Granted Patent B2

US 12,561,450 · App. 17/925,756 · Granted Feb 24, 2026

Inventors: Karn Seth (New York, NY); Benjamin R. Kreuter (Jersey City, NJ); John Mark Richter (Boulder, CO); Raimundo Mirisola (Los Angeles, CA); Evgeny Skvortsov (Kirkland, WA); Craig William Wright (Louisville, KY); Mariana Petrova Raykova (New York, NY)

Assignee: GOOGLE LLC

G06F21/602H04L9/0819

Abstract

Claims (71)

1 . A method, comprising:

receiving, at a first computing system, encrypted identifiers;

performing, by the first computing system, a concealing operation on the encrypted identifiers to produce concealed encrypted identifiers, wherein the concealing operation:

conceals the encrypted identifiers from the first computing system and a second computing system;

deterministically encrypting the encrypted identifiers with second encryption to produce the concealed encrypted identifiers; and

enables matching between the concealed encrypted identifiers;

decrypting, by the second computing system, the concealed encrypted identifiers to produce concealed identifiers;

analyzing, by the second computing system using one or more match rules, the concealed identifiers to generate one or more associations between the concealed identifiers, wherein the one or more match rules is based on a linking graph describing associations between a plurality of disparate identifiers; and

generating, by the second computing system, one or more universal identifiers based on the one or more associations.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the concealing operation includes shuffling the encrypted identifiers.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein analyzing the concealed identifiers includes:

matching one or more of the concealed identifiers to generate the one or more associations;

scoring the one or more associations using the one or more match rules; and

pruning the one or more associations based on the scoring.

4 . The method of claim 3 , wherein scoring the one or more associations includes:

determining a source of the one or more concealed identifiers associated with the one or more associations;

performing a lookup of the one or more match rules using the source; and

assigning a score to the one or more associations based on the lookup.

5 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

analyzing, by the second computing system using one or more different match rules, the concealed identifiers to generate a second set of one or more associations; and

selecting, by the second computing system, between the one or more associations generated using the one or more different match rules and the one or more associations generated using the one or more match rules.

6 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining a quality of the one or more associations; and

iteratively adjusting the one or more match rules based on the determined quality.

7 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

analyzing, by the second computing system using the one or more match rules, identifiers having known associations to generate one or more test associations;

comparing the known associations to the one or more test associations; and

updating the one or more match rules based on the comparison.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the first computing system or the second computing system is a distributed computing system.

9 . The method of claim 1 , the method further comprising:

updating the one or more match rules based on a quality measurement of the one or more universal identifiers.

10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the linking graph includes associations between encrypted identifiers and universal identifiers.

11 . A system for constructing a universal identifier, comprising:

a first computing system configured to:

receive encrypted identifiers; and

perform a concealing operation on the encrypted identifiers to produce concealed encrypted identifiers, wherein the concealing operation;

conceals the encrypted identifiers from the first computing system and a second computing system;

deterministically encrypting the encrypted identifiers with second encryption to produce the concealed encrypted identifiers; and

enables matching between the concealed encrypted identifiers; and the second computing system configured to:

decrypt the concealed encrypted identifiers to produce concealed identifiers;

analyze, using one or more match rules, the concealed identifiers to generate one or more associations between the concealed identifiers, wherein the one or more match rules is based on a linking graph describing associations between a plurality of disparate identifiers; and

generate one or more universal identifiers based on the one or more associations.

12 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the concealing operation includes shuffling the encrypted identifiers.

13 . The system of claim 11 , wherein analyzing the concealed identifiers includes:

matching one or more of the concealed identifiers to generate the one or more associations;

scoring the one or more associations using the one or more match rules; and

pruning the one or more associations based on the scoring.

14 . The system of claim 13 , wherein scoring the one or more associations includes:

determining a source of the one or more concealed identifiers associated with the one or more associations;

performing a lookup of the one or more match rules using the source; and

assigning a score to the one or more associations based on the lookup.

15 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the second computing system is further configured to:

analyze, using one or more different match rules, the concealed identifiers to generate a second set of one or more associations; and

select between the one or more associations generated using the one or more different match rules and the one or more associations generated using the one or more match rules.

16 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the second computing system is further configured to:

determine a quality of the one or more associations; and

iteratively adjust the one or more match rules based on the determined quality.

17 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the second computing system is further configured to:

analyze, using the one or more match rules, identifiers having known associations to generate one or more test associations;

compare the known associations to the one or more test associations; and

update the one or more match rules based on the comparison.

18 . The system of claim 11 , wherein at least one of the first computing system or the second computing system is a distributed computing system.

19 . One or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media having instructions stored thereon that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:

receive, from a first computing system, concealed encrypted identifiers having encrypted identifiers that are concealed from the first computing system and the one or more processors but enable matching between the concealed encrypted identifiers, wherein the concealed encrypted identifiers are produced by deterministically encrypting the encrypted identifiers with second encryption;

decrypt the concealed encrypted identifiers to produce concealed identifiers;

analyze, using one or more match rules, the concealed identifiers to generate one or more associations between the concealed identifiers, wherein the one or more match rules is based on a linking graph describing associations between a plurality of disparate identifiers; and

generate one or more universal identifiers based on the one or more associations.

20 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media of claim 19 , wherein analyzing the concealed identifiers includes:

matching one or more of the concealed identifiers to generate the one or more associations;

scoring the one or more associations using the one or more match rules; and

pruning the one or more associations based on the scoring.

Continuity (2)

References Cited (16)