New patent application published for: METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR PRIVACY-AWARE PACKET PROCESSING

METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR PRIVACY-AWARE PACKET PROCESSING

Claims

1. A method to be implemented in a first electronic device to enhance privacy in a network, comprising: determining whether a first packet supports privacy preservation based on a first packet header of the first packet; identifying one or more operations to be performed on the first packet corresponding to a first privacy policy of the first packet based on the first packet upon determining that the first packet supports privacy preservation, the first privacy policy indicating a first level of data sharing privilege mapped to a first setting configured for a first user; and causing the one or more operations to be performed on the first packet, wherein the one or more operations to be performed on the first packet comprise a privacy preservation operation including implementation of a first privacy preservation protocol for the first packet in the network to comply with the first level of data sharing privilege.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein a first set of bits in the first packet header of the first packet is used to determine that the first packet supports privacy preservation, and wherein a second set of bits in a corresponding payload of the first packet indicates the first privacy preservation protocol.
3. (canceled)
4. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying the one or more operations to be performed on the first packet comprises decrypting the first packet received from a second electronic device that inserts a plurality of bits mapped to the first privacy policy into the first packet.
5. The method of claim 4, wherein the second electronic device further encrypts a portion of the first packet to prevent the portion of the first packet to be decrypted by the first electronic device.
6. The method of claim 1, to wherein implementing the first privacy preservation protocol comprises forwarding the first packet to a plurality of electronic devices that are qualified to implement the first privacy preservation protocol.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more operations further comprise removing information that the first user has no privilege to share.
8. The method of claim 1, further comprising: determining that a second packet includes no bits that indicate a privacy policy; and inserting a plurality of bits that indicate a second level of data sharing privilege into the second packet based on the second level of data sharing privilege mapped to a second setting configured for a second user.
9. The method of claim 8, wherein the plurality of bits indicates a second privacy preservation protocol to be implemented in the network to comply with the second level of data sharing privilege.
10. The method of claim 1, further comprising: identifying one or more operations to be performed on a third packet corresponding to a third privacy policy of the third packet based on the third packet, the third privacy policy indicating a third level of data sharing privilege mapped to a third setting configured for a third user, wherein the one or more operations are to audit one or more privacy preservation operations that have performed on the third packet; and indicating that the third packet complies with the third privacy policy upon determining that the one or more privacy preservation operations on the third packet are in compliance with the third privacy policy.
11. (canceled)
12. (canceled)
13. An electronic device, comprising: a processor and machine-readable storage medium that provides instructions that, when executed by the processor, are capable of causing the processor to perform: determining whether a first packet supports privacy preservation based on a first packet header of the first packet; identifying one or more operations to be performed on the first packet corresponding to a first privacy policy of the first packet based on the first packet upon determining that the first packet supports privacy preservation, the first privacy policy indicating a first level of data sharing privilege mapped to a first setting configured for a first user; and causing the one or more operations to be performed on the first packet, wherein the one or more operations to be performed on the first packet comprises a privacy preservation operation including implementation of a first privacy preservation protocol for the first packet in the a network to comply with the first level of data sharing privilege.
14. The electronic device of claim 13, wherein a first set of bits in the first packet header of the first packet is used to determine that the first packet supports privacy preservation, and wherein a second set of bits in a corresponding payload of the first packet indicates the first privacy preservation protocol.
15. The electronic device of claim 14, wherein the second set of bits are set for the first privacy policy of the first packet based on a selection table with entries each mapping to a privacy policy.
16. The electronic device of claim 13, wherein implementing the first privacy preservation protocol comprises forwarding the first packet to a plurality of electronic devices that are qualified to implement the first privacy preservation protocol.
17. The electronic device of any claim 13, wherein the one or more operations further comprise removing information that the first user has no privilege to share.
18. The electronic device of claim 13, wherein the instructions when executed by the processor, are capable of causing the processor to further perform: determining that a second packet includes no bits that indicate a privacy policy; and inserting a plurality of bits that indicate a second level of data sharing privilege into the second packet based on the second level of data sharing privilege mapped to a second setting configured for a second user.
19. The electronic device of claim 18, wherein the plurality of bits indicates a second privacy preservation protocol to be implemented in the network to comply with the second level of data sharing privilege.
20. The electronic device of claim 13, wherein the instructions when executed by the processor, are capable of causing the processor to further perform: identifying one or more operations to be performed on a third packet corresponding to a third privacy policy of the third packet based on the third packet, the third privacy policy indicating a third level of data sharing privilege mapped to a third setting configured for a third user, and wherein the one or more operations are to audit one or more privacy preservation operations that have performed on the third packet; and indicating that the third packet complies with the third privacy policy upon determining that the one or more privacy preservation operations on the third packet are in compliance with the third privacy policy.
21. The electronic device of claim 20, wherein the indication is inserted into packet header of the third packet.
22. The electronic device of claim 20, wherein the third packet is discarded upon determining that the one or more privacy preservation operations on the third packet have violated the third privacy policy.
23. A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium that provides instructions that, when executed by a processor, are capable of causing the processor to perform: determining whether a first packet supports privacy preservation based on a first packet header of the first packet in a network; identifying one or more operations to be performed on the first packet corresponding to a first privacy policy of the first packet based on the first packet upon determining that the first packet supports privacy preservation, the first privacy policy indicating a first level of data sharing privilege mapped to a first setting configured for a first user; and causing the one or more operations to be performed on the first packet, wherein the one or more operations to be performed on the first packet comprise a privacy preservation operation including implementation of a first privacy preservation protocol for the first packet in the network to comply with the first level of data sharing privilege.