Controlling an amount of information disclosed by a position-determining system

• US 9,681,298 B1
• Filed: 02/08/2013
• Issued: 06/13/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 03/24/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: T-Mobile Innovations LLC (Deutsche Telekom AG)
• Original Assignee: Sprint Communications Company LP (Deutsche Telekom AG)
• Inventors: Wick, Ryan Alan, Reeves, Raymond Emilio, Jones, John Marvin, Mcmullen, Michael P.
• Primary Examiner(s): Mummalaneni, Nalini
• Application Number:
  US13/763,080
• Time in Patent Office: 1,586 Days
• Field of Search: 455414, 713168, 713170, 713178, 705 18
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72457 according to geographic location
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2242/15 Information service where the information is dependent on the location of the subscriber
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42348 Location-based services which utilize the location information of a target
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/084 using delegated authorisation, e.g. open authorisation [OAuth] protocol
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/088 using filters or firewalls
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/20 Services signaling; Auxiliary data signalling, i.e. transmitting data via a non-traffic channel

Abstract

A method, system, and medium are provided for determining whether to allow a position-determining system to provide location information that describes a location of a mobile device. A series of steps are carried out in which information is exchanged between networked components. In an embodiment, a request for location information (e.g., map coordinates) is received together with contextual information (e.g., identification of a mobile device and identification of a requesting party). A set of rules, such as approved contextual information, is referenced to determine if the contextual information is permissible. Upon determining that the contextual information is permissible, the position-determining system is allowed to provide location information.

Claims

1. Non-transitory computer-readable media having computer-useable instructions embodied thereon that, when executed, perform a method of determining whether to allow a position-determining system to respond to a request to receive location information that describes a location of a mobile device, the method comprising:

receiving, by a network location-request filter, a request to send location information, wherein the request is received from a location-based-service provider at an instant in time;

comparing the instant m time to a network-approved time frame to determine that the request is allowable, wherein the request is denied when the instant in time is not included within any network-approved time frame;

determining approximate-location information, which describes geographical boundaries in which the mobile device is located;

comparing the approximate-location information to a list of unapproved mobile-device locations; and

communicating the request to the position-determining system when the approximate-location information is not included among the list of unapproved mobile-device locations to allow the position-determining system to provide the location information to the location-based-service provider, wherein the network-approved time frame is established by a network entity, and wherein the list of unapproved mobile-device locations are established by a user of the mobile device, such that the network location-request filter references settings established by both the network entity and the user.

2. The media of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises comparing the instant in time to a network-unapproved time frame, and denying the request when the instant in time is included within the network-unapproved time frame.