Conventionally, in a service providing system, there is available a service in which a terminal, which serves as a service utilizing apparatus, can acquire content such as music from a management server for managing the system in response to a user's operation instruction.
In receiving such a service in this service providing system, settlement processing or the like is required for content acquisition and, therefore, user ID for identification and password corresponding to the user ID (hereinafter, which are collectively referred to as user authentication information) is transmitted from the terminal to the management server.
The terminal needs to transmit the user authentication information every time the user utilizes a service. This is troublesome for the user. In order to cut out the need of inputting the user authentication information each time, the user authentication information is previously stored in the terminal and is read out according to the need.
Further, there is available a terminal that stores, as bookmarks, web pages that the user frequently visits. Thus, the terminal stores user utilization information such as the bookmarks that differ from user to user and thereby increases usability (refer to, for example, Patent Document 1).
Patent Document 1 Jpn. Pat. Appln. Laid-Open Publication No. 2002-216099 (Page 14, FIG. 1).
However, such a terminal may be used by another user different from the original user in some cases due to handover.
In such a case, deletion of the user authentication information or user utilization information (which are collectively referred to as individual information) stored in the terminal through a user's operation prevents the individual information from being disclosed to another user.
However, in the case where the user fails to delete the individual information, the case where the terminal is stolen, or the case where the terminal is used by another user without permission, there is a possibility that the individual information is disclosed to and misused by another user.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds