Government structures and neighborhood leads in a geo-spatial environment

• US 9,064,288 B2
• Filed: 02/27/2014
• Issued: 06/23/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 03/17/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Raj Abhyanker
• Original Assignee: Fatdoor Incorporated
• Inventors: Abhyanker, Raj
• Primary Examiner(s): OUELLETTE, JONATHAN P
• Application Number:
  US14/191,454
• Publication Number:
  US 20140189013A1
• Time in Patent Office: 481 Days
• Field of Search: 705/1.1, 705/319
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 1/00 Measuring angles
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/62 Protecting access to data via a platform, e.g. using keys or access control rules
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0241 Advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/01 Social networking
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal

Abstract

A method, apparatus and system of determining neighborhood leads and forming government structures in an online geo-spatial social community are disclosed. A method of organizing a community network includes obtaining a region on a geo-spatial map, obtaining a first subset of members of the community network associated with the region, determining a second subset of the members with a highest number of points from the first subset, creating a representative body (e.g., based on an activity level of each of the first subset) from the second subset, and enabling the representative body to manage a portion of the community network associated with the region. A lead member user may be appointed or designated from the representative body from the second subset of the plurality of members with the highest number of points from the first subset based on an acceptance of the lead member (having additional access privileges).

Claims

1. A method of organizing an online neighborhood social network, comprising:

obtaining a region on a geo-spatial map using a processor and a memory;

obtaining a first subset of a plurality of members of the online neighborhood social network in a geo-spatial environment associated with the region on the geo-spatial map;

determining a second subset of the plurality of members with a highest number of points from the first subset, wherein a determination is made is based on a level of information a user contributes in attaining higher status in the neighborhood in the online neighborhood social network;

creating a representative body from the second subset;

enabling the representative body to manage a portion of the online neighborhood social network in the geo-spatial environment associated with the region on the geo-spatial map;

appointing a lead member user from the representative body from the second subset of the plurality of members with the highest number of points from the first subset based on an acceptance of the lead member;

providing additional access privileges to the lead member user in the online neighborhood social network of the geo-spatial environment;

verifying that the user lives at a location that is associated with a current address where the user is living using the processor and the memory;

creating a social network page of the user once verified in the online neighborhood social network;

distributing a message in a specified range of a distance away from the user surrounding a geographic vicinity adjacent to the location of the user originating the message;

designating the user as a trusted party in the neighborhood the online neighborhood social network based on the level of information the user contributes in attaining higher status in the neighborhood in the online neighborhood social network;

automatically determining at least one permission of access in the neighborhood of the online neighborhood social network associated with the user; and

segregating access such that only at least one of a verified individual and a verified entity is able to view information in the neighborhood of the online neighborhood social network.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

verifying that each user of the online neighborhood social network lives at a residence associated with a claimable residential address of the online neighborhood social network formed through a social community module of a privacy server using the processor and the memory;

obtaining from each user of the online neighborhood social network, using the processor of a computing device, member data associated with each user, the member data including an address;

associating the address with a profile of each user;

determining the location of each user based on the member data;

storing the member data in a database;

obtaining a personal address privacy preference from each user, the personal address privacy preference specifying if the address should be displayed to other users;

authenticating a particular user of a third-party application as being a verified user of the neighborhood communication system having a verified residential address in the neighborhood communication system;

communicating a social graph of the particular user based on the personal address privacy preference of the particular user to the third-party application; and

providing the verified residential address to the third-party application based on the authentication of the particular user of the third-party application as being the verified user of the neighborhood communication system;

applying an address verification algorithm associated with each user of an online community associated with the community networkonline neighborhood social network using the privacy server;

generating a latitudinal data and a longitudinal data associated with each claimable residential address of the online community associated with each user of the online community;

determining a set of access privileges in the online community associated with each user of the online community by constraining access in the online community based on a neighborhood boundary determined using a Bezier curve algorithm of the privacy server;

transforming the claimable residential address into a claimed address upon an occurrence of an event;

instantiating the event when the particular user is associated with the claimable residential address based on a verification of the particular user as living at a particular residential address associated with the claimable residential address using the privacy server;

constraining the particular user to communicate through the online community only with a set of neighbors having verified addresses using the privacy server;

defining the set of neighbors as other users of the online community that have each verified their addresses in the online community using the privacy server and which have each claimed residential addresses that are in a threshold radial distance from the claimed address of the particular user;

obtaining a plurality of votes from the first subset corresponding to an elected official of the region;

determining one of the second subset with a highest number of the plurality of votes; and

selecting the one of the second subset as the elected official.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the elected official is at least one of a neighborhood lead of the online community, a mayor of the online community, a governor of the online community, a president of the online community, and a secretary-general of the online community.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the region is at least one of a city, a county, a state, a country, a group of countries, a continent, and a planet.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the representative body is created based on an activity level of each of the first subset.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the first subset comprises a plurality of elected officials from a plurality of divisions within the region.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the representative body is created on a periodic basis.

8. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

permitting a creation of a neighborhood crime watch group wherein the neighborhood crime watch group to alert neighboring users that are verified to live within the neighborhood boundary of the residence of possible criminal activity in the neighborhood based on a communication of the neighborhood crime watch group,

wherein access to the communication of the neighborhood crime watch is provided to users of the online neighborhood social network that are verified to live within the neighborhood of the online neighborhood social network,

wherein the neighborhood crime watch group is devoted to at least one of crime and vandalism prevention within the neighborhood formed by users having permission to access the neighborhood the online neighborhood social network,

wherein the neighboring users are determined based on each neighboring property surrounding each geographic location claimed by each neighboring user of the online neighborhood social network that is within the neighborhood of the online neighborhood social network.

9. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

permitting the user to submit a delist request associated with a profile data such that a certain information is masked in the online neighborhood social network and is therefore hidden from other users of the online neighborhood social network,

wherein a global neighborhood environment forms the online neighborhood social network.

10. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

generating information to only distribute the message to the neighborhood associated with the user originating the message; and

permitting private section shared only in the neighborhood to verified users having verified addresses within the neighborhood.

11. The method of claim 10 further comprising:

permitting the user of the online neighborhood social network to segregate certain information communicated to a particular neighboring user in the private section of the online neighborhood social network; and

separating the private section with the certain information shared only with the particular neighboring user as shared with only neighbors having verified addresses in the online neighborhood social network.

12. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

wherein the online neighborhood social network is designed to enable users to get to know their neighbors in the neighborhood associated with the current address where the user is living.

13. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

offering a civic information of the user designated as the trusted party in the neighborhood to neighboring users based on the residence associated with the geographic location claimed by the user of the online neighborhood social network.

14. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

displaying the event organized by neighbors to the user and to neighboring users in the neighborhood of the online neighborhood social network; and

notifying users of at least one of the event, an advertisement, and a promotion in their area based on radius for notification.