Providing temporary contact information

• US 10,068,066 B2
• Filed: 10/04/2016
• Issued: 09/04/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 10/04/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Bryson, Donald L., Kline, Eric V., Rakshit, Sarbajit K.
• Primary Examiner(s): REVAK, CHRISTOPHER A
• Application Number:
  US15/284,736
• Publication Number:
  US 20180096114A1
• Time in Patent Office: 700 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/10 Protecting distributed programs or content, e.g. vending or licensing of copyrighted material protection in video systems or pay television H04N7/16 ; Digital rights management [DRM]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/6245 Protecting personal data, e.g. for financial or medical purposes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0421 Anonymous communication, i.e. the party's identifiers are hidden from the other party or parties, e.g. using an anonymizer
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/02 Protecting privacy or anonymity, e.g. protecting personally identifiable information [PII]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/033 of the user plane, e.g. user's traffic

Abstract

Contact information associated with a user is identified. Temporary contact information, exclusive of the contact information, is generated and associated with the user. Termination controls, configured to prevent use of the temporary contact information after the occurrence of an event, are generated and associated with the temporary contact information.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for preventing misuse of contact information, the method comprising:

identifying a first contact information associated with a first user;

generating temporary contact information for the first user, the temporary contact information excluding the first contact information, the temporary contact information configured to cause communication using the first contact information when received from a second user; and

generating termination controls associated with the temporary contact information, the termination controls configured to prevent use of the temporary identification after occurrence of an event, the event comprising a determination that the first user is no longer communicating with the second user, and wherein the termination controls comprise the ability to remotely, via a server, erase the temporary contact information from the second user'"'"'s device.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising encrypting the temporary contact information.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the termination controls are generated based on termination parameters provided by the first user via an interactive user interface.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, from the first user, a designation of at least one party to receive the temporary contact information; and

providing, to the at least one party, the temporary contact information.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein generating termination controls comprises providing an executable script in the metadata of the temporary contact information, the executable script configured to erase the temporary contact information in response to occurrence of the event.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

terminating, in response to occurrence of the event, the temporary contact information for the first user; and

displaying to the first user a termination confirmation.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the event is notification of a delivery.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, from the second user, a first communication using the temporary contact information; and

communicating the first communication to the first user using the first contact information.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

in response to occurrence of the event, erasing the first contact information.

10. A computer program product for preventing misuse of contact information, the computer program product comprising a tangible computer readable storage medium having program code embodied therewith, the program code comprising computer readable program code configured to:

identify a first contact information associated with a first user;

generate temporary contact information for the user, the temporary contact information not including the first contact information, the temporary identification configured to cause communication using the first contact information when received from a second user; and

generate termination controls associated with the temporary identification, the termination controls configured to prevent use of the temporary identification after occurrence of an event, the event comprising a determination that the first user is no longer communicating with the second user, and wherein the termination controls comprise the ability to remotely, via a server, erase the temporary contact information from the second user'"'"'s device.

11. The computer program product of claim 10, the computer readable program code further configured to:

receive, from the first user, a designation of at least one party to receive the temporary contact information; and

provide, to the at least one party, the temporary contact information.

12. The computer program product of claim 10, wherein the termination controls include an executable script in the metadata of the temporary contact information, the executable script configured to erase the temporary contact information in response to occurrence of the event.

13. The computer program product of claim 10, the computer readable program code further configured to:

terminate, in response to occurrence of the event, the temporary contact information for the first user; and

display to the first user a termination confirmation.

14. The computer program product of claim 10, the computer readable program code further configured to:

receive, from the second user, a first communication using the temporary contact information; and

communicate the first communication to the first user using the first contact information.

15. A system for preventing misuse of contact information, the system comprising:

a memory with program instructions stored thereon; and

a processor in communication with the memory, wherein the system is configured to;

identifying a first contact information associated with a first user;

generating temporary contact information for the user, the temporary contact information not including the first contact information, the temporary identification configured to cause communication using the first contact information when received from a second user; and

generating termination controls associated with the temporary identification, the termination controls configured to prevent use of the temporary identification after occurrence of an event, the event comprising a determination that the first user is no longer communicating with the second user, and wherein the termination controls comprise the ability to remotely, via a server, erase the temporary contact information from the second user'"'"'s device.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the method further comprises:

receiving, from the first user, a designation of at least one party to receive the temporary contact information; and

providing, to the at least one party, the temporary contact information.

17. The system of claim 15, wherein generating termination controls includes providing an executable script in the metadata of the temporary contact information, the executable script configured to erase the temporary contact information in response to occurrence of the event.

18. The system of claim 15, wherein the method further comprises:

terminating, in response to occurrence of the event, the temporary contact information for the first user; and

displaying to the first user a termination confirmation.

19. The system of claim 15, wherein the method further comprises:

receiving, from the second user, a first communication using the temporary contact information; and

communicating the first communication to the first user using the first contact information.