Data services outsourcing verification

• US 9,367,833 B2
• Filed: 07/14/2011
• Issued: 06/14/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 07/14/2011
• 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 Henry, Rinaldo, John D. Jr., Tegreene, Clarence T.
• Primary Examiner(s): Pham, Luu
• Assistant Examiner(s): Baum, Ronald
• Application Number:
  US13/135,801
• Publication Number:
  US 20130019095A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,797 Days
• Field of Search: 713/164
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/00 Payment architectures, schemes or protocols apparatus for performing or posting payment transactions G07F7/08, G07F19/00; electronic cash registers G07G1/12
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/02 involving a neutral party, e.g. certification authority, notary or trusted third party [TTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2209/56 Financial cryptography, e.g. electronic payment or e-cash
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/3247 involving digital signatures
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/3263 involving certificates, e.g. public key certificate [PKC] or attribute certificate [AC]; Public key infrastructure [PKI] arrangements network architectures or network communication protocols for supporting authentication of entities using certificates in a packet data network H04L63/0823
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/50 using hash chains, e.g. blockchains or hash trees

Abstract

A method and system for verifying outsource data and providing a certification system includes but is not limited to a method including receiving one or more deposits of one or more data elements in connection with an outsourcing transaction from or on behalf of a third party, verifying an identification of the third party, maintaining a transaction log to provide a validation record acknowledging receipt of the one or more deposits, and performing a cryptographic action against one or more aspects of the outsourcing transaction to provide a certified version of the transaction log to confirm the outsourcing transaction.

Claims

1. A method for verifying outsourced data, the method comprising:

receiving a deposit of one or more data elements in connection with an outsourcing transaction;

receiving an identification of a depositor associated with the outsourcing transaction;

maintaining a transaction log to provide a validation record acknowledging the outsourcing transaction;

performing one or more cryptographic actions using a public key encryption on the received identification of the depositor to verify an authorization of the depositor;

producing a certified version of the transaction log using the public key encryption as at least a portion of the certification process;

maintaining a statistical failure rate associated with producing the certified version of the transaction log at least partially based on a rate of success associated with the one or more performed cryptographic actions on the received identification of the depositor;

establishing a deposit history, including at least pricing the outsourcing transaction at least as a function of (i) an amount of data included in the deposit and the statistical failure rate associated with producing the certified version of the transaction log;

receiving a query related to the pricing of the outsourcing transaction from an authorized party;

providing the validation record of the certified version of the transaction log, including at least enabling an authorized party associated with the received query to use the public key encryption to establish proof of the deposit via the validation record, the proof traceable to the identification of the depositor; and

receiving an indication of the authorized party using the public key encryption to establish proof of the deposit of the one or more data elements via the validation record,

wherein at least one of the receiving a deposit, receiving an identification, maintaining a transaction log, performing one or more cryptographic actions, producing a certified version of the transaction log, maintaining a statistical failure rate, establishing a deposit history, receiving a query, providing the validation record, or receiving an indication of the authorized party using the public key encryption is at least partially implemented using at least one processing device.

2. A system for verifying outsourced data, comprising:

means for receiving a deposit of one or more data elements in connection with an outsourcing transaction, including at least receiving an identification associated with a depositor of the one or more data elements;

means for performing a checksum of the one or more data elements;

means for storing the one or more data elements including at least storing the checksum of the one or more data elements;

means for maintaining a transaction log to provide a validation record acknowledging receipt of the deposit;

means for performing one or more cryptographic actions using a public key encryption on one or more aspects of the outsourcing transaction, including at least;

means for performing the one or more cryptographic actions using the public key encryption on the received identification associated with the depositor to verify an authorization of the depositor;

means for performing the one or more cryptographic actions using the public key encryption on the checksum of the one or more data elements; and

means for performing a hash on the transaction log to create a digital fingerprint traceable to the received identification;

means for producing a certified version of the transaction log in accordance with the performing the one or more cryptographic actions using the public key encryption, including at least (a) the cryptographic action on the received identification associated with the depositor, (b) the cryptographic action on the checksum of the one or more data elements, and (c) the hash of the transaction log as at least a portion of the certification process;

means for utilizing a rate of success associated with the one or more performed cryptographic actions using the public key encryption on the received identification associated with the depositor and on the checksum of the one or more data elements to at least one of store or update a statistical failure rate associated with producing the certified version of the transaction log;

means for establishing a deposit history, including at least pricing the outsourcing transaction at least as a function of (i) an amount of data included in the deposit, (ii) a number of certified versions of transaction logs produced, and (iii) the statistical failure rate associated with producing the certified version of the transaction log, wherein the pricing of the outsourcing transaction is correlated with the statistical failure rate such that one or more failures of cryptographic actions on the received identification associated with the depositor results in higher pricing of the outsourcing transaction than a transaction with no failures of cryptographic actions;

means for providing the validation record of the certified version of the transaction log in response to a received query associated with the depositor, the received query related to the pricing of the outsourcing transaction; and

means for receiving an indication of an authorized party associated with the received query using the public key encryption to establish proof of the deposit with the provided validation record, the proof traceable based on the digital fingerprint to the identification associated with the depositor of the one or more data elements,

wherein at least one of the means for receiving a deposit, performing a checksum, storing the one or more data elements, maintaining a transaction log, performing one or more cryptographic actions, producing a certified version of the transaction log, utilizing a rate of success to at least one of store or update, establishing a deposit history, providing the validation record, or receiving an indication is at least partially implemented using at least one processing device.

3. A system for verifying outsourced data, comprising:

circuitry for receiving a deposit of one or more data elements in connection with an outsourcing transaction, including at least receiving an identification associated with a depositor of the one or more data elements;

circuitry for performing a checksum of the one or more data elements;

circuitry for storing the one or more data elements including at least storing the checksum of the one or more data elements;

circuitry for maintaining a transaction log to provide a validation record acknowledging receipt of the deposit;

circuitry for performing one or more cryptographic actions using a public key encryption on one or more aspects of the outsourcing transaction, including at least;

circuitry for performing the one or more cryptographic actions using the public key encryption on the received identification associated with the depositor to verify an authorization of the depositor;

circuitry for performing the one or more cryptographic actions using the public key encryption on the checksum of the one or more data elements; and

circuitry for performing a hash on the transaction log to create a digital fingerprint traceable to the received identification;

circuitry for producing a certified version of the transaction log in accordance with the performing the one or more cryptographic actions using the public key encryption, including at least (a) the cryptographic action on the received identification associated with the depositor, (b) the cryptographic action on the checksum of the one or more data elements, and (c) the hash of the transaction log as at least a portion of the certification process;

circuitry for utilizing a rate of success associated with the one or more performed cryptographic actions using the public key encryption on the received identification associated with the depositor and on the checksum of the one or more data elements to at least one of store or update a statistical failure rate associated with producing the certified version of the transaction log;

circuitry for establishing a deposit history, including at least pricing the outsourcing transaction at least as a function of (i) an amount of data included in the deposit, (ii) a number of certified versions of transaction logs produced, and (iii) the statistical failure rate associated with producing the certified version of the transaction log, wherein the pricing of the outsourcing transaction is correlated with the statistical failure rate such that one or more failures of cryptographic actions on the received identification associated with the depositor results in higher pricing of the outsourcing transaction than a transaction with no failures of cryptographic actions;

circuitry for providing the validation record of the certified version of the transaction log in response to a received query associated with the depositor, the received query related to the pricing of the outsourcing transaction; and

circuitry for receiving an indication of an authorized party associated with the received query using the public key encryption to establish proof of the deposit with the provided validation record, the proof traceable based on the digital fingerprint to the identification associated with the depositor of the one or more data elements.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein circuitry for receiving a deposit of one or more data elements in connection with an outsourcing transaction, including at least receiving an identification associated with a depositor of the one or more data elements comprises:

circuitry for receiving the deposit of the one or more data elements by a registry service, the registry service operating a certification system to receive data elements.

5. The system of claim 3, wherein circuitry for receiving a deposit of one or more data elements in connection with an outsourcing transaction, including at least receiving an identification associated with a depositor of the one or more data elements comprises:

circuitry for receiving the deposit of the one or more data elements in connection with the outsourcing transaction for at least one of storage purposes or archiving purposes.

6. The system of claim 3, wherein circuitry for receiving a deposit of one or more data elements in connection with an outsourcing transaction, including at least receiving an identification associated with a depositor of the one or more data elements comprises:

circuitry for receiving the deposit of the one or more data elements in connection with the outsourcing transaction for purposes of at least one of editing or enhancing the one or more data elements.

7. The system of claim 3, wherein circuitry for receiving a deposit of one or more data elements in connection with an outsourcing transaction, including at least receiving an identification associated with a depositor of the one or more data elements comprises:

circuitry for receiving the deposit of the one or more data elements in connection with the outsourcing transaction to enable a third party service to act on the one or more data elements.

8. The system of claim 3, wherein circuitry for receiving a deposit of one or more data elements in connection with an outsourcing transaction, including at least receiving an identification associated with a depositor of the one or more data elements comprises:

circuitry for receiving the one or more data elements in a compressed format.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein circuitry for receiving the one or more data elements in a compressed format comprises:

circuitry for receiving the one or more data elements in the compressed format as one or more of compressed text data, compressed image data, compressed video data, compressed audio data, or compressed media data.

10. The system of claim 3, wherein circuitry for receiving a deposit of one or more data elements in connection with an outsourcing transaction, including at least receiving an identification associated with a depositor of the one or more data elements comprises:

circuitry for receiving the deposit of the one or more data elements by a copyright maintenance service.

11. The system of claim 3, wherein circuitry for performing one or more cryptographic actions using a public key encryption on one or more aspects of the outsourcing transaction comprises:

circuitry for verifying the authorization of the depositor using a stored code uniquely identifying the depositor.

12. The system of claim 3, wherein circuitry for maintaining a transaction log to provide a validation record acknowledging receipt of the deposit comprises:

circuitry for maintaining tracking data including one or more of date, identity, data packet size, or source data, the tracking data configured as metadata for the transaction log.

13. The system of claim 3, wherein circuitry for performing one or more cryptographic actions using a public key encryption on one or more aspects of the outsourcing transaction comprises:

circuitry for performing one or more cryptographic actions on the received identification associated with the depositor and, if a failure of the one or more cryptographic actions occurs, signaling a rate of success related to the one or more cryptographic actions.

14. The system of claim 3, wherein circuitry for performing one or more cryptographic actions using a public key encryption on one or more aspects of the outsourcing transaction comprises:

circuitry for performing one or more cryptographic actions on the received identification associated with the depositor at least partially based on at least one of a private key or a public key associated with the depositor.

15. The system of claim 3, wherein circuitry for performing a hash on the transaction log to create a digital fingerprint traceable to the received identification comprises:

circuitry for computing a hash value of the one or more deposits for at least one of storage or the transaction log; and

circuitry for encrypting the hash value with a cryptographic key.

16. The system of claim 3, wherein circuitry for producing a certified version of the transaction log in accordance with the performing the one or more cryptographic actions using the public key encryption, including at least (a) the cryptographic action on the received identification associated with the depositor, (b) the cryptographic action on the checksum of the one or more data elements, and (c) the hash of the transaction log as at least a portion of the certification process comprises:

circuitry for documenting the deposit of one or more data elements for purposes of assessing a fee for the outsourcing transaction; and

circuitry for assessing the fee associated with receiving the deposit at least partially based on the documenting;

circuitry for producing a fee log including at least the assessed fee; and

circuitry for providing the validation record at least partially based on the produced fee log.

17. The system of claim 3, wherein circuitry for receiving a deposit of one or more data elements in connection with an outsourcing transaction, including at least receiving an identification associated with a depositor of the one or more data elements comprises:

circuitry for documenting the deposit of the one or more data elements for purposes of assessing a fee for the outsourcing transaction.

18. The system of claim 3, wherein circuitry for receiving a deposit of one or more data elements in connection with an outsourcing transaction, including at least receiving an identification associated with a depositor of the one or more data elements comprises:

circuitry for receiving the deposit of the one or more data elements in connection with the outsourcing transaction for proofing of the one or more data elements.

19. The system of claim 3, wherein circuitry for receiving a deposit of one or more data elements in connection with an outsourcing transaction, including at least receiving an identification associated with a depositor of the one or more data elements comprises:

circuitry for receiving the one or more data elements in a compressed format using at least one standard for file compression.

20. The system of claim 3, wherein circuitry for receiving a deposit of one or more data elements in connection with an outsourcing transaction, including at least receiving an identification associated with a depositor of the one or more data elements comprises:

circuitry for receiving the deposit as an escrow service for an owner of the one or more data elements.

21. The system of claim 20, wherein circuitry for receiving the deposit as an escrow service for an owner of the one or more data elements comprises:

circuitry for receiving the deposit for the escrow service as a fee-based transaction.

22. The system of claim 20, wherein circuitry for receiving the deposit as an escrow service for an owner of the one or more data elements comprises:

circuitry for receiving the deposit as collateral for a future transaction; and

circuitry for receiving the certified version of the transaction log to provide proof of the one or more deposits.

23. The system of claim 3, wherein circuitry for performing one or more cryptographic actions using a public key encryption on one or more aspects of the outsourcing transaction comprises:

circuitry for performing one or more cryptographic actions using a checksum of at least one of the one or more data elements or the transaction log and an identification of a third party to produce the certified version of the transaction log.

24. The system of claim 3, wherein circuitry for performing one or more cryptographic actions using a public key encryption on one or more aspects of the outsourcing transaction comprises:

circuitry for enabling access of the certified version of the transaction log to at least one of a third party or a party authorized by an owner of the certified transaction log.

25. The system of claim 3, wherein circuitry for providing the validation record of the certified version of the transaction log in response to a received query associated with the depositor, the received query related to the pricing of the outsourcing transaction comprises:

circuitry for enabling a depositor to use a decryption technique to establish proof of the deposit in response to a received query associated with the depositor, the received query related to the pricing of the outsourcing transaction.

26. The system of claim 3, wherein circuitry for performing one or more cryptographic actions using a public key encryption on one or more aspects of the outsourcing transaction comprises:

circuitry for performing one or more of a hash of the received identification or a secret key encryption of the received identification following use of a public key encryption of the received identification.

27. The system of claim 3, wherein circuitry for performing one or more cryptographic actions using a public key encryption on one or more aspects of the outsourcing transaction comprises:

circuitry for performing one or more of a check function, a hash function checksum, or a hash of the deposit for at least one of storage or the transaction log.

28. The system of claim 3, wherein circuitry for maintaining a transaction log to provide a validation record acknowledging receipt of the deposit comprises:

circuitry for maintaining a transaction log, the transaction log including at least some tracking data to confirm the outsourcing transaction, the tracking data including at least one or more of a date of deposit associated with the one or more data elements, a date of creation of the one or more data elements, one or more sources of the one or more data elements, one or more recipients of the data, or a description of the one or more data elements.

29. The system of claim 3, wherein circuitry for performing one or more cryptographic actions using a public key encryption on one or more aspects of the outsourcing transaction comprises:

circuitry for performing one or more cryptographic actions on the received identification, including at least maintaining one or more statistics related to at least one of success or failure of the one or more cryptographic actions; and

wherein circuitry for establishing a deposit history, including at least pricing the outsourcing transaction at least as a function of (i) an amount of data included in the deposit, (ii) a number of certified versions of transaction logs produced, and (iii) the statistical failure rate associated with producing the certified version of the transaction log includes at least;

circuitry for pricing the outsourcing transaction at least partially based on the maintained one or more statistics.

30. The system of claim 3, wherein circuitry for producing a certified version of the transaction log in accordance with the performing the one or more cryptographic actions using the public key encryption, including at least (a) the cryptographic action on the received identification associated with the depositor, (b) the cryptographic action on the checksum of the one or more data elements, and (c) the hash of the transaction log as at least a portion of the certification process comprises:

circuitry for producing a certified version of the transaction log, including at least maintaining a statistical failure rate associated with producing the certified version of the transaction log at least partially based on a rate of success associated with the one or more performed cryptographic actions on the received identification associated with the depositor;

circuitry for generating an index associated with the validation record; and

circuitry for exposing the generated index for access by the depositor.

31. The system of claim 3, wherein circuitry for providing the validation record of the certified version of the transaction log in response to a received query associated with the depositor, the received query related to the pricing of the outsourcing transaction comprises:

circuitry for providing the validation record of the certified version of the transaction log in response to a received query associated with the depositor, the provided validation record at least partially indicative of the statistical failure rate associated with the performing one or more cryptographic actions.

32. The system of claim 3, wherein circuitry for providing the validation record of the certified version of the transaction log in response to a received query associated with the depositor, the received query related to the pricing of the outsourcing transaction comprises:

circuitry for providing the validation record of the certified version of the transaction log in response to a received query associated with the depositor, the provided validation record at least partially indicative of the statistical failure rate associated with the performing the one or more cryptographic actions on the received identification associated with the depositor.

33. The system of claim 3, wherein circuitry for performing a checksum of the one or more data elements comprises:

circuitry for performing a hash function checksum of the one or more data elements.

34. The system of claim 3, wherein circuitry for receiving a deposit of one or more data elements in connection with an outsourcing transaction, including at least receiving an identification associated with a depositor of the one or more data elements comprises:

circuitry for receiving, at least partially via the Internet, a deposit of one or more data elements in connection with an outsourcing transaction, including at least receiving an identification associated with a depositor of the one or more data elements; and

wherein circuitry for storing the one or more data elements including at least storing the checksum of the one or more data elements includes at least;

circuitry for accessing, at least partially via the Internet, a storage facility configured for receiving the one or more data elements and the checksum of the one or more data elements; and

circuitry for storing the one or more data elements and the checksum of the one or more data elements.

35. The system of claim 3, wherein circuitry for storing the one or more data elements including at least storing the checksum of the one or more data elements comprises:

circuitry for storing the one or more data elements, including at least storing the one or more data elements using a stored code uniquely identifying a third party associated with the depositor.

36. The system of claim 3, wherein circuitry for receiving a deposit of one or more data elements in connection with an outsourcing transaction, including at least receiving an identification associated with a depositor of the one or more data elements comprises:

circuitry for matching a stored code in a database storing a plurality of stored codes of third parties permitted to make a deposit.

37. The system of claim 3, wherein circuitry for performing a hash on the transaction log to create a digital fingerprint traceable to the received identification comprises:

circuitry for performing a hash on the transaction log to create a sequential transaction identifier as a cryptographic digital fingerprint to enable tracking of one or more sequential deposits.