Constructing a database of verified individuals

• US 9,946,736 B2
• Filed: 01/21/2007
• Issued: 04/17/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 01/19/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Datrec LLC (Pueblo Nuevo LLC)
• Original Assignee: Ilan Cohn
• Inventors: Rolls, Dan, Cohn, Ilan
• Primary Examiner(s): Shanmugasundaram, Kannan
• Application Number:
  US11/792,391
• Publication Number:
  US 20090248653A1
• Time in Patent Office: 4,104 Days
• Field of Search: 707999101-999105, 70799901, 7079991, 707803, 707999001-999005, 707758
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/20 of structured data, e.g. relational data
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/335 Filtering based on additional data, e.g. user or group profiles filtering in web context G06F16/9535, G06F16/9536
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/337 Profile generation, learning or modification
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/637 Administration of user profiles, e.g. generation, initialization, adaptation or distribution
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/01 Social networking

Abstract

A method including entering individual-associated data bits (IDBs) into a computerized system, the set of data of each of the IDBs including at least one personal identifier of an individual and relationship data including data on one or more related individuals and the nature of the relationship, processing the entered IDBs on a processor, generating an individual-identifier data set (IDS) for each identified individual or one of the related individuals having data in the processed IDBs, and storing IDSs of identified individuals in a database.

Claims

1. A method for verifying the identity data provided by an individual requesting to connect with other individuals over a computer network through network connected computers, the method being carried out by a computer system, the computer system comprising a processor and a non-transitory computer readable memory and being connected to the computer network, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving and storing, by the processor, first individual-associated data bits (IDBs) into the non-transitory computer readable memory of the computer system, the first IDBs comprising a group of data pieces that relate to a first individual, said group of data pieces comprising at least one personal identifier datum relating to (1) the identity of the first individual, (2) relationship data comprising data concerning a family relationship between the first individual and one or more related individuals related to the first individual, and (3) the nature of the familial relationship between the first individual and the one or more related individuals, said at least one personal identifier datum thereby enabling to identify the first individual and the one or more related individuals with a certain degree of probability of distinguishing a specific individual from others;

independently receiving and storing, by the processor, data records comprising one or more additional IDBs into the non-transitory computer readable memory of the computer system, each of the additional IDBs comprising a group of data pieces that relate to an additional individual, the group of data pieces for each additional individual comprising at least one personal identifier datum relating to (1) the identity of the additional individual, (2) relationship data comprising data concerning a family relationship between the additional individual and one or more related individuals related to the additional individual, and (3) the nature of the familial relationship between the additional individual and the one or more related individuals, said at least one personal identifier datum of the additional IDBs thereby enabling to identify the additional individuals and the one or more related individuals in the additional IDBs with a certain degree of probability of distinguishing a specific individual from others;

in response to said receiving of the first IDBs of the first individual, automatically processing, by the processor, the first and additional IDBs to verify identity of the first individual, said processing comprising executing computer-readable instructions stored in the non-transitory computer readable memory, the instructions causing the processor to perform the steps of;

(a) comparing data about the one or more related individuals in the first IDBs and the data records comprising the additional IDBs, for identifying matching data indicating that a related individual in the first IDBs is the same individual as an additional individual or a related individual in the additional IDBs,

(b) upon identifying the matching data, verifying at least part of the data pieces in the first IDBs by comparing said at least part of the data pieces of the first IDBs with corresponding data pieces in one or more IDBs of other individuals having said matching data and determining a degree of correspondence between them,

(c) determining a reliability score of the first IDBs based on the degree of correspondence of the verified data pieces in the first IDBs with the corresponding data pieces in the IDBs of other individuals having the matching data, the data pieces comprising multiple different parameters that identify the first individual, and the determination of the reliability score including scoring the degree of correspondence of the multiple different parameters, and

(d) analyzing the reliability score with respect to a predetermined threshold value and generating and storing, in the non-transitory computer readable memory, a virtual identification document (VID) for the first individual as a user of said computer network, the VID comprising an individual-identifier data set (IDS) for the first individual and the reliability score, and upon determining that the reliability score is equal to or exceeds said predetermined threshold, including in said VID an indication identifying the first individual as having verified identity data and permitting a communication over the computer network that is sent to or from the first individual.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein said step of determining the reliability score for the first individual comprises executing computer-readable instructions by the processor to perform the steps of scoring one or more of the data pieces in the IDBs of the first individual based on correspondence with data pieces in IDBs of an additional individual to obtain a reliability score for one or more of the IDBs or the IDS of the first individual.

3. The method according to claim 1, carried out on a sufficiently programmed computerized system that comprises a server utility of the computer network and configured to allow a plurality of individuals to connect thereto via computerized devices.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising causing the processor to perform steps for repeating said processing steps one or more times, each time substituting one of the additional individuals, or one of the identified related individuals, for the first individual used in the first iteration, to thereby generate an IDS for the new first individual with an associated reliability score.

5. The method according to claim 4, comprising executing computer-readable instructions by the processor to perform the steps of:

identifying at least two IDSs having overlapping relationship data including at least one identical identified individual in the corresponding relationship data to obtain at least two relationship data pieces; and

consolidating the at least two relationship data pieces to construct an expanded relationship data record.

6. The method according to claim 5, further comprising executing computer-readable instructions by the processor to perform the steps of:

constructing an expanded family database comprising all family databases with overlapping relationship data, and data indicative of the connection between individuals of the expanded family database.

7. The method of claim 4, wherein said processing steps and said repeated processing steps occur simultaneously.

8. The method of claim 7, further including causing the processor to perform steps for constructing a verified database comprising:

(i) the IDSs and the respective reliability score for each individual processed in said processing steps, or (ii) the IDSs of only those individuals processed in said processing steps whose IDS has a reliability score equal to or greater than a pre-determined value.

9. A computer system comprising a processor and a non-transitory computer-readable storage unit that stores a database that was generated by the process in accordance with claim 8.

10. The method of claim 8, further including the step of causing the processor to perform steps for providing access to the verified database.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein said verified database comprises the IDSs and the respective reliability score for each individual processed in said processing steps.

12. The method of claim 8, wherein said verified database comprises the IDSs of only those individuals processed in said processing steps whose IDS has a reliability score equal to or greater than a pre-determined value.

13. The method according to claim 4, wherein the IDS for each identified individual comprises data on the one or more related individuals, and personal identifiers and relationship data of family members of the identified individual and one or more related individuals.

14. The method according to claim 4, further comprising executing, by the processor, computer-readable instructions that cause the processor to perform the steps of updating one or more existing IDSs upon entry of IDBs by another individual.

15. The method according to claim 14, further comprising executing computer-readable instructions by the processor to perform the steps of updating an IDS associated with one individual by new data relating to that individual, new data on one or more related individuals included in the IDS, or by adding one or more personal identifiers and relationship data on related individuals to the IDS.

16. The method according to claim 15, further comprising executing computer-readable instructions by the processor to perform the steps of automatically transmitting an electronic notification advising on the update to a computerized device or electronic address associated with the individual whose IDS has been updated.

17. A method of constructing a verified computer database storing information about a plurality of individuals via a network connected computer system and verifying identity of one of the plurality of individuals requesting to communicate with other individuals over the network connected computer system, the method being performed by a computer system, the computer system comprising a processor and a non-transitory computer readable memory and being connected to the internet, the method comprising causing the processor to execute instructions to perform the steps of:

independently receiving and storing by the processor, individual-associated data bits (IDBs) from the plurality of individuals into the system non-transitory computer readable memory;

processing, by the computer system processor, the IDBs entered by the plurality of individuals, said processing comprising executing computer-readable instructions stored in the non-transitory computer readable memory, causing the processor to execute instructions to perform the steps of;

comparing the IDBs entered by the plurality of individuals to identify matching data, indicating that one or more individuals indicated in a first individual IDBs as being family related to the first individual and one or more individuals indicated in at least one second individual IDBs as being the second individual or family related to the second individual, are the same identified individuals;

upon identifying a first individual IDBs and one or more IDBs of one or more second individuals having the matching data, verifying at least part of the IDBs of the first individual through the matching data identified with said one or more IDBs of said one or more second individuals with respect to the same identified individual;

determining a reliability score for each IDBs of each identified individual on the basis of the degree of correspondence between data relating to the identified individual in the IDBs entered by the first individual and the matching data relating to the identified individual in the IDBs of the one or more second individuals, the data relating to the identified individual comprising multiple different parameters that identify the identified individual, and the calculation of the reliability score including scoring the degree of correspondence of the multiple different parameters;

analyzing the reliability score with respect to a predetermined threshold value; and

constructing and storing in the non-transitory computer readable memory, a database comprising;

(i) a virtual identification document (VID) for each identified individual as a user of said computer network, the VID comprising an individual-identifier data set (IDS) and the respective reliability score for each identified individual, or (ii) a virtual identification document (VID) comprising an individual-identifier data set (IDS) only for the identified individual whose IDBs has the reliability score equal to or greater than said threshold;

upon determining that the reliability score is equal to or exceeds the predetermined threshold, including in the VID an indication identifying one of the identified individuals as having verified identity data and permitting a communication over the computer network that is sent to or from the identified individual.

18. The method of claim 17, comprising causing the processor to perform steps for providing access to the database.

19. A computerized method, implemented on a computer system connected to and part of a computer network, the computerized method comprising the steps of:

receiving and storing, by a processor in the computer system, individual-associated data bits (IDBs) from a first user into a non-transitory computer-readable memory in the computer system, the IDBs of the first user comprising at least one personal identifier datum relating to the identity of a first specific individual, relationship data concerning a direct family relationship between the first specific individual and one or more related individuals and the nature of the direct family relationship between them, said at least one personal identifier datum of the first user thereby providing information for identifying one or more individuals in the first user IDBs to a certain degree of probability of distinguishing a specific individual from others;

receiving and storing, by the processor, into the non-transitory computer-readable memory IDBs from at least one second user, independently of the first user, the IDBs of the at least one second user comprising at least one personal identifier datum relating to the identity of the at least one second specific individual and relationship data concerning a direct family relationship between the at least one second specific individual and one or more related individuals and the nature of the direct family relationship between them, said at least one personal identifier datum of the second user thereby providing information for identifying one or more individuals in the second user IDBs to a certain degree of probability of distinguishing a specific individual from others;

in response to said receiving of the IDBs from the first user, processing by said processor, of the IDBs received from the first user and at least one second user for identifying identity of the first user, said processing comprising executing computer-readable instructions stored in the non-transitory computer readable memory, the instructions causing the processor to perform steps for;

comparing the IDBs of the first user and at least one second user to identify matching data based on an indication that one or more individuals in the first user IDBs and one or more individuals in the at least one second user IDBs are the same individual;

upon identifying first and second users'"'"' IDBs having the matching data about the same individual, calculating a distance between the first user and the at least one second user IDBs based on one or more predetermined set of rules comprising a standard length assigned to the type of the direct family relationship between the first user and the at least one second user;

utilizing said calculated distance and calculating a reliability score for each IDBs as a function of the distance between the first user IDBs and the at least one second user IDBs;

analyzing the reliability score with respect to a predetermined threshold value to determine whether said reliability score is equal to or above said predetermined threshold value, and

constructing and storing in the non-transitory computer readable memory, a database comprising one of the following;

(i) a virtual identification document (VID) for each identified individual as a user of said computer network, the VID comprising an individual-identifier data set (IDS) together with the respective reliability score, or (ii) a virtual identification document (VID) comprising an individual-identifier data set (IDS) where the reliability score is equal to or greater than the pre-determined threshold value;

providing user access to said database to verify, using the processor, the identity of a user requesting to connect with a computer connected to the network based on the stored reliability score with respect to the predetermined threshold value; and

upon determining that the reliability score is equal to or exceeds the predetermined threshold, including in the VID an indication identifying the user requesting to connect with the computer as having verified identity data and permitting a communication over the computer network that is sent to or from the user.

20. A computerized method, implemented on a computer system connected to and part of an Internet connected computer network, the computerized method comprising the steps of:

independently receiving and storing, by a processor in the computer system, individual-associated data bits (IDBs) from a plurality of users into a non-transitory computer-readable memory in the computer system, the IDBs comprising at least one personal identifier datum relating to the identity of a particular user, relationship data concerning a direct family relationship between the particular user and one or more related individuals, and the nature of the direct family relationship between the particular user and the one or more related individuals, said at least one personal identifier datum in the user'"'"'s IDBs thereby providing information for identifying the one or more individuals to a certain degree of probability of distinguishing a specific individual from others;

processing by said processor, the IDBs received from the particular user and at least one additional user, said processing comprising executing computer-readable instructions stored in the non-transitory computer readable memory, the instructions causing the processor to perform steps for;

upon said receiving of the IDBs of a particular user, comparing the IDBs of the particular user and at least one additional user to identify matching data based on an indication that one or more individuals in the particular user IDBs and one or more individuals in the at least one additional user IDBs are the same individual;

upon identifying the particular user IDBs and at least one other user IDBs containing the matching data about the same individual, calculating a distance between the particular user IDBs and the at least one other user IDBs based on one or more variables or weighing factors defining distance of the direct family relationship;

utilizing said distance and calculating a reliability score for each of said IDBs of the first user and at least one other user, as a function of the distance between the first user IDBs and the at least one second user IDB s; and

constructing and storing in the non-transitory computer-readable memory, a database comprising one of the following;

(i) a virtual identification document (VID) for each identified individual as a user of said computer network comprising an individual-identifier data set (IDS) together with the respective reliability score for each identified individual, or (ii) a virtual identification document (VID) comprising an individual-identifier data set (IDS) for each identified individual where the reliability score is equal to or greater than the pre-determined value;

providing access to the database to verify, using the processor, the identity of one of the plurality of users requesting to connect with a computer connected to the network when the stored reliability score is equal to or above the predetermined threshold value; and

upon determining that the reliability score is equal to or exceeds the predetermined threshold, including in the VID an indication identifying the user requesting to connect with the computer as having verified identity data and permitting a communication over the computer network that is sent to or from the user.