PROTECTING PRIVACY OF SHARED PERSONAL INFORMATION

Methods and apparatus are described to protect personal information by decoupling it from user identity. According to specific embodiments, this is accomplished by associating each user with an anonymous token that is decoupled from the user's identity. Personal information (e.g., a user's physical or geographic location) is stored in association with this anonymous token, with no apparent connection to the user. Those allowed to access the personal information-including the owner himself-are granted the ability through a variety of mechanisms to connect the anonymous token back to the owner. The personal information can then be retrieved by locating the data stored in association with the anonymous token in the data store.