JP2003008570A - Question and answer system with privacy protection function - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a question and answer system without charge where privacy is protected and a user can make a question about a personal affair and receive an answer. SOLUTION: The question and answer system with a privacy protection function 1 includes a questioner computer 2 that receives a questioner format filled in by a questioner and including reply information with respect to questions and interprets all items, an answerer authentication server 3 that registers and manages an answerer, a question reception server 4 that exchanges the questioner format filled in with questions and the questioner format filled in with answers, answerer computers 51-5n that append answer information to the questioner format filled in with the questions, and a questioner authentication server 6 that returns the questioner format filled in with the answer information to the questioner.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a question and answer system for answering questions, and more particularly to a question and answer system for protecting the privacy of a questioner.

[0002]

[Prior Art] Ask an expert for privacy-related questions such as medical consultation, legal consultation, and financial,
There is a system such as telephone consultation to get answers. In such a system, if privacy is not completely protected, the questioner may hesitate to accurately convey the privacy-related question, and thus the questioner may not be able to obtain a sufficiently satisfactory answer.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 10-143451 discloses that a question and answer system using electronic mail keeps the sender confidential. In the electronic mail, in addition to the question and the answer, the address of the sender or the transferor may be added to the header information to reveal the personal information of the respondent. In order to avoid this inconvenience, the content of the question and the content of the answer are extracted, and an e-mail of the answer is created at the stored address of the questioner. In this publication, the address of the reply source is kept secret from the questioner, and the reply e-mail is returned at the address of the system. For the questioner, the question content and the answer content are disclosed to the system side, and the privacy-related information of the questioner is grasped by the system side and is not protected. This method causes the questioner to feel uneasy about using it for medical consultation, legal consultation, and financial consultation.

According to Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-21302,
A system is described in which a service provider collects information on the usage status of a service user and user attributes without identifying the user. In this publication, the user's personal privacy is protected for the service provider, but the personal information is not protected for the information manager who manages the user information.

[0005]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] Information transmitted by a questioner and questioned by an interrogator → intermediary system-respondent → intermediary system → interrogator, information is classified by item (questioner information, respondent information, (Question content, answer content, etc.) prepares an encryption key, the respondent only asks the question, the intermediary system only the questioner and the respondent, and the billing system only the questioner information and the respondent information. We will build a function distribution system that allows each system to decode and process only necessary partial information. With this system, except for the interrogator,
Even a system administrator can't get all the information by decrypting it, so privacy-related information such as "Hey, this person asked this question" will not be leaked.

[0006] Further, when paying a fee for questions and answers, anonymity is not allowed on the Internet. You will need your card number and real name. In this case, in order to guarantee anonymity, there is a method of separately managing membership information and question information in a membership system, but in this case, users who want to feel free to use without registering as a member will be disappointed. Moreover, no matter how they are managed separately, it is possible for an administrator to obtain the personal information and the question content in association with each other, and privacy protection cannot be said to be perfect.

If the question & answer system is composed of means with each function distributed and each means can only decipher a part of the information and all the information does not remain after the fact, privacy protection is guaranteed. It can be called a question and answer system.

In the case of questions and answers by a qualified person, such as medical consultation related to privacy, legal consultation, and financial, it is necessary to certify that the respondent is an expert and the questioner is the desired respondent. There is. This authentication function is guaranteed by the decryption key that was given to the respondent in advance.

An object of the present invention is that personal information of a questioner is
To avoid being unencrypted in one place and being collected naked, the questions are listed item by item in the question format and each item is encrypted individually. The process in which the question is passed from the questioner to the respondent and the answer is returned to the questioner is divided into independent function-distributed systems, and the functional division of each system is associated with the encrypted items in the question format, and decrypted and processed. Limit what you can do. By managing and operating each system individually, there is no need to collect personal information in one place without being encrypted.

Further, another object is to provide a paid system for personal inquiry, in which personal privacy is protected and questions and answers regarding personal consultations can be made at ease.

[0011]

Therefore, according to the present invention,
In a system in which a questioner sends a question concerning his / her privacy to a respondent through a network and obtains an answer thereto, the means for the questioner to obtain the answer to the question from the respondent is functionally distributed, and the functionally distributed means is Information is exchanged between means by means of a question format, and the question format describes the content included in the question by encrypting it item by item, and the means executes the function assigned to itself among the items. The privacy of the interrogator is protected by possessing the decryption key only for the items necessary for the above and not possessing the decryption keys of other items.

[0012] Further, the above-mentioned format for question is the questioner information relating to the questioner himself, the question content for which the questioner requests an answer, the answer requester information that the questioner desires to answer, and the answer answered by the answerer. It is characterized by including information and.

Further, the means registers the questioner computer in which the questioner creates the question format, receives the question format in which the answer information to the question is additionally described and decodes all items, and the answerer. Respondent authentication server to manage, question format with questions,
The question format in which the answer information is additionally described, the question acceptance server for delivering and receiving, the respondent computer for additionally describing and replying to the question format in which the question is described, and the answer information are added. A questioner authentication server that returns the described question format to the questioner,
It is characterized by including.

Further, in the system in which the questioner sends a question concerning his or her own privacy to the respondent through the network and obtains the answer, the means for the questioner to obtain the answer of the question from the respondent for a fee is distributed. The function-distributed means exchanges information between means by a question format, the question format describes the contents included in the question item by item, and individually encrypts the information.
Among the above items, the collation key is limited to those required to execute the function assigned to the self, and the other items do not have the collation key, thereby protecting the privacy of the questioner. To do.

Further, the question format includes the questioner information relating to the questioner himself / herself and billing, the question content for which the questioner requests an answer, the answer requester information which the questioner desires to answer, and the answerer answers. It is characterized in that it includes the answered information and the charging information for the respondent.

Further, the means registers and manages a questioner computer, in which the questioner creates the question format, receives the question format including answer information to the question, and decodes all items, and the answerer. The answer information for the question accepting server that sends and receives the answerer authentication server, the question format in which the question is written, and the question format in which the answer information is additionally written, and the question format in which the question is written The respondent's computer that additionally describes and receives the question format in which the answer information is additionally described, and the charging information for the respondent and the questioner is additionally described in the question format based on the answer information and the content of the question. Answer server and a billing server that adds billing to the questioner to the questioner information and payment to the respondent to the billing information. And a questioner authentication server that returns a question format additionally describing the answer information and billing information for billing to the questioner and returns billing information for payment for the respondent to the question accepting server. And

[0017]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Referring to FIG. 1 showing a first embodiment of the present invention, a question and answer system 1 with a privacy protection function includes a questioner computer 2 used by a questioner and a responder authentication server 3 for registering and managing the respondent. , A question receiving server 4 that receives the question format passed from the questioner computer 2 and sends it to the respondent, an answerer computer 51 to an answerer computer 5n used by a plurality of respondents, and an answerer of the questioner An interrogator authentication server 8 that returns a reply to the computer 2.

Questioner computer 2, respondent authentication server 3, question acceptance server 4, respondent computer 5
1 to respondent computer 5n and questioner authentication server 8
Referring to FIG. 2 showing the format of information to be transferred between the data format and the data format, the inquiry format 9 of the information format includes data A911 to data E951 in which information is blocked for each item.
The encrypted data A911 to the encrypted data E951 which are respectively encrypted are described, and the additionally described information blocks are also described in the same format.

Next, the operation of the computer and the server will be described with reference to FIG. 1 and with reference to FIG. 3 to FIG.
Referring to, the questioner computer 2 has an application that encrypts and decrypts each item of the question format 9, and the questioner information 21 that is personal information input by the questioner and the question content 22 for which an answer is requested. , And the question format 27 in which the answer requesting person 23 who desires an answer is individually encrypted and described is passed to the question accepting server 3.
Also, the question format 87 including the answer information, which is passed from the questioner authentication server 8, is decrypted.

Referring to FIG. 4, the respondent authentication server 3
Is a respondent authentication database 30 for registering and managing respondents
It authenticates whether the person who wants to answer the inquiry from the question receiving server 4 is a registered and managed respondent, and passes the answerer information 24 including the destination address of the answerer to the question receiving server 4.

Referring to FIG. 4, the question receiving server 4 is
Reply applicant 231 encrypted in question format 27
Has a database 40 for accepting a question holding a decryption key, decrypts the encrypted answer requester 231, inquires the respondent authentication server 3 about the authentication of the respondent, and authenticates the question format 27. The respondent computer 51 is provided with the question format 37 in which the person information 24 is additionally described.
And the answerer information 24 is held in the question acceptance database 40.

Referring to FIG. 5, the respondent computer 5
1 is the question content 22 of the question content 221 encrypted from the question format 37 and the encrypted answerer information 241.
The answerer information 24 and the answerer information 24 are read out, the answerer creates and inputs the answer information 25 for the question content 22, the encrypted answer information 251 is additionally described in the question format 517, and the questioner authentication server 8 Pass to.

Referring to FIG. 6, the questioner authentication server 8
Has a questioner database 80 that holds a decryption key for the questioner information 21, and the question information in which the answer information 25 is additionally written to the destination of the questioner information 21 of the encrypted questioner information 211 of the question format 517 Pass format 87.

The interrogator computer 2 receives the interrogator format 87 from the interrogator authentication server 8, decodes all items by an application provided in the interrogator computer 2, and returns the answer information 2
Receive 5

A second embodiment of the present invention will be described. Question and answer system with privacy protection function 1
Referring to FIG. 8 showing the configuration of 0, the questioner computer 2 used by the questioner, the responder authentication server 3 that registers and manages the respondent, and the question format 9 passed from the questioner computer 2 are received and answered. Question accepting server 4 to be sent to a person, respondent computers 51 to 5n used by a plurality of respondents, and answer server 6 for additionally describing charging information from question information and answer information.
, A billing server 7 for additionally describing billing information for the questioner and the respondent, and reply information and billing information (billing) to the questioner computer 2 of the questioner, and billing information (payment) of the respondent.
A questioner authentication server 8 for replying to the question acceptance server 4,
Equipped with.

Questioner computer 2, respondent authentication server 3, question acceptance server 4, respondent computer 5
1 to the answerer computer 5n, the answer server 6, the billing server 7, and the questioner authentication server 8 Referring to FIG. Describes encrypted encrypted data A911 to encrypted data E951 of data A911 to data E951 in which information is blocked for each item, and additionally described information blocks are also described in the same format.

Next, the operation of the second embodiment will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 8 and with reference to FIGS. 9 to 15. First, referring to FIG. 9, a questioner asks a question format 2
7 is created and passed to the question receiving server 4. The question format 27 describes the personal information of the questioner, and includes billing information when obtaining an answer. This personal information is registered on the interrogator computer 2, and the interrogator information 21 describes personal information such as the address and name of the interrogator, sex, and the question content 22.
Indicates the content of the question, and any format is acceptable as long as the respondent can read it. The answer requester 23 is information for designating an answerer desired by the questioner, and sets open information that can recognize the answerer.

Each item of the questioner information 21, the question content 22, and the answer requester information 23 is input and set by the application of the questioner computer 2. In the application, these input items are converted into a question-use format 27 that can be transmitted, and each item is encrypted. In the question format 27, the previous three items 21, 22,
23 are encrypted separately. The deciphering key for deciphering this encryption is limited in the items that can be deciphered in the distributed functional means unit in the present invention. The questioner computer 2 transmits the question format 27 to the question acceptance server 4.

Referring to FIG. 10, the question receiving server 4 can decrypt the encrypted answer applicant information 23 from the question format 27 received from the questioner computer 2. The question receiving server 4 transmits the decrypted answer request information 23 to the answerer authentication server 3 and requests confirmation of whether the answerer is registered and managed. The respondent authentication server 3 retrieves the accepted answer applicant information 23 from the answer authentication database 30 and authenticates it, and notifies the question acceptance server 4 of the destination of the answer applicant as the answerer information 24. The question receiving server 4 additionally writes the destination notified from the answerer authentication server 3 in the answerer information 24 of the question information format 37, and sends it to the answerer. The application of the respondent computer 51 returns the answer information 25 to the question content 22 of the question format 37.
Referring to FIG. 11, the respondent is the respondent computer 51.
Thus, the question content 22 of the encrypted question content 221 and the encrypted answer applicant information 23 of the encrypted answer applicant information 231 can be decrypted from the question format. The respondent creates the answer information 25 for the question content 22. The answer information 25 may be in any format as long as it can be read by the questioner. After creating the answer information 25, the application of the answerer computer 51 additionally writes the answer information 251 obtained by encrypting the answer information 25 in the question format 517 and sends it to the answer server 6.

Referring to FIG. 12, the answer server 6 receives the question format 517 from the answerer, and decrypts the encrypted question content 221 and the encrypted answer information 251 from the question format 517. Then, the question content 22 and the answer information 25 are obtained. From the question content 22 and the answer information 25, the answer server 6 calculates the charge amount from the answer database 60 according to the quality and quantity of the question and answer. The answer server 6 additionally writes the encrypted billing information 261 of the decided billing information 26 in the inquiry format 67 and transmits it to the billing server 7.

The billing server 7 receives the question format 67 from the answer server 6 and sends the question format 67.
From among the above, the questioner information 21 and the answerer information 25 are decrypted from the encrypted questioner information 211 and the answerer information 251. The billing server 7 calculates the billing amount for the questioner from the decrypted questioner information 21 and the billing information 26, and additionally writes the billing amount to the questioner information 21 to obtain the questioner information (billing amount) 210. At the same time, the decrypted answerer information 23 and billing information 26
The payment amount for the respondent is calculated from the
Is additionally described as charging information (payment amount) 260. The billing server 7 has a question format 7 in which questioner information (billing amount) 210 and billing information (payment amount) 260 are additionally described.
7 is transmitted to the questioner authentication server 8.

The questioner authentication server 8 uses the question format 77 to encrypt the questioner information (billing amount) 21.
0, the encrypted billing information (payment amount) 260 can be decrypted. Referring to FIG. 14, the question information (payment amount) 260 is deciphered from the question format 77, and the questioner information (billing amount) 210 is deciphered. The format 87 is sent to the interrogator computer 2. The questioner authentication server 8 creates a question format 88 in which billing information (payment amount) 260 is described, and sends it to the question acceptance server 4.

Referring to FIG. 15, the questioner computer 2 receives the question format 87, decodes the encrypted item from the question format 87 by the application, and returns the answer from the desired answer destination. And whether the content matches the question.

The question acceptance server 4 receives the question format 88 shown in FIG. 14, searches the question acceptance database 40, obtains the respondent address, and sends it to the respondent computer 51.

[0035]

The effect of the present invention is that the personal information and the question content input by the questioner, including the initial and added information, are always encrypted and written in the question format for delivery, and are limited at the transfer destination. You can't see all the information in one place, because you can only decipher the items that were given. Therefore, the privacy of the questioner is protected.

Another effect is that the question and answer can be paid for while protecting the privacy, so that the questioner can obtain a satisfactory answer for the fee.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a question and answer system with a privacy protection function according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of a question format of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a functional operation of a questioner computer (question transmission) of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating functional operations of a question acceptance server and a respondent authentication server of FIG.

5 is a diagram illustrating the functional operation of the respondent computer in FIG.

6 is a diagram illustrating a functional operation of the questioner authentication server of FIG.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a functional operation of the interrogator computer (reply reception) of FIG.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a configuration of a question & answer system with a privacy protection function according to a second embodiment.

9 is a diagram illustrating a functional operation of the interrogator computer (question transmission) in FIG.

10 is a diagram for explaining the functional operation of the question acceptance server and the answerer authentication server of FIG.

11 is a diagram illustrating the functional operation of the respondent computer in FIG.

FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating a functional operation of the answer server of FIG.

13 is a diagram illustrating a functional operation of the charging server in FIG.

14 is a diagram illustrating a functional operation of the questioner authentication server of FIG.

FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating a functional operation of the interrogator computer (answer reception) of FIG. 8;

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Question & Answer System with Privacy Protection Function 2 Questioner computer 3 respondent authentication server 4 Question acceptance server 6 answer server 7 Billing server 8 Questioner authentication server 9 Question format 10 Question & Answer System with Privacy Protection Function 21 Questioner information 22 Questions 23 Applicant 24 Respondent information 25 Answer information 26 Billing information

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. In a system in which a questioner sends a question relating to his or her own privacy to a respondent through a network and obtains an answer to the question, the means for the questioner to obtain the answer to the question from the respondent is functionally distributed, and the function is provided. The distributed means exchanges information between means in a question format, and the question format describes the content included in the question by encrypting the content, and the means is imposed on itself among the items. Question and answer with privacy protection feature, which protects the privacy of the questioner by possessing the decryption key only for the items necessary to execute the specified function and not possessing the decryption key for other items system. 2. The question format includes the questioner information relating to the questioner himself, the question content for which the questioner requests an answer, the answer requester information the questioner desires to answer, and the answer answered by the answerer. The question and answer system with a privacy protection function according to claim 1, characterized by including information and. 3. The interrogator computer for registering the respondent, wherein the interrogator creates the interrogative format, accepts the interrogative format in which answer information to the question is additionally described, and decrypts all items. Answers to the respondent authentication server to be managed, the question format in which the questions are listed, the question format in which the answer information is additionally listed, the question acceptance server to deliver and receive, and the question format in which the questions are listed The privacy protection function according to claim 1, further comprising: an answerer computer that additionally describes and returns information, and a questioner authentication server that returns the question format additionally described and described to the questioner. Question and answer system with. 4. In a system in which an inquirer sends a question relating to his / her privacy to a respondent through a network and obtains the answer, a function in which the questioner obtains the answer to the question from the respondent for a fee is distributed. The function-distributed means exchanges information between means in a question format, and the question format describes the contents included in the question item by item and individually encrypts the information. , A privacy protection feature characterized by protecting the privacy of the questioner by possessing a collation key only for the items required to execute the function imposed on himself and not possessing the collation key for other items Question and answer system with. 5. The question format includes the questioner information relating to the questioner and himself / herself, the content of the question for which the questioner requests an answer, the answerer information the questioner desires to answer, and the respondent's answer. The question and answer system with a privacy protection function according to claim 4, characterized in that the answer information includes the answer information and the charge information for the respondent. 6. The means for registering and managing a questioner computer, wherein the questioner creates the question format, receives a question format including answer information to the question, and decrypts all items. Answer information for the respondent authentication server, the question format in which the question is written, and the question format in which the answer information is additionally written, and the question format in which the question is written. The respondent's computer that additionally describes and receives the answer format in which the answer information is additionally described. Based on the answer information and the content of the question, the billing information for the answerer and the questioner is additionally described in the question format. Answer server and billing server that adds billing to the questioner to the questioner information and payment to the questioner to the billing information And a questioner authentication server that returns a question format additionally describing the answer information and billing information to the questioner, and returns billing information for payment of the respondent to the question acceptance server. The question & answer system with a privacy protection function according to claim 4.