Method and apparatus for managing the privacy and disclosure of location information
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method comprising:
- using a location privacy setting stored in a location in a basic input/output system (BIOS) memory of a computer system to determine whether the computer system is enabled for location-aware computing;
receiving, at the computer system, a request from a requestor for a location property associated with a location of the computer system;
automatically determining, in response to receiving the request, whether a user of the computer system has already specified a location privacy preference for the requestor;
in response to determining that the user of the computer system has not already specified the location privacy preference for the requestor and only if the computer system is enabled for location-aware computing, automatically prompting the user to provide input indicating whether the location property should be shared with the requestor; and
sharing the location property with the requestor only if the user of the computer system has specified the location privacy preference for the requestor to prescribe that the location property should be shared with the requestor and only if the computer system is enabled for location-aware computing; and
wherein the operation of automatically prompting the user to provide input indicating whether the location property should be shared with the requestor comprises;
automatically presenting a user interface that identifies the requestor from whom the request for the location property was received; and
enabling the user to provide input indicating whether the location property should be shared with the requestor identified by the user interface.
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Abstract
An approach for managing the privacy and disclosure of location information associated with a computer system. For one aspect, a request is received from a requestor for a location property associated with a location of a computer system. It is then determined whether a privacy preference associated with the requestor has been specified. If not, a user may be prompted to supply privacy preferences associated with the requestor. The privacy preferences are then applied to determine whether or not to provide the requested information. A user setting, such as a basic input-output system memory location setting, may also be implemented to enable and/or disable location-aware computing.
28 Citations
13 Claims
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1. A method comprising:
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using a location privacy setting stored in a location in a basic input/output system (BIOS) memory of a computer system to determine whether the computer system is enabled for location-aware computing; receiving, at the computer system, a request from a requestor for a location property associated with a location of the computer system; automatically determining, in response to receiving the request, whether a user of the computer system has already specified a location privacy preference for the requestor; in response to determining that the user of the computer system has not already specified the location privacy preference for the requestor and only if the computer system is enabled for location-aware computing, automatically prompting the user to provide input indicating whether the location property should be shared with the requestor; and sharing the location property with the requestor only if the user of the computer system has specified the location privacy preference for the requestor to prescribe that the location property should be shared with the requestor and only if the computer system is enabled for location-aware computing; and wherein the operation of automatically prompting the user to provide input indicating whether the location property should be shared with the requestor comprises; automatically presenting a user interface that identifies the requestor from whom the request for the location property was received; and enabling the user to provide input indicating whether the location property should be shared with the requestor identified by the user interface. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. A non-transitory machine-accessible medium storing instructions that, when executed by a machine, cause the machine to perform operations comprising:
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using a location privacy setting stored in a location in a basic input/output system (BIOS) memory of a computer system to determine whether the computer system is enabled for location-aware computing; in response to receiving, at the computer system, a request from a requestor for a location property associated with a location of the computer system, determining whether a user of the computer system has already specified a location privacy preference for the requestor; in response to determining that the user of the computer system has not already specified the location privacy preference for the requestor and only if the computer system is enabled for location-aware computing, automatically prompting the user to provide input indicating whether the location property should be shared with the requestor; and sharing the location property with the requestor only if the user of the computer system has specified the location privacy preference for the requestor to prescribe that the location property should be shared with the requestor and only if the computer system is enabled for location-aware computing; and wherein the operation of automatically prompting the user to provide input indicating whether the location property should be shared with the requestor comprises; automatically presenting a user interface that identifies the requestor from whom the request for the location property was received; and enabling the user to provide input indicating whether the location property should be shared with the requestor identified by the user interface. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A system comprising:
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a bus to communicate information; a processor coupled to the bus; a memory coupled to the bus to store information, wherein the memory includes a basic input/output system (BIOS) memory; an antenna coupled to the bus to receive a signal to indicate a location of the system; and a machine-accessible storage medium storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the system to perform operations comprising; using a location privacy setting stored in a location in the BIOS memory to determine whether the system is enabled for location-aware computing; in response to receiving, from a requestor, a request for a location property associated with the location of the system, determining whether a user of the system has already specified a location privacy preference for the requestor; and in response to determining that the user of the system has not already specified the location privacy preference for the requestor and only if the system is enabled for location-aware computing, automatically prompting the user to provide input indicating whether the location property should be shared with the requestor; and sharing the location property with the requestor only if the user of the system has specified the location privacy preference for the requestor to prescribe that the location property should be shared with the requestor and only if the system is enabled for location-aware computing; and wherein the operation of automatically prompting the user to provide input indicating whether the location property should be shared with the requestor comprises; automatically presenting a user interface that identifies the requestor from whom the request for the location property was received; and enabling the user to provide input indicating whether the location property should be shared with the requestor identified by the user interface. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13)
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Specification