Multi-user login for shared mobile devices

• US 9,400,893 B2
• Filed: 12/15/2011
• Issued: 07/26/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 12/15/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Meta Platforms, Inc. (f/k/a Facebook, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Meta Platforms, Inc. (f/k/a Facebook, Inc.)
• Inventors: Tseng, Erick, Sharon, Eyal Michael
• Primary Examiner(s): Hoffman, Brandon
• Assistant Examiner(s): Woldemariam, Nega
• Application Number:
  US13/327,534
• Publication Number:
  US 20130160141A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,685 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/31 User authentication
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/6245 Protecting personal data, e.g. for financial or medical purposes
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2115 Third party
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/21 for social networking applications

Abstract

In particular embodiments, two or more users are provided with personalized experiences while using a shared mobile computing device. A login interface is presented for a plurality of users of the shared mobile computing device. When an indication of a login action by a first user of the plurality of users is detected, access to restricted information associated with any other user of the plurality of users is disabled. Cached information associated with the first user is retrieved from a local data store. A personalized user interface is then presented, based on the cached information. Updates to information and/or content may be cached and/or stored remotely. When an indication of a logout action by a first user of the plurality of users is detected, particular information and/or content is flushed from the local data store.

Claims

1. A shared mobile computing device, comprising:

a local data store;

one or more non-transitory machine-readable storage media encoded with instructions; and

a processor configured to execute the instructions to;

present a login interface for a plurality of users of the shared mobile computing device;

detect an indication of a login action by a first user of the plurality of users;

disable access to restricted personal information associated with any other user of the plurality of users;

retrieve cached settings information associated with the first user from the local data store;

retrieve personal information associated with the first user from a third party system, the personal information being based on interactions of the first user with one or more other entities of the third party system;

present a personalized user interface based on the cached settings information and the retrieved personal information;

detect an indication of a user logout action; and

upon detection of the logout action, delete, from the local data store, particular information associated with the first user.

2. The device of claim 1, wherein the restricted personal information associated with the any other user of the plurality of users comprises information designated by the any other user as private or confidential, information associated with settings configured by the any other user, information created by the any other user, or information generated by user-initiated actions.

3. The device of claim 1, wherein the retrieved personal information comprises user-identifying information, a user profile picture, a display name, user authentication information, user authorization information, information associated with communications to or from the user, information associated with contacts of the user, information associated with purchases made by the user, information associated with an account of the user, location information, user history information, or user preference information;

and

the cached settings information comprises user-configured device settings for the shared mobile computing device, or user-configured software settings for software executable by one or more processors associated with the shared mobile computing device.

4. The device of claim 1, wherein the instructions to detect the indication of the login action comprises instructions to detect a voice command, a signal from an accelerometer associated with the shared mobile computing device, a signal from a biometric identification sensor associated with the shared mobile computing device, a signal from a remote control device associated with the shared mobile computing device, a user input transmitted by an input element associated with the shared mobile computing device, or any combination thereof.

5. The device of claim 1, wherein the local data store comprises one or more partitions, each partition being associated with one user of the plurality of users, and wherein the instructions to disable access to restricted personal information associated with any other user of the plurality of users comprises instructions to enable access only to the partition associated with the first user.

6. The device of claim 5, wherein each partition of the local data store is separately encrypted.

7. The device of claim 1, wherein the instructions to disable access to restricted personal information associated with the any other user of the plurality of users comprises instructions to disable access to the local data store, switch to an alternate local data store, clear a local cache, disable or delete cookies, disable or delete an authorization token, disable or delete security certificates, or disable or delete other user profile information.

8. The device of claim 1, wherein the cached settings information or the retrieved personal information comprises brightness, touch input sensitivity, pointer speed, scrolling speed, power conservation settings, background color, wallpaper, font attributes, arrangement of icons, format of icons, font of icons, size of icons, arrangement of text, format of text, font of text, size of text, content update frequency, user interface layout, user interface elements, network configuration settings, power consumption or conservation settings, ringtones, notification modes, time zone, time/date format, device-based security settings, authentication settings, authorization settings, a custom dictionary and auto-correct settings, auto-complete settings, audio settings, notification settings, language settings, voicemail settings, the selection of applications that are available, pre-authentication for applications that access remote data, application configuration settings, dashboard and/or desktop configuration, browser bookmarks, calendar items, phone contact list, social network contacts, personal status history, messaging history, email history, notifications and alarms, geolocation-related information, saved locations, search history, email, notes, downloaded attachments to communications, or downloaded applications.

9. The device of claim 1, further comprising instructions to cache, in the local data store, updates to the cached settings information or the retrieved personal information associated with the first user.

10. The device of claim 1, further comprising instructions to store, in a remote data store, updates to the cached settings information or the retrieved personal information associated with the first user.

11. The device of claim 1, wherein the instructions to detect the indication of the logout action comprise instructions to detect a user input transmitted by an input element associated with the shared mobile computing device, a voice command, a signal from an accelerometer associated with the shared mobile computing device, a signal from a biometric identification sensor associated with the shared mobile computing device, a signal from a remote control device associated with the shared mobile computing device, an incoming call, an incoming text message, a timeout, a power cycle, a device reset, or any combination thereof.

12. The device of claim 1, further comprising instructions to select the particular information to delete based on available space in the local data store, a maximum storage quota placed upon the first user, an attribute associated with the particular information, or any combination thereof.

13. The device of claim 12, wherein the attribute associated with the particular information comprises a created timestamp, a last-accessed timestamp, an expiration timestamp, a usage statistic, a popularity statistic, a size, an information type, a category, a deletion indicator, an obsolescence indicator, or any combination thereof.

14. The device of claim 13, wherein the information type comprises personal information, content, auto-generated data, restricted information, or any combination thereof.

15. The device of claim 1, wherein the instructions to delete comprise instructions to clear a local cache, delete cookies, delete an authorization token, disable or delete security certificates, delete other user profile information, or any combination thereof.

16. The device of claim 1, wherein the instructions to detect the indication of the logout action comprise instructions to detect a second user attempting to interact with the device before the first user has performed the logout action.

17. The device of claim 16, wherein the instructions to detect a second user attempting to interact with the device comprise instructions to detect the second user looking at the device, picking up the device, attempting to utilize the device, or some combination thereof.

18. A method comprising:

presenting, on a shared mobile computing device comprising a local data store, a login interface for a plurality of users of the shared mobile computing device;

detecting an indication of a login action by a first user of the plurality of users;

disabling access to restricted personal information associated with any other user of the plurality of users;

retrieving cached settings information associated with the first user from the local data store;

retrieving personal information associated with the first user from a third party system, the personal information being based on interactions of the first user with one or more other entities of the third party system;

presenting a personalized user interface on the shared mobile computing device based on the cached personal information cached settings information and the retrieved personal information;

detecting an indication of a user logout action; and

upon detection of the logout action, delete, from the local data store, particular information associated with the first user.

19. One or more computer-readable non-transitory storage media embodying software that is operable when executed by one or more processors associated with a shared mobile computing device to:

present, on the shared mobile computing device comprising a local data store, a login interface for a plurality of users of the shared mobile computing device;

detect an indication of a login action by a first user of the plurality of users;

disable access to restricted personal information associated with any other user of the plurality of users;

retrieve cached settings information associated with the first user from the local data store;

retrieve personal information associated with the first user from a third party system, the personal information being based on interactions of the first user with one or more other entities of the third party system;

present a personalized user interface based on the cached settings information and the retrieved personal information;

detect an indication of a user logout action; and

upon detection of the logout action, delete, from the local data store, particular information associated with the first user.

20. The media of claim 19, wherein the local data store comprises one or more encrypted partitions, each partition being associated with one user of the plurality of users, and wherein the instructions to disable access to the restricted personal information associated with the any other user of the plurality of users comprises instructions to enable access only to the partition associated with the first user.