Patent ID: 12229303

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present disclosure will now be described in detail by describing various illustrative, non-limiting embodiments thereof with reference to the accompanying drawings and exhibits. The disclosure may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as being limited to the illustrative embodiments set forth herein. Rather, the embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and will fully convey the concept of the disclosure to those skilled in the art.

The subject-matter of the present application may be employed in association with a variety of applications and in a variety of domains. As an example, the subject-matter of the present application may be employed for controlling and coordinating the execution of data erasure requests in e-commerce platforms. As such, while e-commerce is merely an example application domain for the subject-matter of the present application, an example e-commerce platform will now be described with reference toFIGS.1and2.

With reference toFIG.1, an embodiment e-commerce platform100is depicted for providing merchant products and services to customers. While the disclosure throughout contemplates using the apparatus, system, and process disclosed to purchase products and services, for simplicity the description herein will refer to products. All references to products throughout this disclosure should also be understood to be references to products and/or services, including physical products, digital content, tickets, subscriptions, services to be provided, and the like.

While the disclosure throughout contemplates that a ‘merchant’ and a ‘customer’ may be more than individuals, for simplicity the description herein may generally refer to merchants and customers as such. All references to merchants and customers throughout this disclosure should also be understood to be references to groups of individuals, companies, corporations, computing entities, and the like, and may represent for-profit or not-for-profit exchange of products. Further, while the disclosure throughout refers to ‘merchants’ and ‘customers’, and describes their roles as such, the e-commerce platform100should be understood to more generally support users in an e-commerce environment, and all references to merchants and customers throughout this disclosure should also be understood to be references to users, such as where a user is a merchant-user (e.g., a seller, retailer, wholesaler, or provider of products), a customer-user (e.g., a buyer, purchase agent, or user of products), a prospective user (e.g., a user browsing and not yet committed to a purchase, a user evaluating the e-commerce platform100for potential use in marketing and selling products, and the like), a service provider user (e.g., a shipping provider112, a financial provider, and the like), a company or corporate user (e.g., a company representative for purchase, sales, or use of products; an enterprise user; a customer relations or customer management agent, and the like), an information technology user, a computing entity user (e.g., a computing bot for purchase, sales, or use of products), and the like.

The e-commerce platform100may provide a centralized system for providing merchants with online resources and facilities for managing their business. The facilities described herein may be deployed in part or in whole through a machine that executes computer software, modules, program codes, and/or instructions on one or more processors which may be part of or external to the platform100. Merchants may utilize the e-commerce platform100for managing commerce with customers, such as by implementing an e-commerce experience with customers through an online store138, through channels110A-B, through POS device152in physical locations (e.g., a physical storefront or other location such as through a kiosk, terminal, reader, printer, 3D printer, and the like), by managing their business through the e-commerce platform100, and by interacting with customers through a communications facility129of the e-commerce platform100, or any combination thereof. A merchant may utilize the e-commerce platform100as a sole commerce presence with customers, or in conjunction with other merchant commerce facilities, such as through a physical store (e.g., ‘brick-and-mortar’ retail stores), a merchant off-platform website104(e.g., a commerce Internet website or other internet or web property or asset supported by or on behalf of the merchant separately from the e-commerce platform), and the like. However, even these ‘other’ merchant commerce facilities may be incorporated into the e-commerce platform, such as where POS devices152in a physical store of a merchant are linked into the e-commerce platform100, where a merchant off-platform website104is tied into the e-commerce platform100, such as through ‘buy buttons’ that link content from the merchant off platform website104to the online store138, and the like.

The online store138may represent a multitenant facility comprising a plurality of virtual storefronts. In embodiments, merchants may manage one or more storefronts in the online store138, such as through a merchant device102(e.g., computer, laptop computer, mobile computing device, and the like), and offer products to customers through a number of different channels110A-B (e.g., an online store138; a physical storefront through a POS device152; electronic marketplace, through an electronic buy button integrated into a website or social media channel such as on a social network, social media page, social media messaging system; and the like). A merchant may sell across channels110A-B and then manage their sales through the e-commerce platform100, where channels110A may be provided internal to the e-commerce platform100or from outside the e-commerce channel110B. A merchant may sell in their physical retail store, at pop ups, through wholesale, over the phone, and the like, and then manage their sales through the e-commerce platform100. A merchant may employ all or any combination of these, such as maintaining a business through a physical storefront utilizing POS devices152, maintaining a virtual storefront through the online store138, and utilizing a communication facility129to leverage customer interactions and analytics132to improve the probability of sales. Throughout this disclosure the terms online store138and storefront may be used synonymously to refer to a merchant's online e-commerce offering presence through the e-commerce platform100, where an online store138may refer to the multitenant collection of storefronts supported by the e-commerce platform100(e.g., for a plurality of merchants) or to an individual merchant's storefront (e.g., a merchant's online store).

In embodiments, a customer may interact through a customer device150(e.g., computer, laptop computer, mobile computing device, and the like), a POS device152(e.g., retail device, a kiosk, an automated checkout system, and the like), or any other commerce interface device known in the art. The e-commerce platform100may enable merchants to reach customers through the online store138, through POS devices152in physical locations (e.g., a merchant's storefront or elsewhere), to promote commerce with customers through dialog via electronic communication facility129, and the like, providing a system for reaching customers and facilitating merchant services for the real or virtual pathways available for reaching and interacting with customers.

In embodiments, and as described further herein, the e-commerce platform100may be implemented through a processing facility including a processor and a memory, the processing facility storing a set of instructions that, when executed, cause the e-commerce platform100to perform the e-commerce and support functions as described herein. The processing facility may be part of a server, client, network infrastructure, mobile computing platform, cloud computing platform, stationary computing platform, or other computing platform, and provide electronic connectivity and communications between and amongst the electronic components of the e-commerce platform100, merchant devices102, payment gateways106, application developers, channels110A-B, shipping providers112, customer devices150, point of sale devices152, and the like. The e-commerce platform100may be implemented as a cloud computing service, a software as a service (SaaS), infrastructure as a service (IaaS), platform as a service (PaaS), desktop as a Service (DaaS), managed software as a service (MSaaS), mobile backend as a service (MBaaS), information technology management as a service (ITMaaS), and the like, such as in a software and delivery model in which software is licensed on a subscription basis and centrally hosted (e.g., accessed by users using a client (for example, a thin client) via a web browser or other application, accessed through by POS devices, and the like). In embodiments, elements of the e-commerce platform100may be implemented to operate on various platforms and operating systems, such as iOS, Android, on the web, and the like (e.g., the administrator114being implemented in multiple instances for a given online store for iOS, Android, and for the web, each with similar functionality).

In embodiments, the online store138may be served to a customer device150through a webpage provided by a server of the e-commerce platform100. The server may receive a request for the webpage from a browser or other application installed on the customer device150, where the browser (or other application) connects to the server through an IP Address, the IP address obtained by translating a domain name. In return, the server sends back the requested webpage. Webpages may be written in or include Hypertext Markup Language (HTML), template language, JavaScript, and the like, or any combination thereof. For instance, HTML is a computer language that describes static information for the webpage, such as the layout, format, and content of the webpage. Website designers and developers may use the template language to build webpages that combine static content, which is the same on multiple pages, and dynamic content, which changes from one page to the next. A template language may make it possible to re-use the static elements that define the layout of a webpage, while dynamically populating the page with data from an online store. The static elements may be written in HTML, and the dynamic elements written in the template language. The template language elements in a file may act as placeholders, such that the code in the file is compiled and sent to the customer device150and then the template language is replaced by data from the online store138, such as when a theme is installed. The template and themes may consider tags, objects, and filters. The client device web browser (or other application) then renders the page accordingly.

In embodiments, online stores138may be served by the e-commerce platform100to customers, where customers can browse and purchase the various products available (e.g., add them to a cart, purchase immediately through a buy-button, and the like). Online stores138may be served to customers in a transparent fashion without customers necessarily being aware that it is being provided through the e-commerce platform100(rather than directly from the merchant). Merchants may use a merchant configurable domain name, a customizable HTML theme, and the like, to customize their online store138. Merchants may customize the look and feel of their website through a theme system, such as where merchants can select and change the look and feel of their online store138by changing their theme while having the same underlying product and business data shown within the online store's product hierarchy. Themes may be further customized through a theme editor, a design interface that enables users to customize their website's design with flexibility. Themes may also be customized using theme-specific settings that change aspects, such as specific colors, fonts, and pre-built layout schemes. The online store may implement a content management system for website content. Merchants may author pages and publish them to their online store138, such as through blogs, articles, and the like, as well as configure navigation menus. Merchants may upload images (e.g., for products), video, content, data, and the like to the e-commerce platform100, such as for storage by the system (e.g. as data134). In embodiments, the e-commerce platform100may provide functions for resizing images, associating an image with a product, adding and associating text with an image, adding an image for a new product variant, protecting images, and the like.

As described herein, the e-commerce platform100may provide merchants with transactional facilities for products through a number of different channels110A-B, including the online store138, over the telephone, as well as through physical POS devices152as described herein. The e-commerce platform100may include business support services116, an administrator114, and the like associated with running an on-line business, such as providing a domain service118associated with their online store, payment services120for facilitating transactions with a customer, shipping services122for providing customer shipping options for purchased products, risk and insurance services124associated with product protection and liability, merchant billing, and the like. Services116may be provided via the e-commerce platform100or in association with external facilities, such as through a payment gateway106for payment processing, shipping providers112for expediting the shipment of products, and the like.

In embodiments, the e-commerce platform100may provide for integrated shipping services122(e.g., through an e-commerce platform shipping facility or through a third-party shipping carrier), such as providing merchants with real-time updates, tracking, automatic rate calculation, bulk order preparation, label printing, and the like.

FIG.2, which will be described with further reference toFIG.1, depicts a non-limiting embodiment for a home page of an administrator114, which may show information about daily tasks, a store's recent activity, and the next steps a merchant can take to build their business. In embodiments, a merchant may log in to administrator114via a merchant device102such as from a desktop computer or mobile device, and manage aspects of their online store138, such as viewing the online store's138recent activity, updating the online store's138catalog, managing orders, recent visits activity, total orders activity, and the like. In embodiments, the merchant may be able to access the different sections of administrator114by using the sidebar. Sections of the administrator114may include various interfaces for accessing and managing core aspects of a merchant's business, including orders, products, customers, available reports and discounts. The administrator114may also include interfaces for managing sales channels for a store including the online store, mobile application(s) made available to customers for accessing the store (Mobile App), POS devices, and/or a buy button. The administrator114may also include interfaces for managing applications (Apps) installed on the merchant's account; settings applied to a merchant's online store138and account. A merchant may use a search bar to find products, pages, or other information. Depending on the device102or software application the merchant is using, they may be enabled for different functionality through the administrator114. For instance, if a merchant logs in to the administrator114from a browser, they may be able to manage all aspects of their online store138. If the merchant logs in from their mobile device (e.g. via a mobile application), they may be able to view all or a subset of the aspects of their online store138, such as viewing the online store's138recent activity, updating the online store's138catalog, managing orders, and the like.

More detailed information about commerce and visitors to a merchant's online store138may be viewed through acquisition reports or metrics, such as displaying a sales summary for the merchant's overall business, specific sales and engagement data for active sales channels, and the like. Reports may include, acquisition reports, behavior reports, customer reports, finance reports, marketing reports, sales reports, custom reports, and the like. The merchant may be able to view sales data for different channels110A-B from different periods of time (e.g., days, weeks, months, and the like), such as by using drop-down menus. An overview dashboard may be provided for a merchant that wants a more detailed view of the store's sales and engagement data. An activity feed in the home metrics section may be provided to illustrate an overview of the activity on the merchant's account. For example, by clicking on a ‘view all recent activity’ dashboard button, the merchant may be able to see a longer feed of recent activity on their account. A home page may show notifications about the merchant's online store138, such as based on account status, growth, recent customer activity, and the like. Notifications may be provided to assist a merchant with navigating through a process, such as capturing a payment, marking an order as fulfilled, archiving an order that is complete, and the like.

The e-commerce platform100may provide for a communications facility129and associated merchant interface for providing electronic communications and marketing, such as utilizing an electronic messaging aggregation facility for collecting and analyzing communication interactions between merchants, customers, merchant devices102, customer devices150, POS devices152, and the like, to aggregate and analyze the communications, such as for increasing the potential for providing a sale of a product, and the like. For instance, a customer may have a question related to a product, which may produce a dialog between the customer and the merchant (or automated processor-based agent representing the merchant), where the communications facility129analyzes the interaction and provides analysis to the merchant on how to improve the probability for a sale.

The e-commerce platform100may provide a financial facility120for secure financial transactions with customers, such as through a secure card server environment. The e-commerce platform100may store credit card information, such as in payment card industry data (PCI) environments (e.g., a card server), to reconcile financials, bill merchants, perform automated clearing house (ACH) transfers between an e-commerce platform100financial institution account and a merchant's bank account (e.g., when using capital), and the like. These systems may have Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) compliance and a high level of diligence required in their development and operation. The financial facility120may also provide merchants with financial support, such as through the lending of capital (e.g., lending funds, cash advances, and the like) and provision of insurance. In addition, the e-commerce platform100may provide for a set of marketing and partner services and control the relationship between the e-commerce platform100and partners. They also may connect and onboard new merchants with the e-commerce platform100. These services may enable merchant growth by making it easier for merchants to work across the e-commerce platform100. Through these services, merchants may be provided help facilities via the e-commerce platform100.

In embodiments, online store138may support a great number of independently administered storefronts and process a large volume of transactional data on a daily basis for a variety of products. Transactional data may include customer contact information, billing information, shipping information, information on products purchased, information on services rendered, and any other information associated with business through the e-commerce platform100. In embodiments, the e-commerce platform100may store this data in a data facility134. The transactional data may be processed to produce analytics132, which in turn may be provided to merchants or third-party commerce entities, such as providing consumer trends, marketing and sales insights, recommendations for improving sales, evaluation of customer behaviors, marketing and sales modeling, trends in fraud, and the like, related to online commerce, and provided through dashboard interfaces, through reports, and the like. The e-commerce platform100may store information about business and merchant transactions, and the data facility134may have many ways of enhancing, contributing, refining, and extracting data, where over time the collected data may enable improvements to aspects of the e-commerce platform100.

Referring again toFIG.1in embodiments the e-commerce platform100may be configured with a commerce management engine136for content management, task automation and data management to enable support and services to the plurality of online stores138(e.g., related to products, inventory, customers, orders, collaboration, suppliers, reports, financials, risk and fraud, and the like), but be extensible through applications142A-B that enable greater flexibility and custom processes required for accommodating an ever-growing variety of merchant online stores, POS devices, products, and services, where applications142A may be provided internal to the e-commerce platform100or applications142B from outside the e-commerce platform100. In embodiments, an application142A may be provided by the same party providing the platform100or by a different party. In embodiments, an application142B may be provided by the same party providing the platform100or by a different party. The commerce management engine136may be configured for flexibility and scalability through portioning (e.g., sharding) of functions and data, such as by customer identifier, order identifier, online store identifier, and the like. The commerce management engine136may accommodate store-specific business logic and in some embodiments, may incorporate the administrator114and/or the online store138.

The commerce management engine136includes base or “core” functions of the e-commerce platform100, and as such, as described herein, not all functions supporting online stores138may be appropriate for inclusion. For instance, functions for inclusion into the commerce management engine136may need to exceed a core functionality threshold through which it may be determined that the function is core to a commerce experience (e.g., common to a majority of online store activity, such as across channels, administrator interfaces, merchant locations, industries, product types, and the like), is re-usable across online stores138(e.g., functions that can be re-used/modified across core functions), limited to the context of a single online store138at a time (e.g., implementing an online store ‘isolation principle’, where code should not be able to interact with multiple online stores138at a time, ensuring that online stores138cannot access each other's data), provide a transactional workload, and the like. Maintaining control of what functions are implemented may enable the commerce management engine136to remain responsive, as many required features are either served directly by the commerce management engine136or enabled through an interface140A-B, such as by its extension through an application programming interface (API) connection to applications142A-B and channels110A-B, where interfaces140A may be provided to applications142A and/or channels110A inside the e-commerce platform100or through interfaces140B provided to applications142B and/or channels110B outside the e-commerce platform100. Generally, the platform100may include interfaces140A-B (which may be extensions, connectors, APIs, and the like) which facilitate connections to and communications with other platforms, systems, software, data sources, code and the like. Such interfaces140A-B may be an interface140A of the commerce management engine136or an interface140B of the platform100more generally. If care is not given to restricting functionality in the commerce management engine136, responsiveness could be compromised, such as through infrastructure degradation through slow databases or non-critical backend failures, through catastrophic infrastructure failure such as with a data center going offline, through new code being deployed that takes longer to execute than expected, and the like. To prevent or mitigate these situations, the commerce management engine136may be configured to maintain responsiveness, such as through configuration that utilizes timeouts, queues, back-pressure to prevent degradation, and the like.

Although isolating online store data is important to maintaining data privacy between online stores138and merchants, there may be reasons for collecting and using cross-store data, such as for example, with an order risk assessment system or a platform payment facility, both of which require information from multiple online stores138to perform well. In embodiments, rather than violating the isolation principle, it may be preferred to move these components out of the commerce management engine136and into their own infrastructure within the e-commerce platform100.

In embodiments, the e-commerce platform100may provide for a platform payment facility120, which is another example of a component that utilizes data from the commerce management engine136but may be located outside so as to not violate the isolation principle. The platform payment facility120may allow customers interacting with online stores138to have their payment information stored safely by the commerce management engine136such that they only have to enter it once. When a customer visits a different online store138, even if they've never been there before, the platform payment facility120may recall their information to enable a more rapid and correct check out. This may provide a cross-platform network effect, where the e-commerce platform100becomes more useful to its merchants as more merchants join, such as because there are more customers who checkout more often because of the ease of use with respect to customer purchases. To maximize the effect of this network, payment information for a given customer may be retrievable from an online store's checkout, allowing information to be made available globally across online stores138. It would be difficult and error prone for each online store138to be able to connect to any other online store138to retrieve the payment information stored there. As a result, the platform payment facility may be implemented external to the commerce management engine136.

For those functions that are not included within the commerce management engine136, applications142A-B provide a way to add features to the e-commerce platform100. Applications142A-B may be able to access and modify data on a merchant's online store138, perform tasks through the administrator114, create new flows for a merchant through a user interface (e.g., that is surfaced through extensions/API), and the like. Merchants may be enabled to discover and install applications142A-B through application search, recommendations, and support128. In embodiments, core products, core extension points, applications, and the administrator114may be developed to work together. For instance, application extension points may be built inside the administrator114so that core features may be extended by way of applications, which may deliver functionality to a merchant through the extension.

In embodiments, applications142A-B may deliver functionality to a merchant through the interface140A-B, such as where an application142A-B is able to surface transaction data to a merchant (e.g., App: “Engine, surface my app data in mobile and web admin using the embedded app SDK”), and/or where the commerce management engine136is able to ask the application to perform work on demand (Engine: “App, give me a local tax calculation for this checkout”).

Applications142A-B may support online stores138and channels110A-B, provide for merchant support, integrate with other services, and the like. Where the commerce management engine136may provide the foundation of services to the online store138, the applications142A-B may provide a way for merchants to satisfy specific and sometimes unique needs. Different merchants will have different needs, and so may benefit from different applications142A-B. Applications142A-B may be better discovered through the e-commerce platform100through development of an application taxonomy (categories) that enable applications to be tagged according to a type of function it performs for a merchant; through application data services that support searching, ranking, and recommendation models; through application discovery interfaces such as an application store, home information cards, an application settings page; and the like.

Applications142A-B may be connected to the commerce management engine136through an interface140A-B, such as utilizing APIs to expose the functionality and data available through and within the commerce management engine136to the functionality of applications (e.g., through REST, GraphQL, and the like). For instance, the e-commerce platform100may provide API interfaces140A-B to merchant and partner-facing products and services, such as including application extensions, process flow services, developer-facing resources, and the like. With customers more frequently using mobile devices for shopping, applications142A-B related to mobile use may benefit from more extensive use of APIs to support the related growing commerce traffic. The flexibility offered through use of applications and APIs (e.g., as offered for application development) enable the e-commerce platform100to better accommodate new and unique needs of merchants (and internal developers through internal APIs) without requiring constant change to the commerce management engine136, thus providing merchants what they need when they need it. For instance, shipping services122may be integrated with the commerce management engine136through a shipping or carrier service API, thus enabling the e-commerce platform100to provide shipping service functionality without directly impacting code running in the commerce management engine136.

Many merchant problems may be solved by letting partners improve and extend merchant workflows through application development, such as problems associated with back-office operations (merchant-facing applications142A-B) and in the online store138(customer-facing applications142A-B). As a part of doing business, many merchants will use mobile and web related applications on a daily basis for back-office tasks (e.g., merchandising, inventory, discounts, fulfillment, and the like) and online store tasks (e.g., applications related to their online shop, for flash-sales, new product offerings, and the like), where applications142A-B, through extension/API140A-B, help make products easy to view and purchase in a fast growing marketplace. In embodiments, partners, application developers, internal applications facilities, and the like, may be provided with a software development kit (SDK), such as through creating a frame within the administrator114that sandboxes an application interface. In embodiments, the administrator114may not have control over nor be aware of what happens within the frame. The SDK may be used in conjunction with a user interface kit to produce interfaces that mimic the look and feel of the e-commerce platform100, such as acting as an extension of the commerce management engine136.

Applications142A-B that utilize APIs may pull data on demand, but often they also need to have data pushed when updates occur. Update events may be implemented in a subscription model, such as for example, customer creation, product changes, or order cancelation. Update events may provide merchants with needed updates with respect to a changed state of the commerce management engine136, such as for synchronizing a local database, notifying an external integration partner, and the like. Update events may enable this functionality without having to poll the commerce management engine136all the time to check for updates, such as through an update event subscription. In embodiments, when a change related to an update event subscription occurs, the commerce management engine136may make a request, such as to a predefined callback URL. The body of this request may contain a new state of the object and a description of the action or event. Update event subscriptions may be created manually, in the administrator facility114, or automatically (e.g., via the API140A-B). In embodiments, update events may be queued and processed asynchronously from a state change that triggered them, which may produce an update event notification that is not distributed in real-time.

In embodiments, the e-commerce platform100may provide application search, recommendation and support128. Application search, recommendation and support128may include developer products and tools to aid in the development of applications, an application dashboard (e.g., to provide developers with a development interface, to administrators for management of applications, to merchants for customization of applications, and the like), facilities for installing and providing permissions with respect to providing access to an application142A-B (e.g., for public access, such as where criteria must be met before being installed, or for private use by a merchant), application searching to make it easy for a merchant to search for applications142A-B that satisfy a need for their online store138, application recommendations to provide merchants with suggestions on how they can improve the user experience through their online store138, a description of core application capabilities within the commerce management engine136, and the like. These support facilities may be utilized by application development performed by any entity, including the merchant developing their own application142A-B, a third-party developer developing an application142A-B (e.g., contracted by a merchant, developed on their own to offer to the public, contracted for use in association with the e-commerce platform100, and the like), or an application142A or142B being developed by internal personal resources associated with the e-commerce platform100. In embodiments, applications142A-B may be assigned an application identifier (ID), such as for linking to an application (e.g., through an API), searching for an application, making application recommendations, and the like.

The commerce management engine136may include base functions of the e-commerce platform100and expose these functions through APIs140A-B to applications142A-B. The APIs140A-B may enable different types of applications built through application development. Applications142A-B may be capable of satisfying a great variety of needs for merchants but may be grouped roughly into three categories: customer-facing applications, merchant-facing applications, integration applications, and the like. Customer-facing applications142A-B may include online store138or channels110A-B that are places where merchants can list products and have them purchased (e.g., the online store, applications for flash sales (e.g., merchant products or from opportunistic sales opportunities from third-party sources), a mobile store application, a social media channel, an application for providing wholesale purchasing, and the like). Merchant-facing applications142A-B may include applications that allow the merchant to administer their online store138(e.g., through applications related to the web or website or to mobile devices), run their business (e.g., through applications related to POS devices), to grow their business (e.g., through applications related to shipping (e.g., drop shipping), use of automated agents, use of process flow development and improvements), and the like. Integration applications may include applications that provide useful integrations that participate in the running of a business, such as shipping providers112and payment gateways.

In embodiments, an application developer may use an application proxy to fetch data from an outside location and display it on the page of an online store138. Content on these proxy pages may be dynamic, capable of being updated, and the like. Application proxies may be useful for displaying image galleries, statistics, custom forms, and other kinds of dynamic content. The core-application structure of the e-commerce platform100may allow for an increasing number of merchant experiences to be built in applications142A-B so that the commerce management engine136can remain focused on the more commonly utilized business logic of commerce.

The e-commerce platform100provides an online shopping experience through a curated system architecture that enables merchants to connect with customers in a flexible and transparent manner. A typical customer experience may be better understood through an embodiment example purchase workflow, where the customer browses the merchant's products on a channel110A-B, adds what they intend to buy to their cart, proceeds to checkout, and pays for the content of their cart resulting in the creation of an order for the merchant. The merchant may then review and fulfill (or cancel) the order. The product is then delivered to the customer. If the customer is not satisfied, they might return the products to the merchant.

In an example embodiment, a customer may browse a merchant's products on a channel110A-B. A channel110A-B is a place where customers can view and buy products. In embodiments, channels110A-B may be modeled as applications142A-B (a possible exception being the online store138, which is integrated within the commence management engine136). A merchandising component may allow merchants to describe what they want to sell and where they sell it. The association between a product and a channel may be modeled as a product publication and accessed by channel applications, such as via a product listing API. A product may have many options, like size and color, and many variants that expand the available options into specific combinations of all the options, like the variant that is extra-small and green, or the variant that is size large and blue. Products may have at least one variant (e.g., a “default variant” is created for a product without any options). To facilitate browsing and management, products may be grouped into collections, provided product identifiers (e.g., stock keeping unit (SKU)) and the like. Collections of products may be built by either manually categorizing products into one (e.g., a custom collection), by building rulesets for automatic classification (e.g., a smart collection), and the like. Products may be viewed as 2D images, 3D images, rotating view images, through a virtual or augmented reality interface, and the like.

In embodiments, the customer may add what they intend to buy to their cart (in an alternate embodiment, a product may be purchased directly, such as through a buy button as described herein). Customers may add product variants to their shopping cart. The shopping cart model may be channel specific. The online store138cart may be composed of multiple cart line items, where each cart line item tracks the quantity for a product variant. Merchants may use cart scripts to offer special promotions to customers based on the content of their cart. Since adding a product to a cart does not imply any commitment from the customer or the merchant, and the expected lifespan of a cart may be in the order of minutes (not days), carts may be persisted to an ephemeral data store.

The customer then proceeds to checkout. A checkout component may implement a web checkout as a customer-facing order creation process. A checkout API may be provided as a computer-facing order creation process used by some channel applications to create orders on behalf of customers (e.g., for point of sale). Checkouts may be created from a cart and record a customer's information such as email address, billing, and shipping details. On checkout, the merchant commits to pricing. If the customer inputs their contact information but does not proceed to payment, the e-commerce platform100may provide an opportunity to re-engage the customer (e.g., in an abandoned checkout feature). For those reasons, checkouts can have much longer lifespans than carts (hours or even days) and are therefore persisted. Checkouts may calculate taxes and shipping costs based on the customer's shipping address. Checkout may delegate the calculation of taxes to a tax component and the calculation of shipping costs to a delivery component. A pricing component may enable merchants to create discount codes (e.g., ‘secret’ strings that when entered on the checkout apply new prices to the items in the checkout). Discounts may be used by merchants to attract customers and assess the performance of marketing campaigns. Discounts and other custom price systems may be implemented on top of the same platform piece, such as through price rules (e.g., a set of prerequisites that when met imply a set of entitlements). For instance, prerequisites may be items such as “the order subtotal is greater than $100” or “the shipping cost is under $10”, and entitlements may be items such as “a 20% discount on the whole order” or “$10 off products X, Y, and Z”.

Customers then pay for the content of their cart resulting in the creation of an order for the merchant. Channels110A-B may use the commerce management engine136to move money, currency or a store of value (such as dollars or a cryptocurrency) to and from customers and merchants. Communication with the various payment providers (e.g., online payment systems, mobile payment systems, digital wallet, credit card gateways, and the like) may be implemented within a payment processing component. The actual interactions with the payment gateways106may be provided through a card server environment. In embodiments, the payment gateway106may accept international payment, such as integrating with leading international credit card processors. The card server environment may include a card server application, card sink, hosted fields, and the like. This environment may act as the secure gatekeeper of the sensitive credit card information. In embodiments, most of the process may be orchestrated by a payment processing job. The commerce management engine136may support many other payment methods, such as through an offsite payment gateway106(e.g., where the customer is redirected to another website), manually (e.g., cash), online payment methods (e.g., online payment systems, mobile payment systems, digital wallet, credit card gateways, and the like), gift cards, and the like. At the end of the checkout process, an order is created. An order is a contract of sale between the merchant and the customer where the merchant agrees to provide the goods and services listed on the orders (e.g., order line items, shipping line items, and the like) and the customer agrees to provide payment (including taxes). This process may be modeled in a sales component. Channels110A-B that do not rely on commerce management engine136checkouts may use an order API to create orders. Once an order is created, an order confirmation notification may be sent to the customer and an order placed notification sent to the merchant via a notification component. Inventory may be reserved when a payment processing job starts to avoid over-selling (e.g., merchants may control this behavior from the inventory policy of each variant). Inventory reservation may have a short time span (minutes) and may need to be very fast and scalable to support flash sales (e.g., a discount or promotion offered for a short time, such as targeting impulse buying). The reservation is released if the payment fails. When the payment succeeds, and an order is created, the reservation is converted into a long-term inventory commitment allocated to a specific location. An inventory component may record where variants are stocked, and tracks quantities for variants that have inventory tracking enabled. It may decouple product variants (a customer facing concept representing the template of a product listing) from inventory items (a merchant facing concept that represents an item whose quantity and location is managed). An inventory level component may keep track of quantities that are available for sale, committed to an order or incoming from an inventory transfer component (e.g., from a vendor).

The merchant may then review and fulfill (or cancel) the order. A review component may implement a business process merchant's use to ensure orders are suitable for fulfillment before actually fulfilling them. Orders may be fraudulent, require verification (e.g., ID checking), have a payment method which requires the merchant to wait to make sure they will receive their funds, and the like. Risks and recommendations may be persisted in an order risk model. Order risks may be generated from a fraud detection tool, submitted by a third-party through an order risk API, and the like. Before proceeding to fulfillment, the merchant may need to capture the payment information (e.g., credit card information) or wait to receive it (e.g., via a bank transfer, check, and the like) and mark the order as paid. The merchant may now prepare the products for delivery. In embodiments, this business process may be implemented by a fulfillment component. The fulfillment component may group the line items of the order into a logical fulfillment unit of work based on an inventory location and fulfillment service. The merchant may review, adjust the unit of work, and trigger the relevant fulfillment services, such as through a manual fulfillment service (e.g., at merchant managed locations) used when the merchant picks and packs the products in a box, purchase a shipping label and input its tracking number, or just mark the item as fulfilled. A custom fulfillment service may send an email (e.g., a location that doesn't provide an API connection). An API fulfillment service may trigger a third party, where the third-party application creates a fulfillment record. A legacy fulfillment service may trigger a custom API call from the commerce management engine136to a third party (e.g., fulfillment by Amazon). A gift card fulfillment service may provision (e.g., generating a number) and activate a gift card. Merchants may use an order printer application to print packing slips. The fulfillment process may be executed when the items are packed in the box and ready for shipping, shipped, tracked, delivered, verified as received by the customer, and the like.

If the customer is not satisfied, they may be able to return the product(s) to the merchant. The business process merchants may go through to “un-sell” an item may be implemented by a return component. Returns may consist of a variety of different actions, such as a restock, where the product that was sold actually comes back into the business and is sellable again; a refund, where the money that was collected from the customer is partially or fully returned; an accounting adjustment noting how much money was refunded (e.g., including if there was any restocking fees, or goods that weren't returned and remain in the customer's hands); and the like. A return may represent a change to the contract of sale (e.g., the order), and where the e-commerce platform100may make the merchant aware of compliance issues with respect to legal obligations (e.g., with respect to taxes). In embodiments, the e-commerce platform100may enable merchants to keep track of changes to the contract of sales over time, such as implemented through a sales model component (e.g., an append-only date-based ledger that records sale-related events that happened to an item).

The e-commerce platform100may be providing sales channels for multiple merchants, for their respective customers, and for varying types of merchandise. Payment gateways106are provided by the e-commerce platform or by external parties to process transactions in an e-commerce environment.

As mentioned above, the subject-matter of the present application may be employed in relation to an e-commerce platform such as the e-commerce platform100ofFIG.1. Put another way, in addition to the above-noted e-commerce capabilities, the e-commerce platform ofFIG.1can also be configured to facilitate the processing of erasure requests by way of an erasure orchestration component (EOC) in accordance with the subject-matter of the present application. Specifically the EOC described herein may be implemented within the commerce management engine136of the depicted e-commerce platform100. However, it should be understood that the EOC and, more broadly, the subject matter of the present application, is not limited in its application to the e-commerce platform ofFIG.1, or to e-commerce platforms generally. More generally, the EOC and associated methods can find application in a system where user data is stored in/by multiple components.

An organization, such as a provider of an e-commerce platform, such as the e-commerce platform ofFIG.1, may store personal information in many ways across multiple interdependent components, and multiple databases. In many cases, such systems and data bases were designed around the approach of adding data for a user, but less so for the purpose of performing an erasure or responding to an access request. One component may have a constraint on erasure that another does not have, or is not aware of.

A system and method of orchestrating the handling of erasure requests is provided that allows one entity to place a hold, or stop, on a given erasure request. A similar approach can be used for access requests.

A block diagram of a system providing coordinated erasure request handling is shown inFIG.3. Shown is a system that has three components that maintain user data, component A200that maintains user data201, component B202that maintains user data203, and component C204that maintains user data205. More generally, the number of components in a system may vary depending on system implementation. At the least, there is one component that maintains user data. Large complex systems may maintain data in numerous components. Examples of components are given below. Some components may maintain the data internal to the component, as shown for component A200, and/or some components may maintain in a separate data store, as shown for component B202. The components of the system may have varying levels of independence; in some cases certain components being completely independent of each other, and in some cases there being some interdependence between components. The components may include, for example:

data storage components, such as databases;

service components, such as a server, that implement a service; a specific example is a credit card server that implements credit card processing.

The components200,202,204may be components of an e-commerce platform, such as the e-commerce platform ofFIG.3, or of another system in which multiple components maintain user data. An example of another type of system that may use multiple components to maintain user data is a social media platform.

Also shown is an erasure orchestration component (EOC)220which is responsible for overall control of processing and executing erasure requests. The EOC may be implemented on a dedicated platform including processor and memory, or may be executed on a processor within the system that also performs other system functionality. The EOC220has erasure request storage222for storing erasure requests222, and associated data pertaining to the processing of such erasure requests. Shown are three erasure control entities, including erasure control entity A230, erasure control entity B232, and erasure control entity C234. More generally, the number of erasure control entities may vary, but there will be at least one.

An erasure control entity is any entity that is granted some control over how the EOC220processes erasure requests. Examples of erasure control entities include:

a server within the system; for example, a credit card server;

a department, for example a legal department;

a service.

Each of the erasure control entities230,232,234is logically connected to the EOC220so as to allow the erasure control entity to convey an erasure control response to the erasure orchestration component220. Specific examples are provided below.

Shown is a user interface240through which a user may initiate an erasure request242for processing by the erasure orchestration component220. WhileFIG.3depicts a direct connection between user interface240and erasure orchestration component220, more generally, some mechanism is provided within the system for a user to initiate an erasure request. Typically, the system will include at least one user interface for users to interact with the system for various purposes, and one or more of these user interface(s) may be configured to receive an erasure request. In another example, a specific email address is defined for receipt of erasure requests, and users can simply email the request to that email address. In another example, one or more of the components200,202,204may have user interfaces for receiving such a request.

It is noted that the user interface240does not need to exist directly on the erasure orchestration component. Instead, it could exist on any related system. For example, there may be another service providing the admin and there may be a trust relationship between that service/component and the erasure orchestration component, and the trust relationship trust may be protected against attackers by way of the use of suitable cryptographic techniques.

In operation, the following functionality is executed in an automated manner. Initially, an erasure request is received by the erasure orchestration component220. The erasure request pertains to at least one user identifier, and is a request to erase data in the system that maintains user data in/by multiple components200,202,204. The EOC220stores details of the erasure request in erasure request storage222. In some cases, the EOC220also stores a time stamp indicating when the request was received. An example of a table containing details of erasure requests is shown in Table 1 below. The table contains a row (more generally an entry) for each erasure request, which is given an erasure request ID for reference purposes. In the illustrated example, each row includes the erasure request ID, the user ID of the erasure request, a timestamp indicating when the erasure request was received, a field for storing the erasure control response from each erasure control entity (discussed in further detail below), and a field for storing the decision made by the EOC on how to handle the erasure request. In the Example of Table 1, two erasure requests have been received, one for User ID A received at time Time_1, and assigned erasure request ID ER_ID_1, and another for User ID A received at time Time_2, and assigned erasure request ID ER_ID_2.

TABLE 1ErasureErasureErasurecontrolcontrolcontrolresponseresponseresponseDecisionfromfromfromon howErasureerasureerasureerasureto handlerequestcontrolcontrolcontroltheIDUser IDTimestampentity Aentity Bentity CrequestER_ID_1User IDTime_1AER_ID_2User IDTime_2B

In some embodiments, the timestamp reflects a specific time the business is thought to have received the request, (as opposed to the time the erasure control entity received the request). These two times may be different, for example where these requests are initially received by one service and passed on to the orchestrator, as there can potentially be a significant delay.

Rather than a single field shown as “Decision on how to handle the request”, the outcome may have multiple steps, which are detailed in a particular action or set of actions, for example a set of steps, a process/method, a particular script/workflow, etc.

Next, the EOC makes details of the erasure request available to at least one of the erasure control entities230,232,234. At least one mechanism of making the erasure request available may be implemented.

In some embodiments, erasure requests are made available by pushing this information to one or more erasure control entities, for example by automated email, text, web page or other channel such as an application programming interface (API), event subscription service or web hook to name a few additional examples.

In some embodiments, erasure requests are made available by making the request available to be pulled by an erasure control entity, optionally following a push notification to trigger the pull.

In some embodiments, erasure requests are made available by publishing the request in a secure manner for access by an erasure control entity.

In some embodiments, erasure requests are made available by storing the information in association with a link, and making the link available to the erasure control entity.

In some embodiments, erasure requests are made available by using a registration system, whereby an erasure control entity registers to be informed of erasure requests pertaining to specific user IDs, and for a given erasure request, the EOC informs only those erasure control entities that have registered to be informed. This can be viewed as a special case of publishing.

More generally, any of the other described examples can be used to make the request available to those erasure control entities that have registered to be informed.

Each of the erasure control entities can respond with an erasure control response to indicate whether there is any objection, from the perspective of the specific erasure control entity, with acting upon the erasure request. Examples of erasure control responses include:Response indicating complete denial—no user data to be erased;Response indicating a time period after which user data can be erased in the absence of further response;Response indicating the user data can be erased as per the request;Lack of a response within a time frame is equated with an indication that the erasure request cannot be executed. For a control entity that “responds” in this manner, the control entity must respond positively within the time frame in order for the erasure request to be executed; with this approach, the default will be that the erasure request cannot be executed after the time frame. This ensures that the control entities consider the request;Lack of a response within a time frame is equated with an indication that the erasure request can be executed. For a control entity that “responds” in this manner, the control entity must respond positively within the time frame in order to block the erasure request from being executed. with this approach, the default will be that the erasure request can be executed after the time frame. This approach is less onerous on the control entities;The rights that an erasure control entity has to affect the response to the erasure request may vary by entity. Different possible rights include:Complete cancellation of the erasure request;Interject a hold on the erasure request of a specified time duration after which the request can proceed;Interject a hold on the erasure request of a specified time duration after which one or more control entities must again be surveyed;Allow erasure by certain components, but not others.

The EOC220collects the responses from the erasure control entities. Table 2 contains a set of example responses, in which a response of “Y” means it is acceptable to execute the erasure request, and a response of “N” means it is not acceptable to execute the erasure request. Of course, if other responses are possible as described above, then the content of the table would vary accordingly. In the illustrated example, all of the erasure control entities have responded with “Y” for erasure request having ER_ID_1. Two of the erasure control entities have responded with “Y” for erasure request having ER_ID_2, and one has responded with “N”.

TABLE 2ErasureErasureErasurecontrolcontrolcontrolresponseresponseresponseDecisionfromfromfromon howErasureerasureerasureerasureto handlerequestcontrolcontrolcontroltheIDUser IDTimestampentity Aentity Bentity CrequestER_ID_1User IDTime_1YYYAER_ID_2User IDTime_2YNYB

The EOC automatically processes the input received from the erasure control entities. The EOC determines whether to proceed with none, some or all of the erasure requests based on input or lack of input from the erasure control entities. An example is shown in Table 3, where the EOC decides to proceed with the erasure request having ER_ID_1, and the EOC decides not to proceed with the erasure request having ER_ID_2.

TABLE 3ErasureErasureErasurecontrolcontrolcontrolresponseresponseresponseDecisionfromfromfromon howErasureerasureerasureerasureto handlerequestcontrolcontrolcontroltheIDUser IDTimestampentity Aentity Bentity CrequestER_ID_1User IDTime_1YYYYAER_ID_2User IDTime_2YNYNB

Based on this determination, the EOC proceeds with none, some or all of the erasure request. This involves sending an instruction to each component to perform the erasure. Depending on the erasure control responses, the EOC may also not act on the request immediately, but rather queue the request for future handling. The EOC may track whether the erasure has been completed for each component, for example, in a table such as Table 4 below. The example of Table 4 shows the erasure status for each of components A,B and C, and shows an overall erasure completion status as well.

TABLE 4ErasureErasureErasureErasureErasurerequestUserstatus -status -status -completionIDIDTimestampComponent AComponent BComponent Cstatus1UserTime_1CompleteCompleteCompleteCompleteID A

In some embodiments, sending an instruction to each component involves sending one or more tasks to each of the components, such as an “erase user” task or a “purge store” task. The “erase user” task pertains to the erasing of data specific to the user ID. The “purge store” task pertains to erasing all data pertaining to a store owned by the user having the user ID. These examples are specific to the e-commerce system example. More generally, the nature of the tasks may vary for different types of system. Each of the components executes the tasks and reports back to the EOC. An example is shown in Table 5 below, where processing an erasure request involves two tasks, Task 1, and Task 2, which are sent to each of the components. Erasure completion status is tracked for each task.

TABLE 5ErasureErasureErasureErasurestatus -status -status -ErasurerequestUserComponentComponentComponentcompletionIDIDTimestampTasksABCstatus1UserTime_1Task 1CompleteCompleteCompleteCompleteID ATask 2CompleteIncompleteCompleteComplete

In some embodiments, there may be multiple levels of erasure control entities that are informed of the erasure request in sequence. The erasure control entities having the first level are informed first. Once no objection is raised by those erasure control entities, the erasure control entities having the next level are informed, and so on. The next level and lower levels do not even learn of the request until it passes the higher levels. The EOC coordinates this. The different levels may have different rights in terms of their ability to affect the erasure.

An example of different levels of erasure having different associated rights is shown in Table 6 below, where erasure control entity A has priority 1, erasure control entity B has priority 1, and erasure control entity C has priority 2. Details of an erasure request are not made available to the priority 2 erasure control entity until the priority 1 erasure control entities allow (or do not object to) the erasure. In the illustrated example, for the first erasure request, the priority 1 erasure control entities have responded with a “Y”, and the priority 2 erasure control entity has been made aware of the erasure request, and has responded with a “Y” and the overall decision to proceed is “Y”. For the second erasure request, the priority 1 erasure control entities have responded with a “Y” and a “N”, and the priority 2 erasure control entity is not made aware of the erasure request, and the overall decision to proceed is “N”.

TABLE 6Priority 1Priority 1Priority 2ErasureErasureErasurecontrolcontrolcontrolresponseresponseresponseDecisionfromfromfromon howerasureerasureerasureto handleErasurecontrolcontrolcontroltherequest IDUser IDTimestampentity Aentity Bentity Crequest1User IDTime_1YYYYA2User IDTime_2YNN/ANB

In some embodiments, the system may allow a user having a user ID to interact with the system using multiple contexts. In this case, the user may have the right to request erasure from the system in respect of the user's interactions with the system using a specific context or context of the multiple contexts, but the same user may not have the right to request erasure from the system in respect of the user's interactions with the system using an other specific context or contexts.

For example, a user may interact with the e-commerce platform as a merchant user in respect of the merchant user's online store(s), and at the same time as a customer of other merchant's online stores. In this case, the user may have the right to request erasure from the system in the context being a merchant user, but the same user may not have the right to request erasure from the system of its data with respect to its interaction as a customer with the one or more other online stores, as in effect, that data is owned by these other online stores. The user would need to communicate with the other online stores directly to request erasure with those stores.

There may be different entities responsible for controlling data, as opposed to processing certain data. For example, an E-commerce platform may as a processor for a merchant's data, with the merchant acting as a controller, and so the E-commerce platform should not the data without the merchant's permission/request.

In another example of different context, there may be a buyer using a shop app and a merchant owning the shop app. Both could ask the e-commerce platform directly for an erasure, but the set of systems this would impact would be different.

In some embodiments, where there are multiple contexts, in effect the request is treated as a corresponding set of multiple erasure requests, with erasure control components providing respective input for each context, and an overall decision made for each context. An example is shown in Table 7 below, which shows a respective set of erasure control responses, and a respective overall decision, for each of two contexts, Context A and Context B.

TABLE 7ErasureErasureErasurecontrolcontrolcontrolresponseresponseresponseDecisionfromfromfromon howErasureerasureerasureerasureto handlerequestcontrolcontrolcontroltheIDUser IDTimestampContextentity Aentity Aentity Arequest1UserTime_1ContextYYYYID AAContextYNNNB
User Interface Examples:

An example of a user interface allowing a user, typically an employee of the organization providing the e-commerce platform, to access the erasure configuration settings is depicted inFIG.6A,FIG.6BandFIG.6C. Referring first toFIG.6A, the example illustrates a computer window1000where from the home page1012the user can access from the sidebar menu1010various pages within the e-commerce platform such as “Orders”, “Products”, “Settings” and the like. In the example selecting the settings button1020in the side bar menu1010directs the user to the settings page1100shown inFIG.6B.

In the illustrated example of the settings page1100the user will be provided subsections1110of the settings page, such as “Plan and permissions”, “Billing”, “Sales channels” and “Erasure”. In selecting “Erasure”1120of the settings subsections1110the user is directed to erasure status page1200shown inFIG.6C.

The illustrated example of the erasure status page1200, there is a list of erasure requests1210that have been received and a Configure erasure orchestration component button1220. In the illustrated example, the received. Each erasure request in the list has an identification number (“ER_ID_1” to “ER_ID_5”), a user ID of the user who requested the erasure (e.g. “User A”, “User D”) and a status of the erasure “Executed” or “Not Executed”. The erasure orchestration component directs the user to the erasure control entity configuration page1300shown inFIG.6D.

In some embodiments, user IDs are generated by the E-commerce platform, and supplying such a user ID can be used to provide a common reference point after all other personal information is dropped/removed, in case the individual should follow up. If a user ID that is difficult to guess is provided, then a record of erasure requests, in association with the user ID can be maintained, and the user ID can be used as a basis for requesting status/progress of the erasure request.

In some embodiments, a user interface240is provided to configure which erasure control entities are to be informed of an erasure request. An example user interface that may be implemented to interact with the user for this purpose is depicted inFIG.6D. The example illustrates an erasure control entity configuration page1300where three control entities “Credit card server”, “Legal department” and “Third party shipping” are listed in control entity column1310. Each control entity has an associated “Yes” or “No” in the inform column1320indicating whether that erasure control entity is to be informed of an erasure request242or not. In the illustrated example there are two control entities “Credit card server” and “Legal department” with inform of erasure request set to “Yes” and there is one control entity “Third party shipping” with inform of erasure request set to “No”. Selecting “Yes” or “No” in the inform column1320, by way of example, will change which set of control entities would receive details of the erasure request.

In some embodiments, a user interface is provided to allow access to more detailed erasure request status information, for example indicating which requests have been received, what responses have been received if any from erasure control entities. An example user interface that may be implemented to interact with the user for this purpose will be described with further reference toFIG.6C, and with reference toFIG.6E. The erasure settings page1200shown inFIG.6Ccontains a list of the erasure requests1210that have been received. The user can select any one of the erasures requests1210listed. For example, if the user selects erasure request “ER_ID_2” they will be directed to erasure request “ER_ID_2” status page1400depicted inFIG.6E. On status page1400the control entities are listed in column1410, and in the illustrated example include the legal department, credit card server, and third party shipping. InFIG.6E, the status of the erasure request for each erasure control entity is shown in column1420and may include for example, “Received”, “Requested” or “N/A” (not applicable). The not applicable status may be used where the particular erasure control entity is not configured to receive the request. The decision of the erasure control entity is shown in column1430and may include for example “Approved”, “Refused”, “Pending” or “N/A”.

In some embodiments, where the request is not approved, the rationale for the current status (such as refused/pending) is made available in the user interface. For example, this could indicate that there is a loan with an outstanding balance.

In the illustrated example the erasure control entity “Legal department” has “approved” the erasure request and it has been “received” by the EOC. The erasure request decision has been “requested” from the erasure control entity “Credit card server” and its decision is “Pending”. The erasure control entity “Third party shipping” has status and decision “N/A” as its configuration in inform column1320(FIG.6D) in the example described above was set to “No” and therefore the erasure request was not shared with the “Third party shipping” erasure control entity. Once the EOC receives the decision of all the erasure control entities, it will be able to determine how to handle the erasure request.

Recall that in some embodiments, an erasure request is made available to erasure control entities in an order defined by levels of the erasure control entities. In some embodiments, a user interface is provided to allow a user to configure the level of the erasure control entities. An example user interface that may be implemented to interact with the user for this purpose is depicted inFIG.6F. The example illustrates an erasure control entity configuration page1500where three control entities “Credit card server”, “Legal department” and “Third party shipping” are listed in control entity column1510. The control entities have an associated “Yes” or “No” in the inform column1520as well as a priority level “1” or “2” in the priority column1530. In the illustrated example all three control entities “Credit card server”, “Legal department” and “Third party shipping” have the inform of erasure request set to “Yes”. Erasure control entities “credit card server” and “legal department” have priority level “1”, and the third control entity “Third party shipping” has priority level “2”. In this illustrated example details of the erasure request are first made available to “Legal department” and “Credit card server” as they have priority level “1”. Based on “Legal department” and “Credit card server” decisions, it is then determined if the erasure request can be executed from the perspective of the priority level “1” erasure control entities. Based on this determination, if the answer is yes, the erasure request details are then provided to “Third party shipping” as it has priority level “2”. An overall decision on whether to execute the erasure request can be made once a suitable response/lack of response for “Third party shipping” erasure control entity is received. On the other hand, if the determination based on the decisions from the priority level “1” control entities is that the erasure request should not be executed, then the erasure request details are not provided to “Third party shipping” as it has priority level “2”.

Referring again toFIG.6E, in embodiments where the priority level of the erasure control entities can be configured, the detailed erasure status may for example provide greater status information in column1420. For example, the status may read, for priority level “2” erasure control entities, “Waiting for priority level 1 approval” and “Priority level 1 could not execute request”.

While not shown in the illustrated examples, in some embodiments, the system does provide a response back to a requesting service/user of the result of their request for erasure. For example, this could indicate that the request is in process, has been completed, or has been denied. In some embodiments, when a request is denied, this is not communicated to the requesting service/user.

The examples ofFIGS.6A to6Gshow a window that appears to be within the store admin. This is just an example, more generally, there may be a user interface that is available to an administrator. Typically this would not be visible to the requestor, or even all administrators but instead just to a specific administrator.

In some embodiments, a user interface is provided for an erasure control entity to configure its own interest in erasure requests, and to configure how a given erasure request is to be processed. This may allow a user to enter a user ID or user IDs that the erasure control entity is interested in. This may also allow the user to configure a hold period for executing an erasure request in respect of any user ID the erasure control entity is interested. This would be useful in a situation where the erasure control entity is not immediately sure whether the erasure request should be performed, but expects that it should be acceptable after the hold period. In some embodiments, where a hold period is established, during the hold period, the erasure control entity may still retract its hold-based approval. Alternatively, this hold period can be set on a per user ID basis. An example user interface that may be implemented to interact with an erasure control entity for this purpose is depicted inFIG.6G. The example illustrates an erasure control entity interest page1600. The erasure control entity interest page1600shows a list of user IDs that have been already entered, and an “add user ID” button to add to the list. A user ID can be removed from the list by clicking on the appropriate “Remove” button next to that user ID. In the illustrated example, there is a single hold period that can be configured, and it is set to10days in the illustrated example. A user can change this via the depicted user interface. Referring now toFIG.4, shown is a flowchart of a method for processing erasure requests provided by an embodiment of the disclosure. The method begins in block400with receiving an erasure request pertaining to a user identifier, to erase data in a system that maintains user data in a plurality of components. The method continues in block402with making at least some details of the request available to at least one erasure control entity. The method continues in block404with determining how to handle the request based on one or a combination of input received from one or more of the least one erasure control entity; and lack of input received from one or more of the at least one erasure control entity. The method continues in block406with, based on this determining, further processing the erasure request. This can involve for example, executing the erasure request, denying the request, or deferring the request for some period of time, or until some further constraint is satisfied.

As detailed above, in some embodiments, the erasure control entities including at least one erasure control entity of each of two levels.FIG.5is a flowchart of a method of making at least some details of the request available to at least one erasure control entity. The method begins in block500with first making at least some details of the request available to the at least one erasure control entity of a first level of said at least two levels. The method continues in block502with, based on input or lack of input from the at least one erasure control entity of the first level, determining whether the erasure request can be executed from the perspective of the at least one erasure control entity for the first level. The method continues in block504with, for each subsequent level of said at least two levels, upon determining that the erasure request can be executed from the perspective of the at least one erasure control entity of a given level immediately preceding the subsequent level, making at least some details of the request available to the at least one erasure control entity for the subsequent level of said at least two levels and determining whether the erasure request can be executed from the perspective of the at least one erasure control entity of the subsequent level. The method continues in block506with executing the erasure request when it is determined the erasure request can be executed from the perspective of all levels of erasure control entity.

While the embodiment ofFIG.5refers to levels, and assumes that consideration of input from the levels sequentially, more generally, the dependencies may be defined with a directed acyclic dependency graph. In addition, multiple checks for holds may occur simultaneously, rather sequentially as is described above.

For the methods described herein, in some embodiments, the input from the erasure control entities be based on a polling mechanism, in which the erasure control entities respond to a request of some sort to provide the input. In some embodiments, the input from the erasure control entities is based on a push mechanism, in which the erasure control entities provide their input without a specific request.

Numerous modifications and variations of the present disclosure are possible in light of the above teachings. It is therefore to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims, the disclosure may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described herein.