Anonymous transactions based on distributed processing
First Claim
1. A method for an entity to support anonymous transactions, the method comprising:
- generating a transaction identification that does not uniquely identify the entity;
splitting an entity identification uniquely associated with the entity into a plurality of secret shares; and
sending the transaction identification and the plurality of secret shares to a plurality of shareholders.
4 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An entity that desires to engage in anonymous transactions first generates a transaction identification that does not uniquely identify the entity. Additionally, the entity splits an entity identification uniquely associated with the entity into a plurality of secret shares and thereafter sends the transaction identification and the plurality of secret shares to a plurality of shareholders. Subsequently, anonymous transactions on behalf of the entity may be directly conducted by the shareholders based in part upon the plurality of secret shares. In one embodiment of the present invention, the entity identification comprises a public key uniquely assigned to the entity.
-
Citations
84 Claims
-
1. A method for an entity to support anonymous transactions, the method comprising:
-
generating a transaction identification that does not uniquely identify the entity;
splitting an entity identification uniquely associated with the entity into a plurality of secret shares; and
sending the transaction identification and the plurality of secret shares to a plurality of shareholders. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
-
-
11. A method for an entity to support anonymous acquisitions, the method comprising:
-
generating a transaction identification that does not uniquely identify the entity;
distributing a public key, in the form of secret shares, and the transaction identification to a plurality of shareholders;
sending an acquisition request regarding goods to be acquired and the transaction identification to at least one shareholder of the plurality of shareholders;
receiving, based on the transaction identification, encrypted information from at least one shareholder of the plurality of shareholders, wherein the encrypted information comprises information regarding the goods and is encrypted, at least in part, by the plurality of shareholders based on each of the secret shares; and
decrypting the encrypted information based on the public key. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
-
-
20. A method for an entity to obtain recommendations, the method comprising:
-
sending, to a plurality of shareholders, a recommendation request and secret shares previously sent by the entity to corresponding ones of the plurality of shareholders, wherein the secret shares are representative of an entity identification corresponding to the entity, and wherein each shareholder of the plurality of shareholders has previously associated at least one activity corresponding to the entity with a secret share maintained by the shareholder; and
receiving, from at least one shareholder of the plurality of shareholders, at least one recommendation responsive to the recommendation request. - View Dependent Claims (21)
-
-
22. A method for an entity to verify availability of usage rights, the method comprising:
-
sending, to a plurality of shareholders, a voucher verification request regarding at least one usage right and secret shares previously sent by the entity to corresponding ones of the plurality of shareholders, wherein the secret shares are representative of an entity identification corresponding to the entity, and wherein each shareholder of the plurality of shareholders has previously associated at least one usage right corresponding to the entity with a secret share maintained by the shareholder; and
receiving, from at least one shareholder of the plurality of shareholders, a message indicating that the at least one usage right is available to the entity. - View Dependent Claims (23)
-
-
24. A method for a shareholder of a plurality of shareholders, in communication with an entity, to support anonymous transactions, the method comprising:
-
receiving a secret share and a transaction identification from the entity, wherein the secret share is one of a plurality of secret shares representative of an entity identification corresponding to the entity, and wherein the transaction identification does not uniquely identify the entity; and
associatively storing the secret share and the transaction identification. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42)
-
-
43. An apparatus for supporting anonymous transactions by an entity comprising:
-
means for generating a transaction identification that does not uniquely identify the entity;
means for splitting an entity identification uniquely associated with the entity into a plurality of secret shares; and
means, coupled to the means for generating and the means for splitting, for sending the transaction identification and the plurality of secret shares to a plurality of shareholders. - View Dependent Claims (44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50)
-
-
51. An apparatus for supporting anonymous acquisitions by an entity comprising:
-
means for generating a transaction identification that does not uniquely identify the entity;
means, coupled to the means for generating, for distributing a public key, in the form of secret shares, and the transaction identification to a plurality of shareholders;
means, coupled to the means for generating, for sending an acquisition request regarding goods to be acquired and the transaction identification to at least one shareholder of the plurality of shareholders;
means for receiving, based on the transaction identification, encrypted information from at least one shareholder of the plurality of shareholders, wherein the encrypted information comprises information regarding the goods and is encrypted, at least in part, by the plurality of shareholders based on each of the secret shares; and
means, coupled to the means for receiving, for decrypting the encrypted information based on the public key. - View Dependent Claims (52, 53, 54, 55)
-
-
56. An apparatus for an entity to obtain recommendations comprising:
-
means for sending, to a plurality of shareholders, a recommendation request and secret shares previously sent by the entity to corresponding ones of the plurality of shareholders, wherein the secret shares are representative of an entity identification corresponding to the entity, and wherein each shareholder of the plurality of shareholders has previously associated at least one activity corresponding to the entity with a secret share maintained by the shareholder; and
means for receiving, from at least one shareholder of the plurality of shareholders, at least one recommendation responsive to the recommendation request. - View Dependent Claims (57)
-
-
58. An apparatus for an entity to verify availability of usage rights comprising:
-
means for sending, to a plurality of shareholders, a voucher verification request regarding at least one usage right and secret shares previously sent by the entity to corresponding ones of the plurality of shareholders, wherein the secret shares are representative of an entity identification corresponding to the entity, and wherein each shareholder of the plurality of shareholders has previously associated at least one usage right corresponding to the entity with a secret share maintained by the shareholder; and
means for receiving, from at least one shareholder of the plurality of shareholders, a message indicating that the at least one usage right is available to the entity. - View Dependent Claims (59)
-
-
60. An apparatus by which a shareholder of a plurality of shareholders can supporting anonymous transactions by an entity, wherein the shareholder is in communication with the entity, comprising:
-
means for receiving a secret share and a transaction identification from the entity, wherein the secret share is one of a plurality of secret shares representative of an entity identification corresponding to the entity, and wherein the transaction identification does not uniquely identify the entity; and
means, coupled to the means for receiving, for associatively storing the secret share and the transaction identification. - View Dependent Claims (61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77)
-
-
78. A system for supporting anonymous transactions, the system comprising:
-
a computer-implemented entity that generates a transaction identification that does not uniquely identify the entity, and that splits an entity identification uniquely associated with the entity into a plurality of secret shares; and
a plurality of computer-implemented shareholders that each receive the transaction identification and a corresponding one of the plurality of secret shares from entity and that associatively store the transaction identification and the corresponding one of the plurality of secret shares. - View Dependent Claims (79)
-
-
80. A computer-readable medium having stored thereon computer-executable instructions for performing steps of:
-
generating a transaction identification that does not uniquely identify an entity;
splitting an entity identification uniquely associated with the entity into a plurality of secret shares; and
sending the transaction identification and the plurality of secret shares to a plurality of shareholders.
-
-
81. A computer-readable medium having stored thereon computer-executable instructions for performing steps of:
-
generating a transaction identification that does not uniquely identify an entity;
distributing a public key, in the form of secret shares, and the transaction identification to a plurality of shareholders;
sending an acquisition request regarding goods to be acquired and the transaction identification to at least one shareholder of the plurality of shareholders;
receiving, based on the transaction identification, encrypted information from at least one shareholder of the plurality of shareholders, wherein the encrypted information comprises information regarding the goods and is encrypted, at least in part, by the plurality of shareholders based on each of the secret shares; and
decrypting the encrypted information based on the public key.
-
-
82. A computer-readable medium having stored thereon computer-executable instructions for performing steps of:
-
sending, to a plurality of shareholders, a recommendation request and secret shares previously sent by an entity to corresponding ones of the plurality of shareholders, wherein the secret shares are representative of an entity identification corresponding to the entity, and wherein each shareholder of the plurality of shareholders has previously associated at least one activity corresponding to the entity with a secret share maintained by the shareholder; and
receiving, from at least one shareholder of the plurality of shareholders, at least one recommendation responsive to the recommendation request.
-
-
83. A computer-readable medium having stored thereon computer-executable instructions for performing steps of:
-
sending, to a plurality of shareholders, a voucher verification request regarding at least one usage right and secret shares previously sent by an entity to corresponding ones of the plurality of shareholders, wherein the secret shares are representative of an entity identification corresponding to the entity, and wherein each shareholder of the plurality of shareholders has previously associated at least one usage right corresponding to the entity with a secret share maintained by the shareholder; and
receiving, from at least one shareholder of the plurality of shareholders, a message indicating that the at least one usage right is available to the entity.
-
-
84. A computer-readable medium having stored thereon computer-executable instructions for performing steps of:
-
receiving a secret share and a transaction identification from an entity, wherein the secret share is one of a plurality of secret shares representative of an entity identification corresponding to the entity, and wherein the transaction identification does not uniquely identify the entity; and
associatively storing the secret share and the transaction identification.
-
Specification