Device, system and method for recording personal encounter history

• US 10,271,164 B2
• Filed: 09/26/2016
• Issued: 04/23/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 12/15/2006
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Aaron, Jeffrey A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Lewis, Lisa C
• Application Number:
  US15/276,110
• Publication Number:
  US 20170013410A1
• Time in Patent Office: 939 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0414 during transmission, i.e. party's identity is protected against eavesdropping, e.g. by using temporary identifiers, but is known to the other party or parties involved in the communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/403 Arrangements for multi-party communication, e.g. for conferences data switching systems for conference H04L12/18; arrangements for connecting several subscribers to a common circuit, i.e. affording conference facilities H04M3/56; television conferencing systems H04N7/15
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/306 User profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/54 Presence management, e.g. monitoring or registration for receipt of user log-on information, or the connection status of the users
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72412 using two-way short-range wireless interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72451 according to schedules, e.g. using calendar applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72457 according to geographic location
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/10 including a GPS signal receiver
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/12 including a sensor for measuring a physical value, e.g. temperature or motion telephones including GPS signal receivers H04M2250/10
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/60 logging of communication history, e.g. outgoing or incoming calls, missed calls, messages or URLs logging of telephone numbers H04M1/56, H04M1/57
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/02 Protecting privacy or anonymity, e.g. protecting personally identifiable information [PII]
• 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 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/26 Network addressing or numbering for mobility support

Abstract

Provided are exemplary embodiments including a method for creating and using a personal encounter history using a communication device. The method involves the communication device receiving the transmission of a pseudo identifier from a proximal communication device where the pseudo identifier is associated with the user of the proximal communication device. Once received, the method continues with the wireless communication device requesting and receiving the actual identification of the user of the proximal communication device that is correlated with the pseudo identifier. The communication device includes a transceiver capable of communicating wirelessly with a mobile telecommunications network, a memory device and a processor. To ensure privacy, the processor is capable of receiving a pseudo identifier from a proximate communication device and then requesting an actual identification correlated with the pseudo identifier of the proximate communication device.

Claims

1. A mobile communication device comprising:

a sensor;

a processor; and

a memory that stores instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising;

receiving a pseudo identifier provided by a communication device within a range of the mobile communication device, wherein the pseudo identifier is received by the mobile communication device as a result of a broadcast of the pseudo identifier by the communication device, and wherein the pseudo identifier is created by a user of the communication device;

recording location data indicating a location of the mobile communication device at a time associated with when the pseudo identifier is received from the communication device,

sampling, via the sensor, environmental data at the time associated with when the pseudo identifier is received from the communication device, and

correlating the pseudo identifier provided by the communication device with the location data indicating the location of the mobile communication device at the time associated with when the pseudo identifier is received from the communication device and with the environmental data collected via the sensor at the time associated with when the pseudo identifier is received from the communication device to create an encounter history.

2. The mobile communication device of claim 1, wherein the encounter history comprises a history of encounters between the mobile communication device and communication devices that come within the range of the mobile communication device.

3. The mobile communication device of claim 1, wherein the pseudo identifier includes a hash.

4. The mobile communication device of claim 1, wherein the pseudo identifier includes a moniker.

5. The mobile communication device of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise:

sending a query to an intermediary computing device requesting an actual identification of the user of the communication device corresponding to the pseudo identifier provided by the communication device; and

receiving, responsive to a determination by the intermediary computing device that consent rules for providing the actual identification of the user of the communication device are met, the actual identification of the user of the communication device that corresponds with the pseudo identifier provided by the communication device.

6. The mobile communication device of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise:

sending a query to an intermediary computing device requesting contact information for the user of the communication device corresponding to the pseudo identifier provided by the communication device; and

receiving, responsive to a determination by the intermediary computing device that consent rules for providing the contact information for the user of the communication device are met, the contact information for the user of the communication device corresponding to the pseudo identifier provided by the communication device.

7. The mobile communication device of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise:

receiving, from a user of the mobile communication device, a broadcast level;

adjusting, based on the broadcast level received from the user of the mobile communication device, a level of a broadcast transmission power associated with the mobile communication device; and

providing, according to the level of the broadcast transmission power associated with the mobile communication device adjusted based on the broadcast level received from the user of the mobile communication device, an identifier associated with the mobile communication device to communication devices.

8. The mobile communication device of claim 1, wherein the environmental data comprises at least one of an ambient temperature of an environment associated with the mobile communication device, a speed associated with the mobile communication device, audio of the environment associated with the mobile communication device, or video of the environment associated with the mobile communication device.

9. The mobile communication device of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise correlating the pseudo identifier provided by the communication device with identifiers provided by other communication devices at the time associated with when the pseudo identifier is received from the communication device.

10. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by a processor of a mobile communication device, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:

receiving a pseudo identifier provided by a communication device within a range of the mobile communication device, wherein the pseudo identifier is received by the mobile communication device as a result of a broadcast of the pseudo identifier by the communication device, and wherein the pseudo identifier is created by a user of the communication device;

recording location data indicating a location of the mobile communication device at a time associated with when the pseudo identifier is received from the communication device;

sampling, via a sensor of the mobile communication device, environmental data at the time associated with when the pseudo identifier is received from the communication device; and

correlating the pseudo identifier provided by the communication device with the location data indicating the location of the mobile communication device at the time associated with when the pseudo identifier is received from the communication device and with the environmental data collected via the sensor at the time associated with when the pseudo identifier is received from the communication device to create an encounter history.

11. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 10, wherein the encounter history comprises a history of encounters between the mobile communication device and communication devices that come within the range of the mobile communication device.

12. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 10, wherein the pseudo identifier includes a hash.

13. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 10, wherein the pseudo identifier includes a moniker.

14. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 10, wherein the operations further comprise:

sending a query to an intermediary computing device requesting an actual identification of the user of the communication device corresponding to the pseudo identifier provided by the communication device; and

receiving, responsive to a determination by the intermediary computing device that consent rules for providing the actual identification of the user of the communication device are met, the actual identification of the user of the communication device that corresponds with the pseudo identifier provided by the communication device.

15. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 10, wherein the operations further comprise:

sending a query to an intermediary computing device requesting contact information for the user of the communication device corresponding to the pseudo identifier provided by the communication device; and

receiving, responsive to a determination by the intermediary computing device that consent rules for providing the contact information for the user of the communication device are met, the contact information for the user of the communication device corresponding to the pseudo identifier provided by the communication device.

16. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 10, wherein the operations further comprise:

receiving, from a user of the mobile communication device, a broadcast level;

adjusting, based on the broadcast level received from the user of the mobile communication device, a level of a broadcast transmission power associated with the mobile communication device; and

providing, according to the level of the broadcast transmission power associated with the mobile communication device adjusted based on the broadcast level received from the user of the mobile communication device, an identifier associated with the mobile communication device to communication devices.

17. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 10, wherein the environmental data comprises at least one of an ambient temperature of an environment associated with the mobile communication device, a speed associated with the mobile communication device, audio of the environment associated with the mobile communication device, or video of the environment associated with the mobile communication device.

18. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 10, wherein the operations further comprise correlating the pseudo identifier provided by the communication device with identifiers provided by other communication devices at the time associated with when the pseudo identifier is received from the communication device.

19. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by a processor of a mobile communication device, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:

receiving a pseudo identifier provided by a communication device within a first range of the mobile communication device, wherein the pseudo identifier is received by the mobile communication device as a result of a broadcast of the pseudo identifier by the communication device, and wherein the pseudo identifier is created by a user of the communication device;

recording location data indicating a location of the mobile communication device at a time associated with when the pseudo identifier is received from the communication device;

correlating the pseudo identifier provided by the communication device with the location data indicating the location of the mobile communication device at the time associated with when the pseudo identifier is received from the communication device to create an encounter history;

receiving, from a user of the mobile communication device, a broadcast level;

adjusting, based on the broadcast level received from the user of the mobile communication device, a level of a broadcast transmission power associated with the mobile communication device; and

providing, according to the level of the broadcast transmission power associated with the mobile communication device adjusted based on the broadcast level received from the user of the mobile communication device, an identifier associated with the mobile communication device to communication devices within a second range of the mobile communication device.

20. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 19, wherein the second range is based, at least in part, on the broadcast level received from the user of the mobile communication device.