Method and system for maintaining anonymity of a mobile radio terminal

• US 20070224998A1
• Filed: 03/21/2006
• Published: 09/27/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 03/21/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications AB (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications AB (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Kimbrell, Jacob
• Granted Patent: US 7,587,197 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/445
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/0855 involving a third party
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/383 Anonymous user system
• 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 63/0421 Anonymous communication, i.e. the party's identifiers are hidden from the other party or parties, e.g. using an anonymizer
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42008 Systems for anonymous communication between parties, e.g. by use of disposal contact identifiers
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/02 Protecting privacy or anonymity, e.g. protecting personally identifiable information [PII]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/18 Processing of user or subscriber data, e.g. subscribed services, user preferences or user profiles; Transfer of user or subscriber data

Abstract

A method and system to allowing a user to maintain the privacy of his or her telephone number. The method and system provide a way in which another party may transmit data to the mobile telephone of the user without knowing the phone number associated with the destination mobile telephone. In addition, the method and system provide a way for the user to transmit data from his or her mobile telephone without revealing the phone number associated with the mobile telephone.

Claims

1. A method of transmitting data from a data source to a mobile radio terminal while maintaining anonymity of a telephone number of the mobile radio terminal, comprising:

sending a request for connection data of the mobile radio terminal to a trusted intermediary, the request identifying the mobile radio terminal by an alias registered with the trusted intermediary by a user of the mobile radio terminal;

receiving connection data transmitted from the trusted intermediary to the data source, the connection data including a telephone number of the mobile radio terminal;

maintaining the telephone number of the mobile radio terminal in a form that is inaccessible to the user of the data source; and

transmitting the data using the telephone number to indicate the mobile radio terminal as a destination of the data to a communications network.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the telephone number is received by the data source in an encrypted format and is decrypted to transmit the data.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the connection data received by the data source includes one or more permissions and the method further includes validating that the data source satisfies the one or more permissions before transmitting the data.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising storing the communication data with the data source as a contact for which the alias is viewable and the telephone number is not viewable.

5. A mobile radio terminal configured to transmit data to a data destination while maintaining anonymity of a telephone number of the data destination, comprising:

a radio circuit for sending signals to and receiving signals from a communications network; and

an alias processing function that;

generates a request for connection data of the data destination and controls the radio circuit to send the request to a trusted intermediary, the request identifying the data destination an alias registered with the trusted intermediary by a user of the data destination;

processes connection data received from the trusted intermediary, the connection data including a telephone number of the data destination;

maintains the telephone number of the data destination in a form that is inaccessible to the user of the mobile radio terminal; and

controls the radio circuit to transmit the data using the telephone number to indicate the data destination as a destination of the data to the communications network.

6. A program stored on a machine usable medium, the program including an alias processing function executable by a mobile radio terminal that transmits data to a data destination and configured to maintain anonymity of a telephone number of the data destination, the program comprising executable logic to:

generate a request for connection data of the data destination for transmission to a trusted intermediary, the request identifying the data destination by an alias registered with the trusted intermediary by a user of the data destination;

process connection data received from the trusted intermediary, the connection data including the telephone number of the data destination;

maintain the telephone number of the data destination in a form that is inaccessible to the user of the mobile radio terminal; and

control the transmission of the data using the telephone number to indicate the data destination as a destination of the data to a communications network.

7. A method of receiving data transmitted by a data source with a mobile radio terminal while maintaining anonymity of a telephone number of the data source, comprising:

receiving data from the data source, the data including the telephone number of the data source; and

maintaining the telephone number of the data source in a form that is inaccessible to the user of the mobile radio terminal.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

registering an alias for the mobile radio terminal with a trusted intermediary with which the data source may request connection data for the mobile radio terminal; and

communicating the alias for the mobile radio terminal to the data source.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the registering associates one or more permissions with the alias for which the data source must satisfy before the trusted intermediary transmits the connection data corresponding to the mobile radio terminal to the data source.

10. The method of claim 7, wherein the received data includes an identification of the data source by an alias.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising storing the alias and telephone number of the data source as a contact for which the alias is viewable and the telephone number is not viewable.

12. The method of claim 7, wherein the telephone number is encrypted.

13. A mobile radio terminal configured to receive data from a data source while maintaining anonymity of a telephone number of the data source, comprising:

a radio circuit for sending signals to and receiving signals from a communications network including receiving data from the data source, the data including the telephone number of the data source; and

an alias processing function that maintains the telephone number of the data source in a form that is inaccessible to the user of the mobile radio terminal.

14. The mobile radio terminal of claim 13, wherein the alias processing function is configured to register an alias for the mobile radio terminal with a trusted intermediary with which the data source may request connection data for the mobile radio terminal.

15. A program stored on a machine usable medium, the program including an alias processing function executable by a mobile radio terminal that receives data from a data source and configured to maintain anonymity of a telephone number of the data source, the program comprising executable logic to:

process data received from the data source, the data including the telephone number of the data source; and

maintain the telephone number of the data source in a form that is inaccessible to the user of the mobile radio terminal.

16. The program of claim 15, further comprising logic to register an alias for the mobile radio terminal with a trusted intermediary with which the data source may request connection data for the mobile radio terminal.

17. A method of facilitating a transmission of data from a data source to a mobile radio terminal having a telephone number while maintaining anonymity of the telephone number to a user of the data source, comprising:

registering an alias for the mobile radio terminal with a trusted intermediary;

receiving a request from the data source with the trusted intermediary for communication data of the mobile radio terminal, the request identifying the mobile radio terminal by the alias; and

transmitting the connection data for the mobile radio terminal to the data source, the communication data including the telephone number of the mobile radio terminal in a format that is inaccessible by the user of the data source.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the registering associates one or more permissions with the alias for which the data source must satisfy before the trusted intermediary transmits the connection data.

19. A trusted intermediary that forms part of a communications network for supporting communications with a mobile radio terminal, comprising a trusted intermediary function that:

registers an alias for the mobile radio terminal;

receives a request from the data source for communication data of the mobile radio terminal, the request identifying the mobile radio terminal by the alias; and

transmits the connection data for the mobile radio terminal to the data source, the communication data including the telephone number of the mobile radio terminal in a format that is inaccessible by the user of the data source.

20. A program stored on a machine usable medium, the program including a trusted intermediary function executable by a trusted intermediary that forms part of a communications network for supporting communications with a mobile radio terminal, the program comprising executable logic to:

register an alias for the mobile radio terminal;

receive a request from the data source for communication data of the mobile radio terminal, the request identifying the mobile radio terminal by the alias; and

transmit the connection data for the mobile radio terminal to the data source, the communication data including the telephone number of the mobile radio terminal in a format that is inaccessible by the user of the data source.