Method and system for exchanging sensitive information in a wireless communication system

• US 7,093,286 B1
• Filed: 04/26/2000
• Issued: 08/15/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 07/23/1999
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Unwired Planet LLC (JP Morgan Chase & Co)
• Original Assignee: Openwave Systems Incorporated (JP Morgan Chase & Co)
• Inventors: King, Peter F.
• Primary Examiner(s): Zand, Kambiz
• Application Number:
  US09/559,230
• Time in Patent Office: 2,302 Days
• Field of Search: 705/54, 713/201, 726/12
• US Class Current: 726/12
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0281 Proxies
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/04 for providing a confidential data exchange among entities communicating through data packet networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/02 Protecting privacy or anonymity, e.g. protecting personally identifiable information [PII]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/24 Negotiating SLA [Service Level Agreement]; Negotiating QoS [Quality of Service]

Abstract

Improved techniques that enable the exchange of sensitive information between client devices and server devices are disclosed. The exchange, as well as the use and nature, of sensitive information released can be governed by one or more privacy agreements established between the principle parties, namely, a client device and a content server. A proxy server can be used to establish privacy agreements with content servers (service providers).

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for controlling exchange of private information associated with a client device, wherein the client device is a wireless device, said method comprising:

(a) receiving a request from the client device;

(b) determining whether a privacy agreement is needed to respond to the request before private information associated with said client device is exchanged;

(c1) determining whether a privacy agreement can be reached before private information associate with said client device is exchanged when said determining (b) determines that said privacy agreement is needed, wherein the private agreement includes a plurality of components and governs the exchange of the private information, and wherein said determining of whether said privacy agreement can be reached comprises;

(c2) determining whether to accept at least one proposed privacy agreement by examining said at least one proposed privacy agreement, wherein said at least one proposed privacy agreement includes a plurality of components that govern the exchange of the private information associated with said client

(c3) negotiating at least one component of said at least one proposed privacy agreement when said determining (c2) determines not to accept said proposed privacy agreement;

(c4) generating an accepted privacy agreement as a set of rules that govern the exchange of private information when said determining (c2) determines to accept said privacy agreement; and

(d) thereafter producing a response to the request when said determining (c2) determines to accept said privacy agreement.

2. A computer-implemented method as recited in claim 1, wherein the private information includes location information of the client device.

3. A computer-implemented method as recited in claim 1, wherein said producing (d) comprises:

(d1) receiving the private information associated with the client device; and

(d2) producing the response to the request based at least in part on the private information.

4. A computer-implemented method as recited in claim 3, wherein the private information includes location information of the client device.

5. A computer-implemented method as recited in claim 4, wherein the client device is associated with a network, and

wherein the location information is at least one of client-provided and network-provided.

6. A computer-implemented method as recited in claim 3, wherein said method is performed on a server.

7. A computer-implemented method as recited in claim 6, wherein the private information is attached to the request.

8. A computer-implemented method as recited in claim 1, wherein said accepted privacy agreement includes the following principle components-a PROP, an agreeID, a final, a propURI, a postURL, a realm, an entity, an assurance, an agrexp, and an optional principal component.

9. A computer-implemented method as recited in claim 1,

wherein said privacy agreement is negotiated in accordance with a Platform for Privacy Preferences (P3P) protocol, and

wherein said accepted privacy agreement includes one or more of the following principle components:

a PROP, an agreeID, a final, a propURI, a postURL, a realm, an entity, an assurance, an agrexp, and an optional principal component.

10. A computer-implemented method as recited in claim 1, wherein said method further comprises:

providing an accepted privacy agreement in a markup language.

11. A computer-implemented method as recited in claim 10, wherein said markup language can be XML, HTML, WML, and HDML.

12. A computer-implemented method as recited in claim 1, wherein said method further comprises:

subsequent to said negotiating (c3) determining (c2) whether to accept at least one proposed privacy agreement.

13. A computer-implemented method for exchanging private information associated with a client device to a server device via a proxy server, wherein the private information includes location information of the client device, wherein the client device is a wireless device, said method comprising:

establishing an authorization agreement that authorizes the proxy server to negotiate privacy agreements with server devices on behalf of the client device, wherein the privacy agreement defines a set of rules that govern the exchange of information between the client device and the server device;

receiving a request at the proxy server, wherein the request includes the private information associated with the client device and wherein a response to the request can be made by the server device;

receiving a proposed privacy agreement from the server device associated with the request;

negotiating the privacy agreement by the proxy server on behalf of the client device when the proposed privacy agreement is not in accord with the authorization agreement;

accepting, by the proxy server for the client devices, the proposed privacy agreement as a privacy agreement, when the proposed privacy agreement is in accord with the authorization agreement; and

providing the private information to the server device after said accepting of the proposed privacy agreement as the privacy agreement or after said negotiating of the privacy agreement.

14. A computer-implemented method as recited in claim 13, wherein the private information includes location information of the client device.

15. A implemented method as recited in claim 14, wherein the client device is associated with a network, and

wherein the location information is at least one of client-provided and network-provided.

16. A computer-implemented method as recited in claim 13, wherein said providing operates to refuse to provide the private information to the server device when both the proposed privacy agreement is not accepted and negotiating of the privacy agreement is unsuccessful.

17. A computer-implemented method as recited in claim 13, wherein said method further comprises:

determining whether an existing privacy agreement already exists for the server device and the client device; and

bypassing said receiving of the proposed privacy agreement and said accepting of the proposed privacy agreement when said determining operates to determine that an existing privacy agreement already exists for the server device and the client device.

18. A computer-implemented method as recited in claim 17, wherein said determining of an existing privacy agreement already exists comprises:

identifying an existing agreement between the server device and the client device, the existing agreement having a predetermined coverage; and

determining whether the request is covered by the predetermined coverage of the identified existing agreement.

19. A computer-implemented method as recited in claim 14, wherein the request is received at the proxy server and the response is produced by the server device.

20. A computer-implemented method as recited in claim 19, wherein the request includes the private information associated with the client device.

21. A computer implemented method for controlling exchange of private information associated with a client device, wherein the client device is a wireless device supported by a network infrastructure, said method comprising:

(a) receiving a request from the client device, the request being directed to a server device;

(b) determining whether a privacy agreement is needed to respond to the request;

(b1) determining whether a privacy agreement can be reached, when said determining (b) determines that said privacy agreement is needed, wherein said private agreement governs the exchange of the private information, and wherein said determining of whether said privacy agreement can be reached comprises;

determining whether to accept at least one proposed privacy agreement by examining said at least one proposed privacy agreement, wherein said at least one proposed privacy agreement includes a plurality of components which does a set of rules governing the exchange of private information;

negotiating at least one component of said at least one proposed private agreement when said determining determines that the privacy agreement should not be accepted;

generating an accepted privacy agreement when said determining determines to accept a privacy agreement, wherein said accepted privacy agreement includes one or more components that define the accepted privacy agreement;

(c) determining, based on said accepted privacy agreement, whether the server device is authorized to receive the private information associated with the client device when said determining (b) determines that a privacy agreement is needed; and

(d) providing the private information to the server device associated with the request when said determining (c) determines that the server device is authorized to receive the private information associated with the client device.

22. A computer-implemented method as recited in claim 21, wherein said method further comprises:

(e) thereafter producing a response to the request at the server device.

23. A computer-implemented method as recited in claim 22, wherein said producing (e) comprises:

(e1) receiving the private information associated with the client device; and

(e2) producing the response to the request based at least in part on the private information.

24. A computer-implemented method as recited in claim 23, wherein the private information includes location information of the client device.

25. A computer-implemented method as recited in claim 21, wherein the request includes a URL, and

wherein said determining (c) comprises:

(c1) comparing the URL of the request with a list of authorized URLS; and

(c2) determining that the server device is authorized to receive the private information associated with the client device when said comparing (c1) determines that the URL of the request is found within the list of authorized URLs.

26. A computer-implemented method as recited in claim 21, wherein said method further comprises:

subsequent to said negotiating determining whether to accept at least one proposed privacy agreement.

27. A system for controlling information exchange between a wireless client device and server devices, the wireless client device being supported by a wireless network, said system comprising:

a proxy server device operatively connected between the wireless client device and the server device, wherein said proxy server device manages distribution of private information associated with the wireless client device to the server devices, and wherein said proxy server device includes at least;

a storage area, said storage area stores information received from at least one of the wireless client device and from the wireless network;

a privacy manager, said privacy manager operates to restrict the release of the information received from the wireless client device and the wireless network to the one or more of the server devices unless a suitable privacy agreement governing the use of the information is in place for the one or more server devices; and

wherein said privacy manager is further capable of operating to;

determine whether said privacy agreement is accepted, wherein said privacy agreement can be accepted by examining at least one proposed privacy agreement that includes a plurality of components which govern the exchange of privacy information associated with said client device;

initiate negotiation of at least one component of said at least one proposed privacy agreement when said determining determines that said privacy agreement is not accepted; and

generate an accepted privacy agreement as a set of rules that govern the exchange of private information when said determining determines that said privacy agreement is accepted.

28. A system as recited in claim 27, wherein the information received from at least one of the wireless client device and the wireless network comprises location information associated with the location of the wireless client device.

29. A system as recited in claim 27,

wherein the information received from the wireless client device and the wireless network comprises location information associated with the location of the wireless client device, and

wherein said system further comprises:

a location manager, said location manager performs a reconciliation and/or canonicalization process on the location information received from the wireless client device and the wireless network to produce a determined location.

30. A system as recited in claim 29, wherein said privacy manager operates to restrict the release of the determined location to the one or more of the server devices unless a suitable privacy agreement governing the use of the determined location is in place for the one or more server devices.

31. A system as recited in claim 30, wherein the suitable privacy agreement is provided in a markup language.

32. A system as recited in claim 30, wherein said privacy manager can further negotiate with the one or more server devices to establish a suitable privacy agreement.

33. A system as recited in claim 27, wherein said privacy manager can further negotiate with the one or more server devices to establish a suitable privacy agreement.

34. A system as recited in claim 27, wherein the information received from at least one of the wireless client device and the wireless network comprises subscriber information associated with the subscriber of the wireless client device.

35. A system as recited in claim 27, wherein the information includes private information and non-private information, and

wherein said privacy manager restricts access to the private information but not the non-private information.

36. A computer readable medium including at least computer program code for exchanging private information associated with a client device to a server device via a proxy server, wherein the private information includes location information of the client device, wherein the client device is a wireless device, said computer readable medium comprising:

computer program code for establishing an authorization agreement that authorizes the proxy server to negotiate privacy agreements with sewer devices on behalf of the client device, wherein the privacy agreement defines a set of rules that govern the exchange of information between the client device and the server device;

computer program code for receiving a request at the proxy server, wherein the request includes the private information associated with the client device and wherein a response to the request can be made by the server device;

computer program code for receiving a proposed privacy agreement from the server device associated with the request;

computer program code for initiating negotiation of the privacy agreement by the proxy server on behalf of the client device when the proposed privacy agreement is not in accord with the authorization agreement;

computer program code for accepting, by the proxy server for the client device, the proposed privacy agreement as a privacy agreement, when the proposed privacy agreement is in accord with the authorization agreement; and

computer program code for providing the private information to the server device after said accepting of the proposed privacy agreement as the privacy agreement or after said negotiating of the privacy agreement.

37. A computer readable medium including at least computer program code for controlling exchange of private information associated with a client device, wherein the client device is a wireless device, said computer readable medium comprising:

computer program code for receiving a request from the client device;

computer program code for determining whether a privacy agreement is needed to respond to the request before private information associated with said client device is exchanged;

computer program code for determining whether a privacy agreement can be reached before private information associated with said client device is exchanged when said determining determines that said privacy agreement is needed, wherein the privacy agreement includes a plurality of components and governs the exchange of the private information, and wherein said determining of whether said privacy agreement can be reached comprises;

determining whether to accept at least one proposed privacy agreement by examining said at least one proposed privacy agreement, wherein said at least one proposed privacy agreement includes a plurality of components that govern the exchange of the private information associated with said client;

initiating negotiation of at least one component of said at least one proposed privacy agreement when said determining determines not to accept said proposed privacy agreement;

generating an accepted privacy agreement as a set of rules that govern the exchange of private information when said determining determines to accept said privacy agreement, and

computer program code for thereafter producing a response to the request when said determining determines to accept said privacy agreement.