Dual blind method and system for attributing activity to a user
A method and system for attributing activity to a user includes sharing information with an analytics server while attributes and a user profile cannot be tracked back to the original user from the analytics server. A temporary ID included in the shared information is destroyed, thus eliminating any trace back.
1. A computer-implemented method for attributing activity to a user, comprising the steps of:
sending from a first content provider in response to a first request for content from a user browser executing on a user device, requested content and a first identification (ID) to the user browser, the first ID capable of being stored on the user device;
receiving a second request for content at a second content provider from the user browser, the second request including user identification information, the second content provider:
retrieving attributes associated with the user identification information from an attribute server;
generating a temporary ID;
sending the attributes and the temporary ID to an analytics server;
sending a response to the user browser, the response including the temporary ID and an instruction to provide a user profile server with the first ID and the temporary ID;
receiving a user profile associated with the first ID and the temporary ID from the user profile server at the analytics server; and
using the temporary ID to associate the attributes with the user profile at the analytics server.
2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the analytics server performing the steps of:
generating a second ID and associating the second ID with the user profile and corresponding attributes; and
destroying the temporary ID.
3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the step of generating the second ID further comprises performing a one-way function on the temporary ID combined with a predetermined value that is destroyed after a predetermined period of time.
4. The method of claim 2 , wherein the analytics server generates the second ID immediately upon receipt of the attributes from the second content provider and destroys the temporary ID.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second content provider and the attribute server share a user ID associated with the user identification information, and the step of generating the temporary ID further comprises performing a one-way function on the user ID.
6. The method of claim 1 wherein the temporary ID is unique to the user browser for a predetermined period of time.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of retrieving attributes associated with the user identification information from the attribute server further comprises the steps of:
sending, by the second content provider, an instruction to the user browser to request the attributes associated with the user identification information from the attribute server;
retrieving, by the user browser, the attributes associated with the user identification information from the attribute server.
8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the step of sending the attributes and the temporary ID to the analytics server, further comprises the steps of;
sending the attributes and the temporary ID from the second content provider to the user browser; and
sending the attributes and the temporary ID from the user computer to the analytics server.
9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first content provider and the user profile server are the same computer.
10. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
using the temporary ID to merge user profile data from the user profile server and attributes from the attribute server; and
generating an entry of data from the merged information to update a set of data summaries, the summaries maintaining a tally of statistics based on received data while destroying the source data.
11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second content provider and the attribute server share a user ID associated with the user identification information, further comprising the steps of:
sending, by way of the user browser, the user ID and the temporary ID to the attribute server; and
sending, by the attribute server, the attributes associated with the user as well as the temporary ID.
12. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the steps of:
merging, by the analytics server, the attributes and the user profile data;
sending, by the analytics server, the merged attributes and use profile data to an additional server.
13. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the steps of:
generating a second temporary ID and a third temporary ID; and
sending the second temporary ID and the third temporary ID to the analytics server.
14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the second temporary ID and the third temporary ID are created by using encryption of the temporary ID and the method further comprises the step of decrypting, by the analytics server, the second and third temporary IDs to obtain the temporary ID.
15. A computer-implemented method for attributing activity to a user, comprising the steps of:
sending from a first content provider in response to a first request for content from a user browser executing on a user device, requested content and a first identification (ID) to the user browser, the first ID capable of being stored on the user device;
receiving a second request for content at a second content provider from the user browser, the second request including user identification information, the second content provider:
retrieving attributes associated with the user identification information from an attribute server;
generating a temporary ID;
sending the attributes and the temporary ID to an analytics server;
sending a response to the user browser, the response including the temporary ID and an instruction to provide a user profile server with the first ID and the temporary ID;
receiving a user profile associated with the first ID and the temporary ID from the user profile server at the analytics server;
using the temporary ID to associate the attributes with the user profile at the analytics server;
generating, by the analytics server, a second ID and associating the second ID with the user profile and corresponding attributes;
destroying, by the analytics server, the temporary ID; and
wherein the second content provider and the attribute server share a user ID associated with the user identification information, and the step of generating the temporary ID further comprises performing a one-way function on the user ID.
16. A computer-implemented method for attributing activity to a user, comprising the steps of:
sending from a first content provider in response to a first request for content from a user browser executing on a user device, requested content and a first identification (ID) to the user browser, the first ID capable of being stored on the user device;
receiving a second request for content at a second content provider from the user browser, the second request including user identification information, the second content provider:
retrieving attributes associated with the user identification information from an attribute server;
generating a temporary ID;
sending the attributes and the temporary ID to an analytics server;
sending a response to the user browser, the response including the temporary ID and an instruction to provide a user profile server with the first ID and the temporary ID;
receiving a user profile associated with the first ID and the temporary ID from the user profile server at the analytics server;
using the temporary ID to associate the attributes with the user profile at the analytics server;
wherein the second content provider and the attribute server share a user ID associated with the user identification information, and the step of generating the temporary ID further comprises performing a one-way function on the user ID, and
wherein the temporary ID is unique to the user browser for a predetermined period of time.