Location based content filtering and dynamic policy

• US 8,789,133 B2
• Filed: 04/20/2011
• Issued: 07/22/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 04/20/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Inventors: Gatzke, Alan Darryl, Kuhlke, Matthew Robert
• Primary Examiner(s): Zand, Kambiz
• Assistant Examiner(s): Faramarzi, Gita
• Application Number:
  US13/090,939
• Publication Number:
  US 20120272287A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,189 Days
• Field of Search: 726/1
• US Class Current: 726/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/102 Entity profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/023 using mutual or relative location information between multiple location based services [LBS] targets or of distance thresholds
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/21 for social networking applications

Abstract

In one implementation, a social media device receives social interaction data including an identity of neighboring mobile devices that have been within a physical proximity of an object mobile device. The social media device hosts a social network service and provides content to a user associated with the object mobile device according to the identity of more neighboring mobile devices. The user of the object mobile device may opt to receive content only from those users that are identified in the social interaction data. The user of the object mobile device may opt to permit only those users that are identified in the social interaction data to receive content generated by the user of the object mobile device. The user may opt to alter the status policy seen by other users so that only users that are identified in the social interaction data see the user as available or online.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

storing a list of social media contacts of a user of an object mobile device;

receiving, with a controller, social interaction data including one or more identities of one or more neighboring mobile devices determined to have been within an area defined by a predetermined distance from the object mobile device;

matching the one or more identities of the one or more neighboring mobile devices to the list of social media contacts of the user of the object mobile device;

in response to the matching, generating a social media news feed from social media contacts in the list that comprises news feed content either from only one or more first social media contacts in the list matched to the one or more identities of the one or more neighboring mobile devices, or from only one or more second social media contacts in the list not matched to the one or more identities of the one or more neighboring mobile devices; and

transmitting the social media news feed to a computing device accessed by the user of the object mobile device for display of the social media news feed.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the social interaction data is received from the object mobile device and the social interaction data is indicative of being collected by the object mobile device in response to a user input.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the social interaction data is received from the object mobile device and the social interaction data is indicative of being collected by the object mobile device dynamically based on signals received from the one or more neighboring mobile devices.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the signals are generated using radio frequency identification, ad-hoc network, Wi-Fi, or infrared.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the social interaction data includes an amount of time each of the one or more neighboring devices is within the area defined by the predetermined distance from the object mobile device.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the social interaction data is received at the controller from a memory, the method further comprising:

receiving, at a communication interface, location data from the object mobile device and the one or more neighboring devices;

calculating the social interaction data from the location data; and

storing the social interaction data in the memory.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

in response to the matching, applying a policy to social media content provided by the user of the object mobile device that limits access to the social media content to only the one or more first social media contacts in the list matched to the one or more identities of the one or more neighboring mobile devices.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the computing device comprises a first computing device, the method further comprising:

in response to the matching;

communicating an available status of the user of the object mobile device to one or more second computing devices accessed by the one or more first social media contacts in the list matched to the one or more identities of the one or more neighboring devices; and

communicating an unavailable status of the user of the object mobile device to one or more third computing devices accessed by the one or more second social media contacts in the list not matched to the one or more identities of the one or more neighboring devices.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein the predetermined distance is based on one or more signal strengths of one or more signals communicated between the one or more neighboring mobile devices and the object mobile device.

9. An apparatus comprising:

a memory storing social media content for a social media display viewed by a user of an object mobile device; and

a controller configured to;

receive social interaction data including one or more identities of one or more neighboring mobile devices determined to have been within an area defined by a predetermined distance from the object mobile device;

identify one or more first social media contacts in a contact list of the user as being associated with the one or more identities of the one or more neighboring mobile devices and one or more second social media contacts in the contact list as not being associated with the one or more identities of the one or more neighboring mobile devices; and

in response to the identification, filter the social media content to generate a social media news feed from social media contacts in the contact list, wherein the social media news feed comprises news feed content either from only the one or more first social media contacts identified as being associated with the one or more identities of the one or more neighboring mobile devices, or from only one or more second social media contacts in the contact list identified as not being associated with the one or more identities of the one or more neighboring mobile devices.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the social interaction data is received from the object mobile device, the social interaction data indicative of being collected by the object mobile device in response to a user input.

11. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the social interaction data received is indicative of being collected dynamically by the object mobile device based on signals received from the one or more neighboring mobile devices.

12. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the controller is further configured to calculate the social interaction data from location data received from the object mobile device and the one or more neighboring devices and send the social interaction data to the memory.

13. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the social media content comprises a first social media content, and wherein the controller is configured to apply a policy to a second social media content that is provided by the user of the object mobile device, wherein the policy limits access to the second social media content to the one or more first social media contacts in the contact list identified as being associated with the one or more identities of the one or more neighboring mobile devices.

14. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the controller is further configured to:

communicate an available status of the user of the object mobile device to one or more first computing devices accessed by the one or more first social media contacts associated with the one or more identities of the one or more neighboring mobile devices; and

communicate an unavailable status of the user of the mobile device to one or more second computing devices accessed by the one or more second social media contacts identified as not being associated with the one or more identities of the one or more neighboring mobile devices.

15. A non-transitory computer readable medium encoded with software comprising computer executable instructions and when the software is executed operable to:

receive location data from a plurality of mobile devices comprising an object mobile device and one or more neighboring mobile devices;

calculate social interaction data for the plurality of mobile devices that identifies one or more neighboring mobile devices determined to have been within a predetermined distance of the object mobile device for a predetermined period of time;

match one or more first contacts in a social media contact list of a user of the object mobile device to the one or more neighboring mobile devices identified by the calculated social interaction data; and

provide content to a computing device accessed by the user that limits a news feed from contacts in the social media contact list of the user to news feed content either from only the one or more first social media contacts matched to the one or more neighboring mobile devices, or from only one or more second social media contacts in the social media contact list not matched to the one or more neighboring mobile devices.

16. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15, wherein the content comprises first content, and wherein the software, when executed, is further operable to:

restrict access to second content provided by the user of the object mobile device to only the first social media contacts matched to the one or more neighboring mobile devices that have been within the predetermined distance for the predetermined period of time.

17. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15, wherein the computing device comprises a first computing device, and wherein the software, when executed, is further operable to:

communicate an available status of the user of the object mobile device to the one or more first social media contacts matched to the one or more neighboring mobile devices; and

communicate an unavailable status of the user of the object mobile device to the one or more second social media contacts not matched to the one or more neighboring mobile devices.