Method and system for communication from anonymous sender(s) to known recipient(s) for feedback applications
First Claim
1. A method for enabling a message to be sent from one or more anonymous senders to one or more known recipients, comprising the steps of:
- receiving a message from a sender through a message transmission means which is able to provide the message in a standard format for further processing;
processing said message to obtain an identifying code which uniquely identifies a recipient group, which is composed of one or more recipients;
evaluating said identifying code to ensure that said message is valid for transmission to said recipient group;
storing said message and other information regarding the message in a data storage means that ensures later retrieval of said message and said other information such that the content of said message or said other information is unadulterated and is secure;
evaluating periodically criteria that determine whether said message should be transmitted to said recipient group;
preparing an outgoing message for transmission to said recipient group once said criteria have been fulfilled;
providing said outgoing message with content which includes the content of all messages destined for said recipient group that have not as yet been transmitted to said recipient group and that are stored in said storage means;
removing information regarding the sender from each message included in said outgoing message; and
transmitting said outgoing message to said recipient group, such that each member of said recipient group receives the message;
whereby members of said recipient group can not easily identify the sender of a message and therein enable sender(s) to communicate anonymously with said recipient group.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The invention describes a method and system for communication from one or more anonymous sender(s) and to one or more known recipient(s). This method involves the use of a trusted third party that: receives messages from a sender(s), validates the sender(s) and message destination, removes identifying header information from the message, stores the message for a random time period, and then sends to a defined set of recipient(s), all messages received, in random order. The third party receives messages in various formats and sends messages in recipients'"'"' preferred format. By holding messages for a random period of time and then sending them in random order to recipients, the third party diminishes the effectiveness of traffic monitoring activities. This invention is particularly designed for applications where senders are providing qualitative feedback to recipients, including but, not limited to, employee-employer communications, collaborative brainstorming, employee knowledge capture and dissemination, and customer-to-vendor feedback.
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Citations
21 Claims
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1. A method for enabling a message to be sent from one or more anonymous senders to one or more known recipients, comprising the steps of:
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receiving a message from a sender through a message transmission means which is able to provide the message in a standard format for further processing;
processing said message to obtain an identifying code which uniquely identifies a recipient group, which is composed of one or more recipients;
evaluating said identifying code to ensure that said message is valid for transmission to said recipient group;
storing said message and other information regarding the message in a data storage means that ensures later retrieval of said message and said other information such that the content of said message or said other information is unadulterated and is secure;
evaluating periodically criteria that determine whether said message should be transmitted to said recipient group;
preparing an outgoing message for transmission to said recipient group once said criteria have been fulfilled;
providing said outgoing message with content which includes the content of all messages destined for said recipient group that have not as yet been transmitted to said recipient group and that are stored in said storage means;
removing information regarding the sender from each message included in said outgoing message; and
transmitting said outgoing message to said recipient group, such that each member of said recipient group receives the message;
whereby members of said recipient group can not easily identify the sender of a message and therein enable sender(s) to communicate anonymously with said recipient group. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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Specification