output of the personal attribute information of the user searched by the first searching function to the third other information processing device. The permission verifier may verify permission for access to the personal attribute information of the user registered to the group, based on a contract between the holder of the third other information processing device and the group. [0017] This information processing device may further provide a second searching function for searching for the holder of the third other information processing device which has entered into contract with the group, based on the second information regarding which input is controlled by the second input/output controller. [0018] According to a second aspect of the present invention, an information processing method for an information processing device which exchanges information with other information processing devices via a network includes the steps defined below. A first input/output control step is provided for controlling the input and output of information to and from a first other information processing device held by a user. A second input/output control step controls the input and output of information to and from a second other information processing device. A substituting step is provided for substituting personal information of the user contained in a first set of information, the input of which is controlled by the processing of the first input/output control step with a second set of information corresponding to the personal information of the user on a one-to-one basis. A first recording control step is provided for controlling the recording of the personal information of the user and the second set of information such that the personal information of the user and the second set of information are recorded in a corresponding manner. The method of the invention may be practiced when the user is registered as a member of a predetermined group, the second set of information is determined corresponding to the group, and the output of the first set of information to the second other information processing device is controlled in the second input/output control step, wherein the personal information of the user is substituted with the second information by the processing of the substituting step. [0019] According to a third aspect of the present invention, a program is provided for an information processing device which exchanges information with other information processing devices via a network. The program provides software code for performing the following steps. A first input/output control step for controlling the input and output of information to and from a first other information processing device of a user. A second input/output control step for controlling the input and output of information to and from a second other information processing device. A substituting step for substituting personal information of the user contained in a first set of information, the input of which is controlled by the processing of the first input/output control step with a second set of information corresponding to the personal information of the user on a one-to-one basis. A first recording control step for controlling recording of the personal information of the user and the second set of information such that the personal information of the user and the second set of information are recorded in a corresponding manner, wherein the user is registered as a member of a predetermined group, the second set of information is determined corresponding to the group, and output of the first set of information to the second other information processing device is controlled in the second input/output control step, wherein the personal information of the user is substituted with the second set of information by the substituting step. [0020] According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, a service providing system includes: a first information processing device which exchanges information with other information processing devices via a network. The system also includes a second information processing device of a user, and a third information processing device of a corporation. The first information processing device includes a first input/output controller for controlling the input and output of information to and from the second information processing device, and a second input/output controller for controlling the input and output of information to and from the third information processing device. The first information processing device performs a substitution wherein personal information of the user contained in a first set of information of which input is controlled by the first input/output control means is substituted with a second set of information corresponding to the personal information of the user on a one-to-one basis. The first information processing device also includes a first recording controller for controlling the recording of the personal information of the user and the second set of information such that the personal information of the user and the second set of information are recorded in a corresponding manner, wherein the user is registered as a member of a predetermined group, the second set of information is determined corresponding to the group, the second input/output controller controls the output to the third information processing device of the first set of information wherein the personal information of the user is substituted with the second information by the substitution. The second information processing device includes a third input/output controller for controlling the input and output of information from and to the first information processing device wherein the third input/output controller controls the output of the first set of information to the first information processing device. The third information processing device includes a fourth input/output controller for controlling the input and output of information from and to the first information processing device wherein the fourth input/output controller controls the input of the first information from the first set of information processing device. [0021] The first information processing device may further include a generator for generating the second set of information using a hash function, wherein the third information processing device distinguishes the user having the second set of information processing device which has output the first set of information to the first information processing device, based on the second set of information contained in the first set of information regarding which input is controlled by the fourth input/output controller. [0022] With the third information processing device, the fourth input/output controller may control the output of a third set of information which is a reply to the first set of information containing the second set of information. Continue reading... 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