WO2010045675A1

WO2010045675A1 - Data sharing

Info

Publication number: WO2010045675A1
Application number: PCT/AU2009/001375
Authority: WO
Inventors: Sean Patrick O'dwyer; Sophie Yolande O'dwyer
Original assignee: Mission Save Earth Pty Ltd
Priority date: 2008-10-20
Filing date: 2009-10-19
Publication date: 2010-04-29

Abstract

Apparatus for use in sharing data, the apparatus including a computer system for determining interaction data relating to at least one content interaction, determining shared data derived from the interaction data and providing a shared data indication indicative of the shared data to a processing system via a communications network to allow a processing system to determine a reward at least partially in accordance with the shared data indication.

Description

DATA SHARING

Background of the Invention

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for use in sharing data, and in particular to a method and apparatus for incentivising the sharing of data relating to at least one content interaction.

Description of the Prior Art

The reference in this specification to any prior publication (or information derived from it), or to any matter which is known, is not, and should not be taken as an acknowledgment or admission or any form of suggestion that the prior publication (or information derived from it) or known matter forms part of the common general knowledge in the field of endeavour to which this specification relates.

During internet browsing activities, certain information is typically recorded, such as the user's browsing history. Other information relating to browsing, such as user web site preferences, may also be generated and stored, for example in the form of cookies. Information of this form can be used to analyse user's web browsing activities, which may in turn be used for a number of purposes, such as allowing more relevant content to be presented to the user. Thus, for example, identifying a user's interest in products can be used to tailor advertising presented to the user. As a result, information relating to a user's browsing activity has an inherent value.

Some attempts have been made to utilise this information. In one example, browser applications have been configured to return limited forms of information to a service provider such as the browser author, thereby allowing the respective party to leverage the information.

One method entails using 'cookies' to track a users Internet activity via a network of affiliated websites. For example if one of the affiliated websites installs a 'cookie' on a users PC, users can be tracked 'across' the Internet by tracking a particular 'cookie'. IP addresses can be used in the same fashion dependent upon specific Internet Service Provider (ISP) rules. This means that a unique browser or end user browsing history can be recorded. This method has several disadvantages however. For example, the system is not an opt-in system, so many users are not even aware that this is being performed, and often users are 'shocked' to find out the extent to which it is happening. Secondly, tracking can only occur within the affiliate network, so that once a browser leaves the affiliated network tracking and collecting browsing history ceases. A unique browser or user can only be tracked so long as their IP address remains the same or the 'tracking cookie' is not deleted, which depending on the users connection technique, may mean browsers can only be tracked over a single session, so that the determined information is only of limited value, and cannot be used to subsequently tailor content for the user.

A second method is to attempt to have user voluntarily share their browsing history. For example, Google's "Chrome" browser application identifies each browser installation with a unique ID and collects usage statistics including keystrokes. This information is regularly transmitted to Google. Whilst the user can opt to prevent usage tracking, the user has no control over the information tracked, and can only allow or prevent tracking. Thus, this is an all-or-nothing approach which either involves transferring all information shared, or none at all. This is undesirable for the user as private information may inadvertently be transferred. Additionally, with no control over the information shared, users are often unwilling to voluntarily share their browsing history for fear that it might become public and be interpreted by others poorly. To prevent this, the majority of users simply disable usage tracking, in which case even with a high usage of the browser across many users, little information is obtained by the browser author, thereby limiting the effectiveness of usage tracking.

It is known to provide mechanisms for allowing a user to be compensated for providing data in the form of survey answers. In this instance, individuals may be paid for completing a survey. However, the surveys can only collect limited amounts of data and require positive action by the user to provide answers to the questions. This is undesirable as it is generally inconvenient to the user. Additionally, the commissioner of the survey has limited mechanisms for ensuring that the survey information is accurate. Accordingly, this technique is only of limited value when collecting data. Summary of the Present Invention

In a first broad form the present invention seeks to provide apparatus for use in sharing data, the apparatus including a computer system for: a) determining interaction data relating to at least one content interaction; b) determining shared data derived from the interaction data; and c) providing a shared data indication indicative of the shared data to a processing system via a communications network to allow a processing system to determine a reward at least partially in accordance with the shared data indication.

Typically the computer system is for receiving an indication of the reward assigned to the user from a processing system.

Typically the computer system is for receiving content from a processing system, the content being determined at least partially in accordance with the shared data indication.

Typically the apparatus includes a processing system for at least one of: a) receiving the shared data indication; and, b) determining at least one of: i) reward to be assigned; and ii) content to be provided to the user at least partially in accordance with the shared data indication.

Typically the apparatus includes: a) a first processing system for determining content to be provided to the user; and, b) a second processing system for determining the reward.

Typically the computer system is for querying the interaction data to thereby determine shared data derived from the interaction data.

Typically the computer system is for querying the interaction data at least partially in accordance with query criteria.

Typically the query criteria include a number of questions, and wherein the computer system is for: a) comparing the interaction data to the questions; b) determining question answers in response to the comparison; and, c) generating the shared data using the question answers.

Typically the computer system is for receiving the query criteria from a processing system via a communications network.

Typically the apparatus includes a processing system for providing the query criteria to the computer system.

Typically the computer system is for querying the interaction data at least partially using an analytical algorithm.

Typically the computer system is for: a) querying the interaction data to determine query result data; and, b) determining the shared data from the query result data at least partially in accordance with user defined sharing indications indicative of data to be shared.

Typically the query criteria include a number of questions and wherein the computer system is for determining selected questions using user defined sharing indications indicative of data to be shared.

Typically the sharing indications are query result sharing indications.

Typically the computer system is for determining the shared data at least partially in accordance with user defined sharing indications indicative of data to be shared.

Typically the sharing indications are interaction data sharing indications.

Typically the computer system is for: a) causing data sharing options to be displayed to a user; b) determining at least one user selected data sharing option; and, c) determining at least one sharing indication in accordance with the at least one user selected data sharing option. Typically the computer system is for determining the at least one user selected data sharing option in accordance with user input commands.

Typically the sharing indications are indicative of at least one of: a) data to be shared; b) data to not be shared; c) allowable uses of the data; d) unallowable uses of the data; e) a time for which the data is available; f) whether shared data should be provided to third parties; and, g) whether shared data should be retained or deleted after use.

Typically the computer system is for: a) displaying a reward representation indicative of the reward assigned to the user; b) determining a user allocation of at least part of the reward; and, c) causing the at least part of the reward to be allocated in accordance with the user allocation.

Typically the computer system is for transferring an allocation indication indicative of the user allocation of the at least part of the reward to a processing system, thereby allowing the processing system to allocate the at least part of the reward.

Typically the computer system is for: a) causing allocation options to be displayed to the user; and, b) determining the user allocation in accordance with user input commands.

Typically the computer system is for performing content interaction at least partially in accordance with user input commands.

Typically the content interaction includes: a) content browsing; b) viewing content; c) selecting content for viewing; d) interacting with content; e) rating content; f) providing survey responses; and, g) answering questions.

Typically the content includes webpages accessed via a communications network.

Typically the shared data is indicative of at least one of: a) a content address; b) a viewing time; c) an interaction time; d) a cursor position; e) a cursor movement; f) a user rating; g) a user interaction; and, h) user input commands.

Typically the interaction data is indicative of at least one of: a) a browsing history; b) a content address; c) a viewing time; d) an interaction time; e) a cursor position; f) a cursor movement; g) a user rating; h) a user interaction; and, i) user input commands.

Typically the content interaction relates to at least one of answering questions and providing survey responses, and wherein the computer system is for providing at least one of an answer to at least one question and at least one survey response in accordance with shared data. Typically the content interaction relates to at least one of answering questions and providing survey responses, and wherein the shared data includes statistics relating to at least one of answering questions and providing survey responses.

Typically the computer system is for: a) determining at least one content interaction to be performed; b) providing a content request to a processing system via a communications network in accordance with the determined at least one content interaction, the processing system being responsive to the content request to provide content to the computer system; and, c) receiving the content from the processing system.

Typically the computer system is for implementing: a) a browser application for allowing content interaction; and, b) a module for: i) determining the shared data; and, ii) providing the shared data to the processing system.

Typically the module is a plug-in for cooperating with the browser application.

Typically the module is a sharing firewall for use in determining the shared data.

Typically the shared data is for use in establishing a user profile, and wherein the user profile is used to provide tailored content to the user.

Typically the computer system is for: a) identifying a user; and, b) determining the sharing indications for the identified user.

Typically the computer system is for: a) storing the shared data; and, b) providing the shared data to a processing system in response to a request for the shared data.

Typically the apparatus includes a memory for storing at least one of: a) interaction data; b) query criteria; c) user defined sharing indications; and, d) shared data

Typically the computer system includes a processor for executing applications software to thereby determine the shared data.

Typically the applications software includes a plug-in that communicates with a browser application to determine the shared data from interaction data determined at least in part by the browser application.

Typically the apparatus includes a display for displaying at least one of: a) an indication of the reward; b) data sharing options; c) allocation options; d) shared data; and, e) content.

Typically the reward includes at least one of: a) tailored content; b) content; c) multi-media; d) funds; e) funds for allocation; f) search results; g) services; and, h) products.

In a second broad form the present invention seeks to provide a method for use in sharing data relating to a content interaction, the method including, in a computer system: a) determining interaction data relating to at least one content interaction; b) determining shared data derived from the interaction data; and c) providing a shared data indication indicative of the shared data to a processing system via a communications network to allow a processing system to determine reward at least partially in accordance with the shared data indication.

In a third broad form the present invention seeks to provide apparatus for use in using shared data relating to a content interaction, the apparatus including a processing system for: a) receiving shared data from a computer system via a communications network, the shared data being derived from interaction data relating to at least one content interaction; b) at least in part using the shared data to determine at least one of: i) a reward; and, ii) content to be displayed to the user; c) providing to the computer system at least one of: i) an indication of the reward; and, ii) the content.

Typically the processing system is for providing query criteria to the computer system via a communications network, the computer system being for querying the interaction data at least partially in accordance with query criteria.

Typically the processing system is for generating the query data.

Typically the processing system includes: a) a first processing system for determining content to be provided to the user; and, b) a second processing system for determining the reward.

In a fourth broad form the present invention seeks to provide a method for use in using shared data relating to a content interaction, the method including, in a processing system: a) receiving shared data from a computer system via a communications network, the shared data being derived from interaction data relating to at least one content interaction; b) at least in part using the shared data to determine at least one of: i) a reward; and, ii) content to be displayed to the user; c) providing to the computer system at least one of: i) an indication of the reward; and, ii) the content.

Brief Description of the Drawings

An example of the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: - Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of an example of a processing system;

Figure 2A is a flow chart of a first example of a process for sharing data;

Figure 2B is a flow chart of a second example of a process for sharing data;

Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of an example of a computer network environment;

Figure 4 is a flow chart of an example of a process for defining sharing indications; Figures 5 A and 5B are a flow chart of a third example of a process for sharing data;

Figure 6 is a schematic diagram of an example of a user interface for sharing data;

Figure 7 is a flow chart of an example of a process for configuring a query module for use in sharing data;

Figure 8 is a flow chart of an example a fourth example of a process for sharing data; Figure 9 is a schematic diagram of an example of a functional system for sharing data.

Figures 1 OA to 1 OC are a flow chart of an example process for providing an advert to a user using the functional system of Figure 9.

Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments

In one example, the process of sharing data is implemented at least in part by a client software application, such as a browser application, or plug-in thereto, executed by a computer system, such as a processing system.

An example of a computer system adapted for use in sharing data is shown in Figure 1. In this example, the computer system 100 is a standard processing system such as an 32-bit or 64-bit Intel Architecture based processing system, and the software executed by the system 100 is implemented in the form of programming instructions of one or more software modules 130 stored on non- volatile (e.g., hard disk) storage 140 associated with the processing system. However, it will be apparent that at least parts of the software could alternatively be implemented as one or more dedicated hardware components, such as application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) and/or field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs).

The computer system 100 includes standard computer components, including random access memory (RAM) 102, at least one processor 104, and external interfaces 106, 108 and 110, all interconnected by a bus 112. The external interfaces include universal serial bus (USB) interfaces 106, at least one of which is connected to a keyboard and a pointing device such as a mouse 114, a network interface connector (NIC) 108 which connects the system 100 to a communications network, as will be described in more detail below, and a display adapter 110, which is connected to a display device such as an LCD panel display 116.

The computer system 100 may also include a number of standard software modules, including an operating system 142 such as Linux or Microsoft Windows XP.

An example of a process for sharing data relating to content interactions will now be described with reference to Figure 2A.

In this example, as step 200 a user optionally defines sharing indications. The sharing indications are indicative of data relating to content interactions ("interaction data") that may be shared with third parties, and may also be indicative of how such shared data may be used.

The interaction data that can be shared ("shared data") will depend on the nature of the content interaction. Thus, for example, the content interaction can include web browsing, in which case the shared data could include a list of web-pages visited, a time spent on each web-page, details of content viewed on each web-page, details of any advertising viewed, or the like. This can also include additional such as the position of the user's cursor during the viewing, the duration of viewing, ratings provided by the user or the like.

The sharing indications may also specify potential uses for the data, such as in providing tailored content to a user, providing feedback to advertisers, and the like, allowing the user to control not only what information is shared, but also for what purpose the information may be used.

The sharing indications may be defined in any one of a number of ways, but typically this is achieved by having the user select data sharing options presented by applications software executed by the computer system as will be described in more detail below.

By having the user define the sharing indications, this allows the user to make positive indications regarding which data is shared. This provides the user with total control over the data sharing process and in particular allows the user to specify types of interaction data that should be shared.

It will be appreciated that in addition to having the sharing indications specify what type of information that can be shared, exclusion lists may also be positively defined, allowing the user to specify types of data that should not be shared, such as cookies or the like. Additionally, exclusions or inclusions could apply to specific types of content, such as specific types of website, so that the information shared when browsing one website differs to when browsing another website. In the event that a conflict exists between any sharing indications, the relevant type of data is not shared, thereby ensuring user privacy concerns are met at all time.

Typically the defined sharing indications are stored by the computer system, allowing them to be subsequently accessed during content interaction processes. Accordingly, the above step is optional in the sense that it need only be performed a single time, and does not need to be performed each time content interaction is to occur.

At step 205, one or more content interactions are optionally performed. This may be achieved in any suitable manner depending on the nature of the content interactions. For example, in the case of web browsing activities, this may involve having the user control a browser application implemented by the computer system. In the case of a question answering procedure, for example performed as part of a survey, this may be achieved via a webpage in a similar manner, or alternatively by using a specific software application. At step 210 shared data relating to the content interaction is determined. Thus, when a user performs a browser operation, such as entering a web address, or interacting with content presented on a webpage, then the computer system can determine related information, typically in the form of interaction data. The interaction data can include a range of information such as a browsing history, keystroke information, mouse position information, or the like, as will be described in more detail below. The sharing of the interaction data is controlled using the sharing indications, which act as a filter so that only specified types or instances of the interaction data are used to form the shared data.

At step 215, a shared data indication indicative of the shared data is provided. This shared data indication is typically provided to a third party, via a suitable data transfer mechanism, allowing the or another third party to provide a reward to the user in return for the user providing the shared data.

In one example, the third party is in the form of a remote processing system, in which case the shared data indication can be transferred via a communications network, or the like, as will be appreciated by a person skilled in the art.

The reward may be of any form. In one example, the reward is typically in the form of funds that are assigned to the user. However, in other examples, the reward can include downloadable media, such as software upgrades, music or video downloads, subscription to content or other services, access to information for example in the form of search results, or the like.

The reward, such as the funds, are generated based on the inherent value of the shared data and this may be achieved in any one of a number of ways, depending on the nature of the content interaction, the authorised uses specified by the user, or the like. Thus, for example, shared data relating to interaction with adverts can be provided to advertisers, allowing them to use the information to determine the effectiveness of adverts. This information can include selection of adverts by the user, as well as additional information, such as rating of adverts, information regarding time spent viewing adverts or the like. Thus, shared data can be on-sold to any interested third party, to the extent authorised by the user, thereby allowing the reward to be provided. In one example, this can be by having the third party provide funds in exchange for the data, although alternative mechanisms may be used, such as by allowing the third party to directly reward the user, for example through access to products, services, or the like.

Additionally, and/or alternatively, the reward can include providing tailored content to the user, based on the shared data. Thus, the shared data may also be used by content providers to assess content that is of interest to users, thereby allowing tailored content to be provided. The tailoring can include, for example, the inclusion of specific adverts that may be of interest to the user, or alternatively, can include directing the user to specific search results or the like. This in turn increases the popularity of content, which can generate revenue for the content provider, for example through advertising. In one example, this is achieved by establishing a user profile reflecting user preferences determined from the shared data, with tailored content then being generated based on the user profile. However, any suitable mechanism may be used, as will be described in more detail below.

In a further example, the content interaction can include a survey completion process, in which the user provides answers to questions. In many examples, users are compensated by parties setting the survey. However, by providing additional information based on the shared data, such as the length of time spent answering questions, this can assist the party setting the survey to assess the answers provided. Accordingly, in this instance, the party can be charged a premium for surveys answered in this manner, thereby allowing additional funds to be generated.

Additionally, in this instance, the sharing indications may include personal data regarding the user that the user is willing to share. In this instance, when the survey is received, the sharing indications can be used to partially populate the survey with answers to questions, where this information is available. This can be performed automatically making it quicker and easier for users to fill in surveys and hence make money.

In another example, the content interaction includes providing registration information to a third party. In this example, the sharing indications may again include personal data regarding the user that the user is willing to share. This can include identity information, such as name and address, demographic information such as gender and age, or other more general information, such as interests, or the like. When completing the registration process, as the user is requested to submit information, this could be screened based on the sharing indications, thereby preventing unwanted data being provided during the registration process. It will be appreciated, that in this example, the reward can be in the form of access to third party products of services, such as access to a web-site or the like.

In one example, the reward is scaled based on the level of data shared. Thus, for example, in the event that the shared data is of a personal nature, then the reward could be greater than if the shared data is more generic. For example, in the case of providing content to a user, the quality, amount or nature of the content may vary depending on the amount and/or value of the shared data.

In one example 75% of the revenue from the shared data is assigned to users, with the remainder being apportioned to the third party that shares the data. This allows the third party to cover any overheads and make a degree of profit, although this is not essential, and any division of revenue may be used.

An indication of the reward is optionally provided by the third party, with the indication being received by the computer system at step 220, allowing the computer system to optionally display an indication of the reward to the user at step 225. This may be achieved in any suitable manner, such as by having the browser or other suitable application display a counter to the user.

In this case, it will be appreciated that as browsing occurs, data can be continuously or periodically provided to the third party, so that as funds are assigned to the user, the counter value can increase, thereby providing feedback to the user regarding the funds assigned. TMs allows the user to see how revenue is being generated by the browsing process, thereby encouraging users to continue browsing, and maximise the amount of data they authorise for transfer, via suitable configuration of the sharing indications.

Accordingly, in this process, the user is compensated for the provision of the shared data, by an assignment of rewards in the form of funds. The funds may be any form of funds and can include for example monetary funds, credit towards services or the like. Alternatively, the funds are an indication of monetary funds that can be allocated to specific causes or projects, by the user. In one example, the funds can be allocated to charitable or environmental beneficiaries, as will be described in more detail below. A combination of monetary and other allocatable funds can also be provided.

In the above described process, the user is typically required to make positive selections as to the interaction data that are made available, allowing the user to absolutely prevent any data being shared that would raise privacy concerns with the user. This is advantageous as users are less likely to have a problem sharing data if they are able to control the nature of the data that is made available.

However once sharing indications are defined, no further input is required by the user to control the data sharing process. In particular, this allows the user to continue with content browsing activities, as they would normally do, whilst also receiving funds for allowing selected interaction data to be shared. In this sense, the user therefore earns funds without actually having to do anything outside their normal activity. This provides a significant incentive for individuals to participate in the data sharing process.

The above described process can share more types of data than can be shared using traditional techniques, such as based on user submissions received at a web-site or the like, or the sharing of browsing history and favourites, as occurs in a limited but uncontrolled manner in existing browsers. This additional data, such as content viewing time, mouse cursor position, or the like, is generally of greater value to interested parties such as advertisers, and is also less likely to be objectionable to the users in terms of sharing of the data.

A second example of a process for use in sharing data relating to content interactions will now be described with reference to Figure 2B.

In this example, at step 250 one or more content interactions are performed. As described above, the content interactions may be of any suitable form and can include, for example, browsing web pages or the like. At step 255 interaction data relating to the content interactions is determined and this again may be achieved in any one of a number of ways, such as by retrieving information generated by a browser application executed by the computer system 100.

At step 260 the interaction data is used to determine shared data. This may be performed in any one of a number of manners, and in one example is achieved by querying the interaction data. In this example, the computer system 100 compares the interaction data to one or more questions stored locally on the computer system 100. The questions are questions that relate to the content interaction activities, and can include, for example, questions regarding the types of sites visited, the length of time on each site, or the like.

In one example, the questions are determined by a third party to allow a statistical or other analytical analysis of the interaction data to be performed. In this example, as the answers to the questions tend to be in the form of statistics, this is less revealing regarding the users content interactions than the raw interaction data. As a consequence, user's tend to be receptive to providing data in this manner. Despite this, the information can still provide useful information to service providers allowing rewards to be provided.

Additionally, the querying process can be at least in part controlled by the user. This can be achieved by having the user control the questions that are used in the querying process. However, more typically this is achieved by having sharing indications applied to the answers in a manner similar to that described above, thereby allowing the answers to be filtered to determine the shared data. Accordingly, in this example, the querying process is used to determine answers to the questions, with the answers then being filtered based on the basis of the sharing indications, to thereby generate the shared data.

At step 265 an indication of shared data determined by the querying process is provided to a third party in the form of a shared data indication. This allows the shared data to be used to provide rewards such as remuneration and/or tailored content to the user as described above for example. Accordingly, at step 270 an indication of the reward is provided by the third party, allowing this to be displayed to the user at step 275. Accordingly, in the above described examples, user's are rewarded for sharing information regarding their content interactions. This provides users with an incentive, this increases the amount of data shared, and hence increases the degree to which targeted content can be delivered.

The above described processes are typically performed within a distributed computer network an example of which will now be described with reference to Figure 3.

In this example, one or more computer systems 100 are coupled to one or more processing systems 305 via one or more communications networks 304, 306. The communications networks 304, 306 may be of any suitable form, such as local area networks (LANs), wide area networks (WANs), the Internet, a public switched telephone network (PSTN), or the like.

The processing systems 305 are typically adapted to host content, allowing this to be viewed by the user, using the computer system 100. The processing system 305 may operate applications software to enable data transfer and in some cases web-hosting and file transfer protocol (FTP) functionality. This may require that the processing system 305 is a network server connected via a high-bandwidth connection to the Internet, although any form of suitable processing system 305 may be used.

An example of the process for defining sharing indications will now be described in more detail with reference to Figure 4.

In this example, at step 400 a user selects to participate in a data sharing process using the computer system 100. This may be achieved in any one of a number of manners depending on the preferred implementation. Thus, for example, this may involve having a user access a website and indicate that they wish to participate in the data sharing process. Alternatively, the user may be presented with a selectable option when installing application software, such as a browser application, on the computer system 100. Typically the process is implemented by a plug-in associated with a browser application, and accordingly, in one example, this is achieved by selecting an appropriate input option presented by the browser application or plug-in. At step 410 the computer system 100 operates to display data sharing options. This may be achieved in any suitable manner. Thus, for example, if the user has selected to participate in the data sharing via a website, this may involve displaying a webpage including a list of various data sharing options, which is then displayed to the user via the computer system 100. Thus, for example, the user could be presented with questions such as: "are you happy to share information relating to the amount of time spent browsing each web-page", "are you happy to share information relating to types of web-page visited", "are you happy to share information relating to videos viewed on You Tube". In this instance, yes/no answer options can be selected allowing the user to indicate if they are happy for the respective information to be collected.

Alternatively, the list of options may be provided as part of application software being installed on the computer system 100 and presented to the user when the relevant option is selected, as will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art.

However, in general, this is performed using a plug-in to a browser application. This technique can provide a number of benefits.

For example, this allows a unique ID to be assigned to the user. The user can then log-in before performing any browsing operations, allowing the user to be identified so that different sharing indications can be established for different users on a common computer. This allows multiple users to use a single computer whilst allowing each user to share different information. Thus, once a user profile defining sharing indications is established for a user, identification of the user can allow tailored content to be displayed to a user during subsequent browsing, as will be described in more detail below. It will be appreciated that the identity of the individual need only be distinguished from the identity of each other individual using the system, and does not therefore necessarily correspond to the user's real world identity, but rather could include a unique pseudonym, or the like.

The use of a browser plug-in allows sharing indications to be easily displayed and completed without the need to access external web pages or the like. The browser plug-in can also be used to assist in completing surveys or the like, by using information that the user has indicated that they are willing to share in the sharing indications. Additionally, using a browser plug-in, allows the plug-in to interpret and render HTML differently, enabling additional input controls to be provided on content, such as rating indications, as will be described in more detail below.

Implementing the data sharing process via a browser plug-in also allows the technique to be implemented for any form of content viewable via the browser, and not just for internet based content, and not just for specific sites, which is the case if the data sharing process were to be implemented by a website host.

The data sharing options will relate to a range of different types of data that may be shared, depending on different types of content interactions being performed, such as browsing activities, survey completion processes, or the like. Examples of content interactions include, but are not limited to:

• content browsing;

• viewing content;

• selecting content for viewing; • interacting with content;

• rating content; and,

• answering questions.

The types of data that can be shared include, but are not limited to:

• a content address; • a viewing time;

• an interaction time;

• a cursor position;

• a cursor movement;

• a user rating; • a user interaction; and,

• user input commands.

The options are arranged so that the default selection is typically that the respective type of data is not shared. Unlike most other systems, this system is typically opt-in, not opt-out. This avoids the data being shared without the user's specific and positive authorisation, which in turn avoids negative user perception as they appreciate that without positive input on their part, no data will be shared. This alleviates fears with data being used unscrupulously by third parties as well as relieving privacy concerns.

As a further option, the sharing indications might limit the manner in which the shared data can be used. This can include, for example, limitations on:

• data to be shared;

• data to not be shared;

• allowable uses of the data; • unallowable uses of the data;

• a time for which the data is available;

• whether shared data should be provided to third parties; and,

• whether shared data should be retained or deleted after use.

During the above sharing indication definition process, information could be provided to the user such as value of sharing each particular piece of information. A user can use this information to determine which data, when shared, will result in the most funds for the user. This can be achieved by including a score next to each data option, the score being indicative of the amount of revenue the respective type of data will generate.

Once all the sharing indications are defined, the user can also be presented with a total score indicative of the amount of funds that are likely to be assigned to the user over a time period based on an average browsing behaviour. In the event that a user's browsing history is also available, this might be based on the browsing history, so that the user could be presented with the score in the form of the amount of funds the user would have earned in the previous week.

This in turn encourages users to share as much data as possible by listing revenue against options in the sharing indications and providing immediate feedback regarding the revenue this would generate. It will also be appreciated that the sharing indications selected by the user may include inherent value. For example, a service provider might find it useful to discern which types of information users generally consider as private. In this situation, if that information is of particular interest to the service provider, then the service provider may decide to allocate greater funds to that information, so that additional people are willing to share the information. Accordingly, one sharing indication may be used to indicate whether details of the sharing indications should be made available as part of the shared information.

A further variation is for different service providers to define different values associated with different types of information. For example, an advertiser may be willing to pay more for information regarding other adverts viewed by the user, whereas a news site may not care what adverts a user views, but will care about the news stories user view. In this instance, the value assigned to respective sharing indications may therefore vary depending on the third party which receives the shared data. Accordingly, a further option is to display different values for each sharing option associated with different types of entity that might receive the shared data. In this instance, this allows the user to target specific sharing options for specific third parties allowing the user to maximise the fund generation capabilities.

At step 420 the computer system determines the user's selected options. This may be achieved in any suitable manner but typically involves having the computer system interpret user input commands to determine options selected by the user, for example by selection of an appropriate tick box. As will be appreciated, if this is performed via a web-site, this may involve transferring an indication of selected options to a service provider. More typically however, this is performed locally on the computer system 100, for example as part of user settings within a software application, such as a browser plug-in, or during a software installation process.

At step 430 the computer system 100 generates sharing indications which are stored at step 440. The sharing indications may be stored in the form of a user sharing profile and therefore specify the nature of interaction data which the user is willing to have shared via the process.

The sharing indications can be stored remotely, for example on a service provider's server, so that each time the user interacts via the service provider, the sharing indications can automatically be accessed. This allows the user to generate revenue irrespective of the computer system 100 currently being used. This is advantageous in the sense that a user can log into their account from any browser on any PC and use this in the data sharing process. This can also allow the delivery of tailored content to a user to be achieved regardless of the computer they are using.

However, more preferably, the sharing indications are stored locally on the computer system 100, allowing the computer system 100 to share additional information that could not be determined by the service provider, such as the position of, or movement of, a user's cursor during a browsing process. Additionally, this helps alleviate concerns of the user as the sharing indications are stored and can be viewed locally thereby rendering it more difficult for them to be changed in an unauthorised manner.

An example of a process for sharing data during a web browsing process will now be described with reference to Figure 5. For the purpose of this example, the reward is in the form of funds, but it will be appreciated that a similar process could be performed for any reward, and reference to funds is for the purpose of illustration only.

In this example, at step 500, the computer system performs one or more browsing activities. This is typically performed utilising a browser application installed on the computer system and this process will not therefore be described in any further detail.

An example of a suitable browsing interface. for achieving this is shown in Figure 6. In this example, the user interface 600 includes a menu bar 610 having one or more input controls 611, an address bar 620 including an address input field 621 and a browsing window 630 including the content being viewed. In this instance, the browsing window includes a number of content instances, 631, 632, 633, representing content provided on the page.

Additionally, an advert is shown at 640. In this instance, the advert 640 includes rating indications 641, 642, which might include, for example, rating the advert as relevant or not relevant. The provision of the rating options can be controlled by the advertiser, but more typically this is achieved by having the browser plug-in interpret and render HTML differently by adding content to the HTML which causes the rating options to be provided. An alternative mechanism that may be used is to allow a user to 'right click' on an ad and then define user profile data by selecting options such as, "I like this ad", "I don't like this ad", "I am looking at purchasing this product", "I find this offensive" etc. This has the advantage that the plug-in module does not have to add anything to the content that may be considered intrusive or distracting to the user. In this instance advertisers can still define the rating options, with these being presented in a window displayed when the user performs a right click operation. This allows the computer system, and in particular the plug-in module to interpret the HTML to display the rating options in the menu without changing the appearance of the advert, which could be considered intrusive and distracting for the user.

It will be appreciated from this that the association of rating options with advertising is for the purpose of example only, and that in practice ratings could be associated with any form of content.

Additional input controls such as a slider 635 can be provided for controlling the viewing of information, for example by adjusting the position of the content instances 631, 632, 633 in the browsing window 630 and an input cursor 650 is typically controlled by a mouse or other suitable input device, allowing input commands to be provided via the browser application. This may be achieved via the content and the advert. Thus, for example, some of the content instances 631, 632, 633 may incorporate hyperlinks allowing the user to navigate to an alternative webpage.

In one example, the browsing interface can include a counter 660 displaying funds assigned to the user, as will be described in more detail below. Alternatively however, any suitable reward indication or representation can be displayed. The reward representation such as the counter is typically rendered by the plug-in, as will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art. However, this is not essential and alternatively additional features added to the browser by the plug-in can be displayed in any suitable manner, such as through menu options, or the like. The manner in which information is displayed could be selected by the user, based on user preferences, or the like, allowing the user to customize the browsing experience as much as is possible. At step 505 the computer system determines sharing indications that are relevant to browsing activities, and from these determines the types of data that can be shared, such as the types of data described above.

Thus, for example, the duration between a user's first opening of a webpage and subsequent navigation away from the webpage can be used to determine a viewing time for the webpage.

Additionally, information relating to the cursor position can be used to assess whether the user is viewing and interacting with content on the page, or alternatively, whether the webpage is being viewed statically with less interaction. It will be appreciated that a greater amount of interaction tends to indicate greater interest in a page and therefore provides useful feedback for content providers.

Additionally, in some instances, adverts 640 or other content may be displayed to a user together with user inputs that allow the user to rate the content. In this example, the advert 640 includes rating inputs 641, 642 allowing the user to rate the advert 640 as relevant or not relevant. This allows further information to be gained regarding whether the advert or other content shown is of interest to the user. Alternatively, ratings maybe provided using any suitable input technique such as "right clicking" to display a drop down menu, as described above.

It will be appreciated that by implementing the control process with the plug-in, this can be achieved by having the plug-in determine if a user is willing to provide ratings for any of the content to be displayed on a selected website. If so, the plug-in can determine if the webpage being displayed includes such content, through suitable analysis of the received HTML data, and if so modify the HTML code to allow content rating indications to be added to the content. It will be appreciated that this provides another significant benefit for the browser plug-in implementation.

In the event that such a rating mechanism is not provided, information can still be obtained by assessing whether the user interacts with the advert 640 in any manner. Thus, in the case of pop up adverts, if the user selects to close the advert after a very short duration, this indicates that the user has probably not viewed the advert and therefore that the advert is of little interest. At step 510 the computer system compares data relating to the browsing activity to the sharing indications and assesses which of data may be shared at step 515, thereby allowing the sharing indications to be used to filter the interaction data, and in particular all the different types of data that can be collected, so that only data which has been specifically selected by the user is shared.

At step 520 the computer system generates an indication of the shared data and transfers this to the processing system 305 at step 525.

At step 530, the processing system determines an assignment of funds to the user. The assignment of funds can be calculated in any suitable manner depending on the preferred implementation and may depend on the nature of the shared data.

Thus, for example, if the shared data relates to a user's interaction with adverts, this information is of commercial value to the advertiser, and accordingly, the processing system operator can on-sell this information to the advertiser.

Alternatively, and/or additionally, the information may be useful to the processing system operator. Thus, in one example, the processing system 305 may be operated by a search engine host. In this instance, the data will be of interest to the search engine host in assessing webpages that are popular and therefore should be presented with a higher rating during searches. In this instance, the processing system operator may choose to provide funds in return for the provision of the information, depending on the extent of the information's use.

In general, when any revenue is generated by the sharing of data a percentage of the revenue is apportioned to the user by the processing system 305. In one example 75% of the revenue is assigned to users, with the remainder being apportioned to the operator of the data sharing process. This allows the operator to cover any overheads and make a degree of profit.

Whilst the apportionment may be such that the operator makes no profit, there is generally little motivation for the operator to implement the data sharing process. As a result, operation of the site can become negatively influenced to increase the proportion of revenue going to a project in return for some benefit to the system operator. In order to avoid this, it is desirable for the website owner to be able to make a profit from the advertising in place to negate the chance of this happening. However, this is not essential and merely represents one example.

At step 535, the processing system 305 transfers an indication of the funds assigned to the user to the computer system 100, allowing this to be displayed to the user at step 540. This can be achieved using any suitable technique, such as by having the user access a webpage, allowing the assigned funds to be viewed. Alternatively, this could be achieved using the counter 660. In one example, the counter 660 may be displayed at all times, although alternatively, this may be displayed in response to a request from the user.

Displaying a counter in this manner has a positive reinforcement benefit to the user. In particular, if the user can see that each time they interact with content, the available funds for allocation increases, thereby encouraging the users to interact with content and generates further funds.

In one example, the funds may be provided for the user in the form of money which the user can then spend as they wish. Thus, for example, the service provider may periodically, or upon request, provide money to the user equating to the current funds earned. Thus, typically the amount of money earned for a short time browsing will not be particularly large, and to avoid the need for multiple small payments, the service provider will typically transfer currency to the user only once a threshold amount of funds have been earned. However, this is not essential, and alternatively, funds may be made available using any technique, such as micropayments via a PayPal account, or the like.

In another example, the funds are to be made available to charitable, environmental or other ecological beneficiaries. Accordingly, the funds may be in the form of credits. Thus, it will be appreciated that this allows users to generate funds for projects through daily browsing or other content interaction activities. Additionally, this makes shared data available for third parties, allowing them to use the data to analyse browsing or other content interaction activities.

In both examples funds can be transferred either periodically in the form of lump sums, or continuously as a 'stream', depending for example on user settings or the like. . In the event that the user decides to allocate their funds at step 545, the user typically selects an appropriate input option presented by the computer system 100. This may be achieved in any suitable manner, such as by right clicking on the counter 660 and selecting an allocate funds option, or by navigating to a suitable webpage, or the like.

At step 550 a list of available projects may then be displayed by the computer system. In one example, details of projects can be displayed using an appropriate interface. The projects may be displayed using categories, so that when a respective category is selected, details of projects in that category are displayed. Typically, this process therefore involves having the client interface or browser application transfer an indication of a selected project category to the processing system 305, allowing the processing system 305 to determine details of relevant projects, for example from a project database. Details of the projects are then returned to the computer system, 100 for display.

In one example, the projects are represented on a globe or geospatial representation in a geographical location corresponding to the physical location of the project. In one example, the display of projects can therefore be achieved using a layer within a Google Earth type application or a Google Maps type website, although any suitable technique may be used. It will be appreciated that projects may be displayed without the user selecting to allocate funds, so that information regarding projects can be viewed at any time, and this could be achieved by simply selecting to display the relevant project layer. Users could also donate further funds to projects etc if they so desire.

Upon selection of a particular project, information regarding the project is typically provided, allowing the user to review the information and determine whether they wish to allocate funds to the project.

At step 555 a user selection of a project is determined, typically by having the user select a respective one of the projects using a mouse cursor or other similar input mechanism. An indication of the selection is then transferred to the processing system 305. At this time funds can simply be allocated directly to the project. A user can also choose a project that their funds will stream to in real time, so that in this instance the user selection need only be performed a single time to control the future allocation of funds. This may be preferable because it takes less time for the user as the user does not need to make a couscous selection when funds are to be transferred. It will be appreciated from this that the allocation of funds can be a substantially automated process.

The user may also choose to allocate funds to more than one project by percentage. Thus, for example, funds could be streamed or otherwise allocated 40% to project A, 30% to project B and 30% to project C.

An example process for configuring the computer system for querying interaction data will now be described with reference to Figure 7.

In this example at step 700, the user selects to participate in a data sharing process. This can be achieved in a manner similar to that described above with respect to step 400 of Figure 4. At step 710 the processing system provides a plug-in module, and optionally query criteria, which are downloaded to the computer system 100.

The query criteria typically includes questions that relate to a range of different types of data that may be shared, depending on different types of content interactions being performed, such as browsing activities, survey completion processes, or the like. The questions can therefore relate to types of data such as:

• a content address; • a viewing time;

• an interaction time;

• a cursor position;

• a cursor movement;

• a user rating; • a user interaction; and,

• user input commands. The provision of question is optional in the sense that questions may be installed during this configuration process, but additionally and/or alternatively questions may be provided when shared data is requested by a third party, as will be described in more detail below.

At step 720 the module and any criteria are installed on the computer system. This may be achieved in any one of a number of ways, but typically is achieved by providing the module as a plug-in which interacts with a browser application installed on the computer system 100.

At step 730, any questions that are to be used in querying the interaction data, are optionally displayed to the user, allowing the user to select those questions for which answers are to be provided. In a manner similar to that described above with respect to the sharing indications, the questions can be configured so that the default selection is typically that the respective type of data is not shared.

During selection of the questions to be answered, information could be provided to the user such as a value of allowing each question to be answered. A user can use this information to determine which interaction data, when shared, will result in the most funds for the user. This can be achieved by including a score next to each data option, the score being indicative of the amount of revenue the respective type of data will generate.

The user can also be presented with a total score indicative of the amount of funds that will be assigned to the user over a time period based on an average browsing behaviour, to encourage users to share as much data as possible.

At step 740 the user optionally selects data sharing options to allow the computer system to generate and store sharing indications at step 750, in a manner similar to that described above with respect to Figure 4.

The sharing indications can be used to further control the sharing of information and this may be achieved for example by designating the types of information that can or cannot be provided, or identifying certain questions within the query criteria which can or cannot be answered. However, more typically this is achieved by filtering the answers generated by the querying process. Thus, in one example, all questions may be answered during the querying process by default, with additional subsequent filtering being performed on the basis of sharing indications, thereby allowing the shared data to only include information permitted by the user.

It should be noted that there may be different sharing indications for different scenarios. For example, in the arrangement of Figures 5 A and 5B interaction data sharing indications can be used to filter the interaction data directly, whereas in the example of the querying process, different query result sharing indications can be used to filter answers generated through a query process. However, this is not essential, and common sharing indications may be used for any sharing process.

An example process for performing content interaction in accordance with the above- described process will now be described with reference to Figure 8.

In this example, at step 800 the computer system 100 performs one or more browsing activities, typically using a browser application similar to the application described above with respect to Figure 6.

At step 805 the computer system 100 determines interaction data which is then compared to query criteria questions at step 810. The nature of the questions may vary depending on the preferred implementation, and can include for example questions relating to the nature of sites visited, the actions performed on the site, the time spent on the site or the like.

At step 815, the computer system 100 queries the interaction data using the questions, and this is typically achieved using an algorithm that analyses the interaction data to determine answers to the questions.

At step 820 the computer system 100 optionally modifies the results of the query process by using the sharing indications to filter the answers, thereby generating the shared data at step 825.

At step 830 an indication of shared data is transferred to the processing system. This may be achieved in any one of a number of manners and in one example the results of the analysis are formed into a table of 'preferences' (and other information), comprising a list of questions and answers. The information could be listed in the form of a question number, and a Yes/No or a numerical value for the answer, so that even if the shared data is intercepted by third parties this is difficult to interpret, thereby further enhancing the security of the process.

Once the information has been received by the processing system, this allows the processing system to either determine an assignment of funds to the user, or to determine content which is of relevance to the user at step 835.

It will be appreciated that an indication of funds can then be provided to the user, allowing the user to allocate funds to projects, in a manner similar to that described above at steps 535 to 565 in Figure 5B.

An example of the functional configuration of a system for sharing data and allowing a user to be served with tailored content in the form of adverts will now be described with reference to Figure 9.

In this example the apparatus includes a computer system 100 coupled to a number of processing systems shown generally at 305, via communications networks 304, 306 as previously described.

In this instance, the computer system implements a browser application 900 coupled to a plug-in module 910 and a sharing firewall 920. The plug-in module includes a question table 911 coupled to an analysis module 912 and an answer table 913. A sharing indications definitions table 914 is also provided.

In this example the processing systems 305 include one or more web servers 930, a service provider server 940, an ad server 950 and an advertiser processing system shown generally at 960. In use, a service provider operates the provider server 940 to administer the data sharing process, and to ensure that funds are allocated to users as required. The ad server 950 operates to provide adverts, supplied by advertisers, allowing these to be incorporated into web-pages hosted by the web servers 930, as will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art.

During browsing of content using the browser application 900, browser requests and returned content are transferred between the browser application 900 and the processing system 305, via the sharing firewall 920 as shown at 901. Such browsing requests and content may also be subject to normal firewall filtering by a separate firewall, or by the sharing firewall, as will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art.

During this process, as browsing history and other similar information becomes available, this is transferred from the browser application 900 to the plug-in module as shown at 902 and 903. In the case of the browsing information supplied at 902, this is provided to the analysis module at 912, which accesses the questions 911 and uses this to generate answers, which are stored in the answers table 913. When the answers are to be provided, such as during periodic transfer to the provider server 940, as shown at 941, or upon request by other trusted third parties, such as the ad server, the answers are supplied to the sharing firewall 920, which in turn filters the answers utilising sharing indications stored in the sharing indications definitions table 914. This ensures that only answers meeting the users preferred privacy requirements are supplied to third parties. Additionally, and/or alternatively, interaction data such as browsing history information 903 can also be filtered using the sharing indications directly.

In use, when the user accesses a website hosted by a web server 930, the website server determines if advertising is to be displayed. If so, the web server 930 contacts the ad server 950 requesting an advertisement. At this stage the ad server utilises the shared data in some manner to determine an advert that should be presented to the user. This can be achieved in a number of manners.

For example, the ad server 950 can access shared data from the computer system 100 either directly as shown at 951, or by communicating with the provider's server 940, which in turn obtains the shared data from the computer system 100 as shown at 941. In this instance, the ad server uses the shared data to determine an advert that may be of interest to the user, allowing this to be transferred to the web-site server for presentation within a suitable web- page.

Alternatively, the ad server 950 can contact the provider server 940, which in turn uses the shared data to determine a type of advert that might be of interest to the user, with an indication of this being transferred to the ad server 950, allowing the ad server to provide an appropriate advert.

Thus, it will be appreciated from the above, that in one example, the service provider only is able to access the shared data, with the provider server 940 acting to pass on required information to third parties as required. However, in other examples, third parties such as ad servers may wish to query shared data directly. In this instance, permission to do this could be controlled by the user, for example through suitable settings in the sharing firewall 920, and/or may require permission from the service provider, depending on the preferred implementation. Additionally, the user may control the information to which third parties have access, for example, by only allowing third parties access to question answers, but not the filtered versions of the browsing history obtained via 903.

In any event, once the advertisement has been determined, the advertisement is transferred to the web server 930 for provision to the user via the browser 900. Information regarding the supplied advert can then be provided to the advertiser processing system 960, and/or the provider server 940, allowing remuneration to be obtained. The provider server 940 can then determine an allocation of funds to the user, allowing this to be transferred to the computer system 100 for display, as described above.

A specific example process for providing an advertisement to the user selected based on shared data will now be described with reference to Figures 1OA to 1OC.

In this example, at step 1000 the user selects a web page for viewing using the browser application 900, with the browser application requesting the web page from the web server 930 at step 1005. This will typically be achieved in accordance with normal browser functionality and will not therefore be described in any further detail.

At step 1010 the web server 930 requests an advert from the ad server. The request for the advert typically includes information allowing the ad server 950 to identify the user's computer system 100. Thus, for example, this may include information such as the current IP address of the user's end station although any suitable technique of allowing the ad server 950 to contact the computer system 100 may be used. At step 1015 the ad server 950 selects relevant questions to be answered in order to enable shared data to be provided to the ad server 950. Typically a large number of questions will be available and the ad server 950 may identify selected ones of these questions in order to allow the ad server to obtain the shared data needed to select an advert.

At step 1020 the ad server 930 uploads the questions to the plug-in module. In one example, this can be achieved by transferring the questions. Alternatively, however, a plurality of questions can be stored on the user computer system 100, for example during a configuration process, allowing the ad server 950 to effectively transfer questions by providing one or more identifiers that identify the selected questions. Thus, for example, this could be achieved by supplying a list of question numbers corresponding to the questions to be answered.

At step 1025 the analysis module 912 queries the interaction data to determine answers to the questions. The sharing firewall 920 then compares the answers to the sharing indications stored in the sharing indications definitions table 914 at step 1030, allowing the sharing firewall 920 to filter the answers to generate the shared data at step 1035. This is performed to ensure that only information approved for sharing by the user is provided to the ad server 950.

Accordingly, it will be appreciated from this, that the sharing firewall can be used to filter any information supplied from the computer system 100 to thereby ensure that user privacy requirements are met.

At step 1040 a shared data indication indicative of the shared data is transferred to the ad server 950 allowing the ad server to use the shared data to select an advert for presentation at step 1045. At step 1050 the ad server 950 provides the advert to the web server 930 allowing the web server to integrate this into the web page to be displayed to the user. Thus, the web server 930 will update the HTML code representing the web page, to allow the advert to be displayed as part of the web page. At step 1055 the web server uploads the web page including the advert to the browser application 900 allowing this to be displayed to the user in the normal way. Concurrently with the provision of the advert to the web server 930, at step 1060 the ad server 950 communicates with the provider server 940, allowing the provider server to calculate the funds which are to be assigned to the user at step 1065. The information communicated between the ad server 950 and the provider server 940 will vary depending on the preferred implementation. In general, this will include an indication of the shared data, but does not include the shared data itself. Thus, for example, this could include an indication of the number of questions that were answered, the number of answers received, or alternatively merely a dollar value representing the amount of money the ad server is to pay for provision of the shared data. However, in practice, it can include any information that allows the provider server 940 to calculate what funds should be assigned to the user.

At step 1070 the provider server 940 provides an indication of the assigned funds to the plug- in module 910 allowing the plug-in module to optionally display the assigned funds to the user at step 1075.

It will be appreciated that in this instance, interaction occurs between the computer system 100 and a number of processing systems. In particular, a first one of the processing systems, in this instance the ad server, uses the shared data to determine the content that should be displayed, which in this instance involves selecting a specific advert. Additionally, the second processing system in the form of the provider server 940 utilises information provided by the ad server 950 in order to determine the funds that should be assigned to the user.

The use of separate servers in this instance has a number of benefits. For example, in such architectures, a number of different ad servers will generally be used by different web-sites. Consequently, during the browsing of multiple web pages, shared data is typically provided to a range of different third parties, such as different ad servers, only as required. This avoids any one individual obtaining a large amount of shared data regarding one individual, which could in turn be used to determine information that the user may otherwise wish to remain private. For example, it will be appreciated that collating shared data over a prolonged time period could allow profiling to be performed regarding the user which would be undesirable for the user. Thus, if the shared data were always provided to the provider server 940, then as a single provider server is generally used, then this would allow the provider server to establish a large amount of shared data relating to each user, which could be deemed undesirable.

In contrast to this, by providing the shared directly to the ad servers, as different websites generally utilise different ad servers, it is likely that shared data would be distributed amongst a number of different ad servers, so that each ad server includes only a limited amount of shared data, thereby limiting the ability to perform profiling or the like.

In any event, the information provided to the ad server is controlled in accordance with the sharing indications, thereby avoiding any information deemed private by the user being disclosed.

Thus, it will be appreciated that this provides an example of how tailored content such as adverts can be provided to the user. It will be appreciated that a similar arrangement could be used to serve other content, and that the example of adverts is for the purpose of illustration only.

Accordingly, the above described system and processes allow data to be shared relating to a user's content interaction activities, such as browsing of web-pages.

In one example, the information can be shared under user control by using sharing indications to filter interaction data locally on the user's computer system. This ensures that data is only provided to a third party if the user has positively identified that sharing is permitted, thereby reducing privacy concerns associated with the data sharing process.

In another example, the data is shared by performing an analysis of interaction data, so that the resulting shared data contains only statistical or other similar information. In this example, by performing the analysis locally on the user's end station, this again ensures that data is not shared that could result in privacy or security concerns for the user. Additionally, filtering of the shared data using sharing indications can also be performed to thereby provide additional control.

Furthermore, supplying the shared data to a third party provides a mechanism to generate revenue which can be used in environmentally friendly projects. Environmentally friendly projects could encompass any suitable project that assists the earth's health in some manner. In one example, this could include transient project such as disaster relief. However, as these may not have a positive long term impact on the environment, the scheme may be configured so that only a limited amount of revenue, such as 25% of revenue, could be redirected toward such transients. This prevents the scenario wherein all revenue is directed toward something which provides no long term environmental benefit.

Revenue is assigned to users based on their actions in generating the revenue. This allows the users to be responsible for allocation of funds to projects of interest to them. This has a number of effects.

For example, this avoids the need for an entity to establish how generated revenue is apportioned to different projects. Additionally, this also allows the user to directly control allocation of funds to projects of interest directly to them, allowing them for example to apportion funds to projects in their geographical area.

This also allows the user to actually take part in generating the revenue for the projects without having to supply any funds themselves. As a result, by utilising the scheme the user is able to generate funds for ecologically friendly projects at no cost to themselves thereby encouraging further use by them and others.

By encouraging users to use the system in this manner, this also increases the user's awareness of environmental issues. Not only does this give the user the opportunity to view the impact of different climate variables on climate change, but also view how projects can assist in negating such adverse effects. This gives the user an involvement in the process of funding environmental projects.

Accordingly, by sharing data not normally shared relating to a user's browsing activities or survey answering process, this allows revenue to be leveraged for use in environmentally or ecologically friendly projects. By assigning funds to the user, this makes the user conscious of the amount of funding generated by their activities, thereby further encouraging participation in the data sharing process. In one example, the funds are simply provided to the user in the form of monetary funds, allowing the user to spend these funds as they wish. In another example, the funds assigned to the user may be allocated to projects or the like, to increase user awareness in environmental issues, as well as making the conscious of the amount of funding generated by their activities, thereby further encouraging participation in the data sharing process.

A number of further features will now be described.

As will be appreciated, being able to share data relating to content browsing or other internet related activities allows in depth and accurate profiles to be established as to users' browsing behaviours and preferences. This information can be used for a wide range of purposes, such as providing content that is tailored to an individual's preferences. For example, search results, news reels and even background colours and page layout can be tailored to the preferences of each user. Every user could see a website differently, based on their preferences. This is often referred to as 'Web 3.O.'

At the moment many 'Internet companies' such as Google for example share as much user profile information as they possibly can in order to make this a reality. For example, Google shares search information in the form of every search query that is ever submitted. However, such information is extremely limited, and does not reflect the user's browsing behaviour once the search is completed.

In order for tailored content to become a mainstream reality it is therefore desirable to be able to share additional data relating to internet and other content browsing activities, and it will be appreciated that in one example this is achieved using the techniques outlined above.

Accordingly, in one example, the data sharing process is used to allow user profiles to be established by service providers, based on the shared data, so that the service providers can predict content that would be of interest to users.

For user profiles to operate effectively, a number of outcomes are desirable:

• the user profile information should be associated with a particular user so that it reflects that actual user's preferences; • the user profile information should be used for determining user preferences so that tailored content can be created;

• the user profile information should be in depth and accurate in order for content tailoring to be effective. • the user profile information should ideally be shared for the bulk of Internet users so that user profiling and tailored content becomes main-stream and is adopted by the majority of Internet service providers/websites.

Currently there are several obstacles to all these things occurring, such as:

• it is difficult to obtain user profile information that is tied to a particular user, largely because the majority of people reject the idea of such information being shared about themselves due to privacy issues;

• it is difficult for web-sites to identify respective users, unless users are willing to register, in which case the identification is only relevant to that respective web site; • user registration on web sites is often limited due to privacy issues.

• it is difficult to obtain in-depth and accurate user profiles because information such as 'browsing history' does not provide a detailed enough user profile to fully implement the power of tailored content;

• many users reject the idea of sharing their personal information such as their browsing history due to privacy issues.

However, the above described arrangement in which users have funds assigned to them in response to allowing data to be shared helps overcome these issues. In particular, this helps address two of the major problems with gathering user profiles, namely privacy and control issues.

In this regard, users currently have a negative view of companies that do not fully and in an upfront fashion disclose the nature of the data they are attempting to shared. In particular, companies often have a tendency to attempt to gather this information without proper and full explanation to users and without granting users control over what information will be shared about the particular user. The above described system addresses these issues by placing control of the information shared with the user, and in particular by determining the information that should be made available locally on the user side. This allows the user's browsing history/behaviour to be tracked across the entire Internet, and not just a limited number of affiliate sites, without the user ever having to actually share browsing history, which never leaves the client machine. This in turn ensures user's privacy is maintained by avoiding unwanted disclosure of user information to third parties.

Additionally, users may also indicate how they wish for any shared data to be used. By providing control to users regarding what information they wish to share and how and by whom it is to be used, users have discretion as to share elements of browsing history or derived 'preferences' to an extent and combination as little or as much as they like.

In the above examples, the data sharing process can be controlled via a user profile that controls the sharing indications or the questions used in the querying procedure. The profile can be established with minimal effort, meaning that data can be subsequently shared automatically, ensuring that the process is not performed on occasion, but rather is automatically used each time the user is browsing or otherwise interacting with content.

A further benefit of the above described arrangement is that the questions used by the system, and or the analysis performed during the querying process can be periodically updated. Thus, for example, the plug-in module installed on the user's computer system can periodically download updates, including new questions or the like, in a manner similar to that used by anti-virus software to update virus definitions.

In one example, by performing querying and then applying filtering, through the use of sharing indications, this allows any questions to be used in the querying process, without there being concerns that private data could inadvertently be transferred. As a result, in this instance user's are generally quite happy for different questions and analysis to be uploaded to the computer system without intervention, as the added filtering provided by the sharing indications ensure that shared data does not contain private information. It will be appreciated from the above, that in one example, the plug-in module could advantageously form part of a security system for the computer system including for example, sharing firewall and anti-virus functionality. In this instance, this allows questions to be downloaded together with anti- virus definition files. Additionally, the filtering provided by the sharing indications could form part of the sharing firewall functionality, also allowing control over other data sharing techniques, such as blocking cookies or the like. This allows users to see the browser plug-in as a security benefit in that they are no longer not in control of the sharing of personal information with third parties.

Accordingly, this allows the scheme to provide both a means of sharing and protecting information.

Additionally, by providing the user with funding as an incentive to share their information, this addresses the issue that a user's shared data has an inherent value attached to it by providing funds to the user. In one example, the funds are shared based on a percentage (say 75%) of any revenue derived directly from the shared data.

In one example, the funds are provided for 'redirection' to a charity or other good cause of the users choice. However, in another example, the funds can be allocated to the user in a monetary form allowing the money to be spent as desired by the user.

Whilst it will be appreciated that providing such funds may reduce the revenue of the party sharing the information this provides the data sharer with a huge resource of data and in particular information regarding user preferences, which would not otherwise be available.

Additionally, by providing users personal incentivejo keep a user profile and keep it as in depth and accurate as possible for as long a period of time as possible, this helps increase the usefulness of the shared data. In particular, the more in-depth and accurate a users user profile is and the longer the period of time over which it has been shared the more valuable the information is to advertisers and the more the user is rewarded for sharing this information. Thus, by providing users with an incentive, this increases the amount of data shared, and hence increases the degree to which targeted content can be delivered. Whilst the above description has focused on the allocation of funds to environmental related projects, this is not essential and funds could be allocated or used in any suitable manner. Thus, for example, funds to be allocated to any charitable or other 'good cause' website. Thus, in one example, the system could provide a portal that provides access to a number of different charities etc and allows users to allocate funds to 'any good cause.'

A further option is to allow the funds to be allocated against products or services. In one example, this could be used for example towards purchasing computer software, software upgrades, or other digital products, such as music downloads, or other digital media. In this instance, whilst benefit is not be used for environmental or other charitable causes, this will still encourage user participation, thereby increasing the amount of data shared regarding user's browsing habits.

The above described process can be implemented using a range of different techniques. In one example, this is achieved using a client application provided on a user's computer, such as through the use of a plug-in for an Internet browser application.

In one example, the client application provides the following functionality:

• Allows user information to be tied to a particular user whilst they are browsing content.

• Allows the user absolute control over the sharing indications that are used to share data in advance of any data sharing. • Allows the user to be identified (in this sense the identity may be a notional identity, such as a pseudonym and may not correspond to the user's real life identity) allowing the sharing indications to be determined.

• Allows a user identity (such as a pseudonym) to be provided to a web site as long as the user has confirmed this can be performed in advance. • Shares data to allow in depth and accurate user profiles to be shared.

• Allows additional input options to be presented to the user with content being displayed, for example to allow user rating of content.

• Shares data that would not normally be shared by traditional browser applications. Thus, it will be appreciated that due to the fact that the browser is specifically designed to share user profile information, information that would not normally be 'recorded' by a browser could be recorded such as mouse hover position and the like. The reason this information has not been able to be shared previously is because browsers are designed to only record information that is useful to the user (such as browsing history and favourites), not information which is only and specifically of use to companies wishing to implement tailored content through user profiling.

Ironically, it would seem that the sharing of this type of information is much less likely to be considered objectionable by users. For example, most users are less likely to be wary about Google (for example) knowing what colours they tend to favour as opposed to their full and unfiltered browsing history.

As a result, the above described approach differs from standard data sharing techniques in a number of manners, including that:

• The types of data shared have not been previously shared by other techniques • Users get to control which information they share.

• Users get to control how the information they share is to be used.

• A value is attributed to user profile information and users are getting something in return for sharing their valuable user profile information, thereby providing an incentive for individuals to share their data.

The sharing of data in this manner enables content tailoring to be implemented by allowing user profiles to be established based on the data shared during a user's content interactions.

From the perspective of companies providing revenue to the users, the benefits are also manyfold, and in particular will vastly enhance the relevance of content that is provided to users, thereby vastly improving penetration of the company's content to users.

The data sharing process outlined above can be used to establish 'user profiles' indicative of users browsing preferences. If a database containing an in depth and accurate user profile of all Internet users can be established, this would allow content to be tailored for each user, so that effectively each user would see different web pages to each other user, even if the same sites were visited.

Thus, for example, a user profile would enable tailored:

• Searching. • News reels.

• Music/video websites.

• Content presentation.

In fact the sharing of in depth and accurate user profiles of the bulk of Internet users enables the creation of a better Internet service than currently available, simply due to the fact that the content, ads etc of the website can be tailored to the individual browsing.

In one example, tailored searching could be performed based on the user profile. Thus, a tailored search delivers results that reflects a users user profile such as whether they are interested in sports or computers, what aspect of computers they happen to be interested in, what brand of computers they happen to be interested in, what colour(s) of computer case they prefer, and the like.

The tailored search therefore adds context to the search based on the user's preferences to assist in interpreting the provided search term. For example, if the search term "mouse" is entered, and the user profile indicates that the user is interested in computers, then different results could be provided compared to if the user is interested in wildlife.

It will be appreciated that such personalisation could extend to a whole range of different aspects of content presentation. Thus, if the user profile was accurate and in depth enough, this could include tailing factors such as:

• Background color.

• Advertising. • Page layout.

• Etc.

In fact, user profiling can lead to 'evolutionary' websites, a new and exciting concept where the content and layout change for particular users to better suit their interaction 'style.' Consider the example of news reels. A user could be presented with (at first instance) only those news stories that reflect their interests. The user could subsequently choose to view all news items (as would apply with all examples of tailoring) however the first set of news items a user would be presented with would reflect their user profile and therefore, what they are interested in and indeed what they came to the particular news reel in order to see.

Thus, the above described system allows data to be shared relating to a user's content browsing or other interactions, allowing the user to be provided with funds in return for allowing the data to be shared. The revenue generation process operates in a manner similar to having users complete online surveys for money, except that in this example, the users earn money for browsing content as normal, with the data being shared automatically based on sharing indications established by the user. This allows the users to earn funds for nothing, or at least something that was just being taken from them before

In one example this is achieved through the use of a browser plug-in allowing user's to be uniquely identified so that all shared data may be correctly associated with each user. This also assists with providing tailored data back to individual users, based on a user profile established on the basis of preferences derived from the shared data.

The technique can be applied to any form of content interaction. In one example, the content interaction can include completing a survey, with the survey being partially completed based on data indicated to be shareable in the sharing indications. This allows users who want to engage further to earn more money to do so more easily and in less time.

Use of a browser plug-in can also assist with providing different interpretation and rendering of HTML enabling (at user discretion) further interaction/engagement for those users who want to make more money. Examples include providing:

• content rating controls such as a thumbs up/down. • linking to additional content.

• websites ratings.

• video or audio content ratings.

• Etc. This process shares data which is not normally shared by browsers because is not useful to users but which (ironically) is likely for users to find objectionable to share.

The use of a plug-in also allows automatic completion of personal information on web-sites, if the user has indicated that this is permissible. For example, if a user has filled out personal information in the sharing indications, and selected to what extent they are willing to share this, the browser plug-in can automatically complete any fields requiring such information when the user visits a website. This reduces requirements on the user in completing forms of the like. Thus, for example, a website could have an input control indicating- 'click here to join and receive our newsletter' and when clicked the browser plug-in automatically populates the fields with required data.

The term "shared data" is intended to encompass data relating to browsing and other content interaction activities that is to be made available to third parties. Such data is also sometimes referred to as collected data, in that the data is collected for sharing, and it will be appreciated that the terms shared data and collected data should therefore be considered as interchangeable.

The term "sharing indication" is intended to encompass any form of data that can be used to control the sharing of data relating to content interactions.

Persons skilled in the art will appreciate that numerous variations and modifications will become apparent. All such variations and modifications which become apparent to persons skilled in the art, should be considered to fall within the spirit and scope that the invention broadly appearing before described.

Claims

THE CLAIMS DEFINING THE INVENTION ARE AS FOLLOWS:

1) Apparatus for use in sharing data, the apparatus including a computer system for: a) determining interaction data relating to at least one content interaction; b) determining shared data derived from the interaction data; and c) providing a shared data indication indicative of the shared data to a processing system via a communications network to allow a processing system to determine a reward at least partially in accordance with the shared data indication.

2) Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the computer system is for receiving an indication of the reward assigned to the user from a processing system. 3) Apparatus according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the computer system is for receiving content from a processing system, the content being determined at least partially in accordance with the shared data indication. 4) Apparatus according to any one of the claims 1 to 3, wherein the apparatus includes a processing system for at least one of: a) receiving the shared data indication; and, b) determining at least one of: i) reward to be assigned; and ii) content to be provided to the user at least partially in accordance with the shared data indication. 5) Apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the apparatus includes: a) a first processing system for determining content to be provided to the user; and, b) a second processing system for determining the reward.

6) Apparatus according to any one of the claims 1 to 5, wherein the computer system is for querying the interaction data to thereby determine shared data derived from the interaction data.

7) Apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the computer system is for querying the interaction data at least partially in accordance with query criteria.

8) Apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the query criteria include a number of questions, and wherein the computer system is for: a) comparing the interaction data to the questions; b) determining question answers in response to the comparison; and, c) generating the shared data using the question answers.

9) Apparatus according to claim 6 or claim 7, wherein the computer system is for receiving the query criteria from a processing system via a communications network.

10) Apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the apparatus includes a processing system for providing the query criteria to the computer system.

11) Apparatus according to any one of the claims 6 to 10, wherein the computer system is for querying the interaction data at least partially using an analytical algorithm.

12) Apparatus according to any one of the claims 6 to 11, wherein the computer system is for: a) querying the interaction data to determine query result data; and, b) determining the shared data from the query result data at least partially in accordance with user defined sharing indications indicative of data to be shared.

13) Apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the query criteria include a number of questions and wherein the computer system is for determining selected questions using user defined sharing indications indicative of data to be shared. 14) Apparatus according to claim 12 or claim 13, wherein the sharing indications are query result sharing indications. 15) Apparatus according to any one of the claims 1 to 14, wherein the computer system is for determining the shared data at least partially in accordance with user defined sharing indications indicative of data to be shared. 16) Apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the sharing indications are interaction data sharing indications.

17) Apparatus according to any one of the claims 12 to 16, wherein the computer system is for: a) causing data sharing options to be displayed to a user; b) determining at least one user selected data sharing option; and, c) determining at least one sharing indication in accordance with the at least one user selected data sharing option.

18) Apparatus according to claim 17, wherein the computer system is for determining the at least one user selected data sharing option in accordance with user input commands. 19) Apparatus according to any one of the claims 12 to 18, wherein the sharing indications are indicative of at least one of: a) data to be shared; b) data to not be shared; c) allowable uses of the data; d) unallowable uses of the data; e) a time for which the data is available; f) whether shared data should be provided to third parties; and, g) whether shared data should be retained or deleted after use.

20) Apparatus according to any one of the claims 1 to 19, wherein the computer system is for: a) displaying a reward representation indicative of the reward assigned to the user; b) determining a user allocation of at least part of the reward; and, c) causing the at least part of the reward to be allocated in accordance with the user allocation.

21) Apparatus according to claim 20, wherein the computer system is for transferring an allocation indication indicative of the user allocation of the at least part of the reward to a processing system, thereby allowing the processing system to allocate the at least part of the reward.

22) Apparatus according to claim 20 or claim 21, wherein the computer system is for: a) causing allocation options to be displayed to the user; and, b) determining the user allocation in accordance with user input commands. 23) Apparatus according to any one of the claims 1 to 22, wherein the computer system is for performing content interaction at least partially in accordance with user input commands. 24) Apparatus according to any one of the claims 1 to 23, wherein the content interaction includes: a) content browsing; b) viewing content; c) selecting content for viewing; d) interacting with content; e) rating content; f) providing survey responses; and, g) answering questions. 25) Apparatus according to any one of the claims 1 to 23, wherein the content includes webpages accessed via a communications network.

26) Apparatus according to any one of the claims 1 to 25, wherein the shared data is indicative of at least one of: a) a content address; b) a viewing time; c) an interaction time; d) a cursor position; e) a cursor movement; f) a user rating; g) a user interaction; and, h) user input commands.

27) Apparatus according to any one of the claims 1 to 26, wherein the interaction data is indicative of at least one of: a) a browsing history; b) a content address; c) a viewing time; d) an interaction time; e) a cursor position; f) a cursor movement; g) a user rating; h) a user interaction; and, i) user input commands.

28) Apparatus according to any one of the claims 1 to 27, wherein the content interaction relates to at least one of answering questions and providing survey responses, and wherein the computer system is for providing at least one of an answer to at least one question and at least one survey response in accordance with shared data.

29) Apparatus according to any one of the claims 1 to 28, wherein the content interaction relates to at least one of answering questions and providing survey responses, and wherein the shared data includes statistics relating to at least one of answering questions and providing survey responses. 30) Apparatus according to any one of the claims 1 to 29, wherein the computer system is for: a) determining at least one content interaction to be performed; b) providing a content request to a processing system via a communications network in accordance with the determined at least one content interaction, the processing system being responsive to the content request to provide content to the computer system; and, c) receiving the content from the processing system.

31) Apparatus according to any one of the claims 1 to 30, wherein the computer system is for implementing: a) a browser application for allowing content interaction; and, b) a module for: i) determining the shared data; and, ii) providing the shared data to the processing system.

32) Apparatus according to claim 31, wherein the module is a plug-in for cooperating with the browser application.

33) Apparatus according to claim 31 or claim 32, wherein the module is a sharing firewall for use in determining the shared data.

34) Apparatus according to any one of the claims 1 to 33, wherein the shared data is for use in establishing a user profile, and wherein the user profile is used to provide tailored content to the user.

35) Apparatus according to any one of the claims 1 to 34, wherein the computer system is for: a) identifying a user; and, b) determining the sharing indications for the identified user.

36) Apparatus according to any one of the claims 1 to 35, wherein the computer system is for: a) storing the shared data; and, b) providing the shared data to a processing system in response to a request for the shared data.

37) Apparatus according to any one of the claims 1 to 36, wherein the apparatus includes a memory for storing at least one of: a) interaction data; b) query criteria; c) user defined sharing indications; and, d) shared data

38) Apparatus according to any one of the claims 1 to 37, wherein the computer system includes a processor for executing applications software to thereby determine the shared data.

39) Apparatus according to any one of the claims 1 to 38, wherein the applications software includes a plug-in that communicates with a browser application to determine the shared data from interaction data determined at least in part by the browser application.

40) Apparatus according to any one of the claims 1 to 39, wherein the apparatus includes a display for displaying at least one of: a) an indication of the reward; b) data sharing options; c) allocation options; d) shared data; and, e) content.

41) Apparatus according to any one of the claims 1 to 40, wherein the reward includes at least one of: a) tailored content; b) content; c) multi-media; d) funds; e) funds for allocation; f) search results; g) services; and, h) products.

42) A method for use in sharing data relating to a content interaction, the method including, in a computer system: a) determining interaction data relating to at least one content interaction; b) determining shared data derived from the interaction data; and c) providing a shared data indication indicative of the shared data to a processing system via a communications network to allow a processing system to determine reward at least partially in accordance with the shared data indication.

43) Apparatus for use in using shared data relating to a content interaction, the apparatus including a processing system for: a) receiving shared data from a computer system via a communications network, the shared data being derived from interaction data relating to at least one content interaction; b) at least in part using the shared data to determine at least one of: i) a reward; and, ii) content to be displayed to the user; c) providing to the computer system at least one of: i) an indication of the reward; and, ii) the content. 44) Apparatus according to claim 43, wherein the processing system is for providing query criteria to the computer system via a communications network, the computer system being for querying the interaction data at least partially in accordance with query criteria. 45) Apparatus according to claim 44, wherein the processing system is for generating the query data. 46) Apparatus according to any one of the claims 43 to 45, wherein the processing system includes: a) a first processing system for determining content to be provided to the user; and, b) a second processing system for determining the reward.

47) Apparatus according to any one of the claims 43 to 46, wherein the computer system is for determining the shared data at least partially in accordance with user defined sharing indications indicative of data to be shared.

48) A method for use in using shared data relating to a content interaction, the method including, in a processing system: a) receiving shared data from a computer system via a communications network, the shared data being derived from interaction data relating to at least one content interaction; b) at least in part using the shared data to determine at least one of: i) a reward; and, ii) content to be displayed to the user; c) providing to the computer system at least one of: i) an indication of the reward; and, ii) the content.