System and method for vehicle location anonymization

Abstract

Embodiments are directed towards a system and method of anonymizing vehicle location data by using a centralized location of entities near the vehicle instead of the actual vehicle location. One or more entities are selected within a threshold radius around the vehicle. The centralized location is determined based on publicly available entity location information for the selected entities. The centralized location is stored or transmitted to third parties as the vehicle's location. A characteristic of the vehicle or a time range associated with capturing the actual vehicle location may be associated with the centralized location without including an identifier of the vehicle.

1 . A computing device, comprising:
 at least one memory that stores computer instructions; and   at least one processor that when executing the computer instructions cause the at least one processor to:
 determine a vehicle location of a vehicle; 
 dynamically modify a threshold radius from the vehicle based on the vehicle location; 
 select one or more public entities within the threshold radius from the vehicle location; 
 determine a centralized location of the one or more selected public entities based on an entity location of the one or more selected public entities; and 
 store the centralized location as an anonymized location of the vehicle without storing the vehicle location. 
   
     
     
         2 . The computing device of  claim 1 , wherein execution of the computer instructions by the at least one processor to dynamically modify the threshold radius further cause the at least one processor to:
 determine an initial threshold radius from the vehicle;   determine if a number of public entities within the initial threshold radius exceeds a threshold number of public entities; and   in response to the number of public entities within the initial threshold radius failing to meet the threshold number of public entities, dynamically modify the initial threshold radius until the number of public entities within the modified threshold radius meets the threshold number of public entities.   
     
     
         3 . The computing device of  claim 1 , wherein execution of the computer instructions by the at least one processor to dynamically modify the threshold radius further causes the at least one processor to:
 determine if a number of public entities within the threshold radius is less than a threshold number of public entities; and   increase the threshold radius in response to the number of public entities being less than the threshold number of public entities.   
     
     
         4 . The computing device of  claim 1 , wherein execution of the computer instructions by the at least one processor to dynamically modify the threshold radius further causes the at least one processor to:
 determine if a number of public entities within the threshold radius is more than a threshold number of public entities; and   decrease the threshold radius in response to the number of public entities being more than the threshold number of public entities.   
     
     
         5 . The computing device of  claim 1 , wherein execution of the computer instructions by the at least one processor to dynamically modify the threshold radius further causes the at least one processor to:
 determine if the vehicle is in an exclusion zone based on the vehicle location; and   in response to determining that the vehicle is in the exclusion zone:
 set the threshold radius to zero; and 
 discard the vehicle location. 
   
     
     
         6 . The computing device of  claim 1 , wherein execution of the computer instructions by the at least one processor further cause the at least one processor to:
 discard the vehicle location in response to storing the centralized location.   
     
     
         7 . The computing device of  claim 1 , wherein execution of the computer instructions by the at least one processor to determine the centralized location of the one or more selected public entities further causes the at least one processor to:
 aggregate the entity location of a plurality of public entities within the threshold radius from the vehicle to determine the centralized location.   
     
     
         8 . A computer-implemented method, comprising:
 determining a vehicle location of a vehicle;   dynamically modifying a threshold distance from the vehicle based on the vehicle location;   selecting a plurality of entities within the threshold distance from the vehicle location;   determining an entity location for each of the plurality of selected entities;   determining a centralized location of the plurality of selected entities based on the entity locations for the plurality of selected entities; and   storing the centralized location as an anonymized location of the vehicle without storing the vehicle location.   
     
     
         9 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 8 , wherein dynamically modifying the threshold distance comprises:
 determining an initial threshold distance from the vehicle;   determining if a number of entities within the initial threshold distance exceeds a threshold number of entities; and   in response to the number of entities within the initial threshold distance failing to meet the threshold number of public entities, dynamically modifying the initial threshold distance until the number of entities within the modified threshold distance meets the threshold number of entities.   
     
     
         10 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 8 , wherein dynamically modifying the threshold distance comprises:
 determining if a number of public entities within the threshold distance is less than a threshold number of public entities; and   increasing the threshold distance in response to the number of public entities being less than the threshold number of public entities.   
     
     
         11 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 8 , wherein dynamically modifying the threshold distance comprises:
 determining if a number of public entities within the threshold distance is more than a threshold number of public entities; and   decreasing the threshold distance in response to the number of public entities being more than the threshold number of public entities.   
     
     
         12 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 8 , wherein dynamically modifying the threshold distance comprises:
 determining if the vehicle is in an exclusion zone based on the vehicle location; and   in response to determining that the vehicle is in the exclusion zone:
 setting the threshold distance to zero; and 
 discarding the vehicle location. 
   
     
     
         13 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 8 , further comprising:
 discarding the vehicle location in response to storing the centralized location.   
     
     
         14 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 8 , wherein determining the centralized location of the plurality of selected entities comprises:
 aggregating the entity location of the plurality of entities within the threshold distance from the vehicle to determine the centralized location.   
     
     
         15 . A system, comprising:
 an entity-location database that stores location data for a plurality of entities; and   a computing device that includes a memory configured to store computing instructions and a processor configured to execute the computing instructions to:
 determine a threshold radius from a vehicle; 
 determine if a number of entities within the threshold radius meets a threshold number of entities; 
 in response to the number of entities within the first threshold radius failing to meet the threshold number of entities, dynamically modify the threshold radius until the number of entities within the modified threshold radius meets the threshold number of entities; 
 select one or more entities within the threshold distance from the vehicle location; 
 determine a centralized location of the one or more selected entities based on an entity location of the one or more selected entities; and 
 store the centralized location as an anonymized location of the vehicle. 
   
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein execution of the computer instructions by the processor to dynamically modify the threshold radius further causes the processor to:
 determine an initial threshold radius from the vehicle;   determine if a number of entities within the initial threshold radius exceeds a threshold number of entities; and   in response to the number of entities within the initial threshold radius failing to meet the threshold number of entities, dynamically modify the threshold radius until the number of entities within the modified threshold radius meets the threshold number of entities.   
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein execution of the computer instructions by the processor to dynamically modify the threshold radius further causes the processor to:
 determine if a number of entities within the threshold radius is less than a threshold number of entities; and   increase the threshold radius in response to the number of entities being less than the threshold number of entities.   
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein execution of the computer instructions by the processor to dynamically modify the threshold radius further causes the processor to:
 determine if a number of entities within the threshold radius is more than a threshold number of entities; and   decrease the threshold radius in response to the number of entities being more than the threshold number of entities.   
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein execution of the computer instructions by the processor to dynamically modify the threshold radius further causes the processor to:
 determine if the vehicle is in an exclusion zone based on the vehicle location; and   in response to determining that the vehicle is in the exclusion zone:
 set the threshold radius to zero; and 
 discard the vehicle location. 
   
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein execution of the computer instructions by the processor to determine the centralized location of the one or more selected entities further causes the at least one processor to:
 aggregate the entity location of a plurality of public entities within the threshold radius from the vehicle to determine the centralized location.