Algorithm-based anonymous customer references

• US 10,084,595 B2
• Filed: 08/19/2016
• Issued: 09/25/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 08/24/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Mohajeri, Shahram, Sullivan, Bryan L.
• Primary Examiner(s): Pwu, Jeffrey
• Assistant Examiner(s): Truong, Thong
• Application Number:
  US15/241,681
• Publication Number:
  US 20160359632A1
• Time in Patent Office: 767 Days
• 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: H04L 63/0428 wherein the data content is protected, e.g. by encrypting or encapsulating the payload
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/0872 using geo-location information, e.g. location data, time, relative position or proximity to other entities
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/02 Protecting privacy or anonymity, e.g. protecting personally identifiable information [PII]

Abstract

Facilitation of management and utilization of domain-specific anonymous customer references (ACRs) for protection of subscriber privacy across different domains is disclosed herein. In one aspect, on receiving user authorization, an ACR services (ACRS) component can generate an ACR that is to be inserted in a communication or message transmitted from a user equipment to an untrusted entity. The ACR can be generated based on address data associated with the untrusted entity and/or a unique subscriber identifier associated with the user equipment. As an example, the ACR creation component can generate the ACR based on a cryptographic hash, a static encryption key, and/or a dynamic encryption key. If the ACR is forwarded to a trusted entity, the trusted entity can calculate the unique subscriber identifier based on evaluating the ACR and/or exchange the ACR for the unique subscriber identifier via a secure communication with the ACRS component.

Claims

1. A system, comprising:

a processor; and

a memory that stores executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, facilitate performance of operations, comprising;

in response to receiving a message from a user equipment directed to a device of an untrusted entity, inserting, a domain-specific first anonymous customer reference into the message, wherein the domain-specific first anonymous customer reference comprises variable subscriber identification data representative of a variable subscriber identification of the user equipment as a function of time, resulting in an updated message;

transmitting the updated message to the device of the untrusted entity;

receiving a request for a second anonymous customer reference; and

based on determining that the second anonymous customer reference is a valid anonymous customer reference, transmitting the second anonymous customer reference to a network gateway device of a network to be stored for a defined time period.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise:

inserting the domain-specific first anonymous customer reference into a subsequent message to be transmitted from the user equipment to the device of the untrusted entity resulting in an updated subsequent message; and

facilitating a transmission of the updated subsequent message to the device of the untrusted entity.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise:

based on address data associated with the device of the untrusted entity, generating the domain-specific first anonymous customer reference.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the address data comprises at least one of a uniform resource locator, a fully qualified domain name, an internet protocol address, or a uniform resource identifier.

5. The system of claim 3, wherein the operations further comprise:

based on a cryptographic hash of the address data, generating the domain-specific first anonymous customer reference.

6. The system of claim 3, wherein the operations further comprise:

based on a static encryption key that is determined based on the address data, generating the domain-specific first anonymous customer reference.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the device is a first device, wherein the operations further comprise:

in response to receipt of the domain-specific first anonymous customer reference from the device of the untrusted entity, directing, to a second device of a trusted entity, a decryption key corresponding to the static encryption key, and wherein the second device utilizes the decryption key to determine a static identifier based on the domain-specific first anonymous customer reference.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise:

based on an encryption key, generating the domain-specific first anonymous customer reference, and wherein the encryption key changes over time.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the device is a first device, and wherein the operations further comprise:

in response to receipt of the domain-specific first anonymous customer reference from the device of the untrusted entity, directing data associated with the encryption key to a second device of a trusted entity, wherein the second device of the trusted entity utilizes the data to determine a current value of the encryption key, and wherein the second device employs the current value of the encryption key and the domain-specific first anonymous customer reference to determine a static identifier associated with the user equipment.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein a static identifier associated with the user equipment is associated with a subscriber identity module of the user equipment.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise:

based on a verification of an authorization of the user equipment, deleting the domain-specific first anonymous customer reference.

12. A method, comprising:

receiving, by a system comprising a processor, a communication transmitted by a user equipment and directed to a device of an untrusted entity;

receiving, by the system, a request for an anonymous customer reference;

determining, by the system, that a previous anonymous customer reference associated with the untrusted entity is unavailable;

based on a static identifier associated with the user equipment, a static encryption key of the untrusted entity, and the previous anonymous customer reference being determined to be unavailable, generating, by the system, the anonymous customer reference as specific to the untrusted entity, wherein the anonymous customer reference comprises variable subscriber identification data representative of a variable subscriber identification of the user equipment as a function of time;

inserting, by the system, the anonymous customer reference into the communication resulting in an updated communication; and

facilitating, by the system, a transmission of the updated communication to the device of the untrusted entity.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the transmission is a first transmission, wherein the communication is a first communication, and wherein the method further comprises:

receiving, by the system, a second communication, subsequent to the first transmission, transmitted by the user equipment and directed to the device of the untrusted entity;

inserting, by the system, the anonymous customer reference into the second communication resulting in an updated second communication; and

facilitating, by the system, a second transmission of the updated second communication to the device of the untrusted entity.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein the generating comprises applying a cryptographic hash to address data associated with the device of the untrusted entity.

15. The method of claim 12, wherein the generating comprises encrypting address data associated with the device of the untrusted entity based on the static encryption key.

16. The method of claim 12, wherein the generating comprises encrypting address data associated with the device of the untrusted entity based on a dynamic encryption key, and wherein the dynamic encryption key changes over time.

17. The method of claim 12, wherein the generating the anonymous customer reference comprises generating the anonymous customer reference in response to receiving a user authorization associated with the user equipment.

18. A machine-readable storage medium, comprising executable instructions that, when executed by a processor, facilitate performance of operations, comprising:

receiving a message transmitted from a first device and directed to a second device of an untrusted entity;

receiving an anonymous customer reference request, wherein the anonymous customer reference request comprises an anonymous customer reference, and wherein the anonymous customer reference comprises subscriber identification data representative of a subscriber identification of the first device as a function of time;

modifying the message resulting in a modified message, the modifying comprising inserting the anonymous customer reference into the message;

in response to a condition related to a trusted entity being determined to have been satisfied, transmitting a decryption key to a third device of the trusted entity; and

directing the modified message to be sent to the second device of the untrusted entity.

19. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 18, wherein the anonymous customer reference is a first anonymous customer reference, and wherein the operations further comprise:

generating a second anonymous customer reference based on encrypting address data associated with the second device of the untrusted entity.

20. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 19, wherein the operations further comprise:

prior to the generating the second anonymous customer reference, verifying a user has provided authorization to generate the second anonymous customer reference.