Patent application EP17159879A (EP), filed 2017-03-08
Publication number: EP3220600A1
Title: SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PROXY-BASED PRIVACY PROTECTION
Abstract: User privacy while browsing the Internet can be preserved by reversing the man-in-the-middle attack using a distributed network of proxy servers. The proxy servers receive user requests to load webpages of interest to a user and simulate the user's web-browsing activity by retrieving the target webpage from a target server. The proxy servers remove elements that could be used to track the user from the retrieved webpages by creating a representation of a version of the page without the tracking elements, which is provided to the user. By interacting with the target servers, the proxy servers protect the user from being tracked by the target servers. Further, by observing the user's browsing activity, the proxy servers can build a profile of the users that can be used to supplement content provided to user. The user can edit the profile and thus can control the information stored on the network.
IPC codes: H04L  29/    06            A I
G06F  16/   958            A I
G06F  21/    62            A I
G06F   9/    50            A I
G06Q  30/    02            A I
H04L  29/    08            A I
Claims: number: 1
text: A system for proxy-based privacy protection, comprising:
number: 2
text: A system according to Claim 1, wherein each of the requests is received by a load balancer, further comprising:
number: 3
text: A system according to Claim 1, wherein the one or more parsed elements not present in the reconstructed webpage comprise tracking elements.
number: 4
text: A system according to Claim 1, further comprising:
number: 5
text: A system according to Claim 4, further comprising:
number: 6
text: A method for proxy-based privacy protection, comprising:
number: 7
text: A method according to Claim 6, wherein the network further comprises a load balancer and each of the requests is received by the load balancer, further comprising:
number: 8
text: A method according to Claim 6, the one or more parsed elements not present in the reconstructed webpage comprise tracking elements.
number: 9
text: A method according to Claim 6, further comprising:
number: 10
text: A method according to Claim 9, further comprising:
Office action: search_report, dated 2017-09-20
Rejection reasons: inventive_step_epc_56
Prior art cited: ref_id: US2012084348A1
ref_type: patent
severity: background
ref_id: WO2013079113A1
ref_type: patent
severity: background
ref_id: US2009187486A1
ref_type: patent
severity: background
ref_id: US2009187486
ref_type: patent
severity: background
ref_id: US2012084348
ref_type: patent
severity: obviousness
ref_id: WO2013079113
ref_type: patent
severity: obviousness
Final disposition: pending (2017-09-20)