JP2010038619A - Navigation apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To appropriately protect personal information in a navigation apparatus installed in a vehicle used by an unspecified large number of people. <P>SOLUTION: The navigation apparatus installed in a vehicle used by an unspecified large number of people stores information on the state of the use of the vehicle as personal information, determines whether or not there is a possibility that the user of the vehicle may be changed by determining whether or not an ACC power supply of the vehicle has been turned off (Step S20), displays an inquiry screen when it is determined that there is a possibility of the change, makes an inquiry about whether or not the stored personal information may be deleted (Step S40), and deletes the stored personal information in accordance with a response to an inquiry by the user (Step S100). <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a navigation device for a vehicle.

  Conventionally, it is determined whether or not a large-capacity storage medium such as an HDD has been replaced, or whether or not information stored in the large-capacity storage medium is updated. There is known a navigation device that discards backup information (see Patent Document 1).

JP 2005-209074 A

  For example, in a navigation device mounted on a vehicle used by an unspecified number of people, such as a car for rent-a-car or car-sharing, the user of the vehicle changes every time the user of the vehicle changes to protect the user's personal information. It is preferable to delete information relating to the use situation, for example, information relating to the travel history and destination of the vehicle. However, the conventional navigation device disclosed in Patent Document 1 is a backup stored in the memory unless the large-capacity storage medium is replaced or the information stored in the large-capacity storage medium is updated. Information is not destroyed. Therefore, personal information cannot be protected appropriately.

  The present invention relates to a navigation device mounted on a vehicle used by an unspecified number of people, and determines whether there is a possibility that a storage means for storing information related to the usage status of the vehicle and a user of the vehicle are likely to change. A determination means, an inquiry means for inquiring the user whether or not to erase information stored in the storage means when the determination means determines that the user is likely to change, and use of the inquiry means for an inquiry And erasing means for erasing the information stored in the storage means in response to the response of the person.

  According to the present invention, personal information can be appropriately protected in a navigation device mounted on a vehicle used by an unspecified number of people.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a navigation apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. A navigation device 1 shown in FIG. 1 is mounted on a vehicle used by an unspecified number of people, such as a rental car or a vehicle for car sharing. The navigation device 1 includes a control unit 10, a vibration gyro 11, a vehicle speed sensor 12, a GPS receiving unit 13, a hard disk (HDD) 14, a display monitor 15, a speaker 16, an input device 17, and a memory card slot 18.

  The control unit 10 includes a microprocessor and its peripheral circuits, RAM, ROM, and the like, and executes various processes and controls based on programs and data recorded in the ROM or HDD 13. The vibration gyro 11 is a sensor for detecting the angular velocity of the vehicle. The vehicle speed sensor 12 is a sensor for detecting the traveling speed of the vehicle. The angular velocity of the vehicle detected by the vibration gyro 11 and the traveling speed of the vehicle detected by the vehicle speed sensor 12 are output to the control unit 10.

  The GPS receiver 13 receives a GPS signal transmitted from a GPS satellite and outputs it to the controller 10. The GPS signal includes information for obtaining the position of the vehicle and the current time. The current position of the vehicle is determined by the control unit 10 based on the angular velocity of the vehicle output from the vibration gyro 11, the traveling speed of the vehicle output from the vehicle speed sensor 12, and the GPS signal output from the GPS receiver 13 for a predetermined time. Required every time.

  The HDD 14 is a non-volatile recording medium that can hold recorded data. Various data including map data is recorded in the HDD 14. Data recorded in the HDD 14 is read out under the control of the control unit 10 as necessary, and is used for various processes and controls executed by the control unit 10. The map data recorded on the HDD 14 includes route calculation data, road data, and background data. The route calculation data is data used when the control unit 10 performs a process of searching for a recommended route to the destination, and represents the time required for passing for each road. The road data represents a road shape or the like when displaying a map. The background data represents the shape of map elements other than roads, such as rivers, railways, and various facilities (landmarks).

  The display monitor 15 displays various images and videos such as map images under the control of the control unit 10. The display monitor 15 is installed at a position that is easy to see from the driver's seat, for example, on the dashboard of the host vehicle or in the instrument panel. For example, a liquid crystal display is used as the display monitor 15. The speaker 16 outputs voice for route guidance and the like under the control of the control unit 10.

  The input device 17 is a device for a user to perform various input operations for operating the navigation device 1 and includes various input switches. The user operates the input device 17 to input, for example, the name of a facility or point desired to be set as the destination, select a destination from registered locations registered in advance, Or scroll in the direction. The input device 17 can be realized by an operation panel, a remote controller, or the like. Alternatively, the input device 17 may be a touch panel integrated with the display monitor 15.

  A memory card 19 is loaded in the memory card slot 18. The memory card 19 is a nonvolatile recording medium capable of rewriting data, and a flash memory or the like is used. The control unit 10 can record various information on the memory card 19 loaded in the memory card slot 18 and can read information recorded on the memory card 19.

  Next, the operation of the navigation device 1 will be described. Since the navigation apparatus 1 is mounted on a vehicle used by an unspecified number of people as described above, the user is frequently switched when the user of the vehicle changes. Therefore, in the navigation device 1, in order to prevent other users from knowing information related to the user's privacy, the user changes information on the vehicle usage status among the information stored at the time of use in the navigation device 1. When deleting as personal information. For example, information on the travel history of the vehicle, information on points searched when the user sets the destination or waypoint of the vehicle, information on points registered by the user as home or registered location, etc. are deleted as personal information. . The personal information is temporarily stored in the navigation device 1 by being recorded in the HDD 14 in accordance with the driving of the vehicle or the user's operation.

  Note that it is not necessary to delete all the personal information as described above. For example, the type of personal information to be deleted by the user may be selected or set in advance. That is, the navigation device 1 can erase at least one of the information on the vehicle usage status as personal information as described above.

  FIG. 2 shows a flowchart of processing executed by the control unit 10 when the navigation device 1 performs the above operation. This flowchart will be described below.

  In step S10, a usage period is set. Here, according to a user's operation, the period for which the user uses the navigation device 1 is set. For example, when the navigation device 1 is mounted on a rental car, the rental car contract period is set as the usage period. It should be noted that the usage period may be set according to the operation of the rental car dealer or the like instead of being operated by the user.

  In step S20, it is determined whether the ACC (accessory) power source of the vehicle has been turned off. While the ACC power is not turned off, step S20 is repeated, and when the ACC power is turned off, the process proceeds to step S30. By determining whether or not the ACC power source has been turned off in this way, the navigation device 1 determines whether or not there is a possibility that the user of the vehicle will change. That is, when the ACC power is turned off, it is determined that the user of the vehicle is likely to change, and when the ACC power is not turned off, it is determined that the user of the vehicle is not likely to change. Instead of determining whether or not the ACC power source is turned off, it is possible to determine whether or not the vehicle engine has been stopped based on the ignition signal of the vehicle, and when it is determined that the vehicle has stopped, the process may proceed to step S30. .

  In step S30, it is determined whether or not the use period set in step S10 has elapsed. If the usage period has not yet elapsed, that is, if the current date and time is within the usage period, the flowchart of FIG. 2 ends. Thereby, even if it is a case where the ACC power supply of a vehicle is turned off within a use period, the display of the inquiry screen performed by following step S40 is prohibited. On the other hand, if the usage period has already elapsed, the process proceeds to step S40.

  In step S40, an inquiry screen for inquiring the user whether or not to delete the personal information recorded in the HDD 14 is displayed on the display monitor 15. An example of the inquiry screen displayed at this time is shown in FIG. In the inquiry screen 20 of FIG. 3, the user deletes the personal information by selecting either the part indicated by reference numeral 21 written “Yes” or the part indicated by reference numeral 22 written “No”. Whether or not can be selected. For example, when getting off temporarily while using the vehicle, it is not necessary to delete the personal information yet, so “No” is selected. When the vehicle has been used, select “Yes” to erase the personal information so that the next user cannot see the personal information. Instead of selecting a part of the screen in this way, a response by voice may be used.

  In step S50, it is determined whether or not there is a response from the user to the inquiry screen displayed in step S40. If the user makes a response by selecting one of the parts indicated by reference numerals 21 or 22 on the inquiry screen 20 in FIG. 3, the process proceeds to step S60, and if there is no response, the process proceeds to step S70.

  In step S60, it is determined whether the response result made by the user in step S50 is “Yes” or “No”. If the response result is “Yes”, that is, if the user selects the portion indicated by reference numeral 21 on the inquiry screen 20 in FIG. 3, the process proceeds to step S80. On the other hand, when the response result is “No”, that is, when the user selects a portion indicated by reference numeral 22 on the inquiry screen 20, the flowchart of FIG. In this case, personal information is not erased.

  In step S70, it is determined whether or not a predetermined response time has elapsed since the inquiry screen was displayed on the display monitor 15 in step S40. If the response time has not elapsed, the process returns to step S40 to continue displaying the inquiry screen. On the other hand, if the response time has already passed, the flowchart of FIG. In this case, personal information is not erased. In this way, when there is no response from the user for a predetermined time or longer, erasure of personal information is prohibited.

  In step S80, the personal information is read from the HDD 14. Here, as described above, information relating to the vehicle usage status, such as information on the travel history of the vehicle, information on points searched by the user, and information on points registered by the user, is read out as personal information. Note that the personal information to be read at this time may be selectable by the user, or may be specified in advance.

  In step S90, the personal information read in step S80 is transferred to the memory card 19. As a result, personal information is recorded in the memory card 19. By connecting this memory card 19 to another navigation device, the user can use personal information when the navigation device 1 is used also in another navigation device. Note that when the memory card 19 is not loaded in the memory card slot 18, the process of step S90 may be omitted.

  In step S100, the personal information read in step S80 is erased from the HDD 14. By deleting the personal information in this way, it is possible to prevent the personal information from being viewed by other users who use the navigation device 1 thereafter. If step S100 is performed, the flowchart of FIG. 2 will be complete | finished. Thereafter, the navigation device 1 is turned off and stops operating.

According to the embodiment described above, the following operational effects are obtained.
(1) The navigation device 1 mounted on a vehicle used by an unspecified number of people stores information on the usage status of the vehicle by the HDD 14 as personal information. Then, it is determined by the process of the control unit 10 whether or not the user of the vehicle is likely to change (step S20). When it is determined that there is a possibility of change, an inquiry screen is displayed on the display monitor 15. Then, an inquiry is made as to whether or not to delete the personal information stored in the HDD 14 (step S40). In response to the user's response to this inquiry, the personal information stored in the HDD 14 is deleted (step S100). Since it did in this way, personal information can be protected appropriately in the navigation apparatus 1 mounted in the vehicle used by an unspecified number of people.

(2) In step S20, it is determined that the user may change when the ACC power source of the vehicle is cut off or when the engine of the vehicle is stopped. Since it did in this way, it can be determined easily and reliably whether a user may change based on the operation state of a vehicle.

(3) The navigation device 1 sets a usage period by the processing of the control unit 10 (step S10). Within this period of use, even if it is determined in step S20 that the user may change, display of the inquiry screen in step S40 is prohibited (step S30). Since it did in this way, it can prevent deleting personal information accidentally during use.

(4) When there is no response from the user for a predetermined time or more with respect to the inquiry screen displayed in step S40, the navigation device 1 prohibits the deletion of the personal information in step S100 by the processing of the control unit 10 (step S70). ). Since it did in this way, when a user cannot respond to an inquiry, it can prevent deleting personal information accidentally.

(5) When the navigation device 1 deletes the personal information stored in the HDD 14 by the processing of the control unit 10, the navigation device 1 transfers the personal information to the external memory card 19 (step S90). Thus, if the memory card 19 is connected to another navigation device, the user can use personal information when the navigation device 1 is used in another navigation device.

(6) In step S100, as personal information, at least one of information stored in the HDD 14 such as vehicle travel history information, spot information searched by the user, and spot information registered by the user is stored. Can be erased. By erasing the information regarding the usage status of the vehicle in this way, it is possible to prevent other users from knowing information related to the user's privacy.

  In the embodiment described above, the personal information is recorded on the HDD 14, but the personal information may be recorded on any nonvolatile recording medium. For example, an SSD (Solid State Drive) using flash memory can be used instead of the HDD.

  In the embodiment described above, the personal information recorded in the navigation device 1 is erased in response to a user response. However, a signal instructing the erasure of personal information is input to the navigation device 1 from the outside. Then, the personal information recorded in the navigation device 1 may be erased accordingly. For example, when a car rental or car sharing management center registers in the database that the vehicle has been returned, the database transmits a signal that instructs the navigation device 1 to erase personal information by wireless communication. When this signal is received, the personal information stored in the navigation device 1 may be erased.

  In the above embodiment, information related to the vehicle usage status, such as vehicle travel history information, user-searched location information, and user-registered location information, is deleted as personal information. Any information stored in the apparatus may be deleted. For example, music information imported from a CD or the like, information on a call history by a hands-free mobile phone, fuel consumption information, various setting information, and the like can be deleted according to the change of the user.

  In the above embodiment, when personal information is written to the HDD 14, the personal information may be written to the memory card 19. In this way, when deleting the personal information stored in the HDD 14, the transfer to the memory card 19 can be omitted.

  In the above embodiment, when it is determined in step S70 in FIG. 2 that the response time has elapsed, the process may proceed to step S80 without returning to step S40. That is, after the inquiry screen is displayed on the display monitor 15 in step S40, if there is no response from the user for the inquiry screen for a predetermined time or more, the personal information is deleted. In this way, even when the user does not respond to the inquiry when the user finishes using the vehicle, the personal information can be securely deleted.

  The embodiment and various modifications described above are merely examples. Therefore, the present invention is not limited to these contents as long as the features of the invention are not impaired. Further, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and it is possible to combine one or a plurality of embodiments and modification examples.

  In the embodiment described above, among the units described in the claims, the storage unit is realized by the HDD 14, and the other units are realized by processing executed in the control unit 10 of the navigation device 1. . That is, the control unit 10 of the navigation device 1 functions as a determination unit, an inquiry unit, a deletion unit, a setting unit, and a transfer control unit. Note that the above description is merely an example, and when interpreting the invention, there is no limitation or restriction on the correspondence between the items described in the embodiments and the items described in the claims.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the navigation apparatus by one Embodiment. It is a flowchart of the process performed in the navigation apparatus by one Embodiment. It is an example of an inquiry screen.

Explanation of symbols

1: Navigation device 10: Control unit 11: Vibration gyro 12: Vehicle speed sensor 13: GPS receiver 14: HDD
15: Display monitor 16: Speaker 17: Input device 18: Memory card slot 19: Memory card

Claims (6)

In a navigation device mounted on a vehicle used by an unspecified number of people,
Storage means for storing information on the usage status of the vehicle;
Determination means for determining whether or not a user of the vehicle may change;
Inquiry means for inquiring of the user whether or not to erase the information stored in the storage means when the determination means determines that the user is likely to change;
A navigation device comprising: erasure means for erasing information stored in the storage means in response to a response of the user to the inquiry of the inquiry means. The navigation device according to claim 1, wherein
The navigation device according to claim 1, wherein the determination unit determines that the user is likely to change when the vehicle is powered off or when the vehicle engine is stopped. The navigation device according to claim 1 or 2,
It further comprises a setting means for setting the usage period,
A navigation device that prohibits inquiries by the inquiry means even when it is determined by the determination means that the user may change within the use period set by the setting means. . In the navigation device according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
A navigation apparatus, wherein when a response from the user is not received for a predetermined time or more in response to an inquiry from the inquiry means, the deletion means prohibits the deletion of the information. The navigation device according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
A navigation apparatus further comprising transfer control means for transferring the information stored in the storage means to an external recording medium when the information is erased. The navigation device according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
The erasing unit is at least one of information on a travel history of the vehicle, information on a point searched by the user, and information on a point registered by the user among the information stored in the storage unit. Navigation device characterized by erasing.

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