US 12,014,386 B1
Protecting against an estimated level of online tracking
Iskander Sanchez Rola, Antibes (FR); and Petros Efstathopoulos, Los Angeles, CA (US)
Assigned to GEN DIGITAL INC., Tempe, AZ (US)
Filed by NortonLifeLock Inc., Tempe, AZ (US)
Filed on Mar. 24, 2022, as Appl. No. 17/703,599.
Int. Cl. G06Q 30/0204 (2023.01); G06Q 30/0203 (2023.01); H04L 9/40 (2022.01); H04L 67/50 (2022.01)
CPC G06Q 30/0205 (2013.01) [G06Q 30/0203 (2013.01); H04L 63/1441 (2013.01); H04L 67/535 (2022.05); G06F 2221/2119 (2013.01); H04L 63/10 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A computer-implemented method for protecting against an estimated level of online tracking, at least a portion of the method being performed by a computing device comprising one or more processors, the method comprising:
collecting first data relating to a plurality of known users, wherein the plurality of known users is associated with a plurality of accessible user devices and wherein the first data includes an identification of: (1) a geographical location of each known user, (2) one or more websites visited by each known user on the plurality of accessible user devices, and (3) a level of online tracking for each known user on the plurality of accessible user devices;
organizing the known users into clusters by identifying website categories from the one or more websites visited by the known users on the plurality of accessible user devices and placing the known users into clusters based on their most visited website categories and their geographic locations;
receiving second data relating to an unknown user, the second data including an identification of: (1) a geographic location of the unknown user, (2) one or more categories of websites that the unknown user visits, and (3) one or more websites within each of the one or more categories of websites that the unknown user visits;
identifying, based on the second data, a matching cluster into which the unknown user fits;
estimating, based on the identified levels of online tracking for one or more known users within the matching cluster, a level of online tracking for the unknown user; and
performing a security action based on the estimated level of online tracking for the unknown user.