System and method for privacy aware information extraction and validation

1. A method comprising:

making a user interest determination, by a server of an online content system and using publicly-accessible data about a user, the user interest determination identifying a user interest of the user;

making a submission, by the online content system server and to a user-interest validation system of an online service provider, the user-interest validation system comprising a private data store of data about online activities of the user in connection with the online service provider, the submission comprising a request to confirm the user interest using the data of the private data store;

receiving, by the online content system server and from the user-interest validation system, a response to the request, the response indicating, without divulging any of the private data used to generate the response, an inconclusive result representing that the user interest determination made using the publicly-accessible data about the user is inconclusive in view of at least the private data;

in response to receiving the response indicating the inconclusive result, generating a content presentation designed to illicit information about the user's interest, the generating comprising using, by the online content system server, the user interest in selecting a content item associated with the user interest; and

providing, by the online content system server and to the user via a client computing device and an electronic communications network, a content presentation personalized for the user, the content presentation comprising the selected content item.

2. The method of claim 1 , determining the user interest further comprising:

identifying, by the online content system server and using the publicly-accessible data about the user, that the user interest determination is inconclusive in view of the publicly-accessible data about the user; and

the submission is made to the user-interest validation system in response to the determination indicating that the user interest of the user is inconclusive in view of the publicly-accessible data about the user.

3. The method of claim 2 , the user interest determination comprising a determination that the user has at least some interest in the user interest.

4. The method of claim 2 , the user interest determination comprising a strength determination indicating that a strength of the determination is neither strong nor weak.

5. The method of claim 4 , the strength determination further comprising a determination that the strength of the determination represents an edge case such that the strength of the determination lies between a strong-interest threshold indicative of a strong interest and a weak-interest threshold indicative of a weak interest.

6. The method of claim 1 , the inconclusive result representing that the user interest, identified using the publicly-accessible data about the user, is inconclusive in view of the private data is based on a strength determination that a strength of a determination made using the data of the private data store is neither strong nor weak.

7. The method of claim 6 , the strength determination further comprising a determination that the strength of the determination represents an edge case such that the strength of the determination lies between a strong-interest threshold indicative of a strong interest and a weak-interest threshold indicative of a weak interest.

8. The method of claim 1 , the private data store of data comprising electronic mail messages of the user, the response being based on contents of at least one of the electronic mail messages of the user.

9. The method of claim 1 , the response to the request received from the user-interest validation system is based on both the publicly-accessible data about the user and the data of the private data store.

10. The method of claim 1 , the online service provider providing both the online content system and the user-interest validation system.

11. The method of claim 1 , the online content system and the user-interest validation system are provided by different entities.

12. The method of claim 1 , the content presentation personalized for the user further comprising at least one item of content identified using a user interest conclusively determined to be of interest to the user.

13. A system comprising:

a processor;

a storage medium for tangibly storing thereon program logic for execution by the processor, the stored program logic comprising:

making logic executed by the processor for making a user interest determination, using publicly-accessible data about a user, the user interest determination identifying a user interest of the user;

making logic executed by the processor for making a submission, to a user-interest validation system of an online service provider, the user-interest validation system comprising a private data store of data about online activities of the user in connection with the online service provider, the submission comprising a request to confirm the user interest using the data of the private data store;

receiving logic executed by the processor for receiving, from the user-interest validation system, a response to the request, the response indicating, without divulging any of the private data used to generate the response, an inconclusive result representing that the user interest determination made using the publicly-accessible data about the user is inconclusive in view of at least the private data;

generating logic executed by the processor for generating, in response to receiving the response indicating the inconclusive result, a content presentation designed to illicit information about the user's interest, the generating comprising using, by the online content system server, the user interest in selecting a content item associated with the user interest; and

providing logic executed by the processor for providing, to the user via a client computing device and an electronic communications network, a content presentation personalized for the user, the content presentation comprising the selected content item.

14. The system of claim 13 , determining the user interest further comprising:

identifying logic executed by the processor for identifying, using publicly-accessible data about the user, that the user interest determination is inconclusive in view of the publicly-accessible data about the user; and

the submission is made to the user-interest validation system, of an online service provider, in response to the determination indicating that the user interest of the user is inconclusive in view of the publicly-accessible data about the user.

15. The system of claim 14 , the user interest determination comprising a determination that the user has at least some interest in the user interest.

16. The system of claim 14 , the user interest determination comprising a strength determination indicating that a strength of the determination is neither strong nor weak.

17. The system of claim 16 , the strength determination further comprising a determination that the strength of the determination represents an edge case such that the strength of the determination lies between a strong-interest threshold indicative of a strong interest and a weak-interest threshold indicative of a weak interest.

18. The system of claim 13 , the inconclusive result representing that the user interest, identified using the publicly-accessible data about the user, is inconclusive in view of the private data is based on a determination that a strength of a determination made using the data of the private data store is neither strong nor weak.

19. The system of claim 13 , the private data store of data comprising electronic mail messages of the user, the response being based on content of at least one of the electronic mail messages of the user.

20. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium for tangibly storing thereon computer readable instructions, that when executed by an online content system server, perform a method comprising:

making a user interest determination, using publicly-accessible data about a user, the user interest determination identifying a user interest of the user;

making a submission, to a user-interest validation system of an online service provider, the user-interest validation system comprising a private data store of data about online activities of the user in connection with the online service provider, the submission comprising a request to confirm the user interest using the data of the private data store;

receiving, from the user-interest validation system, a response to the request, the response indicating, without divulging any of the private data used to generate the response, an inconclusive result representing that the user interest determination made using the publicly-accessible data about the user is inconclusive in view of at least the private data;

generating, in response to receiving the response indicating the inconclusive result, a content presentation designed to illicit information about the user's interest, the generating comprising using, by the online content system server, the user interest in selecting a content item associated with the user interest; and

providing, to the user via a client computing device and an electronic communications network, a content presentation personalized for the user, the content presentation comprising the selected content item.