TECHNIQUES FOR SHARING CONTENT INFORMATION WITH MEMBERS OF A VIRTUAL USER GROUP IN A NETWORK ENVIRONMENT WITHOUT COMPROMISING USER PRIVACY

• US 20070162570A1
• Filed: 01/03/2007
• Published: 07/12/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 05/18/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Micro Focus LLC (Open Text Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Stratify, Inc. (Open Text Corporation)
• Inventors: Venkata, Ramana, Thomas, Joy, Mathur, Rakesh, Subramonian, Ramesh, Nayak, Pangal
• Granted Patent: US 7,822,812 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/219
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/6245 Protecting personal data, e.g. for financial or medical purposes

Abstract

Techniques for sharing content information between members of a virtual user group without compromising the privacy of the members. A user can identify content information to be shared with other members of a virtual user group using a user computer system. The content information is then communicated to the other members of the virtual user group and can be accessed by members of the virtual user group in such a manner that the privacy of the user and of the other members of the virtual user group is not compromised. The present invention preserves user privacy by controlling and minimizing the amount of user-related information available/accessible to server systems hosting the virtual user groups.

Claims

1. A method of communicating content information from a first user system to a second user system, the method comprising:

providing a server hosting a plurality of virtual user groups, the plurality of virtual user groups including a first virtual user group;

providing a plurality of user systems coupled to the server, the plurality of user systems including the first user system and the second user system, each of the plurality of user systems storing information indicating that a user of the user system is a member of at least one virtual user group from the plurality of virtual user groups hosted by the server, the first user system storing information indicating that a user of the first user system is a member of the first virtual user group, and the second user system storing information indicating that a user of the second user system is a member of the first virtual user group;

at the first user system, identifying content information to be communicated to user systems whose users are members of the first virtual user group;

communicating the content information from the first user system to the server;

communicating the content information, received by the server from the first user system, from the server to the plurality of user systems coupled to the server;

at the second user system;

receiving the content information from the server;

determining if the content information is related to the first virtual user group; and

if the content information is determined to be related to the first virtual user group, outputting the content information.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein identifying, at the first user system, content information to be communicated to user systems whose users are members of the first virtual user group comprises:

at the first user system;

determining contents of a document displayed by the first user system;

determining if the contents of the document are related to the first user virtual group; and

if it is determined that the content of the document are related to the first virtual user group, identifying the contents of the document as content information to be communicated to user systems whose users are members of the first virtual user group.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein identifying, at the first user system, content information to be communicated to user systems whose users are members of the first virtual user group comprises:

at the first user system;

displaying a user interface;

receiving a signal via the user interface identifying a document;

determining contents of the document; and

identifying the contents of the document as content information to be communicated to user systems whose users are members of the first virtual user group.

4. A method of communicating content information from a first user system to a second user system, the method comprising:

at the first user system;

storing information indicating that a user of the first user system is a member of a plurality of virtual user groups;

receiving a signal at the first user system identifying content information;

determining a first virtual user group from the plurality of virtual user groups to which the content information is related;

determining a plurality of servers hosting the plurality of virtual user groups, the plurality of servers including a first server hosting the first virtual user group; and

communicating the content information from the first user system to the plurality of servers; and

at the second user system;

receiving the content information from the first server;

determining if the content information is related to the first virtual user group; and

outputting the content information if the content information is determined to be related to the first virtual user group.

5. A method of communicating content information from a first user system to a second user system, the method comprising:

at the first user system;

storing information indicating that a user of the first user system is a member of a plurality of virtual user groups, the plurality of groups hosted by a plurality of servers;

receiving a signal at the first user system identifying content information;

determining a first virtual user group from the plurality of virtual user groups to which the content information is related;

determining, from the plurality of servers, a first server hosting the first virtual user group; and

communicating the content information from the first user system to the first server;

communicating the content information from the first server to a plurality of user systems, each user system of the plurality of user systems storing information indicating that a user of the user system is a member at least one virtual user group hosted by the first server, the plurality of user systems including the second user system, the second user system storing information indicating that a user of the second user system is a member of the first virtual user group; and

at the second user system;

receiving the content information from the first server;

determining if the content information is related to the first virtual user group; and

outputting the content information if the content information is determined to be related to the first virtual user group.

6. A system for communicating content information comprising:

a server system hosting a plurality of virtual user groups, the plurality of virtual user groups including a first virtual user group; and

a plurality of user systems coupled to the server system, the plurality of user systems including a first user system and a second user system, each of the plurality of user systems storing information indicating that a user of the user system is a member of at least one virtual user group from the plurality of virtual user groups hosted by the server;

wherein the first user system is configured to;

store information indicating that a user of the first user system is a member of the first virtual user group,

receive a signal identifying content information to be communicated to user systems whose users are members of the first virtual user group; and

communicate the content information from the first user system to the server;

wherein the server is configured to communicate the content information received from the first user system to the plurality of user systems coupled to the server system;

wherein the second user system is configured to;

store information indicating that a user of the second user system is a member of the first virtual user group;

receive the content information from the server;

determine if the content information is related to the first virtual user group; and

if the content information is determined to be related to the first virtual user group, output the content information.

7. The system of claim 6 wherein in order to receive the signal identifying the content information, the first user system is configured to:

determine contents of the document displayed by the first user system;

determine if the contents of the document are related to the first virtual user group; and

if it is determined that the contents of the document are related to the first virtual user group, identifying the contents of the document as content information to be communicated to user systems whose users are members of the first virtual user group.

8. The system of claim 6 wherein in order to receive the signal identifying the content information, the first user system is configured to:

display a user interface;

receive a signal via the user interface identifying a document;

determine contents of the document; and

generate the signal identifying the contents of the document as content information to be communicated to user systems whose users are members of the first virtual user group.

9. A system for communicating content information comprising:

a first user system;

a second user system;

a plurality of servers hosting a plurality of virtual user groups;

wherein the first user system is configured to;

store information indicating that a user of the first user system is a member of the plurality of virtual user groups;

receive a signal identifying content information;

determine a first virtual user group from the plurality of virtual user groups to which the content information is related;

determine the plurality of servers hosting the plurality of virtual user groups, the plurality of servers including a first server hosting the first virtual user group; and

communicate the content information from the first user system to the plurality of servers; and

wherein the second user system is configured to;

receive the content information from the first server;

determine if the content information is related to the first virtual user group; and

output the content information if the content information is determined to be related to the first virtual user group.

10. A system for communicating content information comprising:

a first user system;

a second user system; and

a plurality of servers hosting a plurality of virtual user groups;

wherein the first user system is configured to;

store information indicating that a user of the first user system is a member of the plurality of virtual user groups;

receive a signal identifying content information;

determine a first virtual user group from the plurality of virtual user groups to which the content information is related;

determine, from the plurality of servers, a first server hosting the first virtual user group; and

communicate the content information from the first user system to the first server;

wherein the first server is configured to;

communicate the content information to a plurality of user systems, each user system of the plurality of user systems storing information indicating that a user of the user system is a member at least one virtual user group hosted by the first server, the plurality of user systems including the second user system;

wherein the second user system is configured to;

store information indicating that a user of the second user system is a member of the first virtual user group;

receive the content information from the first server;

determine if the content information is related to the first virtual user group; and

output the content information if the content information is determined to be related to the first virtual user group.

11. A computer program product stored on a computer-readable storage medium for communicating content information, the computer program product comprising:

code for receiving a signal identifying first content information;

code for determining a first virtual user group from a plurality of virtual user groups to which the first content information is related;

code for determining, from a plurality of servers, a first server hosting the first virtual user group;

code for communicating the first content information to the first server;

code for receiving second content information from the first server;

code for determining if the second content information is related to the first virtual user group; and

code for outputting the second content information if the content information is determined to be related to the first virtual user group.