Online Privacy Management

Abstract

A privacy management system (PMS) is disclosed for a Chief Privacy Officer (CPO) or other user to use in monitoring and/or controlling in realtime the flow of data (e.g., outflow) about the user and his/her online experience. The PMS may provide a dashboard displaying a whitelist and/or blacklist indicating what destinations/sources are blocked or allowed. The PMS includes browser-client scripting code and may also include a PMS-certified verification icon for display on webpages being monitored/controlled in realtime by the PMS.

I/We claim: 
     
         1 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a processor of a remote computing device, cause the remote computing device to:
 generate a graphical user interface configured to permit a user to block transmission of analytics data from a page;   access an object model of the page, wherein the object model includes a predefined object that is configured to store at least a uniform resource locator and to collect the analytics data;   create a wrapper object instead of the predefined object in response to a request to create the predefined object;   monitor the wrapper object to detect when updates to the object model modify the uniform resource locator stored in the predefined object;   compare the modified uniform resource locator to a predetermined list of values; and   block transmission of the analytics data to a server associated with the modified uniform resource locator, based on the comparing.   
     
     
         2 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 1 , wherein the computer-executable instructions further cause the remote computing device to:
 present an icon on the page.   
     
     
         3 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 2 , wherein the icon indicates that the page has been verified. 
     
     
         4 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 2 , wherein the icon indicates that the monitoring is being performed. 
     
     
         5 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 2 , wherein the computer-executable instructions further cause the remote computing device to:
 present the graphical user interface over the page when the icon is selected.   
     
     
         6 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 1 , wherein the computer-executable instructions further cause the remote computing device to:
 receive a certification from a privacy management system; and   present an icon on the page in response to the received certification.   
     
     
         7 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 6 , wherein the certification indicates that the page complies with privacy rules. 
     
     
         8 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 6 , wherein the page is a webpage of a website, and the certification indicates that the website complies with privacy rules. 
     
     
         9 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 1 , wherein the graphical user interface is configured to permit a user to customize privacy settings. 
     
     
         10 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 1 ,
 wherein the graphical user interface is configured to receive a setting, and   wherein the computer-executable instructions further cause the remote computing device to transmit the setting to a privacy management server for storage.   
     
     
         11 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 10 ,
 wherein the setting indicates a user's age, and   wherein the computer-executable instructions further cause the remote computing device to:
 receive, from the privacy management server, information indicating whether the user's age complies with privacy rules, and 
 block transmission of the analytics data to the server associated with the modified uniform resource locator, based on the information received from the privacy management server. 
   
     
     
         12 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 1 ,
 wherein the graphical user interface is configured to receive a setting, and   wherein the computer-executable instructions further cause the remote computing device to store a cookie that permits a privacy management system to detect the setting upon subsequent visits to the page.   
     
     
         13 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 1 ,
 wherein the graphical user interface is configured to receive a setting, and   wherein the computer-executable instructions further cause the remote computing device to:
 transmit the setting to a privacy management server for storage; 
 detect a cookie when accessing a web page; 
 read the cookie; 
 receive, from the privacy management server, information indicating whether the web page complies with the setting; and 
 block transmission of the analytics data to the server associated with the modified uniform resource locator, based on the information received from the privacy management server. 
   
     
     
         14 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 1 ,
 wherein the graphical user interface is configured to permit updates to the predetermined list of values, and   wherein the computer-executable instructions further cause the remote computing device to transmit the updated predetermined list of values to a privacy management server.   
     
     
         15 . A computerized apparatus, comprising:
 a processor configured to transmit scripting code over a network to a remote computing device; and   memory storing the scripting code that, when executed by the remote computing device, causes the remote computing device to:
 generate a graphical user interface configured to permit a user to create one or more privacy rules for a page; 
 access an object model of the page, the object model comprising a predefined object; 
 create a wrapper object instead of the predefined object in response to a request to create the predefined object; 
 monitor the wrapper object to detect when updates to the object model modify a uniform resource locator stored in the predefined object; and 
 block transmission of analytics data to a server associated with the modified uniform resource locator, based on the one or more privacy rules. 
   
     
     
         16 . The computerized apparatus of  claim 15 , wherein the scripting code causes the remote computing device to block transmission of the analytics data when the remote computing device is located in a first location, but permit transmission of the analytics data when the remote computing device is located in a second location, wherein the one or more privacy rules include privacy rules created in accordance with foreign privacy regulations. 
     
     
         17 . The computerized apparatus of  claim 15 , wherein the scripting code causes the remote computing device to block transmission of the analytics data based on whether the remote computing device is a mobile or stationary device. 
     
     
         18 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a processor of a remote computing device, cause the remote computing device to:
 access an object model of a page, wherein the object model includes a predefined object that is configured to store at least a uniform resource locator;   create a wrapper object instead of the predefined object in response to a request to create the predefined object;   monitor the wrapper object to detect when updates to the object model modify the uniform resource locator stored in the predefined object;   block transmission of analytics data to a server associated with the modified uniform resource locator, based on one or more privacy rules; and   present an icon on the page indicating whether the page complies with the one or more privacy rules.   
     
     
         19 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 18 , wherein the computer-executable instructions further cause the remote computing device to determine whether the page complies with the one or more privacy rules. 
     
     
         20 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 18 , wherein the computer-executable instructions further cause the remote computing device to:
 select the icon from among a plurality of icons based on a privacy level associated with the page.   
     
     
         21 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 20 , wherein the plurality of icons comprise an image having different colors. 
     
     
         22 . A computerized apparatus, comprising:
 a processor configured to transmit scripting code over a network to a remote computing device; and   memory storing one or more privacy settings and storing the scripting code that, when executed by the remote computing device, causes the remote computing device to:
 generate a graphical user interface configured to enter the one or more privacy settings; 
 transmit the one or more privacy settings to the computerized apparatus for storage; 
 detect a cookie when accessing a web page; 
 receive, from the computerized apparatus in response to detecting the cookie, information indicating whether the web page complies with the one or more privacy settings; and 
 block transmission of analytics data to a third party server based on the information received from the computerized apparatus. 
   
     
     
         23 . The computerized apparatus of  claim 22 , wherein the one or more privacy settings comprise a user's age.