Parental Control for Social Networking
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A computer-implemented method of controlling social networking activities, comprising the steps of:
- establishing an account for a supervisory individual and a supervised individual with an identity manager, said account comprising social networking identities including a supervisory social networking identity for said supervisory individual and a supervised social networking identity for said supervised individual, said social networking identities encoding a control relationship of said supervisory individual to said supervised individual;
maintaining a set of rules that are designated by said supervisory individual, said rules regulating interactions of said supervised individual with a social communication services server;
recognizing a proposed interaction between said supervised individual and said social communication services server via a public Internet, wherein said proposed interaction triggers one of said rules;
deriving said supervisory social networking identity from said supervised social networking identity;
communicating a message informing said supervisory individual of said proposed interaction, using said derived supervisory social networking identity to identify said supervisory individual;
receiving a response to said message from said supervisory individual; and
permitting said proposed interaction when said response is an approval thereof and denying said proposed interaction when said response is a rejection thereof.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A computer-implemented infrastructure is provided for use with social communication services that are accessed via the public Internet. Facilities of the infrastructure identify a controlled class of users and permit a supervisory class of users to monitor and control use of social communication services server by the controlled class. The infrastructure enables children to access social communication services servers, and allows their parents to supervise their use of such services on an ongoing basis.
145 Citations
28 Claims
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1. A computer-implemented method of controlling social networking activities, comprising the steps of:
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establishing an account for a supervisory individual and a supervised individual with an identity manager, said account comprising social networking identities including a supervisory social networking identity for said supervisory individual and a supervised social networking identity for said supervised individual, said social networking identities encoding a control relationship of said supervisory individual to said supervised individual; maintaining a set of rules that are designated by said supervisory individual, said rules regulating interactions of said supervised individual with a social communication services server; recognizing a proposed interaction between said supervised individual and said social communication services server via a public Internet, wherein said proposed interaction triggers one of said rules; deriving said supervisory social networking identity from said supervised social networking identity; communicating a message informing said supervisory individual of said proposed interaction, using said derived supervisory social networking identity to identify said supervisory individual; receiving a response to said message from said supervisory individual; and permitting said proposed interaction when said response is an approval thereof and denying said proposed interaction when said response is a rejection thereof. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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- 13. A computer software product for controlling social networking activities, including a tangible computer storage medium in which computer program instructions are stored, which instructions, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to establish an account for a supervisory individual and a supervised individual with an identity manager, said account comprising social networking identities including a supervisory social networking identity for said supervisory individual and a supervised social networking identity for said supervised individual, said social networking identities encoding a control relationship of said supervisory individual to said supervised individual, maintain a set of rules that are designated by said supervisory individual, said rules regulating interactions of said supervised individual with a social communication services server, recognize a proposed interaction between said supervised individual and said social communication services server via a public Internet, wherein said proposed interaction triggers one of said rules, and wherein said supervised individual is identified by said supervised social networking identity, derive said supervisory social networking identity from said supervised social networking identity, communicate a message informing said supervisory individual of said proposed interaction, using said derived supervisory social networking identity to identify said supervisory individual, receive a response to said message from said supervisory individual, and permit said proposed interaction when said response is an approval thereof and deny said proposed interaction when said response is a rejection thereof.
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21. A data processing system for controlling social networking activities, comprising:
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a processor; a communications interface to a public Internet; and a memory accessible to said processor and having instructions resident therein for instructing said processor, said processor and said memory cooperative to establish an account for a supervisory individual and a supervised individual with an identity manager, said account comprising social networking identities including a supervisory social networking identity for said supervisory individual and a supervised social networking identity for said supervised individual, said social networking identities encoding a control relationship of said supervisory individual to said supervised individual, maintain a set of rules that are designated by said supervisory individual, said rules regulating interactions of said supervised individual with a social communication services server, recognize a proposed interaction between said supervised individual and said social communication services server via said public Internet, wherein said proposed interaction triggers one of said rules, and wherein said supervised individual is identified by said supervised social networking identity, derive said supervisory social networking identity from said supervised social networking identity, communicate a message informing said supervisory individual of said proposed interaction, using said derived supervisory social networking identity to identify said supervisory individual, receive a response to said message from said supervisory individual via said communications interface, and permit said proposed interaction when said response is an approval thereof and deny said proposed interaction when said response is a rejection thereof. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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Specification