Patent CA-2319871-A1 (CA)
Title: Internet privacy system
Inventor: CHESKO JEFF B
IPC: H04L29/06
Filed: 2000-09-15
Abstract: Described is an method and program (which, in the present embodiment is) attached to an internet navigation system or browser that automatically generates random search request outputs concurrently with actual search request outputs The method and program of generating random ficticious data concurrently with actual data for purposes of enhancing security and privacy on the internet will also be applicable to other operations and/or protocols (such as file transfers, data-base queries, web-crawler applications, etc.)-The randomly-generated search request outputs are initiated by the program concurrently with actual search requests generated by the user of the client computer. The program may also be configured to generate random search request outputs remotely at random tunes. The randomly-generated search request outputs adhere to the same protocol format as actual search request outputs and are therefore unidentifiable as randomly-generated search request outputs from the perspective of the server computer receiving the search request outputs. Profiling data based on search request outputs from the client computer (both randomly-generated and actual) will contain indistinguishable randomly-generated and actual data. The functional components of the system includes an algorithm for randomly generating and storing search terms, URL or IP addresses with properties which include authenticity so that they are indistinguishable from actual search terms and internet sites visited, history disk file, and user diagnostics for monitoring the I/O operations and adjusting the random generation of search request outputs. The method for generating random search request outputs may involve look-up tables, interfacing with multiple internet search engines, recursive techniques for making address lists, the use of a random number generator, etc.   When the browser program is originally launched and connected to the internet, a parallel session will be automatically launched which generates ficticious search and look-up requests which are interspersed among the actual search and look-up requests sent to the server computer through the client computer browser. Consequently, the permanent browser history (written to disk log files) of web site requests and other profilmg data will include both ficticious and actual data. The algorithm which generates ficticious search requests may include the list of old cookies, new cookies, wed site requests generated by search engines, random number generators, dictionary terms, look up tables, parsed phrases, etc. The functional operation of thus 'shadow' session will make it indistinguishable from the user's actual interactions and browsing preferences while operating a web session. The program will run diagnostics and allow the user to monitor I/O operations into the relevant files and the user may customize the configuration of the program to vary the number and characteristics of ficticious entries based upon requirements of privacy, data throughput, browser speed for the actual session while allowing the background (ficticious) session to successfully generate requests. The benefits of such a system will be enhanced internet privacy and security against programs which track, profile and target users based, upon their internet browsing data (for example, see US patents 6073241 and 6035332). The invention enhances the privacy and security of the user by camouflaging web search data making it making it difficult for others to definitively track a user's web search information.