Obfuscating identity of a source entity affiliated with a communique in accordance with conditional directive provided by a receiving entity

• US 8,850,044 B2
• Filed: 05/28/2010
• Issued: 09/30/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 08/14/2008
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: The Invention Science Fund I, L.L.C. (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: The Invention Science Fund I, L.L.C. (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Inventors: Cohen, Alexander J., Jung, Edward K. Y., Levien, Royce A., Lord, Robert W., Malamud, Mark A., Mangione-Smith, William H., Rinaldo, John D. Jr., Tegreene, Clarence T.
• Primary Examiner(s): Whipple, Brian P
• Assistant Examiner(s): EDWARDS, JAMES A
• Application Number:
  US12/802,136
• Publication Number:
  US 20110004939A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,586 Days
• Field of Search: 709/229
• US Class Current: 709/229
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/00 Security arrangements for protecting computers, components thereof, programs or data against unauthorised activity
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/6254 by anonymising data, e.g. decorrelating personal data from the owner's identification
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0407 wherein the identity of one or more communicating identities is hidden cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for anonymous credentials or for identity based cryptographic systems H04L9/00

Abstract

A computationally implemented method includes, but is not limited to: receiving a first communiqué that is affiliated with a source entity and that is directed to a receiving entity; and transmitting to the receiving entity, in lieu of the first communiqué, a second communiqué that is provided in accordance with one or more conditional directives to conditionally obfuscate identity of the source entity, the one or more conditional directives provided by the receiving entity. In addition to the foregoing, other method aspects are described in the claims, drawings, and text forming a part of the present disclosure.

Claims

1. A system, comprising:

one or more processing devices;

a communiqué

receiving module configured to receive a first communiqué

affiliated with a source entity and directed to a receiving entity; and

a communiqué

transmitting module configured to transmit a second communiqué

to the receiving entity, the communiqué

transmitting module configured to transmit the second communiqué

to the receiving entity in lieu of the first communiqué

in accordance with one or more conditional directives provided by the receiving entity to conditionally obfuscate one or more identities of the source entity, the communiqué

transmitting module including at least;

a receiving entity environmental condition determining module configured to transmit the second communiqué

in response to determining a presence or an absence of a particular third party in a vicinity of the receiving entity, the receiving entity environmental condition determining module being configured to determine the presence or the absence of the particular third party based at least in part on received receiving entity data obtained from one or more social media;

a conditional directive acquisition module configured to receive from the receiving entity the one or more conditional directives; and

wherein at least one of the communiqué

receiving module or the communiqué

transmitting module is at least partly implemented with the one or more processing devices.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein said communiqué

receiving module comprises;

a communiqué

receiving module configured to receive the first communiqué

at one or more network nodes.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein said communiqué

receiving module comprises;

a communiqué

receiving module configured to receive the first communiqué

at the one or more network nodes including at one or more servers.

4. The system of claim 2, wherein said communiqué

receiving module comprises;

a communiqué

receiving module configured to receive the first communiqué

at the one or more network nodes including receiving the first communiqué

at least at one of a telephone switch or a telephone exchange.

5. The system of claim 2, wherein said communiqué

receiving module comprises;

a communiqué

receiving module configured to receive the first communiqué

at the one or more network nodes including receiving the first communiqué

at least at one router.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein said communiqué

transmitting module comprises;

a communiqué

transmitting module configured to transmit the second communiqué

via one or more communication networks.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein said communiqué

transmitting module comprises;

a communiqué

transmitting module including a communiqué

modifying module configured to transmit to the receiving entity, in lieu of the first communiqué

, the second communiqué

that is provided based, at least in part, on the received first communiqué and

in accordance with the one or more conditional directives, the second communiqué

being provided by the communiqué

modifying module modifying the first communiqué

in accordance with the one or more conditional directives.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein said communiqué

modifying module comprises;

a communiqué

modifying module including a representation replacing module configured to modify the first communiqué

in accordance with the one or more conditional directives by having the representation replacing module replacing one or more representations of the source entity included in the first communiqué

with one or more locum tenentes.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein said representation replacing module comprises:

a representation replacing module configured to replace one or more representations of the source entity included in the first communiqué

in header data form with the one or more locum tenentes.

10. The system of claim 8, wherein said representation replacing module comprises:

a representation replacing module configured to replace one or more representations of the source entity included in the first communiqué

in message content data form with the one or more locum tenentes.

11. The system of claim 8, wherein said representation replacing module comprises:

a representation replacing module configured to replace one or more representations of the source entity included in the first communiqué

in metadata form with the one or more locum tenentes.

12. The system of claim 8, wherein said representation replacing module comprises:

a name replacing module configured to replace one or more names associated with the source entity that are included in the first communiqué

with one or more substitutes.

13. The system of claim 8, wherein said representation replacing module comprises:

a telephone number replacing module configured to replace one or more telephone numbers associated with the source entity that are included in the first communiqué

with one or more substitutes.

14. The system of claim 8, wherein said representation replacing module comprises:

an address replacing module configured to replace one or more addresses associated with the source entity that are included in the first communiqué

with one or more substitutes.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein said address replacing module comprises:

an address replacing module configured to replace one or more of an email address, an Internet Protocol (IP) address, or a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) associated with the source entity that are included in the first communiqué

with one or more substitutes.

16. The system of claim 8, wherein said representation replacing module comprises:

an image replacing module configured to replace one or more images associated with the source entity that are included in the first communiqué

with one or more substitutes.

17. The system of claim 8, wherein said representation replacing module comprises:

a voice signature replacing module configured to replace one or more voice signatures associated with the source entity that are included in the first communiqué

with one or more substitutes.

18. The system of claim 8, wherein said representation replacing module comprises:

a representation replacing module configured to replace the one or more representations of the source entity included in the first communiqué

with modified versions of the one or more representations.

19. The system of claim 8, wherein said representation replacing module comprises:

a representation replacing module configured to replace the one or more representations of the source entity included in the first communiqué

with one or more direct substitutes.

20. The system of claim 8, wherein said representation replacing module comprises:

a representation replacing module configured to replace the one or more representations of the source entity included in the first communiqué

with one or more indirect substitutes.

21. The system of claim 1, wherein said communiqué

transmitting module comprises;

a communiqué

transmitting module including a substitute communiqué

providing module configured to transmit to the receiving entity, in lieu of the first communiqué

, the second communiqué

that is provided in accordance with the one or more conditional directives, the second communiqué

being unrelated to the first communiqué and

being a substitute communiqué

provided by the substitute communiqué

providing module.

22. The system of claim 21, wherein said substitute communiqué

providing module comprises;

a previously received communiqué

providing module configured to provide a second communiqué

that is a copy of a communiqué

that was previously received by the receiving entity.

23. The system of claim 22, wherein said previously received communiqué

providing module comprises;

a previously received communiqué

providing module configured to provide a second communiqué

that is a copy of a communiqué

that was most recently received by the receiving entity.

24. The system of claim 21, wherein said substitute communiqué

providing module comprises;

a substitute communiqué

providing module configured to provide the second communiqué

in accordance with the one or more conditional directives, the second communiqué

being a communiqué

that was previously provided by the receiving entity.

25. The system of claim 21, wherein said substitute communiqué

providing module comprises;

a substitute communiqué

providing module configured to provide the second communiqué

that in accordance with the one or more conditional directives, the second communiqué

being a direct substitute communiqué

for the first communiqué

.

26. The system of claim 21, wherein said substitute communiqué

providing module comprises;

a substitute communiqué

providing module configured to provide the second communiqué

in accordance with the one or more conditional directives, the second communiqué

being an indirect substitute communiqué

for the first communiqué

.

27. The system of claim 26, wherein said substitute communiqué

providing module comprises;

a substitute communiqué

providing module configured to provide the second communiqué

in accordance with the one or more conditional directives, the first communiqué

being a first type of communiqué and

the second communiqué

being a second type of communiqué

.

28. The system of claim 1, wherein said communiqué

transmitting module comprises;

a communiqué

transmitting module configured to transmit the second communiqué

as a function of location of the receiving entity.

29. The system of claim 28, wherein said communiqué

transmitting module comprises;

a communiqué

transmitting module including a receiving entity location determining module configured to transmit the second communiqué

in response to the receiving entity location determining module determining that the receiving entity is at one or more specified locations.

30. The system of claim 1, wherein said communiqué

transmitting module comprises;

a communiqué

transmitting module configured to transmit the second communiqué

as a function of time with respect to the receiving entity.

31. The system of claim 30, wherein said communiqué

transmitting module comprises;

a communiqué

transmitting module including a receiving entity time determining module configured to transmit the second communiqué

only at one or more specified times of a day with respect to the receiving entity as determined by the receiving entity time determining module.

32. The system of claim 30, wherein said communiqué

transmitting module comprises;

a communiqué

transmitting module including a receiving entity time determining module configured to transmit the second communiqué

only at one or more specified times of a calendar year with respect to the receiving entity as determined by the receiving entity time determining module.

33. The system of claim 30, wherein said communiqué

transmitting module comprises;

a communiqué

transmitting module configured to transmit the second communiqué

as a function of one or more environmental conditions of the receiving entity.

34. The system of claim 33, wherein said communiqué

transmitting module comprises;

a communiqué

transmitting module including a receiving entity environmental condition determining module configured to transmit the second communiqué

in response to the receiving entity environmental condition determining module determining occurrence of at least one specified environmental condition associated with the receiving entity.

35. The system of claim 30, wherein said communiqué

transmitting module comprises;

a communiqué

transmitting module including a source entity association determining module configured to transmit the second communiqué

in response to the source entity association determining module at least determining that the first communiqué

includes data that associates the first communiqué

with the source entity.

36. The system of claim 35, wherein said source entity association determining module comprises:

a source entity association determining module configured to at least determine that the first communiqué

includes metadata that associates the source entity with the first communiqué

.

37. The system of claim 35, wherein said source entity association determining module comprises:

a source entity association determining module configured to at least determine that the first communiqué

includes message content data that associates the source entity with the first communiqué

.

38. The system of claim 35, wherein said source entity association determining module comprises:

a source entity representation determining module configured to at least determine that the first communiqué

includes one or more representations of the source entity.

39. The system of claim 38, wherein said source entity representation determining module comprises:

a source entity telephone number determining module configured to determine that the first communiqué

includes at least a telephone number associated with the source entity.

40. The system of claim 38, wherein said source entity representation determining module comprises:

a source entity associated image determining module configured to determine that the first communiqué

includes at least an image associated with the source entity.

41. The system of claim 38, wherein said source entity representation determining module comprises:

a source entity associated voice signature determining module configured to determine that the first communiqué

includes at least a voice signature associated with the source entity.

42. The system of claim 1, wherein said conditional directive acquisition module comprises:

a conditional directive acquisition module configured to acquire the one or more conditional directives prior to the transmitting of the second communiqué

.

43. The system of claim 42, wherein said conditional directive acquisition module comprises:

a conditional directive receiving module configured to receive the one or more conditional directives from the receiving entity, and wherein the communiqué

transmitting module is configured to transmit the second communiqué

to the receiving entity in lieu of the first communiqué

responsive at least in part to the received one or more conditional directives.

44. The system of claim 43, wherein said conditional directive receiving module comprises:

a conditional directive receiving module configured to receive the one or more conditional directives from the receiving entity including one or more directives authored by the receiving entity, and wherein the communiqué

transmitting module is configured to transmit the second communiqué

to the receiving entity in lieu of the first communiqué

responsive at least in part to the received one or more conditional directives.

45. The system of claim 43, wherein said conditional directive receiving module comprises:

a conditional directive receiving module configured to receive the one or more conditional directives including one or more directives that indicate one or more source entities whose identities are to be conditionally obfuscated.

46. The system of claim 43, wherein said conditional directive receiving module comprises:

a conditional directive receiving module configured to receive the one or more conditional directives including at least one or more conditional directives that indicate one or more conditions for obfuscating identities of one or more source entities.

47. The system of claim 1 wherein the communiqué

receiving module configured to receive a first communiqué

affiliated with a source entity and directed to a receiving entity comprises;

a communiqué

intercepting module configured to intercept a first communiqué

affiliated with a source entity and directed to a receiving entity, the interception to be based at least in part on one or more conditional directives provided by the receiving entity and received by the conditional directive acquisition module from the receiving entity, wherein the source entity is at least one of an original or an intermediate source of the first communiqué

.

48. The system of claim 47, wherein the communiqué

intercepting module configured to intercept a first communiqué

affiliated with a source entity and directed to a receiving entity, the interception to be based at least in part on one or more conditional directives provided by the receiving entity and received by the conditional directive acquisition module from the receiving entity, wherein the source entity is at least one of an original or an intermediate source of the first communiqué

comprises;

a communiqué

intercepting module configured to seize, capture, and/or interrupt a first communiqué

affiliated with a source entity and directed to a receiving entity.

49. The system of claim 1, wherein the receiving entity environmental condition determining module configured to transmit the second communiqué

in response to determining a presence or an absence of a particular third party in a vicinity of the receiving entity, the receiving entity environmental condition determining module being configured to determine the presence or the absence of the particular third party based at least in part on received receiving entity data obtained from one or more social media comprises;

a receiving entity environmental condition determining module configured to transmit the second communiqué

in response to determining a presence or an absence of a particular third party in a vicinity of the receiving entity, the receiving entity environmental condition determining module being configured to determine the presence or the absence of the particular third party based at least in part on received receiving entity data obtained from at least one of one or more microblogs or one or more tweets.

50. The system of claim 1 wherein the conditional directive acquisition module configured to receive from the receiving entity the one or more conditional directives comprises:

a conditional directive receiving module configured to receive from the receiving entity one or more conditional directives that instruct the transmission of the second communiqué

to the receiving entity in lieu of the first communiqué

only when one or more specific conditions arise, the one or more specific conditions including at least one of the receiving entity being at one or more specific locations, the receiving entity being at one or more specific times of the day, the receiving entity being at one or more specified times of a calendar year, or the receiving entity being in vicinity of a particular third party.