Patent ID: 7996912
Filing Date: 2011-08-09
Classification: G06F,G06Q,H04L

Abstract:
1. A computer-implemented method for collecting network usage data about users accessing a network and resources thereon without associating personally identifiable information with the usage data, comprising: obtaining an identifier at a network service provider representing a user of a computer network; creating an anonymized identifier using the identifier obtained from the network service provider; associating the anonymized identifier with the user; identifying a network communication session between a host and the user; identifying a network request collected by the network service provider, the network request comprising a resource location identifier, the network request being determined to be related to the network communication session; stripping personally identifying data from the resource location identifier to create a modified resource location identifier, based on matching one or more patterns against the resource location identifier; recording, in a database, data associating the anonymized identifier with a subset of data related to the network communication session, the subset of data comprising the modified resource location identifier.