Temporary electronic mail addresses

• US 9,361,602 B1
• Filed: 10/14/2003
• Issued: 06/07/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 10/14/2003
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Micro Focus Software, Inc. (Open Text Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Novell Incorporated (Open Text Corporation)
• Inventors: Hodges, D. Skye, Davis, Eugene Kenneth
• Primary Examiner(s): Goodchild, William
• Application Number:
  US10/685,158
• Time in Patent Office: 4,620 Days
• Field of Search: 709/206
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/107 Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/42 Mailbox-related aspects, e.g. synchronisation of mailboxes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/48 Message addressing, e.g. address format or anonymous messages, aliases

Abstract

Techniques are provided for generating and managing temporary email addresses. A requestor having a requestor email address makes a request to receive a temporary email address. The temporary email address is generated and mapped to the requestor email address. Messages received that are associated with the temporary email address are mapped to the requestor email address and forwarded to the requestor. The temporary email address expires when an expiring event is detected.

Claims

1. A method for generating a temporary electronic mail address implemented in a computer-readable medium and to process on a computer for performing the method, comprising:

receiving a request for the temporary email address from a requestor having a requestor email address, the request is received from an email client that the requestor uses to send and receive email messages, and the requestor makes the request via interactions with the email client;

generating the temporary email address, wherein generating further includes evaluating rules the requestor defines to produce the temporary email address, the requestor interacts with the email client to also define when the temporary email address is to expire based on a specific calendar date for the temporary email address to expire, and wherein generating further includes mapping a first domain for the temporary email address to a second and different domain based on a selection made by the requestor from a list of available domains;

mapping the temporary email address to the requestor email address; and

transmitting the temporary email address to the requestor via the email client of the requestor for the requestor to use to send emails over the Internet using the temporary email address and to receive emails over the Internet directed to the temporary email address and received at the requestor email address, the emails received and directed to the temporary email address having distinguishing features applied to metadata received with those emails that permit an email client for the requestor to present the distinguishing features with those emails within the email client and obtaining by the requestor information from a service with the temporary email address.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising removing the mapping between the temporary email address and the requestor email address after receiving a removal request from the requestor.

3. A method for managing a temporary electronic mail (email) address implemented in a computer-readable medium and to process on a computer for performing the method, comprising:

requesting, from an email client of a user, the temporary email address for an original email address, the email client is used by the user to send and receive email messages and the user interacts with the email client to request the temporary email address, defining, by the user, rules for generating the temporary email address, and interacting, by the user, with the email client to define when the temporary email address is to expire on a specified date defined by the user, the user can issue an immediate command that immediately expires the temporary email address, and wherein defining further includes identifying a first domain for the temporary email address as a mapping to a second and different domain based on a selection by the user from a list of available domains;

using, on the email client, the temporary email address as if it were the original email address for the user to send and receive emails;

receiving or sending, from the email client and over the Internet, a message associated with the temporary email address, the user using the temporary email address with a service and that service includes a privacy policy with respect to email addresses; and

monitoring other received messages directed to the user that uses the temporary email address to ensure the service has not disclosed the temporary email address in violation of the service'"'"'s privacy policy, received messages having metadata with distinguishing features that are applied to present the received messages with the distinguishing features within an inbox of the email client.

4. The method of claim 3 further comprising interacting with an email service when requesting the temporary email address.

5. The method of claim 3 further comprising creating a separate mailbox folder for receiving the message that is associated with the temporary email address.

6. The method of claim 5 further comprising requesting that the temporary email address expire.

7. A temporary electronic mail (email) system implemented on an email server, comprising:

a temporary email address generator implemented and processing on an email server;

a temporary email address mapper implemented and processing on the email server; and

a temporary email address interface implemented and processing on the email server, the temporary email address interface receives a request from a requesting email address to generate a temporary email address, the email address generator produces the temporary email address using rules the user defines and a first domain in the temporary email address maps to a second and different domain based on a selection of the user from a list of available domains, also the request is received from an email client associated with the email address, the email client is used by the user associated with the email address for the user to send and receive email messages and the user makes the request via interactions with the email client, the temporary email address interface interacts with the temporary email address generator for generating the temporary email address based on the rules the user defines, the temporary email address is generated and the temporary email address interface interacts with the temporary email address mapper for establishing an association between the requesting email address and the temporary email address, the user defines expiring rules for when the temporary email address is to expire on a set calendar date, the user can issue an immediate command that immediately expires the temporary email address, the temporary email address is monitored after supplied to the user to ensure that a service having a privacy policy with respect to email addresses does not violate that privacy policy with respect to the user'"'"'s temporary email address, and the user sends and receives emails over the Internet using the temporary email address.

8. The temporary email address system of claim 7 further comprising a forwarder that receives a message directed to the temporary email address and interacts with the temporary email address mapper to acquire the association to the requesting email address, and wherein the forwarder forwards the message to the requesting email address.

9. The temporary email address system of claim 7 further comprising a temporary email address manager that determines when the temporary email address mapper is contacted for removing the association.

10. The temporary email address system of claim 7, wherein the system is implemented as a service associated with an email provider.

11. The temporary email address system of claim 7, wherein the system is implemented as a service associated with an Internet Service Provider (ISP).