METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR AN ELECTRONIC BANK SAFE DEPOSIT BOX

• US 20080250480A1
• Filed: 04/04/2007
• Published: 10/09/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 04/04/2007
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Value Consulting Group
• Original Assignee: Value Consulting Group
• Inventors: Meshkat, Hamid
• Application Number:
  US11/696,332
• Publication Number:
  US 20080250480A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 726/6
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2209/56 Financial cryptography, e.g. electronic payment or e-cash
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/3226 using a predetermined code, e.g. password, passphrase or PIN network architectures or network communication protocols for supporting authentication of entities using passwords in a packet data network H04L63/083

Abstract

A system and method for providing secure electronic storage in a plurality of electronic safes which each include a plurality of electronic compartments. The owner of each electronic safe can generate new compartments and determine who has access to each of the compartments in their electronic safe.

Claims

1. A system for providing secure electronic storage to a plurality of customers, the system comprising:

a safe generation module for generating a plurality of electronic safes, wherein each electronic safe in the plurality of electronic safes has an associated customer identifier for identifying the customer controlling the electronic safe;

a compartment generation module for generating a plurality of compartments in each electronic safe;

a compartment management module for storing one or more electronic documents in one or more of the electronic compartments in a specified safe;

an access generation module for, for each electronic compartment in the specified safe;

i) defining at least one access condition; and

ii) storing, in association with the electronic compartment, at least one access holder identifier for identifying an access holder;

an authentication module for determining if an authentication condition is met, the authentication module being operable to;

i) receive an authentication request from a user including identifying information; and

ii) verify the identity of the user based on the identifying information; and

an access control module for, if the authentication condition has been met;

i) determining a user identifier associated with the user;

ii) granting access to a requested electronic compartment of a requested electronic safe if the at least one access condition for the requested electronic compartment is met, wherein the at least one access condition comprises a requirement that the user identifier be an access holder identifier stored in association with the requested electronic compartment;

iii) denying access to the requested electronic compartment if the at least one access condition for the requested electronic compartment is not met;

iv) for each electronic safe in the plurality of electronic safes, checking if the user identifier is the associated unique customer identifier for that electronic safe, and granting access to the compartment generation module, the compartment management module and the access generation module in relation to that electronic safe if the user identifier is the associated unique customer identifier for that electronic safe.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one access holder identifier stored by the access generation module identifies an access holder other than the customer controlling the electronic safe.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein each access holder is a customer in the plurality of customers such that the plurality of electronic safes includes at least one electronic safe having an associated customer identifier identifying that access holder.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the access control module is further operable for, if the access condition has been met, granting access to the compartment generation module, the compartment management module and the access generation module in relation to each electronic safe in the plurality of electronic safes if and only if the user identifier is the associated unique customer identifier for that electronic safe.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein

each electronic compartment has a unique electronic compartment identifier, the access generation module is further operable to define and maintain an access directory for each electronic compartment, the access directory comprising one or more access links, each access link comprising a plurality of access fields,

the plurality of access fields comprises

i) a compartment identifier field containing the electronic compartment identifier of an identified electronic compartment, and

ii) an access holder identifier field containing the access holder identifier of an identified access holder.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the at least one access condition for the requested electronic compartment comprises the access holder identifier stored in the access holder identifier field of an appropriate access link matching the user identifier.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein

one or more of the access fields is an access type field defining the type of access authorized for the identified authorized access holder, and

the access control module is further operable to restrict the access granted according to the access type fields of the appropriate access link.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the type of access is one or more of viewing, uploading, updating, creating, downloading, and deleting.

9. The system of claim 6, wherein one of the access fields is an access limit number field defining a specific number of times that the identified authorized access holder is authorized to access the identified electronic compartment,

the access control module is further operable to grant access to the requested electronic compartment only if the access limit number field of the appropriate access link is greater than zero, and

the access control module is further operable to update the access limit number field of the appropriate access link after granting access to the requested electronic compartment.

10. The system of claim 6, wherein one of the access fields is a start date and time field defining a date and time before which the access link associated with this access field is inoperable to provide access, and

the access control module is further operable to determine the current date and time and to grant access to the requested electronic compartment only if the start date and time field of the appropriate access link contains a date and time which is prior to the current date and time.

11. The system of claim 6, wherein one of the access fields is an end date and time field defining a date and time after which the access link associated with this access field is inoperable to provide access, and

the access control module is further operable to determine the current date and time and to grant access to the requested electronic compartment only if the end date and time field of the appropriate access link contains a date and time which is after the current date and time.

12. The system of claim 6, wherein one of the access fields is an access fee field defining one or more amounts to be charged to the identified authorized access holder to access the identified electronic compartment using the appropriate access link,

the system further comprises a billing module for

(i) receiving a request from the access control module to bill the user a requested amount, and

(ii) billing the user the requested amount, and

the access control module is further operable to send a request to the billing module to bill the user an appropriate amount before granting access to the requested electronic compartment.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein

the billing module is further operable to send a response to the access control module if the billing was successful and

the access control module is further operable to grant access to the requested electronic compartment only if a response is received from the billing module indicating that the billing was successful.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the one or more amounts comprises a per-access fee to be charged each time the identified electronic compartment is accessed using the appropriate access fee.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein the one or more amounts comprises a first-access fee to be charged the first time the identified electronic compartment is accessed using the appropriate access link, and

the access control module is further operable to change the first-access fee to zero after granting access to the requested electronic document.

16. The system of claim 6, wherein each electronic compartment identifier comprises a unique safe identifier for identifying the electronic safe and a compartment identifier for identifying the identified electronic compartment within the electronic safe.

17. The system of claim 6, wherein the access generation module is further operable for:

(i) generating new access links;

(ii) deleting existing access links; and

(ii) modifying one or more access fields of existing access links.

18. The system of claim 12, the system further comprising an interface module for allowing access to the electronic safe through an electronic money transfer system.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the authentication module is implemented by the electronic money transfer system.

20. The system of claim 18, wherein the electronic money transfer system includes the ability to withdraw funds from user accounts and to deposit funds into user accounts.

21. The system of claim 20, wherein each access holder has at least one user account in the electronic money transfer system.

22. The system of claim 21, wherein billing the user the requested amount comprises deducting the requested amount from a user account held by the user through the electronic money transfer system.

23. The system of claim 22, wherein each customer has at least one user account in the electronic money transfer system.

24. The system of claim 23, wherein the billing module is further operable, to deposit the requested amount into a user account held by the customer controlling the requested electronic safe through the electronic money transfer system.

25. The system of claim 23, wherein the billing module is further operable to periodically withdraw a safe administration fee from a user account held by a particular customer.

26. The system of claim 25, wherein the billing module is further operable to, if there are not enough funds in the user account held by the particular customer to cover the safe administration fee, prevent the access control module from performing one or more of its tasks in relation to one or more electronic safes controlled by the particular customer.

27. The system of claim 18, wherein the electronic money transfer system is administered by a trusted entity.

28. The system of claim 27, wherein the trusted entity is a bank.

29. The system of claim 6, wherein one of the access fields is a notify access field indicating whether or not the customer controlling the identified electronic compartment wants to receive a notification each time an attempt is made to access the identified electronic compartment using this access link, and the access control module is further operable to send a notification to the customer identified in the customer identifier field of the appropriate access link after access has been granted or denied to the user.

30. A method of providing secure electronic storage to a plurality of customers, the method comprising:

(a) for each customer in the plurality of customers, receiving an application for an electronic safe;

(b) providing a plurality of electronic safes by, for each customer in the plurality of customers, granting an electronic safe to that customer, the electronic safe including a customer identifier identifying that customer;

(c) determining if an authentication condition has been met by;

(i) receiving an authentication request from a user including identifying information; and

(ii) verifying the identity of the user based on the identifying information;

(d) if the authentication condition has been met, determining a user identifier associated with the user;

(e) generating a plurality of electronic compartments for each electronic safe by, if the authentication condition has been met;

(i) receiving a request from the user to create a new electronic compartment in a requested electronic safe;

(ii) verifying that the user identifier matches the customer identifier of the requested electronic safe; and

(iii) if the user identifier matches the customer identifier of the requested electronic safe, creating the new electronic compartment in the requested electronic safe;

(f) for each electronic compartment in the plurality of electronic compartments in each electronic safe in the plurality of electronic safes, defining at least one access condition;

(g) for each electronic compartment in the plurality of electronic compartments in each electronic safe in the plurality of electronic safes, storing, in association with that electronic compartment, at least one access holder identifier identifying an access holder by, if the authentication condition has been met;

(i) receiving a request from the user to authorize access to a requested electronic compartment in the requested electronic safe by a specific access holder;

(ii) verifying that the user identifier matches the customer identifier of the requested electronic safe; and

(iii) if the user identifier matches the customer identifier of the requested electronic safe, storing, in association with the requested electronic compartment, the access holder identifier identifying the specific access holder; and

(h) controlling access to the plurality of electronic safes by, if the authentication condition has been met;

(i) granting access to a requested electronic compartment of a requested electronic safe if the at least one access condition for the requested electronic compartment is met, wherein the at least one access condition comprises a requirement that the user identifier be an access holder identifier stored in association with the requested electronic compartment; and

(ii) denying access to the requested electronic compartment if the at least one access condition for the requested electronic compartment is not met.

31. The method of claim 30, the method further comprising:

(i) adding a plurality of electronic documents to the plurality of electronic safes by, if the authentication condition has been met;

(i) receiving a request from the user to add a specific electronic document to the requested electronic compartment in the requested electronic safe;

(ii) verifying that the user identifier matches the customer identifier of the requested electronic safe; and

(iii) if the user identifier matches the customer identifier of the requested electronic safe, storing the specific electronic document in the requested electronic compartment.

32. The method of claim 30, wherein

step (e) further comprises providing a unique electronic compartment identifier for each electronic compartment,

step (g)(iii) comprises defining one or more access links, wherein defining one or more access links comprises, for each access link,

(A) defining a compartment identifier field identifying the requested electronic compartment, and

(B) defining an access holder identifier field identifying the specific access holder.

33. The method of claim 32, wherein providing a unique electronic compartment identifier comprises providing a unique safe identifier for identifying a specific safe in which the compartment is located and a compartment identifier for identifying the identified electronic compartment within the specific safe.

34. The method of claim 32, wherein, in step (f), defining at least one access condition comprises requiring that the access holder identifier field of an appropriate access link match the user identifier.

35. The method of claim 34, wherein defining one or more access links further comprises, for each access link, defining the type of access granted to the specific access holder and

step (i)(i) further comprises determining the type of access granted to the user in the appropriate access link and granting only that type of access.

36. The method of claim 35, wherein the type of access is one or more of viewing, uploading, updating, creating, downloading, and deleting.

37. The method of claim 34, wherein defining one or more access links further comprises, for each access link, defining a limit number denoting the number of times the specific access holder can access the requested compartment and,

in step (f), defining at least one access condition further comprises requiring that the appropriate access link have a limit number which is greater than zero.

38. The method of claim 34, wherein defining one or more access links further comprises, for each access link, defining a start date and time at which the specific access holder can start accessing the requested electronic compartment,

in step (f), defining at least one access condition further comprises requiring that the start date and time of the appropriate access link be before a current date and time, and

step (i) further comprises determining the current date and time.

39. The method of claim 34, wherein defining one or more access links further comprises, for each access link, defining an end date and time after which the specific access holder can no longer access the requested electronic compartment based on the corresponding access link,

in step (f), defining at least one access condition further comprises requiring that the end date and time of the appropriate access link be after a current date and time, and

step (i) further comprises determining the current date and time.

40. The method of claim 34, wherein step (i) further comprises:

(iii) updating access fields of the appropriate access link.

41. The method of claim 34, the method further comprising maintaining an access log of attempts at accessing each electronic compartment and wherein step (i) further comprises:

(iv) updating the access log.