Managing electronic keys

• US 9,646,165 B1
• Filed: 01/26/2015
• Issued: 05/09/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 08/30/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microstrategy Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Microstrategy Incorporated
• Inventors: Saylor, Michael J.
• Primary Examiner(s): NANO, SARGON N
• Application Number:
  US14/605,788
• Time in Patent Office: 834 Days
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 25/02128 comprising safety devices avoiding locking until removal of the key
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 25/241 whereby access privileges are related to the identifiers
• CPC Class Codes: E05B 45/06 Electric alarm locks E05B45/005 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: E05B 49/00 Electric permutation locks; Circuits therefor ; Mechanical aspects of electronic locks; Mechanical keys therefor arrangements for sensing or reading record carriers G06K7/00; mechanisms including electronic locks actuated by nonmechanical keys such as passive and active electrical keys and other data carriers G07C9/00, G07F7/00; electronic switching H03K17/00
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/6209 to a single file or object, e.g. in a secure envelope, encrypted and accessed using a key, or with access control rules appended to the object itself
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 2009/00769 with data transmission performed by wireless means
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 2009/00825 remotely by lines or wireless communication
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 2009/00841 by a portable device
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 2209/04 Access control involving a hierarchy in access rights
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/00571 operated by interacting with a central unit
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/00857 where the code of the data carrier can be programmed
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/00904 for hotels, motels, office buildings or the like
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/20 involving the use of a pass
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/306 User profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication

Abstract

Users of a social networking platform may provide electronic keys to other users of the social networking platform. Use of an electronic key may be subject to one or more conditions specified by the issuer of the electronic key. Data may be provided that enables the recipient to use the electronic key in accordance with the one or more conditions on use of the electronic key.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one computer-readable medium 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;

receiving, based on input provided by a user, data identifying a recipient for an electronic key that provides access to a secured resource;

receiving, based on input provided by the user, data identifying the secured resource to which the user desires to provide the electronic key;

receiving, based on input provided by the user, data indicating one or more conditions on use of the electronic key;

determining that the user has authority to issue the electronic key that provides access to the secured resource;

in response to determining that the user has authority to issue the electronic key that provides access to the secured resource, storing, in electronic storage, key data that identifies the recipient of the electronic key, the secured resource for which the electronic key is granted, and the one or more conditions on use of the electronic key;

transmitting, to an electronic address for the recipient, data that indicates that the electronic key is transferred to the recipient;

receiving, by a server system, data indicating an attempt by the recipient to use the electronic key to access the secured resource;

in response to receiving the data indicating an attempt by the recipient to use an electronic device and the electronic key to access the secured resource, determining that the one or more conditions on use of the electronic key are satisfied; and

in response to determining that the one or more conditions on use of the electronic key are satisfied, communicating, by the server system, with the secured resource over a network to cause access to be granted to the secured resource.

2. The system of claim 1:

wherein the operations further comprise providing, to an electronic device associated with the user, information identifying a set of users;

wherein receiving, based on input provided by the user, data identifying the recipient for the electronic key comprises receiving, based on input provided by the user, data indicating selection of one or more users from among the set of users.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein receiving data identifying the secured resource comprises receiving data identifying a physical space secured by a physical lock.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise:

receiving, based on input provided by the user, revocation data indicating that the recipient should no longer have access to the electronic key;

based on the revocation data;

storing, in the electronic storage, key data that indicates that the electronic key is revoked; and

transmitting, to the electronic address for the recipient, data indicating that access to the electronic key by the recipient is terminated;

after receiving the revocation data, receiving use data indicating an attempted use of the electronic key; and

based on the revocation data, transmitting, to an electronic device associated with the recipient, data indicating that the access to the secured resource is denied.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise:

accessing, from a first social networking platform, first social network data identifying users connected to the user in the first social networking platform;

based on the first social network data, determining that the recipient is connected to the user in the first social networking platform;

wherein transmitting, to the electronic address for the recipient, the data that indicates that the electronic key is transferred to the recipient comprises transmitting, in response to determining that the recipient is connected to the user in the first social networking platform, the data that indicates that the electronic key is transferred to the recipient.

6. The system of claim 1,

wherein transmitting the data that indicates that the electronic key is transferred to the recipient comprises transmitting, to a mobile phone, the data that indicates that the electronic key is transferred;

wherein the operations further comprise receiving, from the mobile phone, use data indicating an attempted use of the electronic key, the use data identifying the electronic key and including description information that describes the attempted use; and

wherein communicating with the secured resource comprises communicating with the secured resource over the network to cause access to be granted to the secured resource based on the use data.

7. The system of claim 1, further comprising receiving, based on input from the recipient, authentication data identifying the recipient;

wherein the operations further comprise;

evaluating the authentication data against stored reference data associated with the recipient; and

based on the evaluation of the authentication data, confirming the identity of the recipient wherein communicating with the secured resource comprises communicating with the secured resource over the network to cause access to be granted to the secured resource in response to confirming the identity of the recipient.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein receiving data indicating the one or more conditions on use of the electronic key comprises receiving data indicating that the electronic key is operable only when the user is in a location other than a physical space associated with the secured resource;

wherein determining that the use of the electronic key satisfies the one or more conditions on use of the electronic key comprises determining that the user is in a location other than the physical space; and

wherein communicating with the secured resource comprises communicating with the secured resource over the network to cause access to be granted to the secured resource in response to determining that the user is not present in the physical space.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein receiving data indicating the one or more conditions on use of the electronic key comprises receiving use data indicating that use of the electronic key by the recipient requires approval by the user;

wherein determining that the use of the electronic key satisfies the one or more conditions on use of the electronic key comprises;

in response to receiving the use data, transmitting, to an electronic address for the user, a request for approval of the attempted use of the electronic key; and

receiving, based on input from the user, approval data indicating approval of the attempted use of the electronic key by the recipient; and

wherein communicating with the secured resource comprises communicating with the secured resource over the network to cause access to be granted to the secured resource in response to receiving the approval data.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein receiving data indicating the one or more conditions on use of the electronic key comprises receiving data indicating that the electronic key may be used only when the recipient is accompanied by one of a predetermined set of one or more persons;

wherein determining that the use of the electronic key satisfies the one or more conditions on use of the electronic key comprises;

receiving presence data that indicates the identity of a person accompanying the recipient when the use of the electronic key is attempted; and

based on the presence data, determining that the person is one of the predetermined set of one or more persons and that the person accompanies the recipient; and

wherein communicating with the secured resource comprises communicating with the secured resource over the network to cause access to be granted to the secured resource in response to determining that the person is one of the predetermined set of one or more persons and that the person accompanies the recipient.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein receiving data indicating the one or more conditions on use of the electronic key comprises receiving data indicating that the electronic key may be used only when the recipient is accompanied by a person who satisfies one or more criteria;

wherein determining that the use of the electronic key satisfies the one or more conditions on use of the electronic key comprises;

receiving presence data that indicates the identity of a person that accompanies the recipient when the use of the electronic key is attempted; and

determining that the person satisfies the one or more criteria and that the person accompanies the recipient; and

wherein communicating with the secured resource comprises communicating with the secured resource over the network to cause access to be granted to the secured resource in response to determining that the person satisfies the one or more criteria and that the person accompanies the recipient.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise:

receiving, based on input from the user, data indicating that the user authorizes the recipient to transfer the electronic key to one or more other users;

receiving, based on input from the user, data indicating one or more restrictions on the transfer of the electronic key by the recipient;

receiving, based on input from the recipient, a request to transfer the electronic key to a second recipient that has not been granted an electronic key that provides access to the secured resource;

determining that the transfer to the second recipient satisfies the one or more restrictions on transfer of the electronic key by the recipient; and

in response to determining that the transfer to the second recipient satisfies the one or more restrictions on transfer of the electronic key by the recipient;

storing, in the electronic storage, second key data that identifies the second recipient of the electronic key, the secured resource for which the electronic key is granted, and the one or more conditions on use of the electronic key;

accessing, from profile data for the second recipient, an electronic address for the second recipient; and

transmitting, to the electronic address for the second recipient, data that (i) indicates that the electronic key is transferred to the second recipient and (ii) enables the recipient to use the electronic key in accordance with the one or more conditions on use of the electronic key.

13. The system of claim 1, wherein receiving, based on input provided by a user, data identifying the recipient for the electronic key that provides access to the secured resource comprises receiving, based on input provided by the user through a social networking platform, the data indicating a recipient for the electronic key that provides access to the secured resource;

wherein receiving, based on input provided by the user, data identifying the secured resource to which the user desires to provide the electronic key comprises receiving, based on input provided by the user through the social networking platform, data identifying the secured resource to which the user desires to provide the electronic key;

wherein receiving, based on input provided by the user, data indicating the one or more conditions on use of the electronic key comprises receiving, based on input provided by the user through the social networking platform, the data indicating the one or more conditions on use of the electronic key; and

wherein transmitting the data indicating that the electronic key is transferred to the recipient comprises transmitting, through the social networking platform, the data indicating that the electronic key is transferred to the recipient.

14. The system of claim 1, wherein receiving data indicating the attempt by the recipient to use the electronic key to access the secured resource comprises receiving, by the server system, data transmitted by an electronic device associated with the recipient.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein receiving the data transmitted by the electronic device comprises receiving, by the server system, a code obtained by the electronic device from the secured resource;

and

wherein communicating with the secured resource comprises communicating, by the server system, with the secured resource over the network to cause access to be granted to the secured resource based on the received code.

16. The system of claim 1, wherein receiving data indicating the attempt by the recipient to use the electronic key to access the secured resource comprises receiving, by the server system, data transmitted by the secured resource over the network in response to communication with an electronic device of the recipient.

17. The system of claim 1, wherein receiving data indicating the attempt by the recipient to use the electronic key to access the secured resource comprises receiving a request from the secured resource to determine whether the one or more conditions on use of the electronic key are satisfied;

and

wherein communicating, by the server system, with the secured resource over the network to cause access to be granted to the secured resource comprises sending, from the server system to the secured resource, a message indicating that the one or more conditions on use of the electronic key are satisfied.

18. The system of claim 1, wherein receiving the data indicating the attempt by the recipient to use the electronic key comprises receiving data generated in response to an attempt to access the secured resource using an electronic device associated with the recipient;

and

wherein communicating with the secured resource comprises transmitting, by the server system, an access code to the secured resource over the network without transmitting the access code to the electronic device associated with the recipient.

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:

receiving, based on input provided by a user, data identifying a recipient for an electronic key that provides access to a secured resource;

receiving, based on input provided by the user, data identifying the secured resource to which the user desires to provide the electronic key;

receiving, based on input provided by the user, data indicating one or more conditions on use of the electronic key;

determining that the user has authority to issue the electronic key that provides access to the secured resource;

in response to determining that the user has authority to issue the electronic key that provides access to the secured resource, storing, in electronic storage, key data that identifies the recipient of the electronic key, the secured resource for which the electronic key is granted, and the one or more conditions on use of the electronic key;

transmitting, to an electronic address for the recipient, data that indicates that the electronic key is transferred to the recipient;

receiving, by a server system, data indicating an attempt by the recipient to use the electronic key to access the secured resource;

in response to receiving the data indicating an attempt by the recipient to use the electronic key to access the secured resource, determining that the one or more conditions on use of the electronic key are satisfied; and

in response to determining that the one or more conditions on use of the electronic key are satisfied, communicating, by the server system, with the secured resource over a network to cause access to be granted to the secured resource.

20. A method performed by one or more data processing devices, the method comprising:

receiving, based on input provided by a user, data identifying a recipient for an electronic key that provides access to a secured resource;

receiving, based on input provided by the user, data identifying the secured resource to which the user desires to provide the electronic key;

receiving, based on input provided by the user, data indicating one or more conditions on use of the electronic key;

determining that the user has authority to issue the electronic key that provides access to the secured resource;

in response to determining that the user has authority to issue the electronic key that provides access to the secured resource, storing, in electronic storage, key data that identifies the recipient of the electronic key, the secured resource for which the electronic key is granted, and the one or more conditions on use of the electronic key;

transmitting, to an electronic address for the recipient, data that indicates that the electronic key is transferred to the recipient;

receiving, by a server system, data indicating an attempt by the recipient to use the electronic key to access the secured resource;

in response to receiving the data indicating an attempt by the recipient to use an electronic device and the electronic key to access the secured resource, determining that the one or more conditions on use of the electronic key are satisfied; and

in response to determining that the one or more conditions on use of the electronic key are satisfied, communicating, by the server system, with the secured resource over a network to cause access to be granted to the secured resource.