Unless otherwise indicated herein, the materials described in this section are not prior art to the claims in this application and are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.
Preserving the privacy of information continues to be a major challenge to users of electronic devices. Various individuals in the electronics marketplace such as product engineers, architects, designers, and manufactures continue to face obstacles for delivering of robust solutions to protect private information. Yet, strong consumer demands for improving connectivity, enabling higher data rates, and adding more flexibility to existing designs continue to grow. As such, the priority for protecting private information tends lag behind such stronger consumer demands.
Meanwhile, users of electronic devices increasingly continue to exchange information abundantly through Internet services, possibly by installing multiple applications and freely communicating with other devices. Thus, such Internet services, applications, and other devices are increasingly opening the gateways for accessing private information, possibly belonging to numerous users. In particular, private information such PIN numbers, passwords, financial records, and/or important information may be made available to other entities.
Configuring privacy settings for one or more computing devices may be challenging. In some instances, a user of multiple computing devices such as smartphones, tablets, and/or personal computers may wish to configure the privacy settings for all such devices, without configuring each device individually. As such, example embodiments herein disclose methods, computing devices, and computer-readable mediums, amongst other embodiments, for intelligently transferring privacy settings from one device to another device.
In a first example embodiment, a method may be provided. The method may include determining location information indicative of a location of a computing device. Further, the method may include determining one or more applications installed on the computing device and on one or more other computing devices that are configured to access the location information. Yet further, the method may include transferring a privacy setting of the computing device to the one or more other computing devices. In addition, the method may include determining accesses of the one or more applications to the location information indicative of the location of the computing device.
In a second example embodiment, a computing device may be provided. The computing device may include one or more processors and a computer-readable medium. The computer-readable medium, possibly a non-transitory computer-readable medium, may have stored thereon program instructions that when executed by the one or more processors cause the computing device to perform functions. The functions may include determining location information indicative of a location of a computing device. Further, the functions may include determining one or more applications installed on the computing device and on one or more other computing devices that are configured to access the location information. Yet further, the functions may include transferring a privacy setting of the computing device to the one or more other computing devices. In addition, the functions may include determining accesses of the one or more applications to the location information indicative of the location of the computing device.
In a third example embodiment, a computer-readable medium may be provided. The computer-readable medium, possibly a non-transitory computer-readable medium, may have stored thereon program instructions that when executed by a processor cause performance of functions in connection with a server device. The functions may include determining location information indicative of a location of a computing device. Further, the functions may include determining one or more applications installed on the computing device and on one or more other computing devices that are configured to access the location information. Yet further, the functions may include transferring a privacy setting of the computing device to the one or more other computing devices. In addition, the functions may include denying the one or more applications installed on the computing device and on the one or more other computing devices from accessing the location information indicative of the location of the computing device.
In a fourth example embodiment, a system may be provided. The system may include means for determining location information indicative of a location of a computing device. Further, the system may include means for determining one or more applications installed on the computing device and on one or more other computing devices that are configured to access the location information. Yet further, the system may include means for transferring a privacy setting of the computing device to the one or more other computing devices. In addition, the system may include means for denying the one or more applications installed on the computing device and on the one or more other computing devices from accessing the location information indicative of the location of the computing device.
These as well as other embodiments, aspects, advantages, and alternatives will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art by reading the following detailed description, with reference where appropriate to the accompanying drawings. Further, it should be understood that this summary and other descriptions and figures provided herein are intended to illustrate embodiments by way of example only and, as such, that numerous variations are possible. For instance, structural elements and process steps can be rearranged, combined, distributed, eliminated, or otherwise changed, while remaining within the scope of the embodiments as claimed.
Example methods, computing devices, and computer-readable mediums are described herein. It should be understood that the words “example” and “exemplary” are used herein to mean “serving as an example, instance, or illustration.” Any embodiment or feature described herein as being an “example” or “exemplary” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments or features. Other embodiments can be utilized, and other changes can be made, without departing from the scope of the subject matter presented herein.
Thus, the example embodiments described herein are not meant to be limiting. It will be readily understood that the aspects of the present disclosure, as generally described herein, and illustrated in the figures, can be arranged, substituted, combined, separated, and designed in a wide variety of different configurations, all of which are explicitly contemplated herein.
It may be common for an application of a computing device to keep records of a user's activities. Often times, analyzing the user's activities may benefit the user in various ways. For example, a user may install an application to their smartphone and the application may provide information indicative of restaurants in the vicinity of the user's smartphone. As such, the application may analyze and/or record the proximate location of the user's smartphone. In some instances, these applications (also referred to herein as “location-analyzing applications”) may be configured to analyze and/or record the proximate location of the smartphone without any input from the user. Further, in some instances, these applications may begin analyzing the proximate location of the smartphone from the time the user turns on the smartphone.
As users increasingly carry more devices, managing location-analyzing applications may become ever more complex. For example, it may be common for a single user to have multiple computing devices such as smartphones, tablet computers, and/or laptops. Yet further, it has become increasingly more common for users to have a wearable computer, further adding to the number of devices that a single user may carry. As such, consider a scenario where a user may turn off location-analyzing applications on their smartphone. Yet, consider that the user is also wearing a smart watch. As such, the smart watch may allow location-analyzing applications to obtain information indicative of the proximate location of the smart watch. Thus, since the smart watch and the smartphone may be in the same proximate location, the user's location may be revealed to other entities, possibly without the user being aware that their location may be available to other entities. To experience a desired level of privacy, the user may have to individually configure each device in the user's possession including the smartphone, the smart watch, and/or any other devices possibly in the user's proximate location.
As such, example embodiments herein disclose methods, computing devices, and computer-readable mediums, amongst other embodiments, for intelligently transferring privacy settings from one device to multiple other devices. As such, as users increasingly carry more devices such as wearable devices, a user of may synchronize privacy settings across multiple devices to achieve the desired level of privacy. Further, the users may efficiently manage applications such as location-analyzing applications to ensure that their privacy is maintained.
In some embodiments, a computing device may be in a given location. As shown in
In some instances, location 106 may be represented as a circle indicative of a given communication radius of computing device 102. In particular, location 106 may represent a communication radius of computing device 102's capability to communicate with other devices, possibly through one or more protocols or signals. For example, location 106 may represent a communication radius for computing device 102 to communicate with other devices through one or more signals such as an Ethernet signal, a Wi-Fi signal, a BLUETOOTH signal, and/or a wireless USB signal, among other possibilities. Yet, in some instance, location 106 may represent a communication radius for computing device 102 to communicate with devices farther away through one or more signals such as a GPS signal, a base station signal, and/or a radio signal.
For example, as shown in
In some embodiments, location information may indicate the location of a computing device. For example, as shown in
For example, as shown in
In some embodiments, applications may be installed on a computing device. Further, in some instances, applications may be installed on the computing device and one or more other computing devices. For purposes of illustration, an application may be a location-analyzing application, a location-recording application, an operating system application, an update to an operating system, and/or an operating system itself. Yet further, these applications may be configured to access location information indicative of a location of the computing device. In particular, these applications may be configured to analyze or record the location of the computing device, possibly as the computing device moves from one location to another location. Further, in some instances, these applications may be configured to analyze or record the location of the computing device through analyzing the locations of other nearby computing devices.
In some embodiments, one or more applications may be installed on a computing device to access or provide access to location information of the computing device. For example, as shown in
Within examples, applications 102A and 104A may benefit a user of computing devices 102 and 104, respectively. For example, applications 102A and 104A may analyze or record locations of computing devices 102 and 104 in case these computing devices are lost, possibly sending an email to the user including information regarding the proximate locations of computing devices 102 and 104 for finding the devices. Further, applications 102A and 104A may be associated with an online or web-based account, possibly registering computing devices 102 and 104 for record-keeping purposes. As such, the online account may manage or record the locations of computing devices 102 and 104, possibly allowing a user to view the locations of computing devices 102 and 104 on a graphical user interface (GUI). Further, applications 102A and 104 may be GPS analyzing applications to record locations of computing devices 102 and 104. For example, applications 102A and 104 may be installed on computing devices 102 and 104 to determine a child's whereabouts, possibly to notify a parent when the child has carried one or more of computing devices 102 and 104 to a possibly a dangerous or unknown area. As such, the parent may notify the child through an alert on computing devices 102 and 104, and the child may be pulled away or deterred from the area.
In some embodiments, an application may share information with other applications. For example, applications 102A may initiate a data transfer through connection 108 to access location information in computing device 104 indicative of location 106 of computing device 104. Yet further, applications 104A may initiate a data transfer through connection 108 to access location information in computing device 102 indicative of location 106 of computing device 102. In addition, as noted, computing devices 102 and 104 may have multiple connections for exchanging information with multiple other computing devices (not illustrated in
In some embodiments, a privacy setting of a computing device may be determined. In some instances, the privacy setting may control accesses to various types of information such as important information including financial data. In some instances, the privacy setting may determine accesses of one or more applications installed on the computing device to the location information indicative of the location of the computing device. For example, the privacy setting may deny one or more applications installed on the computing device from accessing location information indicative of the location of the computing device. In particular, a privacy setting of computing device 102 may deny applications 102A from accessing location information indicative of location 106 of computing devices 102 and 104. Further, the privacy setting of computing device 102 may deny applications 104A from accessing location information indicative of location 106 of computing devices 102 and 104. Yet further, a privacy setting of computing device 104 may deny applications 104A from accessing location information indicative of location 106 of computing devices 102 and 104. In addition, the privacy setting of computing device 104 may deny applications 102A from accessing location information indicative of location 106 of computing devices 102 and 104.
Yet, in some embodiments, the privacy setting of a computing device may be transferred to other computing devices. For example, a privacy setting of computing device 102 may be transferred to computing device 104, possibly such that a user can initiate the privacy setting for multiple devices seamlessly. In particular, the privacy setting for computing device 102 may be transferred to computing device 104 through connection 108. As such, applications 102A and applications 104A may be denied access to location information indicative of location 106.
In some embodiments, computing devices may communicate with networks and server devices. Further, in some instances, computing devices may “check-in” with remote server devices to allow access to location information indicative of a location of the computing device. For example, as shown in
In some embodiments, applications installed on computing devices may communicate with networks and server devices. As such, applications 102A and 104A may access and/or allow access to location information indicative of location 106 through network 114 and server device 118. For instance, applications 102A and 104A may be used to share location information indicative of location 106 with friends and/or family, possibly by posting the location information on social networking websites, and/or by sharing the location information with photographs and/or messages, among other possibilities.
Yet, in some embodiments, a privacy setting of a computing device may determine accesses of one or more applications to the location information indicative of the location of the computing device. For example, the privacy setting may deny applications, networks, and/or server devices from accessing location information indicative of the location of the computing device. For example, a user may be shopping for a surprise gift for their partner and may not want to reveal their location. As such, the user may set the privacy setting of computing device 102 to deny applications 102A, network 114, and server device 118 from accessing location information indicative of location 106. Yet further, the user may also have to set the privacy setting of computing device 104 to deny applications 102A, network 114, and server device 118 from accessing location information indicative of location 106.
As noted, the user may have to manage the privacy settings for both computing device 102 and computing device 104. In the above scenarios where a user may be carrying additional computing devices, the user may have to manage the privacy settings for multiple computing devices including computing device 102 and computing device 104. As such, example embodiments herein disclose methods, computing devices, and computer-readable mediums, amongst other embodiments, for intelligently transferring privacy settings from one device to another device.
At block 200, the method includes determining location information indicative of a location of a computing device. The location information may be determined, for example, in any manner described above in relation to
In some embodiments, a computing device and/or a server device may determine location information stored locally on the computing device. For example, computing device 102 may determine location information indicative of location 106 of computing device 102. In particular, computing device 102 may determine location information stored in components of computing device 102. For example, computing device 102 may determine location information stored in its memories, random access memories (RAM), hard drives, central processing units, and/or controllers, among other possibilities.
In some embodiments, a computing device and/or a server device may determine location information stored on other computing devices. For example, referring back to
In some embodiments, a computing device and/or a server device may determine location information stored by one or more applications. For example, computing device 102 may determine location information indicative of location 106 stored by applications 102A. As such, computing device 102 may determine location information stored in files, folders, directories, subdirectories, catalogs, locations, data paths, and/or cache, among other possibilities.
In some embodiments, determining location information indicative of a location of a computing device may involve determining distances between computing devices and/or proximate locations of computing devices. For example, a distance may be determined between a computing device and one or more other computing devices. Further, proximate locations of the computing device and the one or more other computing devices may be determined. Yet further, a change in distance between the computing device and the one or more other computing devices may be determined. In addition, a change in the proximate locations of the computing device and the one or more other computing devices may be determined. For example, referring back to
It should be noted that the above examples for determining a distance and/or a change in distance between computing devices 102 and 104 may involve determining proximate locations of each device, possibly with respect to one another. Further, the examples of computing device 102 determining location information indicative of location 106 are provided for illustrative purposes. Other computing devices such as computing device 104 may, separately or in combination with computing device 102, determine location information indicative of location 106. Yet further, server device 118 may also, separately or in combination with computing devices 102 and/or 104, determine location information indicative of location 106, among other possibilities.
At block 202, the method includes determining one or more applications installed on the computing device and on one or more other computing devices that are configured to access the location information. The one or more application may be configured to access location information, for example, in any manner described above in relation to
In some embodiments, a computing device and/or a server device may determine applications installed on a computing device that are configured to access location information. For example, computing device 102 may determine applications 102A installed on computing device 102 that are configured to access location information indicative of location 106. Further, computing device 102 may determine applications 104A installed on computing device 104 that are configured to access location information indicative of location 106.
In some embodiments, applications may be designated as location-analyzing applications. For example, a user may designate each application installed on a computing device as a possible location-analyzing application. In some instances, referring back to
It should be noted that the examples of computing device 102 determining one or more applications configured to access location information are provided for illustrative purposes. Other computing devices such as computing device 104 may, separately or in combination with computing device 102, determine the one or more applications. Yet further, server device 118 may also, separately or in combination with computing devices 102 and/or 104, determine the one or more applications, among other possibilities.
At block 204, the method includes transferring a privacy setting of the computing device to the one or more other computing devices. The privacy setting of the computing device may be transferred to one or more other computing devices, for example, in any manner described above in relation to
In one example, consider a scenario such that a user of computing device 102 provides an indication of a privacy setting to disable location-analyzing applications installed on computing device 102. Further, the indication of the privacy setting may be communicated to computing device 104 through connection 108. As such, computing device 104 may initiate a privacy setting to disable location-analyzing applications of computing device 104. Yet further, possibly after some time, the user may wish to enable location-analyzing applications on computing devices 102 and 104. As such, the user may provide an indication of a privacy setting to enable location sharing of computing device 102. Further, the indication of the privacy setting may be communicated to computing device 104 through connection 108. As such, computing device 104 may initiate a privacy setting to enable location sharing of computing device 104. Thus, in some instance, the privacy settings of computing device 102 and 104 may be synchronized.
In some embodiments, the computing device may transfer a privacy setting of the computing device to one or more other computing device based on location. For example, referring back to
Further, consider a scenario such that computing device 104 has a privacy setting set to “private” while outside of location 106, possibly denying applications 104A from identifying the proximate location of computing device 104. Further, computing device 104 may move to location 106. As such, computing device 104 may transfer the “private” setting to computing device 102 such that computing device 102 changes from a “normal” setting to the “private” setting. In some instances, computing device 104 may exit location 106 and computing device 102 may revert back from the “private” setting to the “normal” setting. Further, computing device 104 may return to location 106 and computing device 102 may again change from the “normal” setting to the “private” setting.
In some embodiments, a privacy setting may be transferred to one or more computing devices through a variety of modalities. For example, computing devices 302, 304, and 306 may be associated with an online or web-based account for managing the privacy settings of each device. In particular, computing devices 302, 304, and 306 may be registered with an account for managing privacy settings. Further, in some instances, a privacy setting may be transferred by the operating system of a computing device. Yet further, a privacy setting may be transferred by a backend service running on one or more of the computing devices. Yet further, a privacy setting may be transferred by a third-party service, possibly an online or web-based service configured to transfer privacy settings from one device to another device. As such, steps 310 through 330 of
In some embodiments, a computing device may transfer a privacy setting to one or more other computing devices. For example, at step 310 of
In some embodiments, a server device may transfer a privacy setting of the computing device to the one or more other computing devices. For example, at step 316, server device 304 may transfer the privacy setting received from computing device 302. In particular, server device 304 may transfer the privacy setting to computing device 306. As such, at step 318, computing device 306 may display the privacy setting transferred from server device 304, possibly indicating that the privacy setting has been initiated on computing device 306. In particular, the privacy setting may deny one or more applications installed on computing device 306 from accessing location information indicative of a proximate location of computing device 302 and/or computing device 306. Further, at step 320, computing device 306 may send a confirmation that the privacy setting has been transferred to computing device 306 and/or initiated on computing device 306. In particular, the confirmation may indicate that the privacy setting has been successfully implemented in computing device 306, possibly denying applications from accessing location information on computing devices 302 and/or 306.
In some embodiments, the server device may transfer a privacy setting to multiple computing devices. For example, at step 322, server device 304 may transfer the privacy setting received from computing device 302. In particular, server device 304 may transfer the privacy setting to computing device 308. As such, at step 324, computing device 308 may display the privacy setting transferred from server device 304, possibly indicating that the privacy setting has been initiated on computing device 308. In particular, the privacy setting may deny one or more applications installed on computing device 308 from accessing location information indicative of a proximate location of computing devices 302, 304, and/or 308. Further, at step 326, computing device 308 may send a confirmation that the privacy setting has been transferred to computing device 308 and/or initiated on computing device 308. In particular, the confirmation may indicate that the privacy setting has been successfully implemented in computing device 308, possibly denying applications from accessing location information on computing devices 302, 306, and/or 308.
In some embodiments, the server device may confirm the transfer of a privacy setting of the computing device to one or more other computing devices. For example, at step 328, server device 304 may send a confirmation indicating that the privacy setting has transferred to computing devices 306 and 308, possibly also indicating that the privacy setting has been successfully implemented on computing devices 306 and 308. In some instances, if computing device 302 does not receive the confirmation message, computing device 302 may display an error message (not shown in
As shown in
Further, as shown in
Yet further, as shown in
In some embodiments, GUI 340 may be operated through voice commands. For example, a user may say “hide” in the vicinity of the head-mountable device and hide 344 may be selected on GUI 340 which may be generated on a graphical display of the head-mountable device. Further, the user may say “show” and show 346 may be selected. Yet further, the user may say “mix” and mix (work) 348 may be selected. In addition, the user may say “create new” and create new 350 may be selected. Further, the user may say “add device” and add device 358 may be selected.
As shown in
Further, “show” of modes 362 may cause computing device 302 to transfer an “allow access to location” privacy setting of computing device 302 to computing devices 306 and 308. As such, computing devices 306 and 308 may allow applications installed on each computing device to access location information indicative of proximate locations of computing devices 302, 306 and 308.
Further, “mix (work)” of modes 362 may cause computing device 302 to transfer a “deny access to location” privacy setting of computing device 302 to computing device 308. As such, computing device 308 may deny applications installed on computing device 308 from accessing location information indicative of the proximate locations of computing devices 302, 306, and/or 308. Yet, computing device 306 may have an “allow access to location” privacy setting. As such, computing device 306 may allow applications installed on computing device 306 to access location information indicative of proximate locations of computing devices 302, 306, and 308.
Referring back to
In some embodiments, applications on a computing device may be disabled. For example, in some instances, one or more applications installed on the computing device may be disabled. Further, in some instances, applications that may be configured to analyze or record the location of a computing device and/or designated as a location-analyzing application may be disabled, among other possibilities.
In some embodiments, applications may be denied from accessing components of the computing device. For example, referring back to
In some embodiments, the applications may be denied access to location information stored in a computing device. For example, referring back to
In some instances, applications 402A may be denied access to location information indicative of location 406. Further, applications 404A may be denied access to location information indicative of location 408. Yet further, applications 402A and 404A may be denied access to location information indicative locations 406 and 410.
In some embodiments, applications 402A and 404A may be denied access to location information indicative of location 406 in
Referring back to the scenario of the user that may be shopping for a surprise gift for their partner, consider that location 406 is a jewelry shop that the user is shopping in. In particular, the user may want to hide their location when the user, while in possession of computing device 402, is at the jewelry shop at location 406. Yet, once the user is ready to leave the jewelry shop to go to location 410, the user may want to change the privacy settings such that the user no longer is hiding their location. As such, applications 402A and 404A may be denied access to location information indicative of location 406. Yet, applications 402A and 404 may be allowed access to location information indicative of location 410.
As noted, determining location information indicative of a location of a computing device may include determining distances, possibly in relation to block 200 of
Referring back to the scenario of the user that may be shopping for a surprise gift for their partner, consider that computing device 504 is the partner's smartphone and computing device 506 is the jeweler's smartphone. In particular, the user may want to hide their location when the user, while in possession of computing device 502, is in close proximity to the jeweler and a given distance away from the partner. In particular, the user may be a distance 508 away from the partner's smartphone (computing device 504) and a distance 510 near the jeweler's smartphone (computing device 506). Yet, once the user has finished discussing with the jeweler, the user may want to change the privacy settings such that the user no longer is hiding their location.
Thus, in some embodiments, a privacy setting of a computing device may be determined based on distances between the computing device and one or more other computing devices. For example, data entry 512 includes modes 514 such as “hide” mode and “show” mode, amongst other possible modes. Further, data entry 512 includes distances 516 between computing device 502 and computing device 504. Yet further, data entry 512 includes distances 518 between computing device 502 and computing device 506. As such, when computing device 502 is a distance 508 from computing device 504 and computing device 502 is a distance 510 from computing device 506, computing device 502 may enter hide mode. Yet further, when computing device 502 is a distance 520 from computing device 504 and computing device 502 is a distance 522 from computing device 506, computing device 502 may enter show mode. It should be noted that one or more other modes may be included in data entry 512 such as, for example, mix (work) mode in
As shown in
Data storage 604, in turn, may comprise volatile and/or non-volatile data storage and can be integrated in whole or in part with processor 602. Data storage 604 may include data entries for transferring privacy settings such as data entry 360 and 512 in
Network interface 606 may take the form of a wireline connection, such as an Ethernet connection. Network interface 606 may also take the form of a wireless connection, such as IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi), BLUETOOTH®, or a wide-area wireless connection. However, other forms of physical layer connections and other types of standard or proprietary communication protocols may be used over network interface 606. Furthermore, network interface 606 may comprise multiple physical interfaces.
Input/output function 608 may facilitate user interaction with example computing device 600. For example, input/output function may generate or display GUI 340 from
While various aspects and embodiments have been disclosed herein, other aspects and embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art. The various aspects and embodiments disclosed herein are for purposes of illustration and are not intended to be limiting, with the true scope being indicated by the following claims.