A method for fetching a content from a web server to a client device is disclosed, using tunnel devices serving as intermediate devices. The client device accesses an acceleration server to receive a list of available tunnel devices. The requested content is partitioned into slices, and the client device sends a request for the slices to the available tunnel devices. The tunnel devices in turn fetch the slices from the data server, and send the slices to the client device, where the content is reconstructed from the received slices. A client device may also serve as a tunnel device, serving as an intermediate device to other client devices. Similarly, a tunnel device may also serve as a client device for fetching content from a data server. The selection of tunnel devices to be used by a client device may be in the acceleration server, in the client device, or in both. The partition into slices may be overlapping or non-overlapping, and the same slice (or the whole content) may be fetched via multiple tunnel devices.

A method for fetching a content from a web server to a client device is disclosed, using tunnel devices serving as intermediate devices. The client device accesses an acceleration server to receive a list of available tunnel devices. The requested content is partitioned into slices, and the client device sends a request for the slices to the available tunnel devices. The tunnel devices in turn fetch the slices from the data server, and send the slices to the client device, where the content is reconstructed from the received slices. A client device may also serve as a tunnel device, serving as an intermediate device to other client devices. Similarly, a tunnel device may also serve as a client device for fetching content from a data server. The selection of tunnel devices to be used by a client device may be in the acceleration server, in the client device, or in both. The partition into slices may be overlapping or non-overlapping, and the same slice (or the whole content) may be fetched via multiple tunnel devices.

Techniques of storing and retrieving medical data and information are provided. Medical result information can be stored on a long-term data repository in a shared network, e.g., the Internet. Pseudonymized identifiers of patients can be used to retrieve such data and information.

Methods and apparatus for supporting secure anonymous communications are described. A first communications device, e.g., a virtual desktop device, in a communications network, e.g., a private ISP network, serves on behalf of a first user device as an endpoint for a communications session with a second device. The first communications device includes a fabricated set of device attribute information which is different from an actual set of device attribute information corresponding to the first user device. The communications network includes a set of onion routers and onion routing is used within the network.

Systems and methods are provided for a computer-implemented method of implementing an on-demand computing network environment. A network specification is received from a user. Resources from one or more resource providers are provisioned. The on-demand computing network is configured, where configuring comprises assigning a first provisioned resource as a hub device and assigning one or more second provisioned resources as rim devices, where a particular rim device comprises a bridge device, where the bridge device repackages data received from the on-demand computing network prior to forwarding that data such that the data received from the on-demand computing network appears to terminate at the bridge device to an observer viewing the data between the hub device and the bridge device.

A method includes utilizing a user computing device to remove privacy information. The user computing device may obtain a vehicle identification number associated with a target vehicle that has a target in-vehicle device from which privacy information of a user is to be removed. Using the vehicle identification number, the user computing device may obtain vehicle parameters associated with the target vehicle. The user computing device may obtain a privacy information removal file comprising an instruction set associated with removing privacy data from candidate in-vehicle devices, and may present the instruction set. The user computing device may obtain a user feedback experience. The user feedback experience may include a confirmation of removal of the privacy information from the at least one candidate in-vehicle device, user comments, a voice recording, or an image, captured by a camera of the user computing device, of the at least one candidate in-vehicle device.

A method of propagating data packets in a network of nodes is disclosed. The method, implemented at one of the nodes, includes: generating at least one data packet of a first type; collecting a set of data packets of the first type during a first time period, the set including the at least one generated data packet and at least one data packet of the first type received from one or more first nodes in the network; and determining a mapping of the data packets of the set to a plurality of neighbouring nodes connected to the node, the mapping indicating an expected time of relay of each data packet of the set to neighbouring nodes, wherein determining the mapping includes determining at least one of: a first sub-mapping which allocates any two data packets having a same source for relay to different subsets of the neighbouring nodes; and a second sub-mapping which assigns different expected times of relay to any two data packets that are generated at the node or received by the node from the one or more first nodes in a same time interval.

A system for providing a query processing service based on personal-information protection, includes: a client terminal configured to allow a user to input and send query content for solving a problem; a relaying and processing server configured to extract and process personal information contained in the query content received from the client terminal, transmit processed query content the processed personal information to a cloud service server, and transmit an answer to a query received from the cloud service server to the client terminal; and the cloud service server configured to generate the answer to the query by analyzing the processed query content received from the relaying and processing server, and transmit the answer to the query to the relaying and processing server.

Systems and methods for preserving privacy in dark pool trading environments are provided. The methods include receiving buy orders that include encrypted buy order information; receiving sell orders that include encrypted sell order information; determining whether at least one received buy order matches with at least one received sell order; and when there is a match, executing a transaction based on the match. The determination is made without revealing the encrypted information to an operator of the dark pool, thereby preserving the confidentiality of the information until the transaction is executed.

Techniques are provided for ground distance calculations using sanitized location data. One method comprises a service provider obtaining: (i) a geographic zone identifier of multiple predefined geographic zones of a first location of a user, and (ii) a first distance between the first location of the user and multiple reference points that define boundaries of the predefined geographic zones; the service provider obtaining: (i) a geographic zone identifier of the multiple predefined geographic zones of a second location of the user, and (ii) a second distance between the first location of the user and the multiple reference points; and computing a ground distance between the first location and the second location by selecting a subset of the multiple reference points based at least in part on the relative geographic zones of the current and second locations. The user may: (i) estimate the first location and calculate the first distance; and/or (ii) compute the first and second distances.