Method and device for restricted access contact information datum

• US 20070238443A1
• Filed: 04/07/2006
• Published: 10/11/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 04/07/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google Technology Holdings LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Motorola, Inc. (Motorola Solutions, Inc.)
• Inventors: Richardson, Roger
• Granted Patent: US 7,643,820 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/411
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/2757 by data transmission, e.g. downloading
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/66 with means for preventing unauthorised or fraudulent calling verifying user identity or authority in secret or secure digital communications H04L9/32
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72463 to restrict the functionality of the device

Abstract

Disclosed are an electronic device (202) and method of an electronic device and a method of a network for transmitting, receiving and processing a user-accessible contact information data entry in a contact information storage medium (214). User-accessible contact information data, such as a telephone book entry, is transmitted by a sender'"'"'s device to the mobile communication device (202) with particular restrictions on the entry that trigger a processor (212) to carry out instructions (226, 224, 222) to restrict annunciation, transmission, and/or modification of the telephone book entry and also to trigger instructions (218) to delete all or part of the telephone book entry upon fulfillment of an expiration criterion specified by the sender'"'"'s device.

Claims

1. An electronic device, comprising:

a receiver;

a contact information storage medium for storing a user-accessible contact datum received through the receiver, at least a portion of which is subject to expiration according to an expiration criterion and at least a portion of which is subject to restriction;

an instruction storage medium for storing a deletion instructions module comprising instructions to delete at least a portion of the user-accessible contact datum and for storing a restricted content annunciation instruction module comprising instructions to suppress an annunciation of the portion of the user-accessible contact datum subject to restriction;

a processor, coupled to the instruction storage medium and the contact information storage medium, capable of carrying out the instructions to delete at least a portion of the user-accessible contact datum from the contact information storage medium when the expiration criterion has been met; and

an annunciation device, coupled to the processor, wherein the processor is capable of carrying out instructions to suppress the annunciation by the annunciation device of the portion of the user-accessible contact datum subject to restriction.

2. The electronic device as recited in claim 1, wherein the user-accessible contact datum comprises items and wherein the deletion instructions module further comprises:

an entire deletion instructions module for deleting all items of the user-accessible contact datum from the contact information storage medium.

3. The electronic device as recited in claim 1 wherein the deletion instructions module further comprises:

a portion deletion instructions module for deleting a portion of the user-accessible contact datum from the contact information storage medium.

4. The electronic device as recited in claim 1, wherein the user-accessible contact datum comprises personal identification data.

5. The electronic device as recited in claim 1, wherein the portion of the user-accessible contact datum that is subject to restriction comprises at least a portion of a telephone number.

6. The electronic device as recited in claim 1, wherein the annunciation device comprises a display screen.

7. The electronic device as recited in claim 1, wherein the annunciation device comprises a speaker.

8. The electronic device as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

a transmitter;

a restricted content transmission instruction module comprising instructions to transmit a signal indicating the at least a portion of the user-accessible contact datum subject to restriction.

9. The electronic device as recited in claim 8, wherein the restricted content transmission instruction module comprises instructions to transmit a signal to a service provider indicating that the at least a portion of the user-accessible contact datum subject to restriction is subject to restriction in a service provider communication record.

10. The electronic device as recited in claim 1 further comprising:

an input device;

wherein the processor is further capable of carrying out instructions to block an alteration via the input device of the user-accessible contact datum stored in the contact information storage medium.

11. The electronic device as recited in claim 1, wherein the processor is further capable of carrying out instructions to generate a prompt by the annunciation device in conjunction with the expiration criterion to receive instructions from the user as to whether to delete the user-accessible contact datum.

12. The electronic device as recited in claim 1, wherein the processor is further capable of carrying out instructions to overwrite the instructions to delete at least a portion of user-accessible contact datum from the contact information storage medium when the expiration criterion has been met.

13. A method for processing a telephone book entry in a mobile communication device having at least one transceiver, the method comprising:

receiving, via the transceiver, information for the telephone book entry including an expiration criterion, wherein the information for the telephone book entry includes at least one telephone number;

storing the information for the telephone book entry in a memory;

suppressing an annunciation of at least a portion of the telephone number; and

deleting the information of the telephone book entry when the expiration criterion is met.

14. The method as recited in claim 13, wherein the telephone number includes an area code, the method further comprising:

annunciating the area code of the telephone number.

15. The method as recited in claim 13, wherein the information for the telephone book entry includes identification data, the method further comprising:

annunciating at least a portion of the identification data.

16. The method as recited in claim 13 wherein the expiration criterion is that the mobile communication device places a call to the telephone number of the telephone book entry, the method further comprising:

deleting the telephone number from the telephone book entry when the call to the telephone number has been placed.

17. The method as recited in claim 13, further comprising:

disabling modification of the telephone book entry by a user of the mobile communication device.

18. The method as recited in claim 13, further comprising:

receiving an instruction, via the transceiver, to delete the information for the telephone book entry.

19. The method as recited in claim 13, wherein the mobile communication device is capable of annunciating an outgoing call list, the method further comprising:

disabling the annunciation of at least a portion of the telephone number from the outgoing call list.

20. A network comprising:

a first mobile communication device including at least one transceiver;

a second mobile communication device including a transceiver capable of communication with the first mobile communication device'"'"'s at least one transceiver;

wherein;

the first mobile communication device is capable of transmitting to the second mobile communication device a user-accessible contact datum that is subject to restriction; and

at least one of the first mobile communication device and the second communication device is capable of transmitting a request to the network to suppress in a communication record the user-accessible contact datum that is subject to restriction.

21. The network as recited in claim 20, wherein the network is capable of processing instructions to overwrite the request to suppress in a communication record the user-accessible contact datum that is subject to restriction.

22. The network as recited in claim 20, wherein:

the user-accessible contact datum includes a telephone number record; and

at least a portion of the telephone number record is suppressed from the communication record.

23. The network as recited in claim 20, wherein the first mobile communication device and the second mobile communication device are capable of direct communication.