System and method for managing consumer information

• US 6,947,897 B2
• Filed: 02/13/2001
• Issued: 09/20/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 02/13/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Capital One Services LLC (Capital One Financial Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Capital One Financial Corporation
• Inventors: Broadhead, Tom Allatt, Lortscher, Frank D., LaPrade, Frank G. III
• Primary Examiner(s): Weiss, John G.
• Assistant Examiner(s): BORISSOV, IGOR N
• Application Number:
  US09/781,198
• Publication Number:
  US 20020111816A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,680 Days
• Field of Search: 705/14, 705/1, 705/10, 705/18, 705/26, 705/27, 705/35, 705/37, 705/40, 705/44, 705/53, 705/59, 705/74
• US Class Current: 705/14.36
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/6245 Protecting personal data, e.g. for financial or medical purposes
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0236 Incentive or reward received by requiring registration or ID from user
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0239 Online discounts or incentives
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0283 Price estimation or determination

Abstract

A system and method are provided for managing consumer information, which permit sharing of consumer information in a controlled manner. In accordance with the disclosed system, at least one database is provided that contains consumer information related to at least one user. An administrative agent is also provided for establishing access to the consumer information contained in the database based on preferences expressed by the user. The system also includes a licensing agent for setting at least one licensing fee schedule for each user based on a set of licensing rules, and a payment agent for paying each user. In accordance with a disclosed method, a database is created of consumer information related to at least one user and access to the consumer information contained in the database is established based on each user'"'"'s preferences. The method also includes setting a licensing fee schedule based on a set of licensing rules and paying the customer based on a set of payment rules.

Claims

1. A system for managing user personal information for access by subscribers, comprising:

at least one database containing;

(1) personal information provided by at least one user in response to an incentive offered to at least one potential user to contribute the personal information to the database; and

(2) user access preferences describing an extent to which subscribers may access each respective user'"'"'s personal information;

at least one administrative agent for establishing access by subscribers to the personal information contained in the database based on the user access preferences expressed by each user contributing personal information to the database; and

at least one licensing agent for setting at least one licensing fee schedule for each user contributing the personal information to the database, in response to the incentive based on a set of licensing rules, wherein the licensing fee schedule reflects licensing fees paid to the contributing users and wherein the licensing fee schedule is a declining fee schedule such that a licensing fee paid to a user declines until at least one of;

(a) the user'"'"'s personal information has been updated, or (b) the user'"'"'s personal information has been verified, and

a computer processor for performing the functions of at least one of the at least one administrative agent or the at least one licensing agent.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the licensing agent determines the amount of payment to be made to each user contributing personal information to the database.

3. The system of claim 2, further comprising at least one payment agent for paying to each user the determined amount of payment based on a set of payment rules.

4. The system of claim 2, wherein the set of payment rules includes a payment rule requiring the depositing of fees into an Internet deposit account.

5. The system of claim 2, wherein the set of payment rules includes a payment rule requiring the depositing of fees into a designated bank account.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the set of licensing rules includes setting the licensing fee schedule such that a contributing user receives a percentage of funds received from subscribers for licensing the personal information related to that user.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the database containing personal information includes financial information, demographic information, psychometric information, or marketing information.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the database containing personal information includes user information from at least one third-party source of the user'"'"'s personal information.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the declining fee schedule is reset when a user updates their personal information.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the declining fee schedule is reset when a user verifies their personal information.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein establishing access comprises restricting access by subscribers to the personal information contained in the database based on the preferences expressed by each user.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein establishing access comprises distributing the personal information contained in the database to the subscribers.

13. The system of claim 1, wherein the incentive offered to the at least one user is a discounted product or service.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the discounted product or service is at least one of a free credit report and a free web-based service.

15. The system of claim 1, wherein the incentive offered to the at least one user is different than the licensing fees paid to the contributing users.

16. The system of claim 1, further including:

means for determining a type of incentive to offer to each potential user.

17. The system of claim 1, further including:

means for creating an account for the at least one potential user upon receiving a response to the incentive offer from the at least one potential user.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the user'"'"'s response includes the user preferences for access to the user'"'"'s personal information.

19. The system of claim 17, wherein the user'"'"'s response includes authorization to access information about the at least one potential user from a third party source of user information.

20. The system of claim 17, wherein the user'"'"'s response includes the user preferences for receiving offers from a subscriber.

21. The system of claim 1, wherein the access preferences define the extent to which each subscriber has access to the user'"'"'s personal information stored in the database.

22. The system of claim 21, wherein the access preferences define a type of subscriber that may have access to the user'"'"'s personal information.

23. A computer-implemented method for sharing consumer information between users and subscribers, comprising:

offering an incentive to potential users to induce the potential users to contribute consumer information for a database of consumer information;

receiving access preferences from users contributing personal information in response to the incentive, wherein the access preferences describe an extent to which subscribers may access each respective user'"'"'s personal information;

creating the database of consumer information related to consumer information from the users who contributed consumer information in response to the incentive;

establishing access by subscribers to the consumer information contained in the database based on the access preferences of each of the users;

setting a licensing fee schedule for each of the users based on a set of licensing rules, wherein the licensing fee schedule is a declining fee schedule such that a licensing fee paid to a user declines until at least one of;

(a) the user'"'"'s consumer information has been updated, or (b) the user'"'"'s consumer information has been verified;

determining, by a computer, a payment for each of the users based on the licensing fee schedule and a set of payment rules; and

paying each of the users their respective payment determined by the computer.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the database containing consumer information includes financial information, demographic information, psychometric information, or marketing information.

25. The method of claim 23, wherein setting a licensing fee schedule for each user based on the set of licensing rules includes determining the amount of payment to be made to each user.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein paying each user based on the set of payment rules includes paying each user the determined amount of payment.

27. The method of claim 23, wherein setting the licensing fee schedule based on the set of licensing rules includes setting the licensing fee schedule such that a contributing user receives a percentage of funds received from subscribers for licensing the personal information related to that user.

28. The method of claim 23, wherein the database containing consumer information includes user information from at least one third-party source of user information.

29. The method of claim 23, further including resetting the declining fee schedule when a user updates their consumer information.

30. The method of claim 23, further including resetting the declining fee schedule when a user verifies their consumer information.

31. The method of claim 23, wherein the incentive offered to the potential users is a discounted product or service.

32. The method of claim 31, wherein the discounted product or service is at least one of a free credit report and a free web-based service.

33. The method of claim 23, wherein the incentive offered to the potential users is different than a licensing fee paid to each of the plurality of users.

34. The method of claim 23, further including:

determining a type of incentive to offer to each potential user.

35. The method of claim 23, further including:

creating an account for at least one of the potential users upon receiving a response to the incentive offer from the at least one of the potential users.

36. The method of claim 35, wherein the at least one of the potential users'"'"' response includes user preferences for access to the at least one of the potential users'"'"' personal information.

37. The method of claim 35, wherein the at least one of the potential users'"'"' response includes authorization to access information about the at least one of the potential users from a third party source of user information.

38. The method of claim 35, wherein the at least one of the potential users'"'"' response includes user preferences for receiving offers from a subscriber.

39. The method of claim 23, wherein the access preferences define the extent to which each subscriber has access to the user'"'"'s personal information stored in the database.

40. The method of claim 39, wherein the access preferences define a type of subscriber that may have access to the user'"'"'s personal information.

41. A computer-readable medium containing program instructions for execution by a computer, which, when executed by the computer cause the computer to implement a method for sharing consumer information between users and subscribers, comprising:

offering an incentive to potential users to induce the potential users to contribute consumer information for a database of consumer information;

creating the database of consumer information related to consumer information from a plurality of users who contributed consumer information in response to the incentive;

receiving access preferences from the plurality of users contributing personal information in response to the incentive, wherein the access preferences describe an extent to which subscribers may access each respective user'"'"'s personal information;

establishing access by subscribers to the consumer information contained in the database based on the access preferences of each of the plurality of users;

setting a licensing fee schedule for each of the plurality of users based on a set of licensing rules, wherein the licensing fee schedule is a declining fee schedule such that a licensing fee paid to a user declines until at least one of;

(a) the user'"'"'s consumer information has been updated, or (b) the user'"'"'s consumer information has been verified; and

paying each of the plurality of users based on the set of licensing rules and a set of payment rules.

42. The computer-readable medium of claim 41, wherein the database containing consumer information includes financial information, demographic information, psychometric information, or marketing information.

43. The computer-readable medium of claim 41, wherein setting a licensing fee schedule for each user based on the set of licensing rules includes determining the amount of payment to be made to each user.

44. The computer-readable medium of claim 43, wherein paying each user based on the set of payment rules includes paying each user the determined amount of payment.

45. The computer-readable medium of claim 41, wherein setting the licensing fee schedule based on the set of licensing rules includes setting the licensing fee schedule such that a user receives a percentage of funds received from subscribers for licensing the personal information related to that user.

46. The computer-readable medium of claim 41, wherein the database containing consumer information includes consumer information from at least one third-party source of user information.

47. The computer-readable medium of claim 41, further including resetting the declining fee schedule when a user updates their consumer information.

48. The computer-readable medium of claim 41, wherein the method further includes resetting the declining fee schedule when a user verifies their consumer information.

49. The computer-readable medium of claim 41, wherein the incentive offered to the potential users is a discounted product or service.

50. The computer-readable medium of claim 49, wherein the discounted product or service is at least one of a free credit report and a free web-based service.

51. The computer-readable medium of claim 41, wherein the incentive offered to the potential users is different than a licensing fee paid to each of the plurality of users.

52. The computer-readable medium of claim 41, further including:

determining a type of incentive to offer to each potential user.

53. The computer-readable medium of claim 41, further including:

creating an account for at least one of the potential users upon receiving a response to the incentive offer from the at least one of the potential users.

54. The computer-readable medium of claim 53, wherein the at least one of the potential users'"'"' response includes user preferences for access to the at least one of the potential users'"'"' personal information.

55. The computer-readable medium of claim 53, wherein the at least one of the potential users'"'"' response includes authorization to access information about the at least one of the potential users from a third party source of user information.

56. The computer-readable medium of claim 53, wherein the at least one of the potential users'"'"' response includes user preferences for receiving offers from a subscriber.

57. The computer-readable medium of claim 41, wherein the access preferences define the extent to which each subscriber has access to the user'"'"'s personal information stored in the database.

58. The computer-readable medium of claim 57, wherein the access preferences define a type of subscriber that may have access to the user'"'"'s personal information.

59. A system for sharing consumer information between users and subscribers, comprising:

means for offering an incentive to potential users to induce the potential users to contribute consumer information for a database of consumer information;

means for creating the database of consumer information related to consumer information from a plurality of users who contributed consumer information in response to the incentive;

means for receiving access preferences from the plurality of users contributing personal information in response to the incentive, wherein the access preferences describe an extent to which subscribers may access each respective user'"'"'s personal information;

means for establishing by subscribers access to the consumer information contained in the database based on the access preferences of each of the plurality of users;

means for setting a licensing fee schedule for each of the plurality of users based on a set of licensing rules, wherein the licensing fee schedule is a declining fee schedule such that a licensing fee paid to a user declines until at least one of;

(a) the user'"'"'s consumer information has been updated, or (b) the user'"'"'s consumer information has been verified; and

means for paying each of the plurality of users based on the set of licensing rules and a set of payment rules.

60. The system of claim 59, wherein the database containing consumer information includes financial information, demographic information, psychometric information, or marketing information.

61. The system of claim 59, wherein the means for setting a licensing fee schedule for each user based on the set of licensing rules includes:

means for determining the amount of payment to be made to each user.

62. The system of claim 61, wherein the means for paying each user based on the set of payment rules includes:

means for paying each user the determined amount of payment.

63. The system of claim 59, wherein the means for setting the licensing fee schedule based on the set of licensing rules includes:

means for setting the licensing fee schedule such that a contributing user receives a percentage of funds received from subscribers for licensing the personal information related to that user.

64. The system of claim 59, wherein the database containing consumer information includes consumer information from at least one third-party source of user information.

65. The system of claim 59, further including:

means for resetting the declining fee schedule when a user updates their consumer information.

66. The system of claim 59, further including:

means for resetting the declining fee schedule when a user verifies their consumer information.

67. The system of claim 59, wherein the incentive offered to the potential users is a discounted product or service.

68. The system of claim 67, wherein the discounted product or service is at least one of a free credit report and a free web-based service.

69. The system of claim 59, wherein the incentive offered to the potential users is different than a licensing fee paid to each of the plurality of users.

70. The system of claim 59, further including:

means for determining a type of incentive to offer to each potential user.

71. The system of claim 59, further including:

means for creating an account for at least one of the potential users upon receiving a response to the incentive offer from the at least one of the potential users.

72. The system of claim 71, wherein the at least one of the potential users'"'"' response includes user preferences for access to the at least one of the potential users'"'"' personal information.

73. The system of claim 71, wherein the at least one of the potential users'"'"' response includes authorization to access information about the at least one of the potential users from a third party source of user information.

74. The system of claim 71, wherein the at least one of the potential users'"'"' response includes user preferences for receiving offers from a subscriber.

75. The system of claim 59, wherein the access preferences define the extent to which each subscriber has access to the user'"'"'s personal information stored in the database.

76. The system of claim 75, wherein the access preferences define a type of subscriber that may have access to the user'"'"'s personal information.

77. A computer-implemented method for sharing consumer information between users and subscribers, comprising:

creating a database of consumer information related to a plurality of users;

receiving access preferences from each of the plurality of users who contributed information to database providing at least one of a type of subscribers and an extent of sharing of the consumer information with the subscribers;

establishing access by subscribers to the consumer information contained in the database based on the access preferences of each user;

setting a licensing fee schedule for each user based on a set of licensing rules, wherein the licensing fee schedule is a declining licensing fee schedule, and wherein the declining fee schedule is reset when at least one of;

(a) the user updates their consumer information, or (b) the user verifies their consumer information;

determining, by a computer, a payment for each user based on the licensing fee schedule and a set of payment rules, wherein one of the set of payment rules includes paying the user for purchasing a product or service from one of the subscribers; and

paying each user their respective payment determined by the computer.

78. The method of claim 77, wherein the licensing fee paid to a user is reset when the user updates the consumer information.

79. The method of claim 77, wherein the licensing fee paid to a user is reset when the user verifies the consumer information.

80. The method of claim 77, wherein setting the licensing fee schedule based on the set of licensing rules includes setting the licensing fee schedule such that a contributing user receives a percentage of funds received from subscribers for licensing the information related to that user.

81. The system of claim 80, wherein setting the licensing fee schedule such that a contributing user receives a percentage of funds includes setting the licensing fee schedule such that the contributing user receives a fixed percentage of the funds.

82. The method of claim 77, wherein the access preferences define the extent to which each subscriber has access to the user'"'"'s personal information stored in the database.

83. The method of claim 77, wherein the access preferences define a type of subscriber that may have access to the user'"'"'s personal information.

84. The method of claim 77, wherein the access preferences include authorization to access information about the user from a third party source of information.

85. A computer-implemented method for sharing consumer information between users and subscribers comprising:

creating a database of consumer information related to a plurality of users;

receiving access preferences from users contributing personal information, wherein the access preferences describe an extent to which subscribers may access each respective user'"'"'s personal information;

establishing access by subscribers to the consumer information contained in the database based on the access preferences of each user;

setting a licensing fee schedule for each user based on a set of licensing rules, wherein the licensing fee schedule is a declining licensing fee schedule, and wherein the declining fee schedule is reset when at least one of;

(a) the user updates their consumer information, or (b) the user verifies their consumer information;

determining, by a computer, a payment for each user based on the licensing fee schedule and a set of payment rules; and

paying each of the users their respective payment determined by the computer.

86. The method of claim 85, wherein the access preferences define the extent to which each subscriber has access to the user'"'"'s personal information stored in the database.

87. The method of claim 85, wherein the access preferences define a type of subscriber that may have access to the user'"'"'s personal information.

88. The method of claim 85, wherein the access preferences include authorization to access information about the user from a third party source of information.

89. A system for sharing consumer information between users and subscribers comprising:

a database of consumer information related to a plurality of users;

means for receiving access preferences from users contributing personal information, wherein the access preferences describe an extent to which subscribers may access each respective user'"'"'s personal information;

means for establishing access by subscribers to the consumer information contained in the database based on the access preferences of each user;

means for setting a licensing fee schedule for each user based on a set of licensing rules, wherein the licensing fee schedule is a declining licensing fee schedule, and wherein the declining fee schedule is reset when at least one of;

(a) the user updates their consumer information, or (b) the user verifies their consumer information; and

means for paying each user based on the licensing fee schedule and a set of payment rules.

90. A computer-implemented method for sharing consumer information between users and subscribers, comprising:

creating a database of information related to consumer information from a plurality of users;

receiving access preferences from users contributing personal information in response to the incentive, wherein the access preferences describe an extent to which subscribers may access each respective user'"'"'s personal information;

establishing access by subscribers to the consumer information contained in the database based on the access preferences of each of the plurality of users;

setting a licensing fee schedule for each of the plurality of users based on a set of licensing rules;

determining, by a computer, a payment for each of the plurality of users based on the licensing fee schedule and a set of payment rules, wherein the licensing fee schedule is a declining fee schedule such that a licensing fee paid to a user declines until at least one of;

(a) the user'"'"'s consumer information has been updated, or (b) the user'"'"'s consumer information has been verified; and

paying each of the users their respective payment determined by the computer.

91. The method of claim 90, wherein the licensing fee paid to a user is reset when the user updates the consumer information.

92. The method of claim 90, wherein the licensing fee paid to a user is reset when the user verifies the consumer information.

93. The method of claim 90, wherein the access preferences define the extent to which each subscriber has access to the user'"'"'s personal information stored in the database.

94. The method of claim 90, wherein the access preferences define a type of subscriber that may have access to the user'"'"'s personal information.

95. The method of claim 90, wherein the access preferences include authorization to access information about the user from a third party source of information.

96. A system for sharing consumer information between users and subscribers, comprising:

at least one database containing;

(1) consumer information provided by at least one user in response to an incentive offered to at least one potential user to contribute the consumer information to the database; and

(2) user access preferences describing an extent to which subscribers may access each respective user'"'"'s consumer information;

at least one administrative agent for establishing access by subscribers to the consumer information contained in the database based on the user access preferences expressed by each user contributing consumer information to the database;

at least one licensing agent for setting at least one licensing fee schedule for each user contributing the consumer information to the database, in response to the incentive based on a set of licensing rules, wherein the licensing fee schedule reflects licensing fees paid to the contributing users; and

at least one payment agent for paying each of the users based on the licensing fee schedule and a set of payment rules, wherein the licensing fee schedule is a declining fee schedule such that a licensing fee paid to a user declines until at least one of;

(a) the user'"'"'s consumer information has been updated, or (b) the user'"'"'s consumer information has been verified, and

a computer processor for performing the functions of at least one of the at least one administrative agent or the at least one licensing agent.

97. The system of claim 96, wherein the licensing fee paid to a user is reset when the user updates the consumer information.

98. The system of claim 96, wherein the licensing fee paid to a user is reset when the user verifies the consumer information.

99. A system for managing user personal information for access by subscribers, comprising:

at least one database containing;

(1) personal information provided by at least one user in response to an incentive offered to at least one potential user to contribute the personal information to the database; and

(2) user access preferences describing an extent to which subscribers may access each respective user'"'"'s personal information;

at least one administrative agent for establishing access by subscribers to the personal information contained in the database based on the user access preferences expressed by each user contributing personal information to the database; and

at least one licensing agent for setting at least one licensing fee schedule for each user contributing the personal information to the database, in response to the incentive based on a set of licensing rules, wherein the licensing fee schedule reflects licensing fees paid to the contributing users, and wherein the licensing fee schedule is a declining fee schedule such that a licensing fee paid to a user declines until at least at least one of;

(a) the user'"'"'s personal information has been updated, or (b) the user'"'"'s personal information has been verified; and

a computer processor for performing the functions of at least one of the at least one administrative agent or the at least one licensing agent;

wherein at least one user'"'"'s response includes authorization to access information about the at least one potential user from a third party source of user information.

100. A computer-implemented method for sharing consumer information between users and subscribers, comprising:

offering an incentive to potential users to induce the potential users to contribute consumer information for a database of consumer information;

receiving access preferences from users contributing personal information in response to the incentive, wherein the access preferences describe an extent to which subscribers may access each respective user'"'"'s personal information, and wherein at least one of the potential users'"'"' response includes authorization to access information about the at least one of the potential users from a third party source of user information;

creating the database of consumer information related to consumer information from the users who contributed consumer information in response to the incentive;

establishing access by subscribers to the consumer information contained in the database based on the access preferences of each of the users;

setting a licensing fee schedule for each of the users based on a set of licensing rules, wherein the licensing fee schedule is a declining fee schedule such that a licensing fee paid to a user declines until at least at least one of;

(a) the user'"'"'s consumer information has been updated, or (b) the user'"'"'s consumer information has been verified;

determining, by a computer, a payment for each of the users based on the licensing fee schedule and a set of payment rules; and

paying each of the users their respective payment determined by the computer.

101. A computer-readable medium containing program instructions for execution by a computer, which, when executed by the computer cause the computer to implement a method for sharing consumer information between users and subscribers, comprising:

offering an incentive to potential users to induce the potential users to contribute consumer information for a database of consumer information;

creating the database of consumer information related to consumer information from a plurality of users who contributed consumer information in response to the incentive;

receiving access preferences from the plurality of users contributing personal information in response to the incentive, wherein the access preferences describe an extent to which subscribers may access each respective user'"'"'s personal information, and wherein at least one of the potential users'"'"' response includes authorization to access information about the at least one of the potential users from a third party source of user information;

establishing access by subscribers to the consumer information contained in the database based on the access preferences of each of the plurality of users;

setting a licensing fee schedule for each of the plurality of users based on a set of licensing rules, wherein the licensing fee schedule is a declining fee schedule such that a licensing fee paid to a user declines until at least at least one of;

(a) the user'"'"'s consumer information has been updated, or (b) the user'"'"'s consumer information has been verified; and

paying each of the plurality of users based on the set of licensing rules and a set of payment rules.

102. A system for sharing consumer information between users and subscribers, comprising:

means for offering an incentive to potential users to induce the potential users to contribute consumer information for a database of consumer information;

means for creating the database of consumer information related to consumer information from a plurality of users who contributed consumer information in response to the incentive;

means for receiving access preferences from the plurality of users contributing personal information in response to the incentive, wherein the access preferences describe an extent to which subscribers may access each respective user'"'"'s personal information, and wherein at least one of the potential users'"'"' response includes authorization to access information about the at least one of the potential users from a third party source of user information;

means for establishing by subscribers access to the consumer information contained in the database based on the access preferences of each of the plurality of users;

means for setting a licensing fee schedule for each of the plurality of users based on a set of licensing rules, wherein the licensing fee schedule is a declining fee schedule such that a licensing fee paid to a user declines until at least at least one of;

(a) the user'"'"'s consumer information has been updated, or (b) the user'"'"'s consumer information has been verified; and

means for paying each of the plurality of users based on the set of licensing rules and a set of payment rules.