Providing geographic locations of a user's wireless device
First Claim
1. A method for determining the identity of a user associated with a wireless device located near a geographic location at a specific time, the method comprising:
- determining geographic locations of one or more wireless devices associated with one or more users, the determining comprising;
(1) sending an alert to the one or more wireless devices in response to an occurrence of an event at a specific location, wherein the alert requests release of the geographic locations of one or more wireless devices associated with the one or more users;
(2) receiving consent from at least one of the one or more users associated with the one or more wireless devices to release the geographic locations of the one or more wireless devices associated with the at least one user; and
(3) generating a list of the at least one user from which consent was received and the one or more wireless devices associated with the at least one user;
generating an inquiry in response to a request from a law enforcement organization, the request for identities of the one or more users of the one or more wireless devices having geographic locations corresponding to the specific location, the geographic locations and the identities being unknown to the law enforcement organization;
transmitting, to the one or more wireless devices associated with the at least one user on the list, the inquiry for consent to communicate user identifying information in response to the request received from the law enforcement organization;
andtransmitting, to the law enforcement organization, the user identifying information and the geographic locations for the one or more wireless devices corresponding to the at least one user on the list when consent is received in response to the inquiry.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method, system, and medium are provided for determining the identity of a user associated with a wireless device located near a geographic location at a specific time. In response to the occurrence of an event at a geographic location, a request can be issued by a wireless provider to users of wireless devices to provide the geographic locations of their respective devices and their identities to one or more entities. Upon receiving an affirmative response to the request, the wireless provider communicates information to the entities allowing the entities to contact the users to solicit information regarding the occurrence of the event. A wireless provider may send a request for authorization to users of wireless devices to provide geographic locations when the wireless device enters a predefined geographic area.
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Citations
19 Claims
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1. A method for determining the identity of a user associated with a wireless device located near a geographic location at a specific time, the method comprising:
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determining geographic locations of one or more wireless devices associated with one or more users, the determining comprising; (1) sending an alert to the one or more wireless devices in response to an occurrence of an event at a specific location, wherein the alert requests release of the geographic locations of one or more wireless devices associated with the one or more users; (2) receiving consent from at least one of the one or more users associated with the one or more wireless devices to release the geographic locations of the one or more wireless devices associated with the at least one user; and (3) generating a list of the at least one user from which consent was received and the one or more wireless devices associated with the at least one user; generating an inquiry in response to a request from a law enforcement organization, the request for identities of the one or more users of the one or more wireless devices having geographic locations corresponding to the specific location, the geographic locations and the identities being unknown to the law enforcement organization; transmitting, to the one or more wireless devices associated with the at least one user on the list, the inquiry for consent to communicate user identifying information in response to the request received from the law enforcement organization; and transmitting, to the law enforcement organization, the user identifying information and the geographic locations for the one or more wireless devices corresponding to the at least one user on the list when consent is received in response to the inquiry. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A non-transitory computer readable media storing computer usable instructions for performing a method for determining the identity of a user associated with a wireless device located near a geographic location at a specific time, the method comprising:
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sending an alert to one or more wireless devices in response to an occurrence of an event at a specific location, wherein the alert requests release of the geographic location of one or more users of the one or more wireless devices; receiving consent from at least one of the one or more users of the wireless devices; generating a list of the at least one consenting user; confirming that the geographic locations of the one or more wireless devices of the at least one consenting user on the list was within a predefined distance off the specific location within a period of time corresponding to the event; generating an inquiry in response to a request from a law enforcement organization, the request for user identifying information of any users having confirmed geographic locations with the predefined distance of the specific location within the period of time corresponding to the event, the identity and geographic locations of the one or more users being unknown to the law enforcement organization; transmitting the inquiry to the one or more wireless devices associated with the at least one consenting user on the list having confirmed geographic locations within the predefined distance of the specific location within the period of time corresponding to the event, wherein the inquiry solicits user identifying information from the at least one consenting user and solicits consent to share the user identifying information in response to the request from the law enforcement organization; and transmitting, to the law enforcement organization, the user identifying information and the geographic locations of the at least one consenting user when consent is received in response to the inquiry. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A communication system having at least one geographical position system, the communication system comprises:
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at least one base station; and a plurality of wireless devices wirelessly connected to the at least one base station, the plurality of wireless devices associated with users, wherein the at least one base station is further configured to; send an alert to the plurality of wireless devices in response to an occurrence of an event at a specific location, wherein the alert requests release of the geographic location of the plurality of wireless devices of the users; receive consent from at least one of the users of the plurality of wireless devices to release the geographic location; generate a list of the at least one consenting user; generate an inquiry in response to a request from a law enforcement organization, the request for identities of any users of the plurality of wireless devices having geographic locations corresponding to the specific location, the identities and geographic locations of the users being unknown to the law enforcement organization; identifying whether the geographic locations of the at least one consenting user of the list corresponds to the occurrence of the event; transmit the inquiry to the at least one consenting user of the list identified as having geographic locations that correspond to the specific location, wherein the inquiry solicits the user identifying information of the at least one consenting user identified as having geographic locations that correspond to the specific location and solicits consent to transmit the user identifying information the law enforcement organization; and when user identifying information and consent is received from the at least one consenting user of the list identified as having geographic locations that correspond to the specific location, transmitting the user identifying information and the geographic locations to the law enforcement organization. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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Specification