METHOD AND BUSINESS PROCESS TO MAINTAIN PRIVACY IN DISTRIBUTED RECOMMENDATION SYSTEMS

摘要

A distributed recommendation system and method are disclosed that provides greater privacy for the user's private data. The method distributes the tasks of a recommendation system between wireless devices (100) and network servers (140), so as to protect the privacy of end users. The user's wireless device (100) sends (326) a current context-activity pair (515) to a network server (140) in response to either the user's selection (324) of an activity or automatically (322). The user's wireless device (100) includes a service history log (110). The activities stored in the service history log (110) include past recommendations (1) made by the network server (140), past services used (2), prestored service preferences (3), and special requested service requirements (4). Context-activity pair information (515) sent to the server (140) can include any combination of these activities. The server (140) then responds with an appropriate recommendation (515').