Location-based service provider method and system having a user controlled location privacy mechanism

Abstract

Methods and systems that allow a user to receive location-based services for user selected businesses while maintaining the privacy of his/her location when not in the vicinity of a user selected business. A user designates selected businesses to the LBS provider. The user's mobile device sends its location, in encrypted form, to the LBS provider. The LBS provider performs a computation on the encrypted location and returns an encrypted result to the user's mobile device. The user's mobile device decrypts the result and determines whether the user is near any selected businesses based on the decrypted result. Only if the decrypted result indicates the user is near an approved location will the users mobile device return its location, in an unencrypted form, to the LBS provider. Thus, the LBS provider will only know the user's location if and only if the use is near a business selected by the user.