Method and system for evaluating trustworthiness
First Claim
1. A system for evaluating the trustworthiness of a target person by a user, the system comprisinga database comprising a computer-readable representation of a network, said network representation comprising representations of a plurality of nodes and representations of a plurality of directed links, and representations of the connections of said nodes by said links,wherein each node in said plurality of nodes is associated with a person and each directed link in said plurality of links connects from a first node representing a first person to a second node representing a second person, said directed link being associated with a trusting relationship from said first person associated with said first node to said second person associated with said second node;
- and wherein said user is associated with at least one said first node in said plurality of nodes and said persons and their associations with nodes are represented in said database,wherein the existence of each link in the network is concealed from all persons except the person associated with the first node connected to that link; and
a programmable processor operable to implement a computer program product, wherein said processer providesaccess to said database and said representation of said network, and identification in said network of a continuous path from said user to said target person, wherein said continuous path begins at a node in said network that is associated with said user and ends at a node in said network that is associated with said target person, said continuous path traversing links from their first node to their second node, said continuous path termed a trust path,thereby providing an indication of the trustworthiness of said target person.
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Abstract
Disclosed are a method and system for evaluating the trustworthiness of a target person by a user. The method and system include providing a network comprising a plurality of nodes connected by a plurality of directed links, wherein each node in the plurality of nodes is associated with a person and each link in the plurality of links connects from a first node to a second node. The link is associated with a trusting relationship from a first person associated with the first node to a second person associated with the second node, and wherein the user is associated with at least one node in the plurality of nodes. A continuous path from the user to the target person is identified, wherein the continuous path begins at a node in the network that is associated with the user and ends at a node in the network that is associated with the target person, the continuous path traversing links from their first node to their second node, the continuous path termed a trust path, thereby providing an indication of the trustworthiness of the target person.
26 Citations
41 Claims
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1. A system for evaluating the trustworthiness of a target person by a user, the system comprising
a database comprising a computer-readable representation of a network, said network representation comprising representations of a plurality of nodes and representations of a plurality of directed links, and representations of the connections of said nodes by said links, wherein each node in said plurality of nodes is associated with a person and each directed link in said plurality of links connects from a first node representing a first person to a second node representing a second person, said directed link being associated with a trusting relationship from said first person associated with said first node to said second person associated with said second node; - and wherein said user is associated with at least one said first node in said plurality of nodes and said persons and their associations with nodes are represented in said database,
wherein the existence of each link in the network is concealed from all persons except the person associated with the first node connected to that link; and a programmable processor operable to implement a computer program product, wherein said processer provides access to said database and said representation of said network, and identification in said network of a continuous path from said user to said target person, wherein said continuous path begins at a node in said network that is associated with said user and ends at a node in said network that is associated with said target person, said continuous path traversing links from their first node to their second node, said continuous path termed a trust path, thereby providing an indication of the trustworthiness of said target person. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
- and wherein said user is associated with at least one said first node in said plurality of nodes and said persons and their associations with nodes are represented in said database,
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31. A system of expanding a representation of a trustworthiness network, the system comprising
a database comprising a computer-readable representation of a network, said network representation comprising representations of a plurality of nodes and representations of a plurality of directed links, and representations of the connections of said nodes by said links, wherein each node in said plurality of nodes is associated with a person and each directed link in said plurality of links connects from a first node representing a first person to a second node representing a second person, said link being associated with a trusting relationship from said first person associated with said first node to said second person associated with said second node; - and wherein said user is associated with at least one said first node in said plurality of nodes and said persons and their associations with nodes are represented in said database,
wherein the existence of each link in the trustworthiness network is concealed from all persons except the person associated with the first node connected to that link; a programmable processor operable to implement a computer program product, wherein said processer obtains input from a person not associated with an existing node in said network providing at least one alias and other information necessary for security purposes or for analytical purposes or for other purposes creates a representation of a first node associated with said person in said network representation; obtains from a person associated with an existing first node on said network trustworthiness information for a person associated with an existing second node on said network and other information necessary for security purposes or for analytical purposes or for other purposes; and creates a representation a of link between said existing first node associated with said first person and said existing second node associated with said second person, in said network representation, thereby expanding said trust network. - View Dependent Claims (32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41)
- and wherein said user is associated with at least one said first node in said plurality of nodes and said persons and their associations with nodes are represented in said database,
Specification