Providing credential information

• US 9,160,727 B1
• Filed: 07/11/2013
• Issued: 10/13/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 11/30/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microstrategy Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Microstrategy Incorporated
• Inventors: Saylor, Michael J., Vazquez, Hector, Chen, Gang
• Primary Examiner(s): Hoffman, Brandon
• Assistant Examiner(s): Salehi, Helai
• Application Number:
  US13/939,396
• Time in Patent Office: 824 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/08 for authentication of entities cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication H04L9/32
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/068 using credential vaults, e.g. password manager applications or one time password [OTP] applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/023 using mutual or relative location information between multiple location based services [LBS] targets or of distance thresholds

Abstract

A server system maintains data indicative of credentials held by multiple different users. Each of the credentials has been issued by a credential granting authority that is separate from an entity that operates the server system. The server system receives selection data that indicates how credential data of a first user is to be made available to other users. Based on the selection data, the server system stores availability data that indicates how credential data of the first user is to be made available to the other users. The server system also maintains a location of a mobile computing device associated with the first user and, based on the availability data and the location, provides, to at least a second user, information about at least one credential held by the first user in association with an indication of the location.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

maintaining, by a server system, data indicative of credentials held by multiple different users, each of the credentials having been issued by a credential granting authority that is separate from an entity that operates the server system;

receiving, by the server system, selection data that indicates how credential data of a first user included in the multiple different users is to be made available to other users included in the multiple different users;

based on the selection data, storing, by the server system, availability data that indicates how credential data of the first user included in the multiple different users is to be made available to the other users included in the multiple different users;

maintaining, by the server system, a location of a mobile computing device associated with the first user; and

based on the availability data and the location of the mobile computing device associated with the first user, providing, to at least a second user included in the multiple different users, information about at least one credential held by the first user in association with an indication of the location of the mobile computing device associated with the first user,

wherein providing information about at least one credential held by the first user in association with an indication of the location of the mobile computing device associated with the first user comprises;

identifying an area at which the second user desires to view credentials;

determining, based on the stored availability data, multiple credentials that are available to the second user and that are each located within the area at which the second user desires to view credentials, each of the multiple credentials being held by a different user and the multiple credentials including credentials of different types; and

providing, to the second user, an indication of each of the multiple credentials in association with a location corresponding to each of the multiple credentials.

2. The method of claim 1:

wherein receiving selection data comprises receiving selection of one or more credentials held by the first user to make available to other users included in the multiple different users;

wherein storing availability data comprises, based on the selection of the one or more credentials, storing availability data that indicates the one or more credentials held by the first user that are available to other users included in the multiple different users; and

wherein providing information about at least one credential held by the first user in association with an indication of the location of the mobile computing device associated with the first user comprises providing information about the one or more credentials held by the first user in association with an indication of the location of the mobile computing device associated with the first user.

3. The method of claim 1:

wherein receiving selection data comprises receiving user permissions that define users to which the credential data of the first user is available;

wherein storing availability data comprises, based on the user permissions, storing availability data that indicates the users to which the credential data of the first user is available; and

wherein providing information about at least one credential held by the first user in association with an indication of the location of the mobile computing device associated with the first user comprises;

determining, based on the availability data that indicates the users to which the credential data of the first user is available, that the second user is one of the users to which the credential data of the first user is available; and

based on the determination that the second user is one of the users to which the credential data of the first user is available, providing, to the second user, information about at least one credential held by the first user in association with an indication of the location of the mobile computing device associated with the first user.

4. The method of claim 1:

wherein receiving selection data comprises receiving destination data that defines one or more locations where the credential data of the first user is available;

wherein storing availability data comprises, based on the destination data, storing availability data that indicates the one or more locations where the credential data of the first user is available; and

wherein providing information about at least one credential held by the first user in association with an indication of the location of the mobile computing device associated with the first user comprises;

determining a location of the second user;

comparing the location of the second user to the one or more locations where the credential data of the first user is available;

determining, based on the comparison, that the location of the second user corresponds to the one or more locations where the credential data of the first user is available; and

based on the determination that the location of the second user corresponds to the one or more locations where the credential data of the first user is available, providing, to the second user, information about at least one credential held by the first user in association with an indication of the location of the mobile computing device associated with the first user.

5. The method of claim 1:

wherein receiving selection data comprises receiving location data that defines one or more locations of the first user from which the credential data of the first user is available;

wherein storing availability data comprises, based on the location data, storing availability data that indicates the one or more locations of the first user from which the credential data of the first user is available; and

wherein providing information about at least one credential held by the first user in association with an indication of the location of the mobile computing device associated with the first user comprises;

determining a location of the first user;

comparing the location of the first user to the one or more locations of the first user from which the credential data of the first user is available;

determining, based on the comparison, that the location of the first user corresponds to the one or more locations of the first user from which the credential data of the first user is available; and

based on the determination that the location of the first user corresponds to the one or more locations of the first user from which the credential data of the first user is available, providing, to the second user, information about at least one credential held by the first user in association with an indication of the location of the mobile computing device associated with the first user.

6. The method of claim 1:

wherein receiving selection data comprises receiving timing data that defines times at which the credential data of the first user is available;

wherein storing availability data comprises, based on the timing data, storing availability data that indicates the times at which the credential data of the first user is available; and

wherein providing information about at least one credential held by the first user in association with an indication of the location of the mobile computing device associated with the first user comprises;

determining a time when credential data of the first user is requested by the second user;

comparing the time when credential data of the first user is requested by the second user to the times at which the credential data of the first user is available;

determining, based on the comparison, that the time when credential data of the first user is requested by the second user corresponds to the times at which the credential data of the first user is available; and

based on the determination that the time when credential data of the first user is requested by the second user corresponds to the times at which the credential data of the first user is available, providing, to the second user, information about at least one credential held by the first user in association with an indication of the location of the mobile computing device associated with the first user.

7. The method of claim 1:

wherein receiving selection data comprises receiving personalization data that defines information about the first user that is made available with the credential data of the first user;

wherein storing availability data comprises, based on the personalization data, storing availability data that indicates the information about the first user that is made available with the credential data of the first user; and

wherein providing information about at least one credential held by the first user in association with an indication of the location of the mobile computing device associated with the first user comprises;

accessing the information about the first user that is made available with the credential data of the first user; and

providing, to the second user, information about at least one credential held by the first user in association with an indication of the location of the mobile computing device associated with the first user and the accessed information about the first user.

8. The method of claim 1:

wherein receiving selection data comprises receiving a triggering condition that defines an event that triggers availability of the credential data of the first user;

wherein storing availability data comprises, based on the triggering condition, storing availability data that indicates the event that triggers availability of the credential data of the first user; and

wherein providing information about at least one credential held by the first user in association with an indication of the location of the mobile computing device associated with the first user comprises;

detecting the event that triggers availability of the credential data of the first user; and

based on the detection of the event that triggers availability of the credential data of the first user, providing, to the second user, information about at least one credential held by the first user in association with an indication of the location of the mobile computing device associated with the first user.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein providing information about at least one credential held by the first user in association with an indication of the location of the mobile computing device associated with the first user comprises:

identifying credentials that the second user desires to view;

determining, based on the stored availability data, a set of the identified credentials that are available to the second user, the set of the identified credentials including the at least one credential held by the first user; and

providing, for each credential in the set, credential information in association with location information.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein providing, to at least a second user included in the multiple different users, information about at least one credential held by the first user in association with an indication of the location of the mobile computing device associated with the first user comprises providing, to a subset of multiple users included in the multiple different users, information about at least one credential held by the first user in association with an indication of the location of the mobile computing device associated with the first user.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein maintaining a location of a mobile computing device associated with the first user comprises:

periodically receiving, from the mobile computing device associated with the first user, an indication of a location of the mobile computing device associated with the first user; and

storing the received indication of the location of the mobile computing device associated with the first user.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein maintaining a location of a mobile computing device associated with the first user comprises:

periodically requesting, from the mobile computing device associated with the first user, an indication of a location of the mobile computing device associated with the first user;

receiving, responsive to a request, an indication of a location of the mobile computing device associated with the first user, and

storing the received indication of the location of the mobile computing device associated with the first user.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein maintaining data indicative of credentials held by multiple different users comprises:

receiving, from the first user, a first request to add a first type of credential to an account of the first user on the server system, the first type of credential being granted by a first credential granting authority;

based on the first request to add the first type of credential to the account of the first user on the server system, verifying with the first credential granting authority that the first credential granting authority has granted the first type of credential to the first user; and

based on verifying with the first credential granting authority that the first credential granting authority has granted the first type of credential to the first user, adding the first type of credential to the account of the first user and enabling the first user to make the first type of credential available to other users.

14. The method of claim 2:

wherein the first user holds multiple first user credentials maintained by the server system;

wherein receiving selection of one or more credentials held by the first user to make available to other users included in the multiple different users comprises receiving selection of a subset of less than all of the multiple first user credentials held by the first user to make available to other users included in the multiple different users;

wherein storing availability data that indicates the one or more credentials held by the first user that are available to other users included in the multiple different users comprises, based on the selection of the subset of the multiple first user credentials, storing availability data that indicates that the subset of the multiple first user credentials held by the first user are available to other users included in the multiple different users and the multiple first user credentials excluded from the subset are not available to other users included in the multiple different users; and

wherein providing information about the one or more credentials held by the first user in association with an indication of the location of the mobile computing device associated with the first user comprises providing information about the subset of the multiple first user credentials held by the first user in association with an indication of the location of the mobile computing device associated with the first user.

15. The method of claim 9:

wherein identifying credentials that the second user desires to view comprises identifying a type of credential that the second user desires to view;

wherein determining, based on the stored availability data, a set of the identified credentials that are available to the second user comprises determining, based on the stored availability data, multiple credentials that are available to the second user and that match the type of credential that the second user desires to view, each of the multiple credentials being held by a different user; and

wherein providing credential information in association with location information comprises providing, to the second user, an indication of each of the multiple credentials in association with a location corresponding to each of the multiple credentials.

16. The method of claim 13, wherein maintaining data indicative of credentials held by multiple different users comprises:

receiving, from the first user, a second request to add a second type of credential to the account of the first user on the server system, the second type of credential being granted by a second credential granting authority, the second type of credential being different than the first type of credential, and the second credential granting authority being different from the first credential granting authority;

based on the second request to add the second type of credential to the account of the first user on the server system, verifying with the second credential granting authority that the second credential granting authority has not granted the second type of credential to the first user; and

based on verifying with the second credential granting authority that the second credential granting authority has not granted the second type of credential to the first user, denying the second request to add the second type of credential to the account of the first user and stopping the first user from making the second type of credential available to other users.

17. The method of claim 14:

wherein the subset of the multiple first user credentials includes at least two first user credentials held by the first user; and

wherein providing information about the subset of the multiple first user credentials held by the first user in association with an indication of the location of the mobile computing device associated with the first user comprises providing information about the at least two first user credentials held by the first user in association with an indication of the location of the mobile computing device associated with the first user.

18. A system comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one memory coupled to the at least one processor having stored thereon instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform operations comprising;

maintaining data indicative of credentials held by multiple different users, each of the credentials having been issued by a credential granting authority that is separate from an entity that operates the server system;

receiving selection data that indicates how credential data of a first user included in the multiple different users is to be made available to other users included in the multiple different users;

based on the selection data, storing availability data that indicates how credential data of the first user included in the multiple different users is to be made available to the other users included in the multiple different users;

maintaining a location of a mobile computing device associated with the first user; and

based on the availability data and the location of the mobile computing device associated with the first user, providing, to at least a second user included in the multiple different users, information about at least one credential held by the first user in association with an indication of the location of the mobile computing device associated with the first user,

wherein providing information about at least one credential held by the first user in association with an indication of the location of the mobile computing device associated with the first user comprises;

identifying an area at which the second user desires to view credentials;

determining, based on the stored availability data, multiple credentials that are available to the second user and that are each located within the area at which the second user desires to view credentials, each of the multiple credentials being held by a different user and the multiple credentials including credentials of different types; and

providing, to the second user, an indication of each of the multiple credentials in association with a location corresponding to each of the multiple credentials.

19. At least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium encoded with executable instructions that, when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform operations comprising:

maintaining data indicative of credentials held by multiple different users, each of the credentials having been issued by a credential granting authority that is separate from an entity that operates the server system;

receiving selection data that indicates how credential data of a first user included in the multiple different users is to be made available to other users included in the multiple different users;

based on the selection data, storing availability data that indicates how credential data of the first user included in the multiple different users is to be made available to the other users included in the multiple different users;

maintaining a location of a mobile computing device associated with the first user; and

based on the availability data and the location of the mobile computing device associated with the first user, providing, to at least a second user included in the multiple different users, information about at least one credential held by the first user in association with an indication of the location of the mobile computing device associated with the first user,

wherein providing information about at least one credential held by the first user in association with an indication of the location of the mobile computing device associated with the first user comprises;

identifying an area at which the second user desires to view credentials;

determining, based on the stored availability data, multiple credentials that are available to the second user and that are each located within the area at which the second user desires to view credentials, each of the multiple credentials being held by a different user and the multiple credentials including credentials of different types; and

providing, to the second user, an indication of each of the multiple credentials in association with a location corresponding to each of the multiple credentials.