JP2019128609A - Information controller, method for controlling information, and information control program - Google Patents

Abstract

To collect useful positional information.SOLUTION: The information controller includes a first acquisition unit, a second acquisition unit, and an information controller. The first acquisition unit acquires first positional information as positional information provided from a user. The second acquisition unit acquires second positional information as positional information collected by a predetermined business operator, from the business operator. The information controller controls the degree of the first positional information to be provided to the business operator on the basis of the degree of the second positional information acquired by the second acquisition unit.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to an information control apparatus, an information control method, and an information control program.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, techniques for acquiring position information from a terminal device owned by a user and performing various types of information processing based on the acquired position information have been proposed.

  Here, as a technology for controlling the exchange of personal information such as location information, when a request is received from a client device, control of diffusion of personal information by determining whether or not privacy consent is required for the response of the request The technology to do is known.

JP, 2001-78273, A

  However, in the above-mentioned prior art, it is not always possible to collect useful position information. Generally, the service provider improves the quality of service using location information by collecting highly accurate location information and location information of a large number of users. However, the conventional technique only controls the diffusion of personal information such as position information, and is difficult to apply to processing such as collection of useful position information as required by the service provider.

  The present application has been made in view of the above, and an object thereof is to provide an information control apparatus, an information control method, and an information control program capable of collecting useful position information.

  The information control apparatus according to the present application provides a first acquisition unit that acquires first position information that is position information provided by a user, and second position information that is position information collected by a predetermined operator from the operator. A second acquisition unit to be acquired; and an information control unit that controls the degree of the first position information to be provided to the operator based on the degree of the second position information acquired by the second acquisition unit. It is characterized by that.

  According to one aspect of the embodiment, it is possible to collect useful position information.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of an information control process according to the embodiment. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of the information control system according to the embodiment. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary configuration of a user terminal according to the embodiment. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of the information control apparatus according to the embodiment. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a user information storage unit according to the embodiment. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of the first position information storage unit according to the embodiment. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a second position information storage unit according to the embodiment. FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of a calculation information storage unit according to the embodiment. FIG. 9 is a flowchart (1) illustrating a processing procedure according to the embodiment. FIG. 10 is a flowchart (2) illustrating a processing procedure according to the embodiment. FIG. 11 is a hardware configuration diagram illustrating an example of a computer that realizes the functions of the information control apparatus.

  Hereinafter, a mode for carrying out an information control device, an information control method, and an information control program according to the present application (hereinafter referred to as “embodiment”) will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In addition, the information control apparatus, the information control method, and the information control program according to the present application are not limited by this embodiment. Moreover, it is possible to combine each embodiment suitably in the range which does not make process contents contradictory. Moreover, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected to the same site | part in the following each embodiment, and the overlapping description is abbreviate | omitted.

[1. Example of Information Control Process According to Embodiment]
First, an example of the information control process according to the embodiment will be described using FIG. 1. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of an information control process according to the embodiment. Specifically, in FIG. 1, a process in which the information control device 100 acquires position information provided by the user (hereinafter, the position information collected by the information control device 100 from the user is referred to as “first position information”). A process of acquiring from the enterprise location information of the user collected by the predetermined enterprise (hereinafter, location information collected by the enterprise from the user is referred to as “second location information”), and the acquired second An example of performing information control processing for controlling the degree of the first position information provided to the operator based on the degree of the position information is shown.

  An information control apparatus 100 illustrated in FIG. 1 is an information processing apparatus that performs information control processing according to the embodiment. For example, a server that communicates with a terminal device used by a user, a server device managed by a business operator, and the like. It is an apparatus. The information control apparatus 100 according to the embodiment associates identification information for identifying each user with the position of each user, and acquires the information (first position information). For example, the information control apparatus 100 is a service server that provides a portal site or the like, and periodically acquires position information from a user who has logged in to the portal site. In addition, the information control device 100 provides a service for providing the first position information to the business entity who desires the accumulated first position information. In the embodiment, the information control apparatus 100 is, for example, a business that provides various services using user's position information (for example, a business that provides disaster information and traffic guidance, and a business that provides a game using position information) Provides the first position information to the business operator in response to a request from the

The user terminal 10 ₁ and 10 ₂ shown in FIG. 1 is an information processing terminal such as a smartphone. In an embodiment, the user terminal 10 ₁ is utilized by the user U01, the user terminal 10 ₂ is used by the user U02. Hereinafter, when it is not necessary to distinguish the user terminals 10 ₁ and 10 _2, etc., collectively referred to as "user terminal 10". Further, when there is no need to distinguish between the users U01 and U02, etc., they are collectively referred to as "users". In the following, the user terminal 10 may be read as a user. For example, "the user transmits the position information" may actually mean "the user terminal 10 used by the user transmits the position information".

  For example, the user terminal 10 uses a GPS (Global Positioning System) or the like to detect a position (for example, a numerical value of longitude or latitude) where the device is located, and acquires position information that is information indicating the detected position. . The position information may include not only the information indicating the position but also the time when the position is detected. Then, the user terminal 10 transmits the detected position information to the information control apparatus 100, for example, according to a request from the information control apparatus 100. Specifically, the user terminal 10 periodically and continuously when the information control device 100 is accessing a portal site provided to the user or when logging in to a service provided by the information control device 100. The position information is transmitted to the information control device 100. The position information transmitted from the user terminal 10 is accumulated in a storage unit included in the information control apparatus 100 and used for various information processing.

Operator server 50 ₁ and 50 ₂ shown in FIG. 1 is a server device managed by the operator. In Figure 1, the business server 50 ₁ and 50 ₂ is a server device managed by different operators, it is assumed each of which is a service server to provide different services to users. Specifically, the business server 50 ₁ is a service server that provides navigation services, etc. to provide disaster information and traffic information to the user. Moreover, the business server 50 ₂ is a service server to provide a game or the like by utilizing the position information of the user. In the following, when it is not necessary to distinguish between the business server 50 ₁ and 50 _2, etc., collectively referred to as "business server 50". In the following, the provider server 50 may be read as a provider. For example, "the provider provides the service" may actually mean "the provider server 50 used by the provider provides the service".

  Further, the business entity according to the embodiment is an information user who uses information provided by the information control apparatus 100. User location information is useful in various services such as providing information only to users located in a certain area, delivering advertisements, and providing personalized information to users. The The position information has a difference in accuracy depending on the function used when the position is acquired. For example, the position information with low accuracy specifies the position of the user with an error range of several hundred meters, but the position information with high accuracy can specify the position of the user with an error range of several meters. . For this reason, the business operator who uses the position information desires to acquire more accurate position information from more users.

  Therefore, the information control apparatus 100 provides the enterprise using the position information with the first position information acquired by itself. Each business operator can acquire location information (second location information) from each user through a service provided by the operator, but use the first location information provided from the information control device 100. As a result, it is possible to further enhance the services provided by itself. In the embodiment, each business operator uses the user identification information common to the user identification information (ID) used by the information control apparatus 100 in each service to be provided. As a result, the information control device 100 and the business operator can perform the name identification process between the first position information and the second position information. Specifically, the information control device 100 and the business operator share the identification information that uniquely identifies the user, whereby the information control device 100 and the business enterprise separately acquire the user location information. In addition, both pieces of information can be used as the position information of the user. The identification information of the user is, for example, a service ID (user account) or the like given to each user in the service provided by the information control apparatus 100. Such an ID may be issued not only by the information control device 100 but also by a business partner in cooperation with the information control device 100. As a result, the information control apparatus 100 and the business operator can uniquely identify the user even when a single user uses the plurality of user terminals 10 or logs in to the service in different environments. You can get Further, the information control apparatus 100 may use, as the identification information of the user, cookie information at the time of using the service, a terminal ID unique to the terminal, and the like.

  By the way, the amount of information that can be acquired for the position information varies depending on the type and scale of the service to be provided. For example, in a server device that provides a portal site, such as the information control device 100, information can be obtained from a relatively large number of users than each business operator. On the other hand, in each service provider, there may be a case where location information can not be obtained from a large number of users as in the information control apparatus 100 in the service provided by each. However, depending on the type of service, each business operator obtains location information that cannot be obtained by the information control apparatus 100 (for example, location information of a user who uses a service provided by each business operator but does not use a portal site). It may be possible.

  At this time, each enterprise provides the information control device 100 with the second position information acquired by itself. Then, each enterprise acquires the first position information from the information control device 100 instead of providing the second position information. Thus, the information control device 100 requests provision of the second position information instead of providing the first position information to the enterprise. As a result, the information control apparatus 100 can collect location information that is difficult to collect by itself. Then, the information control apparatus 100 provides the higher-value first position information to the provider who has provided the higher-value second position information. With this process, the information control apparatus 100 can prompt the operator to provide the second position information with higher value, so that it is possible to promote the collection of the position information and collect more useful position information. it can. Hereinafter, the information control processing according to the embodiment will be described along the flow with reference to FIG.

  In the example illustrated in FIG. 1, the user U01 requests the use of a portal site (portal service) provided by the information control device 100. For example, the user U01 installs a smartphone application (hereinafter, simply referred to as "application") provided by the information control device 100 in the user terminal 10. And user U01 receives provision of a service from information control device 100 via the application concerned.

The user terminal 10 ₁ is based on the setting of such a service, periodically transmits the location information of the user U01 to the information control unit 100. For example, the user terminal 10 _1, the frequency set in the service (number every 10 minutes, every few hours, or every day, etc.) based on, it transmits the position information of the user U01 to the information control unit 100.

The information control apparatus 100 acquires position information transmitted from the user terminal 10 ₁ (first position information) (step S01). The information control apparatus 100 stores the acquired first position information in the storage unit. Although not shown in FIG. 1, the information control apparatus 100 also regularly and continuously acquires the first position information of users other than the user U01.

Moreover, the business server 50 ₁ via the service to which it provides, acquires position information from the user terminal 10 ₂ (second position information) (step S02). The user U02, compared to the agent's server 50 _{service 1} is available, and having a low frequency of use of the service information control unit 100 is provided. In other words, the position information of the user U02 that the business server 50 ₁ is acquired, the information control unit 100 is assumed the amount of information than the position information of the user U02 to retrieve. Specifically, the position information of the user U02 that the business server 50 ₁ is acquired, from the position information of the user U02 to the information control unit 100 acquires, or a position information acquired at a high frequency, more user U02 It may be position information with high accuracy for specifying the position of.

In parallel with the processing in step S02, the business server 50 _2, through the service to which it provides, as compared with the first position information information control unit 100 in step S01 obtains more detailed location information ( acquiring second position information) from the user terminal 10 ₁ (step S03).

Here, although more detailed position information is, for example, position information of the user U01, information with higher accuracy than position information acquired in a service provided by the information control apparatus 100 or position information with a large amount of information It is. For example, the business server 50 ₂ is the service provided, and access points installed in the user's home terminal 10 ₁ and the user U01, and information devices utilizing Bluetooth (registered trademark) acquires the information communicated Thus, compared with the position information based on the GPS function acquired by the information control device 100, the position information capable of specifying the position of the user U01 with high accuracy is acquired.

Then, the business server 50 ₁ provides a second location information that it has acquired to the information control unit 100 (step S04). Moreover, the business server 50 ₂ is also to provide a second position information that it has acquired to the information control unit 100 (step S05).

The information control apparatus 100 calculates the value of the second location information provided by the operator server 50 ₁ and 50 ₂ (step S06). Although calculation processing will be described in detail later, for example, the information control unit 100, the frequency and the operator server 50 ₁ or 50 ₂ collects location information from the user U01 or user U02, the accuracy of the position information indicating the location of the user Based on this, the degree (value) of the provided second position information is calculated. In FIG. 1, the value is calculated when the information control apparatus 100 acquires the second position information from the provider servers 50 ₁ and 50 _2, but the information control apparatus 100 does not have the provider server 50 ₁ or 50. _The calculation process may be performed each time the second position information is provided from any of the second and third methods.

Then, the information control apparatus 100 provides the first position information to the business based on the calculated value (in other words, the degree of the second position information). That is, the information control unit 100, in response to the calculation of the second location information provided by the operator server 50 _1, providing a first position information to the business server 50 ₁ (step S07). For example, the information control apparatus 100 provides the business server 50 _{1 with the} amount of first location information based on the value of the location information of the user U02 provided from the business server 50 ₁ . Specifically, the information controller 100, so as to be able enough to calculate higher the value of the position information of the user U02 has granted a, the carrier server 50 ₁ more first position information is available, Control the provided first position information.

Further, the information control unit 100, in response to the calculation of the second location information provided by the operator server 50 _2, providing a first position information to the business server 50 ₂ (step S08). For example, the information control unit 100 provides a first location information of the amount based on the value of the location information of the user U01 provided by the operator server 50 ₂ to the business server 50 _2. Specifically, the information controller 100, as can the higher calculated value of the position information of the user U01 has granted a, the more the first position information is the business server 50 ₂ using, Control the provided first position information.

  As described above, the information control apparatus 100 according to the embodiment acquires the first position information that is position information provided by the user, and also acquires the second position information that is the position information collected by a predetermined operator. Obtain from the operator. Then, the information control device 100 controls the degree of the first position information to be provided to the business operator based on the degree of the acquired second position information.

  That is, the information control apparatus 100 according to the embodiment controls the degree to which the first location information collected by the information control device 100 is provided to the business according to the value of the location information provided by the business. For example, the information control apparatus 100 provides more first position information as the provider provides the more valuable second position information. Thereby, the information control apparatus 100 can strongly provide the motivation to provide the information control apparatus 100 with the position information collected by each business operator, and thus can collect useful position information.

In the example of Figure 1 above, the information control unit 100 has been shown to acquire the location information by the user terminal 10 ₁ is detected from the user terminal 10 _1. However, the information controller 100, regardless of the transmission from the user terminal 10, by the user terminal 10 ₁ to crawl (crawl) at predetermined time intervals, it may be acquired position information. Further, the information control unit 100 is not necessarily to obtain location information that the user terminal 10 ₁ itself detected to estimate the position of the user terminal 10 based on the information the information control unit 100 detects from the user terminal 10 ₁ , the estimated information may be location information of the user terminal 10 _1. Hereinafter, the information control apparatus 100 that executes the information control process according to the above-described embodiment and the information control system 1 including the information control apparatus 100 will be described in detail.

[2. Configuration of information control system]
Next, the configuration of the information control system 1 including the information control apparatus 100 according to the embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a view showing a configuration example of the information control system 1 according to the embodiment. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the information control system 1 according to the embodiment includes the user terminal 10, the provider server 50, and the information control device 100. These various devices are communicably connected via a network N by wire or wireless. Further, the number of devices included in the information control system 1 shown in FIG. 2 is not limited to that illustrated. For example, the information control system 1 may include a plurality of user terminals 10 and a business server 50.

  As described above, the user terminal 10 is an information processing terminal such as a mobile phone including a smartphone, a tablet terminal, a desktop PC (Personal Computer), a notebook PC, or a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant). The user terminal 10 also includes a wearable device which is an information processing terminal of glasses or watch type. Furthermore, the user terminal 10 may include various smart devices having an information processing function for acquiring position information. For example, the user terminal 10 may include a smart home appliance such as a TV (television), a refrigerator, and a vacuum cleaner, a smart vehicle such as an automobile, a drone, and a home robot.

  The user terminal 10 acquires and stores the position information of the own device according to the operation by the user and the function of the user terminal 10. For example, the user terminal 10 acquires position information by communicating with an external system such as the GPS system described above. Then, the user terminal 10 transmits the acquired position information to the information control device 100 and the provider server 50.

  The business server 50 is a server device that provides various services using location information. For example, the company server 50 provides a user with a disaster information transmission service that provides disaster information and various alarm information, a navigation service that transmits traffic guidance, a game using location information, and the like. In addition, the provider server 50 may provide various services in addition to the above services. Also, the business server 50 may have a function as a web server that provides a website related to the service. For example, the company server 50 is used for portal sites, news sites, auction sites, weather forecast sites, shopping sites, finance (stock price) sites, route search sites, map providing sites, travel sites, restaurant introduction sites, web blogs, and the like. A web page including various related information may be distributed to the user terminal 10.

  As described above, the information control apparatus 100 acquires the first location information from the user, acquires the second location information from the operator, and provides the operator with the second location information based on the degree of the acquired second location information. The server device controls the degree of the first position information.

[3. Configuration of user terminal]
Next, the configuration of the user terminal 10 according to the embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an exemplary configuration of the user terminal 10 according to the embodiment. As shown in FIG. 3, the user terminal 10 includes a communication unit 11, an input unit 12, a display unit 13, a detection unit 14, a storage unit 15, and a control unit 16.

(About communication unit 11)
The communication unit 11 is connected to the network N by wire or wireless, and transmits / receives information to / from the business server 50, the information control device 100, and the like. The communication unit 11 is realized by, for example, a NIC (Network Interface Card) or the like.

(About the input unit 12 and the display unit 13)
The input unit 12 is an input device that receives various operations from the user. For example, the input unit 12 is realized by an operation key or the like provided in the user terminal 10. The display unit 13 is a display device for displaying various information. For example, the display unit 13 is realized by a liquid crystal display or the like. In addition, when a touch panel is employ | adopted for the user terminal 10, a part of input part 12 and the display part 13 are integrated.

(About the detection unit 14)
The detection unit 14 detects various information related to the user terminal 10. Specifically, the detection unit 14 detects an operation of the user on the user terminal 10, position information where the user terminal 10 is located, information on a device connected to the user terminal 10, an environment in the user terminal 10, and the like. To do. In the example illustrated in FIG. 3, the detection unit 14 includes an operation detection unit 141, a position detection unit 142, an external device detection unit 143, and an environment detection unit 144.

(About the operation detection unit 141)
The operation detection unit 141 detects an operation of the user on the user terminal 10. For example, the operation detection unit 141 detects the user's operation based on the information input to the input unit 12. That is, the operation detection unit 141 detects an input of an operation for touching the screen to the input unit 12, an input of a voice, or the like. Moreover, the operation detection part 141 may detect that the predetermined application was started by the user. When the application is an application for operating the imaging device in the user terminal 10, the operation detection unit 141 detects that the imaging function is used by the user. In addition, the operation detection unit 141 may detect an operation that the user terminal 10 itself is moved based on data detected by an acceleration sensor, a gyro sensor, or the like provided in the user terminal 10.

(About the position detection unit 142)
The position detection unit 142 detects the current position of the user terminal 10. Specifically, the position detection unit 142 receives radio waves transmitted from GPS satellites, and detects a position (for example, latitude and longitude) indicating the current position of the user terminal 10 based on the received radio waves.

  The position detection unit 142 can detect the position by various methods. For example, the position detection unit 142 may detect the position by using various communication functions of the user terminal 10 as well as the GPS satellite.

  For example, the position detection unit 142 detects the position of the user terminal 10 using the Wi-Fi (registered trademark) communication function of the user terminal 10 or the communication network provided by each communication company. Specifically, the position detection unit 142 detects the position of the own device by performing Wi-Fi communication or the like and measuring the distance to a nearby base station or access point.

  Further, the position detection unit 142 may detect the position by using the Bluetooth function of the user terminal 10. For example, the position detection unit 142 detects the position of the own device by connecting to a beacon transmitter connected by the Bluetooth function.

  Further, the position detection unit 142 may detect the position of the own apparatus using a PDR (Pedestrian Dead Reckoning) technique using an acceleration sensor, a gyro sensor, or the like. In addition, the position detection unit 142 may detect the position of the self device based on the geomagnetic pattern of the structure measured in advance and the geomagnetic sensor provided in the self device.

  Also, for example, when the user terminal 10 has a function equivalent to a noncontact IC card used in a station ticket gate or a store (or the user terminal 10 has a function of reading the history of the noncontact IC card) And the position where it was used is recorded together with the information on which the settlement of the boarding fare at the station was performed by the user terminal 10). The position detection unit 142 may detect the position of the user terminal 10 by acquiring such information. Further, the position may be detected by an optical sensor, an infrared sensor, or the like included in the user terminal 10.

  The position detection unit 142 detects the position of the own device using one or a combination of the above-described methods. And the acquisition part 161 mentioned later acquires the positional information on the user terminal 10 based on the information of the position detected by the position detection part 142, and the detected time.

(About the external device detection unit 143)
The external device detection unit 143 detects an external device connected to the user terminal 10. For example, the external device detection unit 143 detects the external device based on the exchange of communication packets with the external device. Then, the external device detection unit 143 recognizes the detected external device as a terminal connected to the user terminal 10. The external device detection unit 143 may detect the type of connection with the external device. For example, the external device detection unit 143 detects whether the external device is connected to the external device by wire or wireless communication. Further, the external device detection unit 143 may detect a communication method used in wireless communication. The external device detection unit 143 may detect the external device based on information acquired by a radio wave sensor that detects a radio wave emitted by the external device, an electromagnetic wave sensor that detects an electromagnetic wave, or the like.

(About the environment detection unit 144)
The environment detection unit 144 detects the environment in the user terminal 10. The environment detection unit 144 detects information on the environment using various sensors and functions provided in the user terminal 10. For example, the environment detection unit 144 is a microphone that collects sounds around the user terminal 10, an illuminance sensor that detects illuminance around the user terminal 10, and an acceleration sensor that detects physical movement of the user terminal 10 (or , A gyro sensor, etc.), a humidity sensor that detects the humidity around the user terminal 10, a geomagnetic sensor that detects a magnetic field at the location of the user terminal 10, and the like. And the environment detection part 144 detects various information using various sensors. For example, the environment detection unit 144 detects a noise level around the user terminal 10, and whether the ambient around the user terminal 10 is an illuminance suitable for imaging. Further, the environment detection unit 144 may detect surrounding environment information based on a photograph or video taken by the camera.

(Regarding storage unit 15)
The storage unit 15 stores various information. The storage unit 15 is realized by, for example, a semiconductor memory device such as a random access memory (RAM) or a flash memory, or a storage device such as a hard disk or an optical disk. For example, the storage unit 15 stores various types of information detected by the detection unit 14 in association with the detected date and time. Specifically, the storage unit 15 stores position information based on the position detected by the position detection unit 142.

(About the control unit 16)
The control unit 16 is, for example, a controller, and various programs stored in a storage device inside the user terminal 10 are processed by a CPU (Central Processing Unit), an MPU (Micro Processing Unit), or the like using the RAM as a work area. It is realized by being executed. The control unit 16 is a controller, and is realized by, for example, an integrated circuit such as an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) or a field programmable gate array (FPGA).

  The control unit 16 controls processing for providing the information control apparatus 100 with the location information of the user terminal 10. For example, the control unit 16 executes and controls a program (application) for realizing the location information providing process of the user terminal 10. The program may be downloaded and executed on the user terminal 10 by accessing the information control apparatus 100, or a server apparatus (the information control apparatus 100 or various programs is provided in accordance with an operation by the user U01 having the user terminal 10. It may be downloaded from an external server and installed in the user terminal 10.

  As illustrated in FIG. 3, the control unit 16 includes an acquisition unit 161, a reception unit 162, and a transmission unit 163, and implements or executes the function or action of the information processing described below. For example, the control unit 16 implements the functions and operations of information processing described below by executing the above-described program using the RAM as a work area. The internal configuration of the control unit 16 is not limited to the configuration illustrated in FIG. 3, and may be another configuration as long as the configuration performs information processing described later. Moreover, the connection relation of each processing unit included in the control unit 16 is not limited to the connection relation illustrated in FIG. 3, and may be another connection relation.

(About acquisition unit 161)
The acquisition unit 161 acquires various types of information. For example, the acquisition unit 161 acquires various types of information detected by the detection unit 14 by controlling the detection unit 14. For example, the acquisition unit 161 acquires the position information of the user terminal 10 based on the information detected by the position detection unit 142. In addition, the acquisition part 161 may acquire the information regarding the context of the user terminal 10 including not only position information but various sensor information, such as information regarding the environment around the user terminal 10.

  The acquisition unit 161 may acquire position information every predetermined time. For example, the acquisition unit 161 acquires position information by controlling the above-described detection unit 14 periodically (every one minute, every three minutes, every five minutes, etc.). Note that the timing at which the acquisition unit 161 acquires position information may be set by the information control device 100.

(About the receiver 162)
The receiving unit 162 receives various information. For example, the receiving unit 162 receives a request for position information transmitted from the information control apparatus 100 or the operator server 50. The receiving unit 162 sends the received information to each processing unit of the control unit 16.

(About transmitter 163)
The transmission unit 163 transmits various information. For example, the transmitting unit 163 transmits the position information to the information control device 100 or the provider server 50 in accordance with the request received by the receiving unit 162.

  For example, the transmission unit 163 associates the identification information for identifying the user with the position information acquired by the acquisition unit 161, and transmits the information to the information control apparatus 100 or the operator server 50. At this time, the transmission unit 163 may transmit the position information every time the acquisition unit 161 acquires the position information, or may transmit the position information every predetermined period. For example, even if the transmission unit 163 acquires the position information by the acquisition unit 161 on a regular basis (every minute, every three minutes, every five minutes, every hour, etc.), The position information may be transmitted to the information control apparatus 100 or the like. Further, the timing at which the transmission unit 163 transmits the position information may be set by the information control device 100 or the like.

[4. Configuration of information control device]
Next, the configuration of the information control apparatus 100 according to the embodiment will be described using FIG. 4. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an exemplary configuration of the information control apparatus 100 according to the embodiment. As shown in FIG. 4, the information control device 100 includes a communication unit 110, a storage unit 120, and a control unit 130. The information control device 100 may be an input unit (for example, a keyboard or a mouse) that receives various operations from a manager or the like who uses the information control device 100, and a display unit for displaying various information (for example, a liquid crystal display or the like). ) May be included.

(About the communication unit 110)
The communication unit 110 is realized by a NIC or the like, for example. The communication unit 110 is connected to the network N by wire or wireless, and transmits / receives information to / from the user terminal 10, the provider server 50, and the like via the network N.

(About the storage unit 120)
The storage unit 120 is realized by, for example, a semiconductor memory device such as a RAM or a flash memory, or a storage device such as a hard disk or an optical disk. The storage unit 120 includes a user information storage unit 121, a first position information storage unit 122, a second position information storage unit 123, and a calculation information storage unit 124.

(About the user information storage unit 121)
The user information storage unit 121 stores information about the user. Here, FIG. 5 illustrates an example of the user information storage unit 121 according to the embodiment. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of the user information storage unit 121 according to the embodiment. As shown in FIG. 5, the user information storage unit 121 has items such as “user ID”, “terminal ID”, “attribute information”, and “use service information”.

  “User ID” indicates identification information for identifying a user. In the present specification, identification information as shown in FIG. 5 may be used as a reference code. For example, the user identified by the user ID "U01" may be described as "user U01". “Terminal ID” indicates identification information for identifying the user terminal 10 used by the user. Each user may own a plurality of terminals.

  “Attribute information” indicates information related to user attributes. In the example shown in FIG. 5, the attribute information is described by the concept of "D01", but in actuality, the item of the attribute information includes the user's age, sex, occupation, annual income, residence, etc. Various specific information is stored.

  “Used service information” indicates information on services on the network used by the user. The service used by the user may include not only the service provided by the information control apparatus 100 but also the service provided by each business operator. In the example shown in FIG. 5, the used service information is expressed by a concept such as “E01”. Actually, the item of used service information includes the type of service used by the user, each service, and the like. Various specific information such as the frequency of use of is stored.

  That is, in FIG. 5, as an example of data stored in user information storage unit 121, user U01 indicated by user ID "U01" uses user terminal 10 identified by terminal ID "C01". Is shown. It also indicates that the attribute information of the user U01 is "D01" and the usage service information is "E01".

  Although illustration in FIG. 5 is omitted, the user information storage unit 121 may store user interest / interest information, the user's action history, and the like based on the service use history and the like. For example, the interest information may be information set for the user by the information control apparatus 100 through the use of various services (a category assumed to be the user's interest based on the user's purchase history and search history) And the contents of the information. The action history information is the action history of the user in various services (viewing history of web pages etc., purchase history of goods, search history, etc.).

(About the first position information storage unit 122)
The first position information storage unit 122 stores information related to position information acquired through a service provided by the information control device 100 among the position information of the user. Here, FIG. 6 illustrates an example of the first position information storage unit 122 according to the embodiment. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of the first position information storage unit 122 according to the embodiment. In the example illustrated in FIG. 6, the first position information storage unit 122 has items such as “terminal ID”, “user ID”, and “first position information”. Further, the item of “first position information” has small items such as “acquisition date and time”, “position”, “accuracy”, and “various sensor information”.

  “Terminal ID” and “User ID” correspond to the same items shown in FIG. The “first position information” indicates the position information acquired via the service provided by the information control device 100.

  The “acquisition date and time” indicates the date and time when the position is detected (acquired) by the user terminal 10. “Position” indicates a specific position of the user (in other words, the user terminal 10). In FIG. 6, the position is described by the concept of "G01", but in actuality, specific information (for example, numerical values of longitude and latitude, etc.) indicating the position of the user is stored in the item of position. .

  “Precision” indicates the accuracy of the information indicating the position of the user. In the embodiment, the accuracy is indicated in three stages, for example, “low”, “medium”, and “high”. The accuracy is stored, for example, according to the accuracy with which the position of the user can be specified based on the detection means when the position is detected by the user terminal 10. Specifically, in the case of a detection means (for example, when the detection means is only GPS) that causes an error of several tens of meters to several hundreds of meters when specifying the position of the user, the acquired first position The accuracy of the information is "low". In addition, it is acquired in the case of a detection means with high accuracy compared to the first position information whose accuracy is “low” (for example, when the detection means is a combination of Wi-Fi, GPS, etc.). The accuracy of the first position information is "medium". In addition, in the case of a detection unit (for example, when the detection unit uses Bluetooth (beacon)) having high accuracy compared with the first position information whose accuracy is “medium”, the acquired first The accuracy of the position information is "high". Note that the determination of the accuracy described above is an example, and the information control device 100 may flexibly correct the determination criterion of the accuracy according to the technology of detection of position information.

  “Various sensor information” indicates information detected by various sensors when a position is detected. In FIG. 6, various sensor information is represented by the concept of “X01”. Actually, specific information acquired by various sensors such as temperature and humidity is stored in the items of various sensor information. The

  That is, in FIG. 6, as an example of data stored in the first position information storage unit 122, the acquisition date “T01” is used as the first position information of the user U01 who uses the user terminal 10 identified by the terminal ID “C01”. ”Is located at the position“ G01 ”, the accuracy of the position is“ medium ”, and information indicating that the various sensor information is“ X01 ”is stored.

(About the second position information storage unit 123)
The second position information storage unit 123 stores, of the position information of the user, information on the position information acquired via the service provided by the provider server 50. Here, FIG. 7 illustrates an example of the second position information storage unit 123 according to the embodiment. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of the second position information storage unit 123 according to the embodiment. In the example illustrated in FIG. 7, the second location information storage unit 123 includes items such as “provider ID”, “terminal ID”, “user ID”, and “second location information”. Further, the item of “second position information” has small items such as “acquisition date and time”, “position”, “accuracy”, and “various sensor information”.

  The “providing source ID” indicates identification information that identifies a providing source (business operator) who provided the second position information to the information control apparatus 100. “Terminal ID” and “User ID” correspond to the same items shown in FIG. The “second position information” indicates the position information acquired via the service provided by the provider server 50. The small item of “second position information” corresponds to the same item shown in FIG.

  That is, in FIG. 7, as an example of data stored in the second location information storage unit 123, the business operator identified by the provider ID “J01” uses the user terminal 10 identified by the terminal ID “C02”. It shows that the second position information of the user U02 to be sent is provided to the information control apparatus 100. An example of the second position information of the user U02 indicates that the acquisition date and time “T11” is located at the position “G11”, the accuracy of the position is “medium”, and the various sensor information is “X11”. ing. Further, in FIG. 7, as another example of the data stored in the second position information storage unit 123, the user terminal 10 in which the provider identified by the provider ID “J02” is identified by the terminal ID “C01”. Indicates that the second position information of the user U01 who uses the information control apparatus 100 is provided to the information control apparatus 100. An example of the second position information of the user U01 indicates that the acquisition date and time “T21” is located at the position “G21”, the accuracy of the position is “high”, and the various sensor information is “X21”. ing.

(About the calculation information storage unit 124)
The calculation information storage unit 124 stores information on the calculation of the value of the second position information provided from the business operator to the information control apparatus 100. Here, FIG. 8 illustrates an example of the calculation information storage unit 124 according to the embodiment. FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of the calculation information storage unit 124 according to the embodiment. In the example illustrated in FIG. 8, the calculation information storage unit 124 has items such as “operator ID”, “provided second position information”, “calculation result”, and “available first position information”.

  “Business operator ID” indicates identification information that identifies a business person. Note that the provider ID is common to the provider ID shown in FIG. The “provided second position information” indicates second position information provided by the business operator. In the example shown in FIG. 8, the provided second position information is described by the concept of "M01", but in fact, the second position information provided by the provider is included in the provided second position information item. Specific information related to the information (for example, the number of users corresponding to the second position information provided to the information control apparatus 100, the accuracy and the amount of information of the position information of each user) is stored.

  “Calculation result” indicates a calculation result for the provided second position information. In the example shown in FIG. 8, the calculation result is represented by a concept such as “N01”, but actually, the calculation result item includes an index calculated for the second location information provided by the operator. Specific numerical values such as values (scores) are stored. For example, the higher the calculated index value, the more the operator can use the first location information of more users, or the more accurate first location information becomes available.

  “Available first location information” indicates the first location information that is permitted (provided to the operator) for use by the operator according to the degree of the second location information provided to the information control apparatus 100. . In the example shown in FIG. 8, the first location information that can be used is represented by a concept such as “P01”. However, in practice, the operator can use the first location information that can be used. Specific information on the first position information to be stored (for example, the number of users corresponding to the first position information provided to the operator, the accuracy of the first position information provided, and the amount of information) is stored.

  That is, in FIG. 8, as an example of data stored in the calculation information storage unit 124, the second location information provided from the operator J01 identified by the operator ID “J01” is “M01”, and the calculation is performed. The result is “N01”, which indicates that the first position information determined to be usable by the operator J01 based on the calculation result is “P01”.

(About the control unit 130)
The control unit 130 is, for example, a controller, and various programs (corresponding to an example of an information control program) stored in a storage device in the information control apparatus 100 are executed by using a RAM as a work area by a CPU or MPU. Is realized by The control unit 130 is a controller, and is realized by an integrated circuit such as an ASIC or FPGA, for example.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the control unit 130 includes a first acquisition unit 131, a second acquisition unit 132, a calculation unit 133, a reception unit 134, and an information control unit 135. Information described below Implement or execute the processing function or action. Note that the internal configuration of the control unit 130 is not limited to the configuration illustrated in FIG. 4, and may be another configuration as long as the information processing described below is performed. Further, the connection relationship of each processing unit included in the control unit 130 is not limited to the connection relationship illustrated in FIG. 4, and may be another connection relationship.

(About the first acquisition unit 131)
The first acquisition unit 131 acquires first position information that is position information provided by the user. Specifically, the first acquisition unit 131 acquires various types of information detected or acquired by the user terminal 10 as the first position information. The first acquisition unit 131 acquires first position information from the user terminal 10 at predetermined time intervals, and stores the acquired first position information in the first position information storage unit 122.

  Further, the first acquisition unit 131 acquires the accuracy at which the position is detected in the acquired first position information. As described above, the user terminal 10 detects the position using various functions (acquisition means). And generally, the information which shows a user's position differs in precision with the function used for detection. For example, in the case of detecting the position of the user by GPS, the case of detecting the position of the user by using the communication function by Wi-Fi, and the case of detecting the position of the user by using the communication function by beacon, The accuracy of specifying the position is different. For example, when detecting the position of the user using the communication function by beacon, it is possible to specify the position of the user with an accuracy of several meters, such as where in the building the user is located. On the other hand, when detecting the position of the user by GPS, it is difficult to specify the position of the user with an accuracy of several meters, such as where in the building the user is located. Generally, the use of highly accurate position information can provide each user with a more personalized service, and thus the information control apparatus 100 determines the highly accurate information as more valuable information.

  Therefore, when acquiring the information on the position from the user terminal 10, the first acquisition unit 131 also acquires the detection unit when the user terminal 10 detects the position as described above. Then, the first acquisition unit 131 acquires, as the first position information, information in which the position and the detection unit (in other words, the accuracy) are associated. In this case, the first acquisition unit 131 may acquire in advance definition information or the like that defines the relationship between the detection unit and the accuracy. Specifically, the first acquisition unit 131 acquires definition information that the accuracy of the position information detected using the beacon function is “high” from an administrator of the information control apparatus 100 or the like. . Then, when the information on the position and the detection means are acquired from the user terminal 10, the first acquisition unit 131 associates the information on the accuracy according to the detection means with the position, and the information corresponding to the first position information Get as.

  In addition, the first acquisition unit 131 may acquire various pieces of information regarding the user along with the first position information. For example, the first acquisition unit 131 acquires user attribute information based on information registered by the user in the service to be used. Moreover, the 1st acquisition part 131 may acquire the user's interest information in a service, and a user's action history information. The first acquisition unit 131 may acquire various pieces of information using various existing technologies (for example, an advertisement distribution technology for distributing advertisements based on user interests and actions). Further, the first acquisition unit 131 may acquire the first position information together with the date / time information including the day information.

  In addition, the first acquisition unit 131 may acquire, from the user terminal 10, various sensor information (for example, temperature, humidity, and the like) simultaneously detected when the position is detected.

  Moreover, the 1st acquisition part 131 may acquire the condition of communication in the user terminal 10 and another apparatus as 1st position information. Specifically, the first acquisition unit 131 acquires a communication status in which the user terminal 10 is accessing the Internet or the like via an access point. In this case, the 1st acquisition part 131 acquires the information detected from the communication condition with an access point as 1st position information. Specifically, the first acquisition unit 131 determines the installation position of the access point in communication with the user terminal 10, and acquires as the first position information of the user terminal 10 based on the installation position of the access point determined. You may do so. In addition, the first acquisition unit 131 acquires the position of the user terminal 10 by detecting the communication between the station ticket gate apparatus and the user terminal 10, or acquires the position based on the IP address of the user terminal 10. May be

  In addition, the first acquisition unit 131 may not necessarily acquire the first position information at the same time as the time when the user terminal 10 detects the position. That is, the first acquisition unit 131 does not acquire the first position information in real time, but collects the first position information stored in the storage unit of the user terminal 10 when using it for various processes described later. It may be acquired as position information.

(About the second acquisition unit 132)
The 2nd acquisition part 132 acquires the 2nd position information which is the position information collected by the predetermined business from the business concerned. For example, the 2nd acquisition part 132 acquires the position information collected by the business operator from the business operator as the second location information via the service provided by the business operator to the user.

  In this case, the second acquisition unit 132 acquires, as second position information, information in which the identification information of the user is associated with the position. Thus, the second acquisition unit 132 can merge the first position information and the second position information. The name identification may be performed using not only the user ID issued by the service but also a terminal ID, a cookie or the like. The second acquisition unit 132 determines that the position information of the user having identification information different from the user identification information already held in the information control apparatus 100 is the new user position information when acquiring the position information of the user from the business operator. And store the second position information.

(About calculation unit 133)
The calculating unit 133 calculates the degree of the second position information acquired from the business entity. Specifically, the calculation unit 133 calculates how much value the second position information is based on the information amount of the second position information acquired from the business operator.

  For example, the calculating unit 133 calculates the value of the second position information based on the frequency of collecting the position information from the predetermined user. As an example, the calculating unit 133 compares the second position information acquired by the business operator from the predetermined user with the first position information of the same user, and the second position information indicates a higher position of the user. When the frequency is held frequently, the value of the second position information is calculated high. Specifically, in the first position information, information indicating the position of the predetermined user is acquired every “one hour”, whereas in the second position information, information indicating the position of the predetermined user is “10”. If the second position information is acquired for each “minute”, the calculation unit 133 calculates the value of the second position information to be high. That is, the calculating unit 133 calculates that the second position information having a larger amount of information has higher value.

  Further, the calculating unit 133 calculates the value of the second position information based on the accuracy indicating the whereabouts of the predetermined user. As an example, the calculation unit 133 compares the second position information acquired by the operator from a predetermined user with the accuracy of the first position information for the same user, and the second position information indicates the position of the user. When the position information is held with higher accuracy, the value of the second position information is calculated high. Specifically, the first position information can specify the position of the predetermined user only within an error range of “several hundred meters”, whereas the second position information specifies the position of the predetermined user “several tens of meters”. The calculation unit 133 calculates the value of the second position information to a high value when it can be specified within the range of the error of That is, the calculating unit 133 calculates that the second position information with higher accuracy has higher value.

  In addition, the calculation unit 133 calculates the value of the second position information based on whether or not the second position information includes information regarding a base that is a position where a predetermined user is located beyond a predetermined time on a daily basis. .

  For example, the calculating unit 133 determines whether the second position information includes information continuously indicating the position of a predetermined user. Specifically, the calculation unit 133 determines whether or not the second position information includes information indicating a predetermined user position continuously over a predetermined period (for example, one month). Generally, according to the position information acquired continuously, it is possible to estimate the position where the user is the base of life. For example, the home of the user is estimated based on position information of the user in the early morning or night of a weekday. Further, based on the position information of the user in the daytime of weekdays, an area where the user regularly attends (for example, the work place of the user) is estimated.

  The calculation unit 133 calculates the second position information high when the second position information includes information that can estimate the user's base (home or work place).

  Furthermore, the calculation unit 133 may calculate the value of the second position information based on the amount of information indicating the transition of the position of the predetermined user at the predetermined user's home or work place. For example, a business operator capable of acquiring the position of a user using a plurality of beacons in an office building can acquire the movement of each user at work in detail. Also, for example, a business that can acquire the communication status with an information device or an access point installed at home can acquire the movement of each user at home in detail. As described above, the calculation unit 133 calculates the value of the second position information, which is estimated to be difficult for the information control apparatus 100 and other business operators, to be high according to the rarity thereof.

  The calculating unit 133 determines the rarity of the acquired second position information from the viewpoint of the entire acquired first position information (macro), and calculates the value of the second position information based on the rarity. May be. Examples of position information that is determined to be scarce from the perspective of the entire first position information include, for example, position information corresponding to positions that are difficult to collect (for example, places where people generally do not step on foot), or collected Location information corresponding to a time zone in which it is difficult (for example, late at night or early morning where it is generally assumed that the number of applications activated on the user terminal 10 is small) and situations of users who are difficult to collect (for example, the user terminal 10) The position information corresponding to the case where it is difficult to observe the position in the site is assumed.

  Further, the position information determined to be scarce from the viewpoint of the entire first position information may be, for example, position information related to a specific user when the amount of information providing the first position information is low. For example, for a user who uses the service provided by the information control device 100 at a low frequency of use, the information control device 100 has difficulty in acquiring the first position information from the user. In addition, a user with many assets may hesitate to provide the first location information from the viewpoint of protecting personal information, and in this case as well, the information control apparatus 100 may acquire the first location information from the user. Have difficulty. For this reason, the calculation unit 133 determines that the position information of the user is highly scarce in order to actively collect the information amount of the first position information and the position information of the user who has a low acquisition rate. You may calculate it high. As a result, the calculating unit 133 can easily receive the provision of location information with high rarity from the enterprise.

  In addition, the calculation unit 133 may calculate the value of the second position information based on acquisition means when the position information is acquired in the user terminal 10 used by a predetermined user. Specifically, the calculation unit 133 calculates a higher value for the second position information whose position is acquired by the beacon than the second position information whose position is acquired by Wi-Fi or GPS. Good. Thus, the calculating unit 133 can easily calculate the value of the second position information.

  In addition, when the first position information and the second position information include position information regarding a plurality of users, the calculation unit 133 does not overlap the user included in the second position information and the user included in the first position information. The value of the second position information may be calculated based on In other words, the calculation unit 133 determines the value of the second position information based on the degree to which the operator provides the new user position information that is not included in the first position information held by the information control apparatus 100. Calculate. That is, the calculating unit 133 highly evaluates the business operator who provided more positional information of the user not held by the information control device 100. The calculating unit 133 determines, for example, based on the user ID and the terminal ID whether or not the position information overlaps.

  The calculation unit 133 stores the calculated result in the calculation information storage unit 124. The information control unit 135 described later refers to the calculation information storage unit 124 and controls provision of the first position information to the business operator.

(About the reception unit 134)
The receiving unit 134 receives various requests. For example, the accepting unit 134 accepts a request regarding the use of the first position information, which is a request from a business operator. When the reception unit 134 receives a request from a business operator, the reception unit 134 sends information identifying the business operator to the information control unit 135.

(About the information control unit 135)
The information control unit 135 controls the degree of the first position information provided to the business operator based on the degree of the second position information acquired by the second acquisition unit 132.

  For example, based on the result of calculating the second position information by the calculation unit 133, the information control unit 135 permits the provider that provided the second position information to use how much of the first position information. Control what to do. That is, the information control unit 135 permits the provider that provided the second position information to use the first position information based on the result of the calculation of the second position information by the calculation unit 133. Control what to do. Specifically, the information control unit 135 performs control so as to permit the use of more first location information as the provider providing the second location information whose higher value is calculated by the calculation unit 133.

  For example, the information control unit 135 controls the degree of the first position information provided to the operator based on the frequency of collecting the position information from a predetermined user as the degree of the second position information. Further, the information control unit 135 controls the degree of the first position information to be provided to the business operator, as the degree of the second position information, based on the accuracy indicating the location of the predetermined user.

  In addition, the information control unit 135 provides a first position to the operator based on whether or not the second position information includes information on a base where a predetermined user is located over a predetermined time on a daily basis. Control the degree of information. Specifically, the information control unit 135 provides, as information about the base, first location information provided to the operator based on the amount of information indicating the transition of the location of the predetermined user at the home or work place of the predetermined user. Control the degree of.

  Moreover, the information control part 135 may control the grade of the 1st positional information provided to a provider based on the acquisition means when the positional information is acquired in the user terminal 10 which a predetermined user uses.

  In addition, the information control unit 135 determines the degree of the first position information to be provided to the operator based on the rarity of the second position information acquired by the second acquisition unit 132 when compared with the first position information. You may control. Specifically, the information control unit 135 controls the degree of the first position information provided to the operator based on the value of the second position information calculated based on the scarcity of the second position information.

  In addition, when the first position information and the second position information include position information regarding a plurality of users, the information control unit 135 does not overlap the user included in the second position information and the user included in the first position information. Based on the degree, the degree of the first position information provided to the operator may be controlled. For example, the information control unit 135 may perform control so as to provide more first location information to a business operator that provides location information of a user (new user) that the information control apparatus 100 does not hold. .

  Further, the information control unit 135 may control the first location information provided to the operator based on the accuracy of location information, base information, and the like as well as the number of users and the amount of information. For example, the information control unit 135 specifies the position of the user within a range of error of several hundred meters with respect to the provider that provided the second position information having a relatively low value. It may be controlled to provide information of possible accuracy). In addition, the information control unit 135 can specify the position of the user within a range of error of several meters with respect to the provider that provided the second position information having a relatively high value with high accuracy. Control to provide accuracy information).

  In addition, the information control unit 135 provides the location information (for example, the location of a specific user's continued month for a specific user) to the business operator who provided the second location information having a relatively high value. It may be controlled to provide information including a transition. By referring to the transition of the position of the user, the business operator who has obtained the information can deduce the base such as the home or work place of the user. This enables the business operator to provide services more personalized to the user.

[5. Processing procedure)
Next, the procedure of processing by the information control apparatus 100 according to the embodiment will be described using FIGS. 9 and 10. First, the procedure of acquisition processing of position information of the user by the information control device 100 will be described using FIG. 9. FIG. 9 is a flowchart (1) illustrating a processing procedure according to the embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 9, the information control apparatus 100 determines whether a request for using the service has been received from the user (step S101). When the information control apparatus 100 has not received a service use request (step S101; No), the information control apparatus 100 waits until it is received.

  On the other hand, when the service use request has been received (step S101; Yes), the information control apparatus 100 determines whether or not position information has been acquired from the user (step S102). When the information control device 100 has not acquired position information from the user (step S102; No), the information control device 100 stands by until acquisition.

  On the other hand, when the position information is acquired from the user (step S102; Yes), the information control apparatus 100 associates the user and the position information (first position information) and stores them in the storage unit 120 (step S103).

  Next, a procedure of control processing of the first position information by the information control device 100 (in other words, processing of providing the first position information to the business operator) will be described using FIG. FIG. 10 is a flowchart (2) illustrating a processing procedure according to the embodiment.

  The information control device 100 determines whether the second position information has been acquired from the business operator (step S201). If the second position information is acquired from the provider (step S201; Yes), the information control device 100 calculates the value of the acquired second position information (step S202). Then, the information control device 100 associates the calculation result with the business operator and stores the result in the storage unit 120 (step S203).

  If the second position information has not been newly obtained from the carrier after step S203 (step S201; No), the information control apparatus 100 receives a request for using the first position information from the carrier. Is determined (step S204). If the information control apparatus 100 does not receive the use request (step S204; No), the process returns to step S201.

  On the other hand, when the usage request is received (step S204; Yes), the information control apparatus 100 provides the first location information to the operator according to the calculation result associated with the operator who has made the usage request. Control (step S205).

[6. (Modification)
The information control apparatus 100 described above may be implemented in various different forms other than the above embodiment. Therefore, in the following, a modification of the embodiment will be described.

[6-1. Base information]
In the embodiment described above, the information control apparatus 100 shows the process of estimating base information of the user's home, work place, etc., but the base is not limited to the user's home, work place, etc. For example, the information control apparatus 100 may continuously acquire the position information of the user for a predetermined period (for example, one year) and estimate a position that can be estimated from the acquired position information as the base of the user.

  For example, the information control apparatus 100 may estimate a store, a travel destination, etc. frequently visited by the user as a base of the user. Then, the information control apparatus 100 may control whether or not the estimated location information of the user is provided to the operator according to the value of the second location information provided by the operator. For example, the information control apparatus 100 provides the first location information (obtained over a predetermined period) to the operator who provided the second location information having a relatively high value. Location information may be provided. In addition, the information control apparatus 100 does not provide the operator who has provided the second position information with relatively low value to the user instead of the first position information in which the user's behavior habits and characteristics are known. It may provide information indicating a specific position (information indicating the position every several days or several months).

[6-2. Calculation of value]
The information control apparatus 100 may calculate the value of the second position information by a method different from the method shown in the above embodiment. For example, the information control apparatus 100 calculates the value of the second position information using predetermined test data. Specifically, the information control apparatus 100 holds test data including correct data indicating the position of the user and the position information of the user, and a second position provided by the operator for the test data. Add information Then, even if the information control apparatus 100 calculates the value of the second position information based on the improvement in accuracy such as how accurately the position of the user can be applied by adding the second position information. Good.

[6-3. location information〕
In the above embodiment, it has been described that the position information is acquired from GPS information acquired by the user terminal 10, an access point or the like. However, the information control device 100 may acquire the position information of the user terminal 10 from different information.

  For example, the information control apparatus 100 may acquire the position information of the user terminal 10 based on a history that the user has used various services. Specifically, the information control apparatus 100 estimates a station frequently input from the user terminal 10 in the route search service as the nearest station of the user. Then, the information control apparatus 100 may acquire a predetermined range including the nearest station as an area where the user terminal 10 is located. According to such processing, the information control apparatus 100 can acquire the position information of the user terminal 10 even when the user terminal 10 does not have a function of acquiring position information.

[6-4. Configuration of user terminal]
In the above embodiment, the configuration example of the user terminal 10 has been described with reference to FIG. However, the user terminal 10 does not necessarily have to include all the processing units illustrated in FIG. 3. For example, the user terminal 10 may not necessarily include the display unit 13 or the detection unit 14. The user terminal 10 may be separated into two or more devices, and the configuration illustrated in FIG. 3 may be realized. For example, the user terminal 10 may be realized by two or more devices having a configuration in which a detection device having at least a detection unit 14 and an acquisition unit 161 and a communication device having at least a communication unit 11 are separated. .

[7. Hardware configuration)
The information control apparatus 100, the user terminal 10, and the provider server 50 according to the embodiment described above are realized by, for example, a computer 1000 configured as shown in FIG. Hereinafter, the information control device 100 will be described as an example. FIG. 11 is a hardware configuration diagram showing an example of a computer 1000 for realizing the functions of the information control apparatus 100. The computer 1000 includes a CPU 1100, a RAM 1200, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 1300, an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) 1400, a communication interface (I / F) 1500, an input / output interface (I / F) 1600, and a media interface (I / F). ) 1700.

  The CPU 1100 operates based on a program stored in the ROM 1300 or the HDD 1400 and controls each unit. The ROM 1300 stores a boot program executed by the CPU 1100 when the computer 1000 starts up, a program depending on the hardware of the computer 1000, and the like.

  The HDD 1400 stores programs executed by the CPU 1100, data used by the programs, and the like. The communication interface 1500 receives data from other devices via the communication network 500 (corresponding to the network N shown in FIG. 2) and sends the data to the CPU 1100, and the data generated by the CPU 1100 is transferred to other devices via the communication network 500. Send to device.

  The CPU 1100 controls an output device such as a display and a printer and an input device such as a keyboard and a mouse via the input / output interface 1600. The CPU 1100 acquires data from the input device via the input / output interface 1600. The CPU 1100 also outputs the generated data to the output device via the input / output interface 1600.

  The media interface 1700 reads a program or data stored in the recording medium 1800 and provides it to the CPU 1100 via the RAM 1200. The CPU 1100 loads such a program from the recording medium 1800 onto the RAM 1200 via the media interface 1700, and executes the loaded program. The recording medium 1800 is, for example, an optical recording medium such as a DVD (Digital Versatile Disc) or PD (Phase change rewritable disk), a magneto-optical recording medium such as an MO (Magneto-Optical disk), a tape medium, a magnetic recording medium, or a semiconductor memory. Etc.

  For example, when the computer 1000 functions as the information control apparatus 100 according to the embodiment, the CPU 1100 of the computer 1000 realizes the function of the control unit 130 by executing a program loaded on the RAM 1200. The HDD 1400 stores data in the storage unit 120. The CPU 1100 of the computer 1000 reads these programs from the recording medium 1800 and executes them, but as another example, these programs may be acquired from the other device via the communication network 500.

[8. Others]
Further, among the processes described in the above embodiment, all or part of the process described as being automatically performed may be manually performed, or the process described as being manually performed. All or part of them can be performed automatically by known methods. In addition, information including processing procedures, specific names, various data and parameters shown in the above-mentioned documents and drawings can be arbitrarily changed unless otherwise specified. For example, the various information shown in each figure is not limited to the illustrated information.

  Further, each component of each illustrated apparatus is functionally conceptual, and does not necessarily need to be physically configured as illustrated. In other words, the specific form of distribution / integration of each device is not limited to that shown in the figure, and all or a part thereof may be functionally or physically distributed or arbitrarily distributed in arbitrary units according to various loads or usage conditions. It can be integrated and configured. For example, the first acquisition unit 131 and the second acquisition unit 132 illustrated in FIG. 4 may be integrated. Also, for example, the information stored in the storage unit 120 may be stored in an externally provided storage device via the network N.

  Further, for example, in the above-described embodiment, an example in which the information control apparatus 100 performs the acquisition process of acquiring the position information of the user terminal 10 and the information control process of controlling the provision of the first position information has been described. However, the information control device 100 described above may be separated into an acquisition device that performs acquisition processing and an information control device that performs information control processing. In this case, the acquisition apparatus at least includes the first acquisition unit 131. The information control device at least includes an information control unit 135. Moreover, the process by the information control apparatus 100 which concerns on embodiment is implement | achieved by the information control system 1 containing each apparatus called an acquisition apparatus and an information control apparatus.

  In addition, the above-described embodiments and modifications can be combined as appropriate within a range that does not contradict processing contents.

[9. effect〕
As described above, the information control apparatus 100 according to the embodiment includes the first acquisition unit 131, the second acquisition unit 132, and the information control unit 135. The first acquisition unit 131 acquires first position information that is position information provided by the user. The 2nd acquisition part 132 acquires the 2nd position information which is the position information collected by the predetermined business from the business concerned. The information control unit 135 controls the degree of the first position information provided to the business operator based on the degree of the second position information acquired by the second acquisition unit 132.

  As described above, the information control apparatus 100 according to the embodiment controls the degree to which the first location information collected by the information control apparatus 100 is provided to the operator according to the degree of the second location information provided by the operator. Do. Thereby, the information control apparatus 100 can strongly provide the motivation to provide the information control apparatus 100 with the position information collected by each business operator, and thus can collect useful position information.

  Moreover, the information control part 135 controls the grade of the 1st positional information provided to a provider based on the frequency which collected the positional information from the predetermined | prescribed user as a grade of 2nd positional information.

  Accordingly, the information control apparatus 100 according to the embodiment can easily receive position information collected at a higher frequency from the business operator, and thus can collect useful position information.

  Further, the information control unit 135 controls the degree of the first position information to be provided to the business operator, as the degree of the second position information, based on the accuracy indicating the whereabouts of the predetermined user.

  As a result, the information control apparatus 100 according to the embodiment can easily receive position information collected with higher accuracy from the business operator, and thus can collect useful position information.

  In addition, the information control unit 135 provides the business operator with the first position based on whether or not the second position information includes the information on the base which is the position where the predetermined user routinely locates beyond the predetermined time. Control the degree of information.

  As a result, the information control apparatus 100 according to the embodiment can easily receive the location information of the user, which is important in the service using the location information, from the business operator, and can collect useful location information.

  In addition, the information control unit 135 determines the degree of the first position information to be provided to the operator based on the amount of information indicating the transition of the position of the predetermined user at the predetermined user's home or work place as the information regarding the base. Control.

  As a result, the information control apparatus 100 according to the embodiment can easily receive from the enterprise the provision of the user's home or work place, which is important in the service using the position information, and therefore, collection of useful position information can be achieved. .

  In addition, the information control unit 135 controls the degree of the first position information to be provided to the operator based on the acquisition unit when the position information is acquired in the terminal device used by a predetermined user.

  As described above, the information control apparatus 100 according to the embodiment can control the degree of provision relatively easily by performing the processing according to the position information acquisition unit.

  Further, the information control unit 135 controls the degree of the first position information provided to the operator based on the rarity when compared with the first position information of the second position information acquired by the second acquisition unit 132. Do.

  As described above, the information control apparatus 100 according to the embodiment attempts to actively provide the second position information that is difficult to acquire for the information control apparatus 100 by calculating a high value for the scarcity of the second position information. Can be given to business operators. As a result, the information control device 100 can collect valuable position information.

  In addition, when the first position information and the second position information include position information regarding a plurality of users, the information control unit 135 does not overlap the user included in the second position information and the user included in the first position information. Based on the degree, control the degree of the first position information provided to the business operator.

  As described above, the information control apparatus 100 according to the embodiment controls the degree of provision of the first position information according to the degree of provision of the position information of the user (new user) that is not held by the operator. Since the company is motivated to provide information, it is possible to collect information on more new users.

  As described above, some of the embodiments of the present application have been described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, these are merely examples, and various modifications, including the aspects described in the disclosure section of the invention, based on the knowledge of those skilled in the art, It is possible to implement the present invention in other forms with improvements.

  In addition, the "section (module, unit)" described above can be read as "means" or "circuit". For example, the acquisition unit can be read as acquisition means or an acquisition circuit.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Information control system 10 User terminal 50 Provider server 100 Information control apparatus 110 Communication part 120 Storage part 121 User information storage part 122 1st positional information storage part 123 2nd positional information storage part 124 Calculation information storage part 130 Control part 131 1st 1 acquisition unit 132 second acquisition unit 133 calculation unit 134 reception unit 135 information control unit

Claims (10)

A first acquisition unit that acquires first position information that is position information provided by a user;
A second acquisition unit for acquiring second position information, which is position information collected by a predetermined company, from the company;
An information control unit that controls the degree of first position information provided to the business operator based on the degree of second position information acquired by the second acquisition unit;
An information control apparatus comprising: The information control unit
As the degree of the second position information, the degree of the first position information provided to the operator is controlled based on the frequency of collecting the position information from a predetermined user.
The information control device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The information control unit
As the degree of the second position information, the degree of the first position information to be provided to the business operator is controlled based on the accuracy indicating the predetermined location of the user.
The information control device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The information control unit
Control the degree of the first position information to be provided to the business operator on the basis of whether or not the second position information includes the information on the base which is the position where the predetermined user is located beyond the predetermined time on a daily basis Do,
The information control apparatus according to claim 3. The information control unit
The degree of first position information to be provided to the business operator is controlled based on the amount of information indicating transition of the position of the predetermined user at the home or work place of the predetermined user as the information on the base.
The information control apparatus according to claim 4. The information control unit
The degree of first position information to be provided to the business operator is controlled based on an acquisition unit when position information is acquired in a terminal device used by the predetermined user.
The information control apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the information control apparatus is an information control apparatus. The information control unit
Controlling the degree of the first location information to be provided to the operator based on the rarity when compared with the first location information of the second location information acquired by the second acquisition unit;
The information control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the information control apparatus is an information control apparatus. The information control unit
When the first position information and the second position information include position information related to a plurality of users, based on the extent that the user included in the second position information and the user included in the first position information do not overlap. Controlling the degree of the first location information provided to the operator;
The information control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the information control apparatus is an information control apparatus. A computer implemented information control method,
A first acquisition step of acquiring first position information that is position information provided by a user;
A second acquisition step of acquiring second location information, which is location information collected by a predetermined operator, from the operator;
An information control step of controlling the degree of first position information provided to the business operator based on the degree of second position information acquired by the second acquisition step;
An information control method characterized by including: A first acquisition procedure for acquiring first position information which is position information provided by a user;
A second acquisition procedure for acquiring second position information, which is position information collected by a predetermined operator, from the operator;
An information control procedure for controlling the degree of first position information provided to the business operator based on the degree of second position information acquired by the second acquisition procedure;
An information control program that causes a computer to execute the program.

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