Social networking system capable of providing location-based notifications

• US 8,762,471 B2
• Filed: 01/23/2013
• Issued: 06/24/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 11/02/1997
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Inventors: Robertson, Brian D., Adams, Warren William
• Primary Examiner(s): Louie, Oscar
• Assistant Examiner(s): Liu, Lin
• Application Number:
  US13/748,181
• Publication Number:
  US 20130166661A1
• Time in Patent Office: 517 Days
• Field of Search: 709/204, 709/205, 709/206
• US Class Current: 709/206
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/52 for supporting social networking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0227 Filtering policies mail message filtering H04L51/212
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0263 Rule management
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/10 for controlling access to devices or network resources
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/403 Arrangements for multi-party communication, e.g. for conferences data switching systems for conference H04L12/18; arrangements for connecting several subscribers to a common circuit, i.e. affording conference facilities H04M3/56; television conferencing systems H04N7/15

Abstract

A networked computer system provides various services for assisting users in locating, and establishing contact relationships with, other users. For example, in one embodiment, users can identify other users based on their affiliations with particular schools or other organizations. The system also provides a mechanism for a user to selectively establish contact relationships or connections with other users, and to grant permissions for such other users to view personal information of the user. The system may also be capable of detecting, and notifying a user of, an event in which the user and a contact of the user are concurrently in a common location.

Claims

1. A method of facilitating meetings between social networking contacts, the method comprising:

providing a computer-based service that enables users to selectively establish contact relationships with other users such that each user of the service can have one or more contacts;

storing relationship data specifying contact relationships established between users of the service, said relationship data specifying a contact relationship established between a particular first user and a particular second user;

receiving, in association with said contact relationship between the first and second users, a submission of a grant of permission by the second user for the first user to be notified of crossing paths events in which the first and second users are concurrently in a common location, said grant of permission by the second user being specific to the first user, said permission granted by the second user via a user interface that includes functionality for the second user to separately specify, for each of a plurality of contacts of the second user, whether the respective contact is permitted to be notified of crossing paths events in which the second user and the respective contact are concurrently in a common location;

storing data regarding locations of particular users of the service;

detecting, based on the relationship data in combination with the data regarding the locations of users, a crossing paths event in which the first user and the second user are concurrently in a common location, wherein detecting the crossing paths event comprises using said grant of permission to initiate an automated comparison of location data of the first and second users; and

sending a notification of the crossing paths event to at least the first user;

said method performed in its entirety by a networked computer system.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein detecting the crossing paths event comprises comparing a latitude and longitude of a first location associated with the first user to a latitude and longitude of a second location associated with the second user.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising, by said networked computer system:

providing the second user an option, in connection with said contact relationship, to grant permission, separately for each of multiple types of personal data of the second user, for the first user to access the respective type of personal data;

storing permission information representing selections made by the second user in response to said option, said permission information being specific to said contact relationship between the first and second users, said permission information separately specifying, for each of the multiple types of personal data, whether the first user has permission to access the respective type of personal data of the second user; and

providing the first user restricted access, via a user interface of the service, to at least some of the personal data of the second user in accordance with said permission information.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the data regarding locations comprises travel event data.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the crossing paths event is an event in which the first and second users travel to said common location.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the crossing paths event is detected before the first and second users are concurrently in said common location.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the method is performed under control of program code executed by the networked computer system.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the method comprises establishing the contact relationship between the first user and the second user by a process that comprises, by said computer system:

receiving a request from the first user to establish a contact relationship with the second user;

sending to the second user a notification of the request; and

receiving a reciprocating request from the second user to establish said contact relationship.

9. A networked computing system, comprising:

a server that provides network-based user access to a service interface that provides functionality for users to register with a service and to selectively establish contact relationships with other users of the service, said service interface additionally including functionality for a user to separately specify, for each of a plurality of contacts of the user, on a contact-by-contact basis, whether the respective contact is permitted to be notified of events in which the user and the respective contact are concurrently in a common location, said server comprising a processor and physical memory device;

a computer data repository that stores relationship data that specifies contact relationships established between users of the service, said relationship data comprising, for a contact relationship established between a first user and a second user, permission data specifying that the second user has granted permission via the service interface for the first user to be notified of events in which the first and second users are concurrently in a common location; and

a notification service configured to use the relationship data, in combination with location data associated with users of the service, to detect an event in which the first user and second user are concurrently in a common location, said notification service additionally configured to notify at least the first user of said event in accordance with the permission data.

10. The networked computing system of claim 9, wherein the notification service is configured to detect said event by comparing a latitude and longitude of a first location associated with the first user to a latitude and longitude of a second location associated with the second user.

11. The networked computing system of claim 9, wherein the location data comprises travel event data.

12. The networked computing system of claim 9, wherein the service interface additionally includes functionality for the second user to separately specify, for each of a plurality of types of personal information of the second user stored by the service, whether the first user is permitted to access the respective type of personal information.

13. The networked computing system of claim 9, wherein the notification service is configured to detect the event before the users are concurrently in said common location.

14. Non-transitory computer storage having stored thereon executable program instructions that direct a computer system to perform a process that comprises:

providing a user interface that includes functionality for users of a service to selectively establish contact relationships with other users of the service such that each user can have multiple contacts, said user interface additionally providing functionality for a user to separately specify, for each of a plurality of contacts of the user, whether each such contact has permission to be notified of events in which the user and the respective contact are concurrently in a common location;

storing relationship data specifying the contact relationships established between users of the service, said relationship data specifying a contact relationship between a first user and a second user, and specifying that the second user has granted permission via the user interface for the first user to be notified of events in which the first and second users are concurrently in a common location, said grant of permission being specific to the first user;

storing location data associated with each of a plurality of users of the service;

detecting, based on the location data associated with the first and second users, an event in which respective locations of the first and second users coincide; and

sending a notification of the event to at least the first user based on the granted permission.

15. The non-transitory computer storage of claim 14, wherein detecting said event comprises using the grant of permission to initiate an automated comparison of location data of the first and second users.

16. The non-transitory computer storage of claim 14, wherein the location data comprises travel event data.

17. The non-transitory computer storage of claim 14, wherein the event is based on a determination that the first and second users are scheduled to travel to said common location.

18. The non-transitory computer storage of claim 14, wherein the process comprises establishing the relationship between the first user and the second user by a process that comprises:

receiving a request from the first user to link to the second user;

sending to the second user a notification of the request; and

receiving a reciprocating request from the second user to link to the first user.

19. The non-transitory computer storage of claim 14, wherein detecting the event comprises comparing a latitude and longitude of a first location associated with the first user to a latitude and longitude of a second location associated with the second user.

20. The non-transitory computer storage of claim 14, wherein the process further comprises:

providing the second user an option, in connection with said contact relationship, to grant permission, separately for each of multiple types of personal data of the second user, for the first user to access the respective type of personal data;

storing permission information representing selections made by the second user in response to said option, said permission information being specific to said contact relationship between the first and second users, said permission information separately specifying, for each of the multiple types of personal data, whether the first user has permission to access the respective type of personal data of the second user; and

providing the first user restricted access to at least some of the personal data of the second user in accordance with said permission information.