System and method for providing privacy and limited exposure services for location based services

• US 8,332,535 B2
• Filed: 07/09/2008
• Issued: 12/11/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 07/09/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: NNG LLC
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Dingler, John R., Olds, David C., Ramanathan, Sri, Terry, Matthew A., Trevathan, Matthew B.
• Primary Examiner(s): Moore, Ian N
• Assistant Examiner(s): Huynh, Dung B
• Application Number:
  US12/170,045
• Publication Number:
  US 20100009657A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,616 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 709/238
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/02 Protecting privacy or anonymity, e.g. protecting personally identifiable information [PII]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/024 Guidance services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/20 Services signaling; Auxiliary data signalling, i.e. transmitting data via a non-traffic channel

Abstract

A system and method is provided for providing privacy and limited exposure services for location based services. The system includes at least one module configured to provide fictitious location or route information of a mobile user to selected users or group of users based on a mobile user provided profile.

Claims

1. A method for deploying a location based service, comprising:

providing a computer infrastructure being operable to;

determine to send a fictitious route of travel information of a mobile user to selected users or a group of users;

query the mobile user for a start address and an end address, of the fictitious route of travel information of the mobile user, at a same time after the determining to send the fictitious route of travel information;

at least provide the fictitious route of travel information of the mobile user to the selected users or the group of users based on a mobile user provided profile, the fictitious route of travel information being a route chosen from a current location of the mobile user or a predefined location to a different location;

set a mobile user selected time window for the selected users or the group of users to receive the fictitious route of travel information;

check a scheduler to determine if a service should be instituted for providing the fictitious route of travel information;

determine whether the fictitious route of travel information is to be cloaked;

when the fictitious route of travel information is to be cloaked, retrieve information of the fictitious route of travel information for a scheduled time;

determine the fictitious route of travel information from the start address to the end address;

query at least one of traffic patterns from traffic services and weather from weather services; and

alter the fictitious route of travel information with at least one of the queried traffic patterns and the queried weather patterns.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the computer infrastructure is at least one of supported, deployed, maintained, and created by a service provider.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein a fictitious location information or the fictitious route of travel information of a mobile user and the selected users or group of users are provided to an LBS.

4. A system comprising:

at least one computing device configured to;

determine to send a fictitious route of travel information of a mobile user to selected users or a group of users;

query the mobile user for a start address and an end address, of the fictitious route of travel information, at the same time after the determining to send the fictitious route of travel information;

provide the fictitious route of travel information of the mobile user to the selected users or the group of users based on a mobile user provided profile, wherein the fictitious route of travel information is a route chosen from a current location of the mobile user or a predefined location to a different location;

set a mobile user selected time window for the selected users or the group of users to receive the fictitious route of travel information;

check a scheduler to determine if a service should be instituted for providing the fictitious route of travel information;

determine whether the fictitious route of travel information is to be cloaked;

when the fictitious route of travel information is to be cloaked, retrieve information of the fictitious route of travel information for a scheduled time;

determine the fictitious route of travel information from the start address to the end address;

query at least one of traffic patterns from traffic services and weather from weather services; and

alter the fictitious route of travel information with at least one of the queried traffic patterns and the queried weather patterns.

5. A method implemented in a computer infrastructure, comprising:

receiving a request by one or more users to obtain location information of a mobile device;

determining to send a fictitious route of travel information of a user of the mobile device to the requesting one or more users;

querying the user of the mobile device for a start address and an end address, of the fictitious route of travel information, at the same time after the determining to send the fictitious route of travel information;

sending the fictitious route of travel information to the requesting one or more users based on a profile associated with the mobile device or the user of the mobile device, wherein the fictitious route of travel information is a route chosen from a current location of the mobile device or a predefined location to a different location;

setting a mobile user selected time window for the requesting one or more users to receive the fictitious route of travel information;

checking a scheduler to determine if a service should be instituted for providing the fictitious route of travel information;

determining whether the fictitious route of travel information is to be cloaked;

when the fictitious route of travel information is to be cloaked, retrieving information of the fictitious route of travel information for a scheduled time;

determining the fictitious route of travel information from the start address to the end address;

querying at least one of traffic patterns from traffic services and weather from weather services; and

altering the fictitious route of travel information with at least one of the queried traffic patterns and the queried weather patterns.

6. A computer program product comprising a tangible computer usable storage memory having readable program code tangibly embodied in the storage memory, the computer program product includes at least one component operable to:

store one or more users or groups of users in which to provide a fictitious route of travel information of a mobile user;

determine to send the fictitious route of travel information of the mobile user to a requesting third party of the one or more users or the groups of users;

query the mobile user for the start address and the end address, of the fictitious route of travel information, at the same time after the determining to send the fictitious route of travel information;

store the fictitious route of travel information;

provide the fictitious route of travel information during a mobile user selected time window to the requesting third party of the one or more users or the groups of users, the fictitious route of travel information being a route chosen from a current location of the mobile user or a predefined location to a different location;

set the mobile user selected time window for the requesting third party to receive the fictitious route of travel information;

check a scheduler to determine if a service should be instituted for providing the fictitious route of travel information;

determine whether the fictitious route of travel information is to be cloaked;

when the fictitious route of travel information is to be cloaked, retrieve information of the fictitious route of travel information for a scheduled time;

determine the fictitious route of travel information from the start address to the end address;

query at least one of traffic patterns from traffic services and weather from weather services; and

alter the fictitious route of travel information with at least one of the queried traffic patterns and the queried weather patterns.