Hardware ID based user profile identification and sharing

• US 10,212,250 B2
• Filed: 05/16/2014
• Issued: 02/19/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 05/16/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Inventors: Hughes, Kent W., Kotecha, Lalit R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Tokuta, Shean
• Assistant Examiner(s): Turriate Gastulo, Juan C
• Application Number:
  US14/280,104
• Publication Number:
  US 20150334169A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,740 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2101/622 Layer-2 addresses, e.g. medium access control [MAC] addresses
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/102 Entity profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/10 in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/306 User profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/535 Tracking the activity of the user network monitoring arrangements H04L43/00; recording of computer activity G06F11/34
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/56 Provisioning of proxy services store-and-forward switching systems in data switching networks H04L12/54
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/08 Access security
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/63 Location-dependent; Proximity-dependent
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/71 Hardware identity
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/12 Messaging; Mailboxes; Announcements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication

Abstract

A server device may receive, via a local wireless connection with a user device, a hardware identifier associated with the user device; transmit the hardware identifier to a profile server; receive, from the profile server, a user profile associated with the user of the user device; generate a message based on the user profile; and provide the message to the user device.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving, by one or more devices associated with a particular merchant and as part of providing a network connection to a user device via a local wireless connection with the user device, a first hardware identifier of the user device, the first hardware identifier including a media access control (MAC) address;

determining signal strengths associated with the local wireless connection with the user device;

determining, based on the signal strengths, a rate of change of the determined signal strengths;

determining, based on an increasing rate of change of the determined signal strengths, when the user device is approaching the one or more devices associated with the particular merchant, wherein the determination of when the user device is approaching the one or more devices is further based on determining whether the rate of change satisfies a threshold;

requesting, by the one or more devices and in response to the determination that the user device is approaching the one or more devices associated with the particular merchant, from a profile server, a set of types of information that have been authorized, by a user of the user device, as being shareable with the particular merchant, the requesting including providing the first hardware identifier and identification information of the particular merchant to the profile server, wherein the profile server;

stores user profiles associated with a plurality of users, each of the user profiles including a plurality of types of information, wherein each of the plurality of types of information, included in a particular user profile associated with the user, have been designated by the user, on a per-type of information basis, as being shareable or not shareable with a user-selected set of merchants, of a plurality of merchants,

identifies, based on the first hardware identifier, a second hardware identifier, the second hardware identifier including an International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) or Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) value,

uses the second hardware identifier to identify the particular user profile associated with the user of the user device,

identifies the plurality of types of information, indicated in the particular user profile, as being shareable with the particular merchant, and

responds to the request by indicating the identified plurality of types of information as the requested set of types of information that have been designated by the user as being shareable with the particular merchant;

receiving, by the one or more devices, from the profile server, and based on the request for the set of types of information that have been authorized by the user as being shareable with the particular merchant, the set of types of information that were previously designated, by the user, as being shareable with the particular merchant;

generating, by the one or more devices, a message based on the set of types of information that have been authorized by the user as being shareable with the particular merchant, the generated message not including types of information that have not been authorized by the user as being shareable with the particular merchant; and

providing, by the one or more devices, the message to the user device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the profile information includes at least one of:

information relating to personal data of the user;

payment information;

location history information;

shopping history information;

web browsing history information;

or

user device user interaction information.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving location information of the user device,

wherein the message is further based on the location information of the user device.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the message includes an advertisement associated with the particular merchant.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the MAC address is received from a broadcast frame via a wireless signal from the user device.

4. A system comprising:

a server device associated with a particular merchant, the server device comprising;

a non-transitory memory device storing a plurality of processor-executable instructions; and

a processor configured to execute the processor-executable instructions, wherein executing the processor-executable instructions causes the processor to;

receive, as part of providing a network connection to a user device via a local wireless connection with the user device, a first hardware identifier of the user device, the first hardware identifier including a media access control (MAC) address;

determine signal strengths associated with the local wireless connection with the user device;

determine, based on the signal strengths, a rate of change of the determined signal strengths;

determine, based on an increasing rate of change of the determined signal strengths, when the user device is approaching the one or more devices associated with the merchant, wherein the determination of when the user device is approaching the one or more devices is further based on determining whether the rate of change satisfies a threshold;

request, in response to the determination that the user device is approaching the one or more devices associated with the particular merchant, from a profile server, a set of types of information that have been authorized, by a user of the user device, as being shareable with the particular merchant, the requesting including identification information of the particular merchant and the first hardware identifier, wherein the profile server;

stores user profiles associated with a plurality of users, each of the user profiles including a plurality of types of information, wherein each of the plurality of types of information, included in a particular user profile associated with the user, have been designated by the user, on a per-type of information basis, as being shareable or not shareable with a user-selected set of merchants, of a plurality of merchants,

identifies, based on the first hardware identifier, a second hardware identifier, the second hardware identifier including an International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) or Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card value,

uses the second hardware identifier to identify the particular user profile associated with the user of the user device,

identifies the plurality of types of information, indicated in the particular user profile, as being shareable with the particular merchant, and

responds to the request by indicating the identified plurality of types of information as the requested set of types of information that have been designated by the user as being shareable with the particular merchant;

receive, from the profile server and based on the request for the set of types of information that have been authorized by the user as being shareable with the particular merchant, the set of types of information that were previously designated, by the user, as being shareable with the particular merchant,

generate a message based on the set of types of information that have been authorized by the user as being shareable with the particular merchant, the generated message not including types of information that have not been authorized by the user as being shareable with the particular merchant; and

provide the message to the user device.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the profile information includes at least one of:

information relating to personal data of the user;

payment information;

location history information;

shopping history information;

web browsing history information;

or

user device user interaction information.

6. The system of claim 4, wherein executing the processor-executable instructions further causes the processor to:

receiving location information of the user device,

wherein the message is further based on the location information of the user device.

8. The system of claim 4, wherein the message includes an advertisement associated with the particular merchant.

13. The system of claim 4, wherein the MAC address is received from a broadcast frame via a wireless signal from the user device.

9. A non-transitory computer-readable medium including processor-executable instructions, that when executed by one or more processors of one or more devices associated with a particular merchant, causes the one or more processors to:

receive, as part of providing a network connection to a user device via a local wireless connection with the user device, a first hardware identifier of the user device, the first hardware identifier including a media access control (MAC) address received from a broadcast frame via a wireless signal from the user device;

determine signal strengths associated with the local wireless connection with the user device;

determine, based on the signal strengths, a rate of change of the determined signal strengths;

determine, based on an increasing rate of change of the determined signal strengths, when the user device is approaching one or more devices associated with the particular merchant, wherein the determination of when the user device is approaching the one or more devices is further based on determining whether the rate of change satisfies a threshold;

request, in response to the determination that the user device is approaching the one or more devices associated with the particular merchant, from a profile server, a set of types of information that have been authorized, by a user of the user device, as being shareable with the particular merchant, the requesting including providing identification information of the merchant and the first hardware identifier, wherein the profile server;

stores user profiles associated with a plurality of users, each of the user profiles including a plurality of types of information, wherein each of the plurality of types of information, included in a particular user profile associated with the user, have been designated by the user, on a per-type of information basis, as being shareable or not shareable with a user-selected set of merchants, of the plurality of merchants,

identifies, based on the first hardware identifier, a second hardware identifier, the second hardware identifier including an International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) or Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) value,

uses the second hardware identifier to identify the particular user profile associated with the user of the user device,

identifies the plurality of types of information, indicated in the particular user profile, as being shareable with the particular merchant, and

responds to the request by indicating the identified plurality of types of information as the requested set of types of information that have been designated by the user as being shareable with the particular merchant;

receive, from the profile server and based on the request for the set of types of information that have been authorized by the user as being shareable with the particular merchant, the set of types of information that were previously designated, by the user, as being shareable with the particular merchant;

generate a message based on the set of types of information that have been authorized by the user as being shareable with the particular merchant, the generated message not including types of information that have not been authorized by the user as being shareable with the particular merchant; and

provide the message to the user device.

10. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 9, wherein the profile information includes at least one of:

information relating to personal data of the user;

payment information;

location history information;

shopping history information;

web browsing history information;

or

user device user interaction information.

11. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 9, wherein executing the processor-executable instructions further causes the processor to:

receiving location information of the user device,

wherein the message is further based on the location information of the user device.