Patent ID: 8819222

Claim:
A method of profiling communication traffic of users in a data network, comprising: monitoring communication traffic originated by a user of a communication terminal; assigning to the user of the communication terminal a unique and anonymous user traffic identifier, wherein the user traffic identifier is related to a user address assigned to the communication terminal in the data network, and wherein the user traffic identifier is adapted to be included in the communication traffic with respect to that user; communicating the unique and anonymous user traffic identifier to the user communication terminal to allow the user communication terminal to include the user traffic identifier in user traffic; upon receiving communication traffic including the user traffic identifier, obtaining, by a first device, a descriptor of received communication traffic useful to describe the received traffic, sending, by the first device, a tracking notification including the obtained descriptor, and allowing the received communication traffic to reach an intended destination of the received communication traffic; at least temporarily storing the obtained descriptor; and building an anonymous user profile related to communication activities of the user based on the stored descriptor.