Patent Application
20110252456
The present invention relates to a personal information exchanging system, a personal information providing apparatus, a data processing method therefor, and a computer program therefor, and particularly to a personal information exchanging system and a personal information providing apparatus for exchanging or providing personal information according to a privacy policy, a data processing method therefor, and a computer program therefor.
As this type of technique, there is a standard technical specification ID-WSF (Identity Web Services Framework) for use in linking information on users among businesses on a network, which has been developed by Liberty Alliance Project (See
The personal information exchanging system described in Non-patent Document 1 is composed of a web service provider (hereinafter, referred to as “WSP”) 1, a web service consumer (hereinafter, referred to as “WSC”) 2, a discovery service (hereinafter, abbreviated as “DS”) 3, and a user agent (user terminal software) 4 connected via a network. The following describes a procedure for searching for, requesting, and responding to personal information by using the DS 3 as typical operations of the personal information exchanging system described in Non-patent Document 1 having the above configuration. In
In
As described hereinabove, the personal information exchanging system described in Non-patent Document 1 enables personal information to be exchanged by performing an approval determination on a policy or the like by the WSP 1 in response to a request for user's personal information.
Moreover, an example of an information processor based on a rule is described in Patent Document 1. As illustrated in
The information processor 10, based on the rule, having the above configuration operates as described below. Specifically, an action operating unit 12 performs information processing corresponding to a rule held in the rule storage unit 16 on the basis of the rule. An error operation determination unit 13 determines whether a response to information processing is affirmative or negative on the basis of a result of the processing performed by the action operating unit 12. A feedback learning unit 14 evaluates the rule corresponding to the information processing by using a result of the determination. Thereafter, the rule modification unit 15 modifies the rule held in the rule storage unit 16 on the basis of the evaluation.
As illustrated in the case of the above document, before exchanging user's personal information among entities, a user's consent is confirmed and a result thereof is stored as a policy. In the case of the alteration of the policy, a result of the alteration is made reflected on existing policies. When another entity accesses an entity that manages personal information, whether access is enabled is determined by using the policy reflecting the result of the alteration.
Further, an access right managing method described in Patent Document 2 includes collectively storing and managing personal private information and a policy for use in disclosing the private information in a server and determining whether the disclosure is enabled according to the policy in response to a request for the disclosure of the private information.
In the above methods, when the user sets a policy (privacy policy) on whether access to personal information is enabled, there is a need to set the policy for each device to which the personal information is sent. Therefore, the more the number of WSCs, the more the number of settings of the policy increases, which leads to a problem that it is inefficient to set a policy based on a user's consent according to a device to which the personal information is sent.
The reason why the policy is set for each device is because the user needs to confirm the purpose of use, the use range, and the like in the light of privacy protection or compliance. As described above, however, it forces the user to bear the burden that the user sets all policies for the respective devices to which the personal information is sent.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a personal information exchanging system, a personal information providing apparatus, a data processing method therefor, and a computer program therefor that solve the above problem.
A personal information providing apparatus according to the present invention includes: a policy storage device that stores a privacy policy set for each personal information acquisition device, which acquires user's personal information, and for each user; a policy management element for recording and managing identification information, which identifies whether the privacy policy is stored in the policy storage device, in the policy management table for each personal information acquisition device and for each user; a search element for searching for the identification information on the privacy policy corresponding to the personal information acquisition device and the user by reference to the policy management table; a policy creation element for automatically creating a new privacy policy on the basis of a default privacy policy when the identification information on the corresponding privacy policy is not found; and a policy registration element for storing the created privacy policy in the policy storage device and notifying the policy management element of the identification information to record the identification information on the privacy policy in the policy management table.
A personal information exchanging system according to the present invention includes: a personal information storage device that stores personal information; the above-described personal information providing apparatus; a personal information acquisition device that requests and acquires user's personal information from the personal information providing apparatus; and a user terminal device of the user, wherein the personal information providing apparatus confirms with the user of the user terminal device whether to approve the use of the privacy policy of the personal information in response to the request for the personal information from the personal information acquisition device, accepts an instruction from the user via the user terminal device, and provides the personal information acquisition device with the user's personal information acquired from the personal information storage device according to the approved privacy policy.
A data processing method according to the present invention is a data processing method for a personal information providing apparatus that includes a policy storage device for storing a privacy policy set for each personal information acquisition device, which acquires the user's personal information, and for each user, the method comprising: recording and managing identification information, which identifies whether the privacy policy is stored in the policy storage device, in the policy management table for each personal information acquisition device and for each user; searching for the identification information on the privacy policy corresponding to the personal information acquisition device and the user by reference to the policy management table; automatically creating a new privacy policy on the basis of a default privacy policy when the identification information on the corresponding privacy policy is not found; and storing the created privacy policy in the policy storage device and recording identification information on the privacy policy in the policy management table.
A computer program according to the present invention is a computer program for causing a computer to implement a personal information providing apparatus, the computer program causing the computer that includes a policy storage device for storing a privacy policy set for each personal information acquisition device, which acquires user's personal information, and for each user to perform: a policy management procedure for recording and managing identification information, which identifies whether the privacy policy is stored in the policy storage device, in the policy management table for each personal information acquisition device and for each user; a search procedure for searching for the identification information on the privacy policy corresponding to the personal information acquisition device and the user by reference to the policy management table; a policy creation procedure for automatically creating a new privacy policy on the basis of a default privacy policy when the identification information on the corresponding privacy policy is not found; and a policy registration procedure for storing the created privacy policy in the policy storage device and recording the identification information on the privacy policy in the policy management table.
It is to be understood that any arbitrary combinations of the above-described constituents, and any exchanges of expression of the present invention among method, apparatus, system, recording medium, computer program and so forth may be effective as exemplary embodiments of the present invention.
Various constituents of the present invention do not always need to be independent of each other. It is also possible that a plurality of constituents are formed as one member, one constituent is formed of a plurality of members, a constituent is a portion of another constituent, a portion of a constituent overlaps with a portion of another constituent, and the like.
Although the data processing method and the computer program of the present invention recite a plurality of procedures in order, the order of description does not limit the order of execution of the plurality of procedures. For this reason, in executing the data processing method and the computer program of the present invention, the order of the plurality of procedures can be changed within a range that does not deteriorate the scope of the present invention.
Also, the plurality of procedures of the data processing method and the computer program of the present invention are not limited to being executed at timings that are individually different from each other. For this reason, there may be a case in which a certain procedure is performed while another procedure is being performed, a case in which an execution timing of a certain procedure and an execution timing of another procedure are partly or wholly overlapped with each other, and the like cases.
According to the present invention, there are provided a personal information exchanging system, a personal information providing apparatus, a data processing method therefor, and a computer program therefor that save the effort of the user operation of registering privacy policies.
Hereinafter, preferred exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Note that the same reference numerals are used for the same elements throughout the drawings and the description thereof will be appropriately omitted.
The personal information exchanging system 1000 includes a personal information storage device 90, which stores personal information, a personal information providing apparatus 100, a personal information acquisition device (in
Specifically, the personal information exchanging system 1000 according to this exemplary embodiment includes the personal information providing apparatus 100, which provides other devices with personal information, the plurality of personal information acquisition devices 20a to 20n, which acquire personal information from other devices, and the user terminal device 50, which is used by the user to access the personal information acquisition device 20, which are connected to each other via a network 30.
The personal information storage device 90 holds user's personal information. In this exemplary embodiment, the personal information storage device 90 is connected to the personal information providing apparatus 100. The personal information providing apparatus 100 accesses the personal information storage device 90 to provide each personal information acquisition device 20 with personal information upon request from the personal information acquisition device 20 and according to the privacy policy. Although the personal information storage device 90 is formed as an external storage device connected to the personal information providing apparatus 100 in
The personal information providing apparatus 100 according to this exemplary embodiment includes: a policy storage device (policy storage unit 102), which stores a privacy policy set for each personal information acquisition device that acquires user's personal information, and for each user; a policy management unit 108, which records and manages identification information that identifies whether the policy storage unit 102 stores the privacy policy in a policy management table (a policy management table storage unit 106) for each personal information acquisition device 20 and for each user; a search unit 110, which searches for the identification information on the privacy policy corresponding to the personal information acquisition device 20 and the user by reference to the policy management table storage unit 106; a policy creation unit 112, which automatically creates a new privacy policy on the basis of a default privacy policy when the identification information on the corresponding privacy policy is not found; and a policy registration unit 118, which stores the created privacy policy into the policy storage unit 102 and notifies the policy management unit 108 of the identification information on the privacy policy to record the identification information into the policy management table storage unit 106.
In this exemplary embodiment, the term “privacy policy” means information, which is to be criteria for the personal information providing apparatus 100 to determine whether a response to a personal information request from the personal information acquisition device 20 is enabled. The criteria for determining whether access to personal information is enabled depends on each personal information acquisition device 20. Therefore, the personal information providing apparatus 100 holds a plurality of privacy policies. Moreover, the privacy policy depends on each user.
The personal information providing apparatus 100 according to this exemplary embodiment includes, for example, a CPU (central processing unit), a memory, a hard disk, and a communication device, which are not illustrated, and is able to be implemented by a server computer, which is connected to an input device such as a keyboard or a mouse and to an output device such as a display or a printer. Then, the CPU reads and executes a program stored in the hard disk, thereby enabling the implementation of the respective functions of the above units 108, 110, 112, and 118. In the respective drawings described hereinafter, the constituent features that will not be essentially related to the gist of the present invention are omitted and not illustrated.
Also, each of the constituents of the personal information providing apparatus 100 is implemented by an arbitrary combination of hardware and software including, at the center thereof, a CPU of an arbitrary computer, a memory, a program that implements the constituents of the present drawings and that is loaded on the memory, a storage unit such as a hard disk that stores the program, and an interface for connection to the network. Then, those skilled in the art will understand that there may be various modifications to the method of implementation thereof, and the apparatus. Each of the drawings described in the following illustrates a block of a functional unit rather than the construction of a hardware unit.
As illustrated in
The policy storage unit 102 stores the privacy policy of the personal information for each personal information acquisition device 20 and for each user. In this exemplary embodiment, the policy storage unit 102 stores an approved privacy policy, which is approved by the user.
The policy management table storage unit 106 stores identification information enabling identification of the storage location of a privacy policy, such as the storage location of the privacy policy to be criteria for determining whether access is enabled from the personal information acquisition device 20 to personal information in the personal information storage device 90, which stores the user's personal information, for each user and for each personal information acquisition device 20.
The policy management unit 108 records and manages identification information enabling identification of the storage location of a privacy policy, such as the storage location of the privacy policy, for each user and for each personal information acquisition device 20, in the policy management table storage unit 106.
The search unit 110 searches for the holding location of a privacy policy, which is necessary to determine whether the access is enabled by reference to the policy management table storage unit 106. Although
The policy creation unit 112 creates a new privacy policy on the basis of a default privacy policy. In this exemplary embodiment, the policy creation unit 112 automatically creates a new privacy policy if the search unit 110 does not find the information on the storage location of the corresponding privacy policy. Here, it is assumed that the default privacy policy is previously set by a user or the like and stored in a memory (not illustrated).
In the personal information providing apparatus 100 according to this exemplary embodiment, the policy creation unit 112 may automatically create a privacy policy as a default privacy policy on the basis of a privacy policy stored in the policy storage unit 102.
For example, the policy creation unit 112 is able to create a new privacy policy by duplicating a user's privacy policy already registered for another personal information acquisition device 20. In the case where a plurality of privacy policies corresponding to a user have already been registered, it is possible to duplicate a privacy policy, which is selected in reverse chronological order of registered or updated date or in predetermined order of priority, as original.
The policy registration unit 118 stores the privacy policy automatically created by the policy creation unit 112 into the policy storage unit 102 and notifies the policy management unit 108 of the information on the storage location of the privacy policy to record the information into the policy management table storage unit 106.
With the above configuration, a data processing method of the personal information providing apparatus 100 according to this exemplary embodiment will be described below. Hereinafter,
The data processing method according to this exemplary embodiment is intended for the personal information providing apparatus 100. The personal information providing apparatus 100 includes the policy storage unit 102, which stores the privacy policy set for each personal information acquisition device 20, which acquires user's personal information, and for each user. The personal information providing apparatus 100 records and manages the identification information, which is used to identify whether the privacy policy is stored in the policy storage unit 102, in the policy management table storage unit 106 for each personal information acquisition device 20 and for each user (step S23), refers to the policy management table storage unit 106, searches for the identification information on the privacy policy corresponding to the personal information acquisition device 20 and the user (step S11), automatically creates a new privacy policy (step S15) on the basis of a default privacy policy if the identification information on the corresponding privacy policy is not found (YES in step S13), stores the created privacy policy into the policy storage unit 102 (step S17), and records the identification information on the privacy policy into the policy management table storage unit 106 (step S23).
The operation of the personal information providing apparatus 100 configured as described above will be described below. Hereinafter, the description will be made with reference to
The personal information providing apparatus 100 according to this exemplary embodiment manages privacy policies with the following operation. For example, at the time of receiving a request for personal information from the personal information acquisition device 20 or the like, there is a need for a privacy policy to determine whether the request is enabled.
Therefore, first, the personal information providing apparatus 100 uses the search unit 110 to refer to the policy management table storage unit 106 to obtain the information on the location and state of the privacy policy (step S11). As described above, the policy management table storage unit 106 stores identification information enabling the identification of the storage location of a privacy policy, such as the storage location of the privacy policy to be criteria for determining whether access is enabled from the personal information acquisition device 20 to personal information in the personal information storage device 90, which stores user's personal information, for each user and for each personal information acquisition device 20.
If it is determined from the identification information that the policy storage unit 102 stores the user's privacy policy searched for, which is to be used for the personal information acquisition device 20 (NO in step S13), the privacy policy is used to determine whether the access is enabled. Therefore, the personal information providing apparatus 100 then acquires the identification information, namely, the storage location of the privacy policy and ends this processing.
On the other hand, if the corresponding privacy policy is not found in the policy storage unit 102 (YES in step S13), the policy creation unit 112 creates a new policy (step S15) on the basis of a default privacy policy, and the policy registration unit 118 registers the created privacy policy in the policy storage unit 102 (step S17).
Then, the policy registration unit 118 notifies the policy management unit 108 of the information on the location where privacy policy is stored and the information is recorded into the policy management table storage unit 106 (step S23). This notifies the policy management unit 108 of the presence of the policy for the requesting entity, by which the privacy policy is used to determine whether access is enabled.
As described hereinabove, according to the personal information providing apparatus 100 of this exemplary embodiment, it is possible to manage a privacy policy required to be set for each personal information acquisition device 20 and for each user and to create a privacy policy automatically on the basis of a default privacy policy when a required privacy policy is not found, which leads to impressive savings in the effort of the setting operation of the user's privacy policy. In the case of a large number of personal information acquisition devices 20, the user can save him- or herself the effort of setting the policy for each device, and further the privacy policy is created on the basis of a default policy previously set by the user and therefore it is possible to use the privacy policy on the assumption that user's consent is obtained.
The personal information providing apparatus 150 according to this exemplary embodiment further includes: a policy temporary storage device (the policy temporary storage unit 104) that temporarily stores a privacy policy not approved by a user; a policy temporary registration unit 114 that temporarily stores the privacy policy created by the policy creation unit 112 as an unapproved privacy policy into the policy temporary storage unit 104 and notifies the policy management unit 108 of the identification information on the privacy policy to record the identification information into the policy management table storage unit 106; and an instruction acceptance unit 116 that presents the unapproved privacy policy temporarily registered in the policy temporary storage unit 104 to the user, confirms whether the use of the privacy policy is approved, and accepts the instruction from the user. When the unapproved privacy policy temporarily registered in the policy temporary storage unit 104 is approved by the user, the policy registration unit 118 stores the privacy policy as an approved privacy policy into the policy storage unit 102 and notifies the policy management unit 108 of the identification information on the privacy policy to record the identification information into the policy management table storage unit 106.
Moreover, in the personal information providing apparatus 150 according to this exemplary embodiment, the identification information, which is recorded and managed in the policy management table storage unit 106 by the policy management unit 108 for each personal information providing apparatus 200 and for each user, includes information that identifies whether the privacy policy is stored in the policy storage unit 102 or in the policy temporary storage unit 104, and the instruction acceptance unit 116 may determine whether the corresponding privacy policy is stored in the policy temporary storage unit 104 on the basis of the retrieved identification information, present the unapproved privacy policy temporarily registered in the policy temporary storage unit 104 to the user, confirm whether the use of the privacy policy is approved, and accept the instruction from the user.
Specifically, in addition to the constituents of the personal information providing apparatus 100 in
The policy temporary storage unit 104 temporarily stores an unapproved privacy policy, which is not approved by the user.
Although the policy storage unit 102 and the policy temporary storage unit 104 are storage units different from each other in this exemplary embodiment, this is merely a logical distinction. Physically, different regions in the same storage device may be used, instead, or there is no need to particularly separate the region as long as it is possible to store information that enables identification of whether privacy policies are approved or unapproved in association with the privacy policies. Specifically, in the policy management table storage unit 106, the privacy policies may be managed with the storage locations thereof associated with the information for use in identifying whether the privacy policies are approved or unapproved.
The policy temporary registration unit 114 temporarily stores the unapproved privacy policy automatically created by the policy creation unit 112 and notifies the policy management unit 108 of the information on the storage location of the privacy policy to record the information into the policy management table storage unit 106.
The instruction acceptance unit 116 presents the unapproved privacy policy, which has been temporarily registered in the policy temporary storage unit 104, to the user, seeks the user's consent related to the privacy policy, and accepts an instruction on whether the privacy policy is approved from the user. The term “user” here means a principal of personal information. Moreover, although not illustrated, the instruction acceptance unit 116 is connected to the user terminal device 50 via the network 30 and is able to present an operation screen on a display device (not illustrated) of the user terminal device 50. Further, the user operates an operating unit (not illustrated) to perform an input or an instruction operation, and the instruction acceptance unit 116 accepts the user's input or instruction at the user terminal device 50 via the network 30.
As for the timing when the user's operation is made at the user terminal device 50, various situations are possible. For example, when the user at the terminal device 50 applies to the personal information acquisition device 20 for the use of service, it is conceivable that the personal information acquisition device 20 inquires user's personal information from the personal information providing apparatus 150. In that case, it is possible to seek the user's consent by shifting the site where the user at the user terminal device 50 applies the personal information acquisition device 20 for the use of service to a page of the site of the personal information providing apparatus 150 such as, for example, the Internet provider and causing the user terminal device 50 to display an operation screen.
In another case, when time is required for approval at the personal information acquisition device 20 after the user applies for the use of service, it is also conceivable that the personal information acquisition device 20 inquires user's personal information from the personal information providing apparatus 150 separately later. In that case, the personal information providing apparatus 150 may transmit an e-mail with the URL address of the site related to the setting of the privacy policy to the e-mail address or the like, which has been previously registered as user's contact information in the personal information acquisition device 20. The user receives the e-mail at the user terminal device 50 and accesses the site of the URL address described in the e-mail, thereby enabling the setting screen related to the privacy policy to be displayed on the user terminal device 50. Thereby, it is possible to obtain an answer of user's approval or disapproval for the policy from the user terminal device 50.
In this exemplary embodiment, the policy registration unit 118 stores the temporarily-registered privacy policy, which has been approved by the user, into the policy storage unit 102 and notifies the policy management unit 108 of the information on the storage location of the privacy policy to record the information in the policy management table storage unit 106.
In this exemplary embodiment, the CPU (not illustrated) of the personal information providing apparatus 150 executes a computer program, thereby enabling the respective functions of the above units 108 to 118 to be implemented.
Further, the computer program according to this exemplary embodiment may be described so that, in the policy management procedure (step S23), the identification information recorded and managed in the policy management table storage unit 106 for each personal information acquisition device 20 and for each user includes information that identifies whether the privacy policy is stored in the policy storage unit 102 or in the policy temporary storage unit 104, and may be described to cause the computer to perform a procedure (step S19) for determining (not illustrated) that the corresponding privacy policy is stored in the policy temporary storage unit 104 on the basis of retrieved identification information, presenting the unapproved privacy policy temporarily registered in the policy temporary storage unit 104 to the user, confirming with the user whether to approve the use of the privacy policy, and accepting an instruction from the user.
With the above configuration, a data processing method of the personal information providing apparatus 150 according to this exemplary embodiment will be described below. Hereinafter,
In the data processing method of the personal information providing apparatus 150 according to this exemplary embodiment, the created privacy policy is temporarily stored as an unapproved privacy policy into the policy temporary storage unit 104, the identification information on the privacy policy is recorded into the policy management table storage unit 106 (step S18), the unapproved privacy policy temporarily registered in the policy temporary storage unit 104 is presented to the user, and whether the use of the privacy policy is approved is confirmed, and an instruction is accepted from the user (step S19). Further, when the user approves the unapproved privacy policy temporarily registered in the policy temporary storage unit 104, the privacy policy is stored as an approved privacy policy into the policy storage unit 102, and then the identification information on the privacy policy is recorded into the policy management table storage unit 106.
Moreover, in the data processing method of the personal information providing apparatus 150 according to this exemplary embodiment, the identification information recorded and managed in the policy management table storage unit 106 for each personal information acquisition device 20 and for each user may include information that identifies whether the privacy policy is stored in the policy storage unit 102 or in the policy temporary storage unit 104, it is determined that the corresponding privacy policy is stored in the policy temporary storage unit 104 on the basis of retrieved identification information (not illustrated), the unapproved privacy policy temporarily registered in the policy temporary storage unit 104 is presented to the user, whether the use of the privacy policy is approved is confirmed, and an instruction is accepted from the user (step S19).
The operation of the personal information providing apparatus 150 with the above configuration will be described below. Hereinafter,
The operation of the personal information providing apparatus 150 according to this exemplary embodiment further includes steps S18 to S25 of
After a new policy is created by the policy creation unit 112 in step S15, the policy temporary registration unit 114 temporarily stores the new privacy policy created by the policy creation unit 112 into the policy temporary storage unit 104 (step S18).
Thereafter, the instruction acceptance unit 116 presents the unapproved privacy policy to the user terminal device 50 to seek the user's consent related to the privacy policy. Thereafter, if the instruction acceptance unit 116 accepts the user's consent related to the privacy policy setting from the user terminal device 50 (YES in step S19), the policy registration unit 118 registers the privacy policy, which has been temporarily registered in the policy temporary storage unit 104, into the policy storage unit 102 (step S21). At this time, the privacy policy temporarily registered in the policy temporary storage unit 104 is deleted.
Then, the policy registration unit 118 notifies the policy management unit 108 of the information on the storage location of the privacy policy and the information is recorded into the policy management table storage unit 106 (step S23). This notifies the policy management unit 108 of the presence of the policy to the requesting entity and this information is used to determine whether access is enabled.
Further, if a user's consent is not obtained for the inquiry to the user (NO in step S19), the instruction acceptance unit 116 causes the policy temporary registration unit 114 to delete the privacy policy temporarily registered in the policy temporary storage unit 104 (step S25). Then, the policy management unit 108 is notified of the absence of the privacy policy to the requesting entity and this information is used to determine whether access is enabled.
As described hereinabove, the personal information providing apparatus 150 of this exemplary embodiment has the same advantageous effect as that of the personal information providing apparatus 100 of the above exemplary embodiment and the use of the privacy policy created anew is enabled after the user's approval is obtained.
Moreover, since the user's confirmation is obtained without fail before setting a privacy policy, it is possible to prevent an apparatus, which provides personal information, from using a privacy policy that is against the user's intention. Therefore, personal information is able to be exchanged among entities on the basis of the user's intension.
In addition to the configuration of the personal information providing apparatus 150 of the above exemplary embodiment, the personal information providing apparatus 200 of this exemplary embodiment further includes the policy modification unit 202 that accepts an instruction for modifying the privacy policy stored in a policy storage unit 102 from the user and modifies the privacy policy on the basis of the accepted modification instruction.
Further, in the personal information providing apparatus 200 of this exemplary embodiment, the policy modification unit 202 accepts an instruction for modifying a privacy policy, which is an instruction accepted by an instruction acceptance unit 116 and disapproved by the user, from the user and modifies the privacy policy on the basis of the accepted modification instruction, and a policy temporary registration unit 114 temporarily stores the modified privacy policy into the policy temporary storage unit 104 and notifies a policy management unit 108 of the identification information on the privacy policy to record the identification information into a policy management table storage unit 106.
In addition, if the personal information providing apparatus 200 has a configuration in which the policy modification unit 202 is added to the configuration of the personal information providing apparatus 100, the policy registration unit 118 stores the modified privacy policy into the policy storage unit 102 and notifies the policy management unit 108 of the identification information on the privacy policy to record the identification information into the policy management table storage unit 106.
In the personal information providing apparatus 200 having the above configuration, if NO is selected in step S19 of
Specifically, in the step of obtaining the user's consent, the user is able to set the user's own policy, the instruction acceptance unit 116 accepts the setting content, and the policy modification unit 202 modifies the privacy policy according to the setting content. The setting of the privacy policy by the user is able to be implemented by providing a screen for setting from the personal information providing apparatus 200 via the network 30 and performing user's operation on the user terminal device 50. The setting content input via the setting screen on the user terminal device 50 is transmitted to the personal information providing apparatus 200 via the network 30 and then accepted by the instruction acceptance unit 116.
The modified privacy policy is temporarily and temporarily registered in the policy temporary storage unit 104 by the policy temporary registration unit 114. Then, the policy management unit 108 is notified of the privacy policy and the privacy policy is recorded into the policy management table storage unit 106.
Here, the temporarily-registered privacy policy is present in the policy temporary storage unit 104. The user's consent to this privacy policy, however, is not obtained yet, and therefore as in the temporary registration of the new privacy policy described above, the instruction acceptance unit 116 seeks the user's consent related to the temporarily-registered privacy policy from the user terminal device 50 and then accepts an instruction from the user. If the user consents, the policy registration unit 118 registers the privacy policy, which has been temporarily stored in the policy temporary storage unit 104, into the policy storage unit 102. Then, the policy registration unit 118 notifies the policy management unit 108 of the identification information on the privacy policy to record the identification information into the policy management table storage unit 106.
On the other hand, unless the user consents, the privacy policy in the policy temporary storage unit 104 is deleted. Then, the policy management unit 108 is notified of the absence of the privacy policy to the requesting entity and this information is used to determine whether access is enabled. Further, although not illustrated, the user is also able to suspend the approval for this setting and may approve the setting later.
With the above configuration, a data processing method of the personal information providing apparatus 200 according to this exemplary embodiment will be described below. Hereinafter,
In the data processing method of the personal information providing apparatus 200 according to this exemplary embodiment, an instruction for modifying a privacy policy, which is disapproved by the user in the accepted instruction (NO in step S19 of
The operation of the personal information providing apparatus 200 according to this exemplary embodiment having the above configuration will be described below. Hereinafter
First, the instruction acceptance unit 116 accepts the setting content of the privacy policy, which has been uniquely set or modified by the user, and the policy modification unit 202 modifies the privacy policy according to the setting content (step S401).
Then, the modified privacy policy is temporarily and temporarily registered in the policy temporary storage unit 104 by the policy temporary registration unit 114 (step S403).
Here, the temporarily-registered privacy policy is present in the policy temporary storage unit 104. The user's consent to this privacy policy, however, is not obtained yet, and therefore as in the temporary registration of the new privacy policy described above, the instruction acceptance unit 116 seeks the user's consent related to the temporarily-registered privacy policy from the user terminal device 50 and then accepts an instruction from the user (step S405). If the user consents (YES in step S405), the policy registration unit 118 registers the privacy policy, which has been temporarily stored in the policy temporary storage unit 104, into the policy storage unit 102 (step S407). Then, the policy registration unit 118 notifies the policy management unit 108 of the identification information on the privacy policy to record the identification information into the policy management table storage unit 106 (step S409). This notifies the policy management unit 108 of the presence of the policy to the requesting entity (step S411) and this information is used to determine whether access is enabled.
On the other hand, if a user's consent is not obtained for the inquiry to the user in step S405 (NO in step S405), the instruction acceptance unit 116 causes the policy temporary registration unit 114 to delete the privacy policy temporarily registered in the policy temporary storage unit 104 (step S413). Then, the policy management unit 108 is notified of the absence of the privacy policy to the requesting entity and this information is used to determine whether access is enabled. If the user makes an instruction to suspend the approval of the modified privacy policy, the privacy policy temporarily registered in the policy temporary storage unit 104 is not deleted, but the policy management unit 108 is notified and caused to record the storage location of the corresponding privacy policy into the policy management table storage unit 106.
As described hereinabove, according to the personal information providing apparatus 200 of this exemplary embodiment, an appropriate privacy policy is able to be set by a user while minimizing the burden on the user. Then, the privacy policy set by the user is able to be reflected on other personal information acquisition devices 20 specified by the user. This enables the user to set the privacy policy for other personal information acquisition devices 20 by one-time operation and significantly reducing the burden on the user for operation.
Moreover, the content of the privacy policy set by the user is able to be reflected on other privacy policies related to the corresponding user, which have already been managed by the apparatus. Further, for reflecting a result of the alteration of the privacy policy, the personal information providing apparatus 200 is able to accept processing related to the user's consent without fail.
Specifically, when setting a policy (privacy policy) for use in user's determination of whether to enable access to the personal information, there is a need to set the privacy policy for each device to which the personal information is distributed. The higher the number of devices, however, the operations of setting the privacy policy increases. Therefore, it is inefficient to set the privacy policy for all devices.
Therefore, in the personal information providing apparatus 300 of this exemplary embodiment, when the user sets a privacy policy, the altered content thereof is reflected on other privacy policies set by the user in modifying the privacy policies. When using the modified privacy policy, the personal information providing apparatus 300 obtains user's confirmation once and then uses the modified policy only if the user consents to the use of the modified privacy policy, by which the user is able to cause the content of a policy alteration operation to be reflected on all privacy policies only by performing the alteration operation only once.
The personal information providing apparatus 300 of this exemplary embodiment further includes a specification acceptance unit 302 that accepts a specification of the personal information acquisition device 20, for which the use of the modified and temporarily-registered privacy policy is approved, from a user. The policy registration unit 118 stores the modified and temporarily-registered privacy policy, as an approved privacy policy for the personal information acquisition device 20 for which the use is approved on the basis of the user's specification, into the policy storage unit 102 and notifies the policy management unit 108 of the identification information on the privacy policy to record the identification information into the policy management table storage unit 106.
Further, if the personal information providing apparatus 300 of this exemplary embodiment is a variation of the personal information providing apparatus 100 illustrated in
Although the specification acceptance unit 302 is added to the configuration of the personal information providing apparatus 200 of the exemplary embodiment illustrated in
In this exemplary embodiment, the CPU of the personal information providing apparatus 300 executes a computer program, thereby enabling the implementation of the respective functions of the above units 108 to 118, 202, and 302. In addition to the procedures (steps S11 to S25 of
With the above configuration, a data processing method of the personal information providing apparatus 300 according to this exemplary embodiment will be described below.
The data processing method of the personal information providing apparatus 300 according to this exemplary embodiment includes: accepting the specification of the personal information acquisition device 20, for which the use of the modified and temporarily-registered privacy policy is approved, from the user; storing the modified and temporarily-registered privacy policy as an approved privacy policy for the personal information acquisition device 20, to which the use of the privacy policy is approved, into the policy storage unit 102 on the basis of the user's specification and recording the identification information on the privacy policy into the policy management table storage unit 106.
As described hereinabove, according to the personal information providing apparatus 300 of this exemplary embodiment, the user is able to specify a personal information acquisition device 20, on which the modification or setting is to be reflected, out of other personal information acquisition devices 20 including the personal information acquisition device 20 in which the privacy policy has already been registered, and it is possible to reflect the privacy policy modified or set by the policy modification unit 202 on the privacy policy of any other specified personal information acquisition device 20 and to register the privacy policy according to the specification.
Specifically, the personal information providing apparatus 300, which provides personal information, needs to determine whether access to the personal information is enabled for each personal information acquisition device 20 in order to protect the user's personal information. Further, since it is impossible to determine whether access is enabled by using a single privacy policy independent of the personal information acquisition device 20, there is a need to set a policy for each personal information acquisition device 20 to which the personal information is sent. Therefore, the higher the number of personal information acquisition devices 20, the operations of setting the policy increases. Accordingly, it has been inefficient to set the policy based on the user's consent according to the personal information acquisition device 20 as a destination of the personal information. Therefore, the system autonomously alters a policy (privacy policy) related to determination of whether access is enabled, which is set for any other device (personal information acquisition device 20), and stores the result of the alteration as a new policy, and thereupon it has been required that the personal information providing apparatus 300 determines whether a user's consent is obtained.
When the user sets a new privacy policy or alters a privacy policy, the personal information providing apparatus 300 of this exemplary embodiment is able to introduce the altered content into other privacy policies. Therefore, the user does not need to set all privacy policies, thereby saving the effort of the user operation of registering privacy policies.
Moreover, the privacy policy set for the specified personal information acquisition device 20 may be suspended as a temporarily-registered privacy policy. Specifically, at the time when the personal information acquisition device 20 is actually provided with the personal information separately later, the privacy policy may be registered after the approval process is performed individually, partially, or wholly.
The personal information providing apparatus 400 of this exemplary embodiment further includes: a request acceptance unit 402 that accepts a request for user's personal information from the personal information acquisition device 20 and causes the search unit 110 to search for identification information on a privacy policy corresponding to the personal information acquisition device 20 and the user; an acquisition unit 404 that acquires the privacy policy from the policy storage unit 102 on the basis of the identification information on the privacy policy retrieved by the search unit 110; a determination unit 406 that determines whether it is possible to comply with the request according to the acquired privacy policy; and a providing unit 408 that provides the requesting personal information acquisition device 20 with the personal information acquired from the personal information storage device 90 which stores the personal information if it is determined that it is possible to comply with the request. Although the personal information storage device 90 is described as a constituent included in the personal information providing apparatus 400 in
Specifically, in addition to the configuration of the above exemplary embodiment, the personal information providing apparatus 400 includes a request acceptance unit 402, an acquisition unit 404, a determination unit 406, and a providing unit 408.
Although the request acceptance unit 402 or the like is added to the configuration of the personal information providing apparatus 300 of the exemplary embodiment illustrated in
The request acceptance unit 402 accepts the request for the user's personal information from one of the personal information acquisition devices 20a to 20n and causes the search unit 110 to search for the identification information on the privacy policy corresponding to the personal information acquisition device 20 and the user. The acquisition unit 404 acquires the privacy policy from the policy storage unit 102 on the basis of the identification information on the privacy policy retrieved by the search unit 110. The acquired privacy policy is used to determine whether the access from the personal information acquisition device 20 is enabled.
The determination unit 406 determines whether it is possible to comply with the request according to the acquired privacy policy, in other words, whether access to the personal information is enabled. If it is determined that it is possible to comply with the request, the providing unit 408 provides the requesting personal information acquisition device 20 with the personal information acquired from the personal information storage device 90, which stores the personal information. In this exemplary embodiment, a response message including the personal information is created and then the created message is transmitted to one of the personal information acquisition devices 20a to 20n, which has requested the information, via the network 30.
On the other hand, for the personal information acquisition device 20, which has not been approved to access to the personal information in the personal information storage device 90 by the determination unit 406, the providing unit 408 creates an error notification message and transmits the created message to one of the personal information acquisition devices 20a to 20n, which has requested the information, via the network 30.
In this exemplary embodiment, the CPU of the personal information providing apparatus 400 executes a computer program, thereby enabling the implementation of the respective functions of the above units 402 to 408.
The computer program of this exemplary embodiment is described to cause a computer to further perform: a request acceptance procedure (step S201) for accepting a request for user's personal information from the personal information acquisition device 20 and causing a search for identification information on a privacy policy corresponding to the personal information acquisition device 20 and the user; an acquisition procedure (step S203) for acquiring the privacy policy from the policy storage unit 102 on the basis of the identification information on the privacy policy retrieved by the search; a determination procedure (step S205) for determining whether it is possible to comply with the request according to the acquired privacy policy; and a providing procedure (steps S207, S209, and S213) for providing the requesting personal information acquisition device 20 with the personal information acquired from the personal information storage device 90 which stores the personal information if it is determined that it is possible to comply with the request (YES in step S205).
With the above configuration, a data processing method of the personal information providing apparatus 400 according to this exemplary embodiment will be described below. Hereinafter,
The data processing method of the personal information providing apparatus 400 according to this exemplary embodiment includes: accepting a request for user's personal information from the personal information acquisition device 20 (step S201) and searching for identification information on a privacy policy corresponding to the personal information acquisition device 20 and a user (step S203); acquiring the privacy policy from the policy storage unit on the basis of the identification information on the privacy policy retrieved by the search (step S203); determining whether it is possible to comply with the request according to the acquired privacy policy (step S205); and providing the requesting personal information acquisition device 20 with the personal information acquired from the personal information storage device 90, which stores the personal information, if it is determined that it is possible to comply with the request (steps S207, S209, and S213).
The operation of the personal information exchanging system according to this exemplary embodiment having the above configuration will be described below. Hereinafter,
First, the flow of processing performed between devices will be described with reference to
Thereafter, in response to the request received by the request acceptance unit 402, the personal information providing apparatus 400 shifts to the search processing for the privacy policy of the requested personal information by the search unit 110 (step S203). The details of the privacy policy search processing in step S203 will be described later.
In the search processing in step S203, the search unit 110 outputs the storage location of the privacy policy and the acquisition unit 404 outputs the privacy policy acquired from the policy storage unit 102 on the basis of the storage location by the acquisition unit 404. Then, the determination unit 406 determines whether access to the personal information is enabled on the basis of the content of the acquired privacy policy (step S205).
If the access to the personal information is approved in the determination of whether the access is enabled in step S205 (YES in step S205), the providing unit 408 acquires required personal information from the personal information storage device 90 (step S207). Then, the providing unit 408 creates a return message for sending the personal information to the personal information acquisition device 20x(step S209).
On the other hand, if the sending of the personal information is not approved (NO in step S25) as a result of the determination of whether the access is enabled in step S205, the providing unit 408 creates an error message to be sent to the personal information acquisition device 20x(step S211). Thereafter, the providing unit 408 transmits the return message created in step S209 or S211 to the personal information acquisition device 20x via the network 30 (step S213). The personal information acquisition device 20x receives the return message from the personal information providing apparatus 400 via the network 30 (step S103).
Subsequently, the details of the privacy policy search processing in step S203 will be described with reference to
First, in the personal information providing apparatus 400, the search unit 110 acquires information retained in the policy management table storage unit 106 (step S301). This information includes where the privacy policy is managed. Subsequently, the search unit 110 determines processing to be performed next according to a situation in which the policy is held (step S303).
In other words, if it is determined that the privacy policy is registered only in the policy storage unit 102 (“present in the policy storage unit” in step S303), the search unit 110 acquires the privacy policy from the policy storage unit 102 on the basis of the acquired storage location of the privacy policy, presents the privacy policy to the providing unit 408 (step S331), and ends this processing.
If it is determined that there is no privacy policy for the personal information acquisition device 20x, which has sent the request message (“policy not found” in step S303), the policy creation unit 112 creates a new privacy policy for use in presenting user's personal information to the personal information acquisition device 20x(step S311). The created privacy policy is temporarily registered in the policy temporary storage unit 104 by the policy temporary registration unit 114 (step S313).
Thereafter, the instruction acceptance unit 116 presents the privacy policy related to the access to the personal information created in step S311 to the user as a principal of the personal information and sends an inquiry to the user about whether the user consents to this privacy policy (step S315). Unless the user consents to the new privacy policy (NO in step S315), the user needs to define the privacy policy. The instruction acceptance unit 116 confirms with the user whether to modify and reset the privacy policy (step S371). If the user selects to modify the privacy policy (YES in step S371), the control shifts to the privacy policy modification processing by the user (step S391). This modification processing is the same as the processing described in the policy modification processing of the personal information providing apparatus 200 according to the above exemplary embodiment illustrated in
On the other hand, unless the user selects the modification (NO in step S371), the instruction acceptance unit 116 causes the policy temporary registration unit 114 to delete the privacy policy, which has been temporarily registered in the policy temporary storage unit 104 (step S373). Then, the policy temporary registration unit 114 notifies the policy management unit 108 of the absence of the privacy policy, the information is recorded into the policy management table storage unit 106 (step S375), and this processing ends. This notifies the policy management unit 108 of the absence of the privacy policy for the requesting entity (step S377), and the information is used to determine whether access is enabled.
Although this exemplary embodiment describes a case where the temporarily-registered privacy policy is deleted from the policy temporary storage unit 104 unless the user selects the modification in this exemplary embodiment, the invention is not limited thereto. The privacy policy temporarily registered by the user may not be deleted, but the processing may end with the privacy policy temporarily registered as it is. In this instance, the consent to the privacy policy is suspended for the time being, and at the next time, the processing shifts from the above step S303 to step S351, thereby enabling confirmation with the user whether to consent to the temporarily-registered privacy policy.
On the other hand, if the user consent to the new privacy policy related to the personal information acquisition device 20x in step S315 (YES in step S315), the specification acceptance unit 302 accepts the specification of another personal information acquisition device 20 (assumed to be a personal information acquisition device 20y, here: a plurality of devices can be specified as the personal information acquisition device 20y) on which the new privacy policy related to the personal information acquisition device 20x is to be reflected. Then, the policy registration unit 118 registers the privacy policy, which has been temporarily registered in the policy temporary storage unit 104, as a privacy policy for the specified personal information acquisition devices 20x and 20y, into the policy storage unit 102 (step S317). At this time, the privacy policy temporarily registered in the policy temporary storage unit 104 is deleted.
In this manner, the user is able to reflect the setting of the new policy not only on the personal information acquisition device 20x, but also on another personal information acquisition device 20y by one-time operation processing in step S315. In this consent step S315, the user may consent to only a part of privacy policies and may suspend the consent to the remaining privacy policies. Thereafter, at the next time, the processing may shift from the above step S303 to step S351, thereby enabling confirmation with the user whether to consent to the temporarily-registered privacy policies.
Thereafter, the policy registration unit 118 notifies the policy management unit 108 of the information on the storage location of the privacy policy and the information is recorded into the policy management table storage unit 106 (step S319). This notifies the policy management unit 108 of the presence of the privacy policy for the requesting entity (step S321), and this information is used to determine whether access is enabled.
Further, if it is determined that the policy temporary storage unit 104 holds the privacy policy for the personal information acquisition device 20x, which has sent the received request message, in the determination of step S303 (“present in the policy storage unit” in step S303), the search unit 110 acquires the corresponding privacy policy from the policy temporary storage unit 104 on the basis of the acquired storage location of the privacy policy (step S351).
Then, the instruction acceptance unit 116 presents the privacy policy to the user terminal device 50 of the user and then sends an inquiry to the user about whether to consent to the use of the privacy policy in determination of whether to enable access to the personal information (step S353).
If the user consents (YES in step S353), the specification acceptance unit 302 accepts the specification of another personal information acquisition device 20y, on which the privacy policy related to the personal information acquisition device 20x is to be reflected. Then, the policy registration unit 118 registers the privacy policy, which has been temporarily registered in the policy temporary storage unit 104, as a privacy policy for the specified personal information acquisition devices 20x and 20y, into the policy storage unit 102 (step S355). At this time, the privacy policy temporarily registered in the policy temporary storage unit 104 is deleted.
In this manner, the user is able to cause the setting of the privacy policy to be reflected not only on the personal information acquisition device 20x, but also on another personal information acquisition device 20y by one-time operation processing in step S353.
Thereafter, the policy registration unit 118 notifies the policy management unit 108 of the information on the storage location of the privacy policy and the information is recorded into the policy management table storage unit 106 (step S357). This notifies the policy management unit 108 of the presence of the policy for the requesting entity, and the information is used to determine whether access is enabled. Then, the policy management unit 108 is notified of the presence of the privacy policy for the personal information acquisition devices 20x and 20y (step S359), and the information is used to determine whether access is enabled.
On the other hand, unless the user consents in step S353 (NO in step S353), the user needs to define the privacy policy. The subsequent processing is the same as the processing of the above step S371 and subsequent steps, and therefore the detailed description will be omitted here.
As described hereinabove, according to the personal information providing apparatus 400 of this exemplary embodiment, the user is able to cause the privacy policy set by the user to be reflected also on other privacy policies related to the user, thereby reducing the number of times for setting or altering the privacy policy.
Moreover, according to the personal information providing apparatus 400 of this exemplary embodiment, an update is not performed immediately after the privacy policy is altered, but the privacy policy is registered into the policy storage unit 102 only after the user's consent is obtained, thereby preventing a disclosure of the personal information against the user's intention. Further, the user is able to approve only privacy policies required at the present time among a plurality of devices and to suspend the approval for other privacy policies. This enables the user to confirm only the required privacy policies when needed.
In addition to the configuration of the personal information providing apparatus 400 of the above exemplary embodiment, the personal information acquiring and providing apparatus 500 of this exemplary embodiment further includes: a requesting unit (a personal information request generation unit 502 and a request transmission unit 504) that makes a request for the user's personal information to other personal information acquisition devices 20; and a receiving unit (a personal information receiving unit 506) that receives the user's personal information from other personal information providing apparatuses. More specifically, the personal information acquiring and providing apparatus 500 of this exemplary embodiment includes the personal information request generation unit 502, the request transmission unit 504, and the personal information receiving unit 506.
The personal information request generation unit 502 creates a request message for personal information to be sent to the personal information providing apparatus 400. The request transmission unit 504 transmits the message generated by the personal information request generation unit 502 to the personal information providing apparatus 400 via the network 30. The personal information receiving unit 506 receives the personal information from the personal information providing apparatus 400 via the network 30 and registers the personal information into the personal information storage device 92.
In this exemplary embodiment, the CPU of the personal information acquiring and providing apparatus 500 executes a computer program, thereby enabling the implementation of the respective functions of the above units 502 to 506.
Further, with the above configuration, a data processing method of the personal information acquiring and providing apparatus 500 of the personal information exchanging system 1100 according to this exemplary embodiment will be described below. Hereinafter,
The data processing method of the personal information acquiring and providing apparatus 500 according to this exemplary embodiment includes: requesting user's personal information from the personal information providing apparatus 400 (step S1201); and receiving the user's personal information from the personal information providing apparatus 400 (step S1203).
The operation of the personal information acquiring and providing apparatus 500 of this exemplary embodiment having the above configuration will be described below. Hereinafter,
First, the personal information request generation unit 502 of the personal information acquiring and providing apparatus 500 creates a message that requests personal information and the request transmission unit 504 sends the message to the personal information providing apparatus 400 (step S1201). Then, in the personal information providing apparatus 400, the request acceptance unit 402 (See
Then, in the personal information acquiring and providing apparatus 500, the personal information receiving unit 506 receives the personal information from the personal information providing apparatus 400 via the network 30 (step S1203) and then stores the personal information into the personal information storage device 92 (step S1205). Thereafter, the personal information acquisition device 20x transmits a request for the personal information to the personal information acquiring and providing apparatus 500 as needed (step S1101).
The personal information acquiring and providing apparatus 500 prepares the personal information in response to the request from the personal information acquisition device 20x(step S1207). Then, as described for the personal information providing apparatus 400 in the above exemplary embodiment, the providing unit 408 in
As described hereinabove, according to the personal information exchanging system 1100 of this exemplary embodiment, the device that has acquired personal information operates as a device that provides the personal information. Therefore, it is possible to save the effort of the user operation of registering personal information in respective devices and to simplify user processing. Moreover, the personal information providing apparatus does not need to concentrate on managing personal information, and therefore the personal information exchanging system 1100 is applicable to a distributed environment in which a plurality of devices manage personal information.
Although the preferred exemplary embodiments of the present invention have been described with reference to the drawings hereinabove, the above-described exemplary embodiments are merely illustrative of the present invention and various configurations other than the above can also be employed.
For example, in the personal information providing apparatus 100 according to the above exemplary embodiments, the policy registration unit 118 also may automatically use the modified privacy policy as a privacy policy for another personal information acquisition device 20, store the privacy policy modified as the privacy policy for another personal information acquisition device 20 into the policy storage unit 102, and notify the policy management unit 108 of the identification information on the privacy policy to record the identification information into the policy management table storage unit 106.
According to this configuration, the modified privacy policy is able to be automatically used for the privacy policy for another personal information acquisition device 20.
Hereinafter, working examples of the personal information exchanging system according to the present invention will be described with reference to
As illustrated in
For example, the travel-service portal site 602 and the rental car site 604 acquire the address or telephone number, which is user's contact information, by using personal information held by the ISP 606. In this exemplary embodiment, it is assumed that the ISP 606 previously has a privacy policy for the rental car site 604, but does not have a privacy policy set for the travel-service portal site 602. In this situation, the travel-service portal site 602 and the rental car site 604 acquire personal information.
First, the user (user ID: 0001) accesses the service of the travel-service portal site 602 via the user terminal device 600 and performs a travel reservation procedure (step S501 in
At this time, the policy management table storage unit 106 manages the privacy policy for each user, for example, as illustrated in
In this specification, it is assumed that the user sets the privacy policy by him- or herself. Then, the policy registration unit 118 (See
The information registered in the policy temporary storage unit 104 (See
Next, the ISP 606 determines whether to send a response to the personal information request from the travel-service portal site 602 on the basis of the privacy policy set by the user. If it is determined that the sending of the response is enabled, the ISP 606 sends the personal information (step S511). The travel-service portal site 602 that acquired the personal information provides the service to the user terminal device 600 (step S513).
Subsequently, the user accesses the rental car site 604 via the user terminal device 600 (step S515). This rental car site 604 requests personal information necessary to provide the user with the service from the ISP 606 (step S517). In the ISP 606, the request acceptance unit 402 (See
Since the privacy policy for the rental car site 604 is present in the policy temporary storage unit 104 (See
If the user consents, here, the ISP 606 registers the altered privacy policy in the policy storage unit 102 (See
Subsequently, another working example of the present invention will be described with reference to
As illustrated in
This working example shows processing in which a user accesses the shopping site 702 via the user terminal device 700, shops on the site by using personal information in the ISP 704, and makes a request to the carrier's terminal device 706 for delivering goods. In this working example, it is assumed that the ISP 704 previously has a privacy policy for the shopping site 702, but the shopping site 702 does not have a privacy policy for the carrier's terminal device 706. In this situation, the shopping site 702 acquires personal information from the ISP 704 and the carrier's terminal device 706 acquires the personal information from the shopping site 702.
First, the user (user ID: 0001) accesses the service of the shopping site 702 via the user terminal device 700 and buys goods (step S601 in
As illustrated in
Subsequently, the user accesses the carrier's terminal device 706 via the user terminal device 700 and makes a request to the carrier's terminal device 706 for delivering goods (step S609). This carrier's terminal device 706 requests personal information, such as a destination address, which is necessary to provide the user with the service, from the shopping site 702 (step S611). In the shopping site 702, the request acceptance unit 402 (See
If the user consents to providing the personal information on the basis of the new privacy policy, the shopping site 702 registers the privacy policy in the policy storage unit 102 (See
The present invention is applicable to uses such as a program for a device, which manages or uses personal information to set a privacy policy. Moreover, the present invention is also applicable to uses such as provisioning of a privacy policy in a portal service, which intensively manages personal information.
While the present invention has been described with reference to exemplary embodiments and working examples thereof, the invention is not limited to these exemplary embodiments and working examples. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications in form and details may be made therein without departing from the scope of the present invention as defined by the claims.
This application claims the right of priority based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2008-311966, filed on Dec. 8, 2008, which is herein incorporated in its entirety by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008-311966 | Dec 2008 | JP | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/JP2009/006518 | 12/1/2009 | WO | 00 | 6/7/2011 |
