Adaptive location sharing based on proximity

• US 10,142,783 B2
• Filed: 08/23/2017
• Issued: 11/27/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 05/12/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Gordon, David Robert, Hintze, Michael
• Primary Examiner(s): Doan, Kiet M
• Application Number:
  US15/684,262
• Publication Number:
  US 20170353836A1
• Time in Patent Office: 461 Days
• Field of Search: 4554562, 455457, 455420, 4554141, 4554566, 4554561, 370338, 370328, 715753, 715738, 715751
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04817 using icons graphical or visual programming using iconic symbols G06F8/34
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04842 Selection of displayed objects or displayed text elements G06F3/0482 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/4594 Address books, i.e. directories containing contact information about correspondents telephone directories in user terminals H04M1/27453
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/107 wherein the security policies are location-dependent, e.g. entities privileges depend on current location or allowing specific operations only from locally connected terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/08 Access security
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/63 Location-dependent; Proximity-dependent
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/023 using mutual or relative location information between multiple location based services [LBS] targets or of distance thresholds
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/08 User group management
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/12 Messaging; Mailboxes; Announcements

Abstract

A method for providing adaptive location sharing based on proximity includes identifying a group of entities (people and/or places) associated with a target person, and setting a location sharing mode to one of a plurality of sharing modes including first sharing mode in which current geographic locations of the target person can be shared regardless of proximity between the target person and any group member, and a second sharing mode in which current geographic locations of the target person are conditionally shared based on proximity between the target person and group members. Based on the location sharing mode and, when in the second sharing mode, the proximity of the target person to one or more entities of the group, either current geographic locations, or a location-based status that does not specify any geographic location, is/are shared.

Claims

1. A method, implemented in one or more servers having one or more processors, for providing adaptive location sharing based on proximity, the method comprising:

identifying a group of one or more people associated with a target person,

setting a location sharing mode to one of a plurality of available sharing modes based on one or more inputs provided by the target person,

wherein the plurality of available sharing modes includes at least a first sharing mode and a second sharing mode,

wherein, in the first sharing mode, current geographic locations of the target person can be shared with at least a first remote monitoring device regardless of proximity between the target person and any person in the group, and

wherein, in the second sharing mode, current geographic locations of the target person (i) can be shared with at least the first remote monitoring device when the target person is not proximate to any person of the group, and (ii) cannot be shared with at least the first remote monitoring device when the target person is proximate to one or more people of the group; and

based on the location sharing mode and, when in the second sharing mode, whether the target person is currently proximate to one or more people of the group, either (i) sharing current geographic locations of the target person with at least the first remote monitoring device or (ii) sharing a location-based status of the target person with at least the first remote monitoring device, wherein the location-based status does not specify any geographic location;

wherein sharing the location-based status with at least the first remote monitoring device includes (i) sending a message including the location-based status to the first remote monitoring device for display to a user, or (ii) sending, to the first remote monitoring device, data that triggers display of the location-based status.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the location-based status of the target person indicates one or more of:

whether the target person is with one or more trusted people;

or

availability of the target person.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying the one or more people associated with the target person includes retrieving a list of contacts associated with the target person from a database stored in a memory.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the method further comprises

receiving, from a first mobile communications device associated with the target person, first location data indicative of the current geographic locations of the target person, and

receiving, from at least one mobile communications device associated with at least one person of the one or more people, second location data indicative of current geographic locations of the at least one person; and

sharing the current geographic locations of the target person or the location-based status of the target person with at least the first remote monitoring device is based, when in the second sharing mode, on the received first location data and the received second location data.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein, when in the second sharing mode and the target person is currently proximate to one or more people of the group, the one or more servers do not send any message indicating the current geographic locations of the target person to the first remote monitoring device.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the location-based status is a text-based message.

7. A system for providing adaptive location sharing based on proximity, the system comprising:

a first memory storing a database containing data associating each of a plurality of people with a respective one of a plurality of groups of one or more people;

one or more servers having one or more processors; and

a second memory storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more servers to

identify, by accessing the database, a group of one or more people associated with a target person,

set a location sharing mode to one of a plurality of available sharing modes based on one or more inputs provided by the target person,

wherein the plurality of available sharing modes includes at least a first sharing mode and a second sharing mode,

wherein, in the first sharing mode, current geographic locations of the target person can be shared with at least a first remote monitoring device regardless of proximity between the target person and any entity person in the group, and

wherein, in the second sharing mode, current geographic locations of the target person (i) can be shared with at least the first remote monitoring device when the target person is not proximate to any entity person of the group, and (ii) cannot be shared with at least the first remote monitoring device when the target person is proximate to one or more entities people of the group, and based on the location sharing mode and, when in the second sharing mode, whether the target person is currently proximate to one or more entities people of the group, either (i) share current geographic locations of the target person with at least the first remote monitoring device or (ii) share a location-based status of the target person with at least the first remote monitoring device, wherein the location-based status does not specify any geographic location;

wherein the instructions cause the one or more servers to share the location-based status with at least the first remote monitoring device at least by (i) sending a message including the location-based status to the first remote monitoring device for display to a user, or (ii) sending, to the first remote monitoring device, data that triggers display of the location-based status.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein identifying the one or more people associated with the target person includes retrieving a list of contacts associated with the target person from the database stored in the first memory.

9. The system of claim 7, wherein:

the instructions further cause the one or more servers to

receive, from a first mobile communications device associated with the target person, first location data indicative of the current geographic locations of the target person, and

receive, from at least one mobile communications device associated with at least one person of the one or more people, second location data indicative of current geographic locations of the at least one person; and

the instructions cause the one or more servers to share the current geographic locations of the target person or the location-based status of the target person with at least the first remote monitoring device based, when in the second sharing mode, on the received first location data and the received second location data.

10. The system of claim 7, wherein the location-based status of the target person indicates one or more of:

whether the target person is with one or more trusted people;

or

availability of the target person.

11. The system of claim 7, wherein, when in the second sharing mode and the target person is currently proximate to one or more people of the group, the one or more servers do not send any message indicating the current geographic locations of the target person to the first remote monitoring device.

12. The system of claim 7, wherein the location-based status is a text-based message.

13. A non-transitory, computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of one or more servers, cause the one or more servers to:

identify a group of one or more people associated with a target person;

set a location sharing mode to one of a plurality of available sharing modes based on one or more inputs provided by the target person,

wherein the plurality of available sharing modes includes at least a first sharing mode and a second sharing mode,

wherein, in the first sharing mode, current geographic locations of the target person can be shared with at least a first remote monitoring device regardless of proximity between the target person and any person in the group, and

wherein, in the second sharing mode, current geographic locations of the target person (i) can be shared with at least the first remote monitoring device when the target person is not proximate to any person of the group, and (ii) cannot be shared with at least the first remote monitoring device when the target person is proximate to one or more people of the group; and

based on the location sharing mode and, when in the second sharing mode, whether the target person is currently proximate to one or more people of the group, either (i) share current geographic locations of the target person with at least the first remote monitoring device or (ii) share a location-based status of the target person with at least the first remote monitoring device, wherein the location-based status does not specify any geographic location;

wherein the instructions cause the one or more servers to share the location-based status with at least the first remote monitoring device at least by (i) sending a message including the location-based status to the first remote monitoring device for display to a user, or (ii) sending, to the first remote monitoring device, data that triggers display of the location-based status.

14. The non-transitory, computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein the location-based status of the target person indicates one or more of:

whether the target person is with one or more trusted people;

or

availability of the target person.

15. The non-transitory, computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein, when in the second sharing mode and the target person is currently proximate to one or more people of the group, the one or more servers do not send any message indicating the current geographic locations of the target person to the first remote monitoring device.

16. The non-transitory, computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein the location-based status is a text-based message.