Access to user information

• US 8,869,296 B2
• Filed: 11/06/2009
• Issued: 10/21/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 11/06/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Inventors: Schultz, Paul T., Hahn, Mark J., Sartini, Robert A., McKee, Martin W.
• Primary Examiner(s): Pwu, Jeffrey
• Assistant Examiner(s): JHAVERI, JAYESH M
• Application Number:
  US12/613,561
• Publication Number:
  US 20110113488A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,810 Days
• Field of Search: 726 26- 30, 713/164, 713/165, 713/182, 713/193, 710/15, 710/17, 710/18
• US Class Current: 726/27
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/6245 Protecting personal data, e.g. for financial or medical purposes
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2107 File encryption
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2141 Access rights, e.g. capability lists, access control lists, access tables, access matrices
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/048 Interaction techniques based on graphical user interfaces [GUI]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/10 for controlling access to devices or network resources

Abstract

A method may include storing user information associated with a first user, where the user information includes at least two of location information, presence information, address book information or calendar information. The method may also include storing access control information identifying criteria for allowing parties to access the user information and receiving, from a first party, a request for access to at least a first portion of the user information. The method may further include determining, based on the access control information, whether the first party is authorized to access the first portion of the user information and providing access to the first portion of the user information, when it is determined that the first party is authorized to access the first portion of the user information.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

storing user information associated with a first user, the user information including address book information, calendar information and at least one of location information or presence information;

storing access control information, the access control information identifying criteria for allowing parties other than the first user to access the user information, wherein the access control information includes at least two of time information indicating when the parties are authorized to access at least some of the user information, location information associated with the first user'"'"'s location, or requestor identifier information identifying the parties,

receiving, from a first party, a request for access to at least a first portion of the user information, wherein the first portion of the user information includes at least one of the address book information or the calendar information;

determining, in response to the request and based on the access control information, whether the first party is authorized to access the first portion of the user information; and

providing access to the first portion of the user information, in response to determining that the first party is authorized to access the first portion of the user information,

wherein the determining further comprises;

performing an implicit authorization determination by accessing the first user'"'"'s address book or contact list to determine whether the first party is authorized to access the first portion of the user information.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, from the first user, the time information indicating when the first party is authorized to access the first portion of the user information,

wherein the storing access control information comprises;

storing the time information, and

wherein the determining further comprises;

determining, based on the time information, whether the first party is authorized to access the first portion of the user information.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, from the first user, the location information, the location information indicating geographic limitations defining when the first party is authorized to access the first portion of the user information,

wherein the storing access control information comprises;

storing the location information, and

wherein the determining further comprises;

determining, based on the location information, whether the first party is authorized to access the first portion of the user information.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, from the first user, frequency information indicating how frequently the first party is allowed to access the first portion of the user information,

wherein the storing access control information comprises;

storing the frequency information, and

wherein the determining further comprises;

determining, based on the frequency information, whether the first party is authorized to access the first portion of the user information.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the storing access control information comprises:

storing information indicating that parties identified as regular contacts or friends are to be granted access to the first portion of the user information.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

determining whether the first party is a regular contact or friend based on at least one of communication history between the first user and the first party or information obtained via an external program.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

providing a graphical user interface (GUI) configured to allow the first user to input the access control information.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

receiving, via the GUI, information identifying the at least two of time information, location information or requestor identifier information,

wherein the determining further comprises;

using the time information, location information and requestor identifier information to determine whether the first party is authorized to access the first portion of the user information.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the access control information indicates that a request for access to the first portion of the user information requires explicit authorization from the first user.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

transmitting, based on the access control information, a message to the first user, the message requesting permission to grant access to the first portion of the user information;

receiving a response from the first user; and

determining whether to provide access based on the received response.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

identifying access control information associated with the first party accessing the user information associated with the first user; and

automatically providing corresponding access to the first party to user information associated with the first user based on the access control information associated with the first user.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

storing user information associated with a plurality of users;

receiving access control information from each of the plurality of users; and

controlling access to the user information associated with each of the plurality of users based on the access control information received from each of the respective plurality of users.

13. A device, comprising:

a communication interface configured to receive communications from other devices;

a memory configured to store information associated with a plurality of users, the information including address book information, calendar information and at least one of location information or presence information; and

logic configured to;

provide a graphical user interface (GUI) configured to receive, from a first user, user-defined criteria for controlling access to information associated with the first user, wherein the user defined criteria include at least two of time information indicating a time period when each of a plurality of parties is authorized to access the information associated with the first user, frequency information indicating how frequently each of the plurality of parties is permitted to access information associated with the first user, or requestor identifier information identifying each of the plurality of parties,

receive requests, via the communication interface and subsequent to receiving the user-defined criteria, for information stored in the memory,

control access to the information stored in the memory based on the user-defined criteria,

receive a request from a first party, via the communication interface, for a first type of information associated with the first user, wherein the first type of information includes at least one of the address book information or the calendar information, and

determine, based on the first type of information and the user-defined criteria, whether the first party is authorized to access the information associated with the first user stored in the memory,

wherein when determining, the logic is further configured to;

perform an implicit authorization determination by accessing the first user'"'"'s address book or contact list to determine whether the first party is authorized to access the information associated with the first user.

14. The device of claim 13, wherein the logic is further configured to:

transmit a message, via the communication interface, to the first user to determine whether the first party is authorized to access the information associated with the first user.

15. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon sequences of instructions which, when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to:

provide a graphical user interface (GUI) configured to allow users to input user-defined access control information associated with accessing address book information, calendar information and at least one of location information or presence information;

receive, from a first party, a request for access to at least a first portion of information associated with a first user, wherein the first portion of information includes at least one of the address book information or the calendar information;

determine, in response to the request and based on user-defined access control information input by the first user, whether the first party is authorized to access the first portion of information, wherein the user-defined access control information comprises at least two of time information associated with requests, location information associated with the first user, or requestor identifier information; and

provide access to the first portion of information, in response to determining that the first party is authorized to access the first portion of information,

wherein when determining, the instructions cause the at least one processor to;

perform an implicit authorization determination by accessing the first user'"'"'s address book or contact list to determine whether the first party is authorized to access the first portion of information.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, further including instructions that cause the at least one processor to:

allow the users to modify the user-defined access control information.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the time information indicates a time period when the first party is permitted access to information associated with the first user, and the location information indicates a current location of the first user.