Temporary virtual identities in a social networking system

• US 8,914,864 B1
• Filed: 09/09/2013
• Issued: 12/16/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 05/14/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Inventors: Strand, William Alexander
• Primary Examiner(s): Zecher, Dede
• Assistant Examiner(s): AVERY, JEREMIAH L
• Application Number:
  US14/021,296
• Time in Patent Office: 463 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 726/7
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2101/30 Types of network names
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0407 wherein the identity of one or more communicating identities is hidden cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for anonymous credentials or for identity based cryptographic systems H04L9/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/08 for authentication of entities cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication H04L9/32

Abstract

Disclosed are various embodiments for facilitating temporary virtual identities in a social networking system. An identity associated with a user is authenticated. A time period, location or other parameter associated with the user is authenticated. The temporary virtual identity is registered in the social networking system. Content generated by the user is published in the social networking system under the temporary virtual identity.

Claims

1. A non-transitory computer-readable medium embodying a program executable in a computing device, the program comprising:

code that retrieves an identity associated with a user, the identity being retrieved from a social networking system;

code that authenticates at least one parameter associated with the user, the at least one parameter being a requirement for issuing the user a temporary virtual identity, the at least one parameter comprising at least one of a geographic location of the user or a time period;

code that generates the temporary virtual identity associated with the user in response to authentication of the at least one parameter, the temporary virtual identity being a separate identity in the social networking system from the identity associated with the user;

code that registers the temporary virtual identity in the social networking system;

code that publishes, in the social networking system, content associated with the user under the temporary virtual identity, the content being associated with at least one of the time period or the geographic location; and

code that expires the temporary virtual identity after a predetermined period of time.

2. A system, comprising:

at least one computing device; and

a temporary virtual identity application executable in the at least one computing device, the temporary virtual identity application comprising;

logic that obtains an identity associated with a user, the identity being associated with the user in a social networking system;

logic that authenticates at least one parameter associated with the user apart from the identity, the at least one parameter being a requirement for issuing the user a temporary virtual identity;

logic that generates the temporary virtual identity associated with the user in response to authentication of the at least one parameter, the temporary virtual identity being a separate identity in the social networking system from the identity associated with the user; and

logic that registers the temporary virtual identity in the social networking system.

3. The system of claim 2, further comprising logic that publishes, in the social networking system, content associated with the user under the temporary virtual identity, wherein the content is unassociated with the identity of the user.

4. The system of claim 2, wherein the logic that authenticates the at least one parameter further comprises logic that verifies attendance of the user at an event.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the logic that authenticates the at least one parameter further comprises:

logic that detects a geographic location of the user from a mobile device of the user; and

logic that determines whether the geographic location corresponds to a location associated with the event.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the logic that detects the geographic location of the user further comprises logic that accesses a global positioning system (GPS) capability of the mobile device.

7. The system of claim 5, wherein the logic that detects the geographic location of the user further comprises logic that detects a network location of the user based at least upon an internet protocol (IP) address from which the user is communicating.

8. The system of claim 2, wherein the temporary virtual identity is associated with an event occurring in a particular location and at a particular time period.

9. The system of claim 2, wherein the logic that registers the temporary virtual identity further comprises logic that associates the temporary virtual identity with the identity of the user in the social networking system.

10. The system of claim 2, further comprising logic that deletes the temporary virtual identity from the social networking system after a predetermined period of time.

11. A method, comprising:

retrieving, by at least one computing device, an identity associated with a user, the identity being associated with the user in a social networking system;

establishing, by the at least one computing device, a temporary virtual identity associated with the user, the temporary virtual identity associated with at least one of a time period or a location;

registering, by the at least one computing device, the temporary virtual identity in a social networking system, the temporary virtual identity being a separate identity in the social networking system from the identity associated with the user; and

publishing, by the at least one computing device, content in the social networking system under the temporary virtual identity, the content associated with at least one of the time period or the location.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the temporary virtual identity is associated with an event occurring in at least one of the time period or the location.

13. The method of claim 11, further comprising authenticating at least one of:

the identity of the user, the time period or the location as a condition for registering the temporary virtual identity.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein authenticating further comprises:

issuing an authentication certificate to the user; and

verifying the authentication certificate when the temporary virtual identity is registered.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein issuing the authentication certificate further comprises issuing the user an authentication code, and authenticating further comprises verifying the authentication code.

16. The method of claim 13, wherein authenticating further comprises detecting a geographic location of the user from a mobile device of the user.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein detecting the geographic location of the user further comprises at least one of:

accessing a GPS capability of the mobile device or detecting a network location of the user based at least upon an IP address from which the user is communicating.

18. The method of claim 11, wherein publishing content associated with the user under the temporary virtual identity further comprises masking a relationship between the temporary virtual identity and the identity of the user.

19. The method of claim 11, further comprising expiring the temporary virtual identity after a predetermined period of time.