TECHNIQUES FOR PERSONAL SECURITY VIA MOBILE DEVICES

• US 20110039514A1
• Filed: 08/13/2009
• Published: 02/17/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 08/13/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Micro Focus Software, Inc. (Open Text Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Novell Incorporated (Open Text Corporation)
• Inventors: Bolleni, Anilkumar, Singh, Saheednanda, Patnaik, Sandeep
• Granted Patent: US 8,693,977 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/404.2
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/2535 adapted for voice communication over an Internet Protocol [IP] network Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) network equipment and services H04M7/006; implementation or adaptation of Internet protocol [IP], of transmission control protocol [TCP] or of user datagram protocol [UDP] H04L69/16
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/65 Recording arrangements for recording a message from the calling party in the exchange H04M3/50
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72424 with manual activation of emergency-service functions
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/10 including a GPS signal receiver

Abstract

Techniques for achieving personal security via mobile devices are presented. A portable mobile communication device, such as a phone or a personal digital assistant (PDA), is equipped with geographic positioning capabilities and is equipped with audio and visual devices. A panic mode of operation can be automatically detected in which real time audio and video for an environment surrounding the portable communication device are captured along with a geographic location for the portable communication device. This information is streamed over the Internet to a secure site where it can be viewed in real time and/or later inspected.

Claims

1. A machine-implemented method to execute on a processor, the method comprising:

detecting, on a portable communication device, a request for a panic mode of operation for the portable communication device to transition to;

establishing an Internet connection in response to the request for the panic mode of operation;

activating multimedia devices on the portable communication device to record multimedia data for an environment that the portable communication device is in;

acquiring a physical position for the portable communication device; and

streaming the recorded multimedia data and the physical position from the portable communication device over the Internet to a secure remote storage location.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising, sending real time messages to predefined users from the portable communication device, the real time messages including links to the secure remote storage location for the predefined users to view the recorded multimedia data and to acquire the physical position of the portable communication device.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein sending further includes sending the real time messages to predefined users and/or automated services via emails, text messages, and/or predefined voice recordings identifying the links.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising, making the portable communication device appear to a user to have shut down or to have been turned off while it continues to surreptitiously process in the panic mode of operation.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising, preventing the portable communication device from being powered off while in the panic mode of operation while appearing to a user that portable communication device was successfully powered off.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein detecting further includes detecting a special button or key sequence that is activated from the portable communication device by an operator, the activated special button or key sequence generates the request on the portable communication device for the portable communication device to process in the panic mode of operation.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein detecting further includes generating the request to process in the panic mode of operation in response to an operator'"'"'s inability to supply a security code or phrase, the security code or phrase generated in response to an external request made to the portable communication device.

8. A machine-implemented method to execute on a processor, the method comprising:

detecting receipt of a special message on a portable communication device;

prompting an operator of the portable communication device for an access code in response to the receipt of the special message; and

verifying the access code entered by the operator on the portable communication device and when verified asking the operator to set security permissions for a sender of the special message relative to that sender being able to receive from the portable communication device a physical location of the portable communication device, real time audio and/or real time video being captured by the portable communication device within its physical environment.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein detecting the receipt of the special message includes receiving at the portable communication device one of an email from the sender that includes the special message, a text from the sender that includes the special message, and an audible message or code sequence detected by the portable communication device when answered on the portable communication device.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein prompting further includes acquiring the access code as a spoken set of words to identify the operator via voice recognition.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein prompting further includes acquiring the access code as a retinal scan of the operator, a facial scan of the operator, or a fingerprint scan of the operator via a camera integrated into the portable communication device.

12. The method of claim 8, wherein prompting further includes acquiring the access code as a series of character inputs accessed by the operator on a key input mechanism integrated into the portable communication device.

13. The method of claim 8, wherein verifying further includes allowing the operator a configured number of attempts to correctly supply the access code and after such attempts if no valid access code is supplied, the portable communication device is processed in a panic mode of operation.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein allowing further includes processing the portable communication device is the panic mode of operation when the access code was not successfully supplied and sending one or more alerts to other users or automated services that the portable communication device has been placed in the panic mode of operation.

15. A portable communication device, comprising:

a panic service implemented in a computer-readable medium and to execute on one or more processors of the portable communication device; and

an agent implemented in a computer-readable medium and to execute within the one or more processors of the portable communication device;

wherein panic service is acquire the physical position of the portable communication device and is to activate an audio device and a video device of the portable communication device to capture real time physical positions, real time audio, and real time video from the portable communication device when the portable communication device is processing in a panic mode of operation, the agent is to activate the panic mode of operation based on detected and evaluated events and/or messages occurring and received on the portable communication device.

16. The portable communication device of claim 15 further comprising, a global positioning satellite (GPS) receiver integrated into the portable communication device and interfaced to the panic service to supply the real time physical positions of the portable communication device.

17. The portable communication device of claim 15 further comprising, a hidden button that when activated by an operator triggers the agent to process the panic service on the portable communication device.

18. The portable communication device of claim 15 further comprising an access code entry mechanism integrated into the portable communication device and interacted with by an operator of the portable communication device to supply an access code that permits an external mobile requestor to view real time audio and real time video of the portable communication device and to view a current physical position of the portable communication device, the agent verifies the access code and permits the operator to set access restrictions on the requestor or to deny the requestor access altogether.

19. The portable communication device of claim 18, wherein the access code entry mechanism is a key input device for receiving key sequences from the operator, or a camera integrated into the portable communication device for receiving retinal scans, facial scans, and/or fingerprint scans of the operator, the key sequences and the scans represent the access code supplied by the operator via the access code entry mechanism.

20. The portable communication device of claim 15, wherein the portable communication device is a cellular phone, a WiFi-enabled phone, and/or a satellite phone.