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GoogleGranted patentSecurity & privacyInterest 8/10

Google patents privacy score for third-party apps

Google describes a system that continuously monitors how third-party apps access and share your personal data through API calls. It calculates a privacy score for each app based on these actions and displays a map showing exactly what data is being shared with whom.

Why it mattersThis could give users a clear, real-time view of their digital footprint, making it easier to decide which apps to trust with their personal information.

In the filing’s own words

A method includes identifying, by a processing device, a third-party service provider of a plurality of third-party service providers that is authorized by a user to access data associated with the user. A data privacy score is generated based on one or more privacy risk factors. The data privacy score is associated with the third-party service provider. The data privacy score is indicative of a level of protection and privacy the third-party service provider maintains with respect to the data. A user interface (UI) displaying at least the data privacy score associated with the third-party service provider is provided for presentation on a client device associated with the user.

What exactly they claim (claim 1)

1. A method comprising: identifying, by at least one hardware processor of a first party host system, a plurality of third-party service providers that are authorized by a user to access user data; continuously analyzing, by the at least one hardware processor of the first party host system, handling of user data by each of the plurality of third-party service providers, wherein the continuously analyzing comprises analyzing outbound application programming interface (API) calls that require access to the user data by reviewing log data associated with the outbound API calls to determine which of the plurality of third-party service providers require access to what user data; determining, by the at least one hardware processor of the first party host system, a data privacy score for each of the plurality of third-party service providers based on one or more privacy risk factors corresponding to handling of user data by a respective third-party service provider; associating the data privacy score with the respective third-party service provider, wherein the data privacy score is indicative of a level of protection and privacy of the respective third-party service provider maintains with respect to the handling of the user data; and providing, by the at least one hardware processor of the first party host system and for presentation on a client device associated with the user, a user interface (UI) displaying at least the data privacy score associated with the respective third-party service provider, the UI further comprising a data flow map that illustrates at least one of: what user data is being shared with one or more of the plurality of third-party service providers, with which of the plurality of third-party service providers the user data is being shared, or with what other entities the plurality of third-party service providers share the user data.

Facts

Company
Google (Google LLC)
Official title
Data collection analysis for privacy risk assessment
Patent number
US12743545B2
Application number
18501764
Filed
Nov 3, 2023
Granted
Sep 22, 2026
Inventors
3
Claims
20

Classified under

G06F 21/6245 Physics & computingG06F 21/604 Physics & computing

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Summaries are simplified from the filing’s own abstract and first claim. A patent filing is not a product announcement.
Patent data and drawings: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Nebula is not affiliated with or endorsed by the USPTO.