POLICY-BASED PRIVACY PROTECTION IN CONVERGED COMMUNICATION NETWORKS

System(s) and method(s) that employ deep packet inspection (DPI) of data flow relating to a requested service associated with a communication device to facilitate customizing the service or results provided by the service are presented. A service request can be received by a gateway identification of the service is attempted. If the service is identified, a privacy rule(s), which is contained in a user privacy profile of a user associated with the communication device, is analyzed to determine whether the privacy rule(s) applies to the service. If the privacy rule(s) is applicable, a DPI engine performs DPI on the data flow, in accordance with the privacy rule(s), to obtain information that can be used to customize the service or results provided by the service. The user can specify the level of DPI to be applied. A default rule can specify that no DPI is performed on the data flow.