Method for the production of a first identifier isolating a user connecting to a telematics network

• US 20040230649A1
• Filed: 09/23/2003
• Published: 11/18/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 09/24/2002
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Societe Francaise De Radiotelephone SA (Altice Europe NV)
• Original Assignee: Societe Francaise De Radiotelephone SA (Altice Europe NV)
• Inventors: Wary, Jean-Philippe
• Application Number:
  US10/668,728
• Publication Number:
  US 20040230649A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/203
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2101/30 Types of network names
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2101/604 Address structures or formats
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2101/65 Telephone numbers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/106 across networks, e.g. mapping telephone numbers to data network addresses
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/30 Managing network names, e.g. use of aliases or nicknames name-to-address mapping H04L61/45
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/301 Name conversion
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0407 wherein the identity of one or more communicating identities is hidden cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for anonymous credentials or for identity based cryptographic systems H04L9/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0428 wherein the data content is protected, e.g. by encrypting or encapsulating the payload

Abstract

To protect the privacy of a user subscribing to a mobile telephony operator, the operator produces an isolating identifier by which the user can link up anonymously with a content provider. The operator/producer alone is capable of relating the isolating identifier to the user on request. An isolating identifier is, furthermore, either an isolating session identifier, hence one that changes at each connection of a user to a provider, or an isolating context identifier, hence one that persists over several connections. Furthermore, a context identifier is proper to a user/provider pair. This even further isolates the user.

Claims

1. A method for the production of a first context identifier isolating a user getting connected to a content provider through a telematics network and means placed at his disposal by an service provider, the user being identified by means of a second identifier by the service provider, wherein:

the means of the service provider comprise a gateway to associate the first isolating context identifier with the second identifier,

the first isolating context identifier requires, for its production, at least one first field to set up the association between the first isolating context identifier and the user,

the first isolating context identifier requires, for its production, a second field to ensure the variability of the first identifier as a function of the content provider,

the first and second fields are transcoded.

2. A method according to claim 1, wherein the first field comprises the second identifier.

3. A method according to claim 1, wherein the contents of the second field depend on a contract existing between the user and the service provider.

4. A method according to claim 1, wherein the lifetime of an isolating context identifier is managed by the contents of the second field which change at a determined frequency which becomes the frequency of the lifetime of the context identifier.

5. A method according to claim 1, wherein the lifetime of a context identifier is managed by the key used to perform the transcoding that changes at a determined frequency which therefore becomes that of the lifetime of the context identifier.

6. A method according to claim 1, wherein the first identifier comprises a third field to contain the nature of the identifier.

7. A method according to claim 1, wherein the first identifier comprises a fourth field to identify the service provider.

8. A method according to claim 6, wherein the third field and/or the fourth field are not encrypted.

9. A method according to claim 1, wherein the first field comprises a contract identifier binding the user to the service provider.

10. A method according to claim 1, wherein the context identifier is universal and wherein a same context identifier enables a user to get connected to different types of servers of a same content provider.

11. A method according to claim 1, wherein the contents of the second field are a piece of pseudo-random data.

12. A method according to claim 11, wherein the piece of pseudo-random data is a date.

13. A method according to claim 11, wherein the random element is constant, for the gateway, during a predetermined period.

14. A method according to claim 1, wherein the method of encryption, to transcode the first and second fields, is a symmetrical block encryption method.

15. A method according to claim 1, wherein the method of encryption, to transcode the first and second fields, is a symmetrical encryption method using block chaining.