Electrical computers and digital processing systems: support – Multiple computer communication using cryptography – Protection at a particular protocol layer
Reexamination Certificate
2000-03-31
2004-11-16
Moise, Emmanuel L. (Department: 2136)
Electrical computers and digital processing systems: support
Multiple computer communication using cryptography
Protection at a particular protocol layer
C713S154000, C713S166000, C709S249000, C705S051000, C705S054000, C375S213000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06820204
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to systems and methods for storing, accessing and exchanging information, and in particular to a system and method for providing users with granular control over arbitrary information that allows for selective, real-time information sharing in a communications network such as the Internet.
2. Description of Related Art
Information exchange is a common facet of everyday life. For many years, individuals have manually distributed their personal information, such as by passing out business cards, filling out forms, surveys and warranty cards with their names and addresses, providing career and educational information on their resumes and reciting their credit card numbers over the telephone while making purchases. In addition, individuals have manually collected the personal information of others, such as by collecting business cards, maintaining an address book or Rolodex™ and storing telephone books and catalogs. As the amount of exchanged information has grown, the drawbacks and limitations of manual information exchange have become more glaring—i.e., manual information exchange is disorganized, error-prone, repetitive and time-consuming.
In the last decade the amount of exchanged information has exploded, in large part due to the widespread use of computer systems and other electronic devices. Many individuals now have several home and work telephone numbers (used for different purposes such as fax or modem access, pagers, and mobile communication), web site addresses, electronic mail (“e-mail”) addresses, electronic bank account numbers, and a variety of other personal identification information. This information is typically stored electronically in databases tied to applications such as personal calendars and personal contact managers, and is typically exchanged through electronic systems such as e-mail and voicemail. Businesses, organizations and other entities have faced even greater growth in the amount of information that is stored and exchanged.
To exchange information, a copy of the information is typically transmitted to the intended recipient. The recipient may desire the information for a transient purpose (e.g., a credit card number for a one-time purchase), in which case the information copy may be discarded after use, or the recipient may desire the information for a continuing use, in which case the information copy may be stored by the recipient in a database. Each time the individual transmits the information to a new recipient, a new copy of the information is generated, and potentially stored in an additional database. This approach to information exchange is characterized with certain drawbacks, such as the lack of control over the copy of the information once it is transmitted and the excessive redundancy that results each time the copied information is stored in another database. Another problem is that copies of the data often become out-of-synchronization, and thus obsolete, as information such as telephone numbers and addresses change.
The tasks of managing, protecting and updating information has grown increasingly burdensome, especially in cases where the information is accessed by a plurality of applications and systems and the stored information is copied to many databases located in different locations. For example, an individual may provide personal address information to hundreds of recipients, such as creditors, subscription, delivery and repair services, friends, family, business associates, etc. Each of these recipients may then store this personal address information in their own databases, such as address books and customer lists. If this personal address information changes (e.g., when the individual changes residence), updating the information requires the individual to transmit a copy of the new information to every individual, business and organization that has a copy of the personal address information. Each recipient must then update each of its databases that have this personal address information. Information such as telephone numbers, home addresses, e-mail addresses and credit card numbers change frequently, making the process of synchronizing information extremely time consuming, burdensome and prone to error. The accuracy and timeliness of this information is important for business communications, interpersonal communications, purchases and various other purposes. Thus, there exists a need in the art for information exchange that is simple, efficient, timely, and is not error-prone.
Certain modern applications provide electronic solutions to some of these problems by synchronizing data in limited contexts. For example, personal digital assistants (“PDAs”) are handheld devices that include an internal memory for storing a copy of the user's personal calendar, address and e-mail information. Another copy of the information is typically stored on a personal computer through applications such as Microsoft Outlook™ and CorelCENTRAL™. When the user adds or updates stored information on either the personal computer or the PDA, the stored information on the other system will be temporarily out of date. A typical PDA includes a cradle that may be connected to the personal computer to provide a communications link between the two systems. When the PDA is inserted into the cradle, the user can press a button on the PDA to synchronize the stored information in the two devices. While this solution is adequate for some personal information, it is characterized with much of the same drawbacks discussed above. The data will be untimely until the PDA is physically placed into the cradle and the synchronization function is performed. Further, stored information that has been exchanged with third parties will not be updated through this synchronization procedure. The third parties will need to be individually contacted with the new information and the third party will then need to update each of its databases.
Another solution in the prior art is to provide a centralized database that multiple individuals may access. For example, a university may keep its alumni information in a centralized database that is accessible to its alumni through the Internet. Individual alumni may edit their information profiles and view the profiles of other alumni through a university web site. Because the same copy of the stored personal information is used for both updating and viewing, there is no need to transmit copies of the personal information to other alumni when the information is updated. Although the centralized database simplifies information exchange between alumni, there are still many drawbacks. For example, the user would still need to notify non-alumni (e.g., creditors, family, friends, business contacts) of the changed information. Further, the data may not be gathered in a manner that is useful for the user. Many individuals would prefer to maintain their own database of contacts that are relevant to the individual, and this database would likely include non-alumni (e.g., creditor information, family, friends), and exclude many alumni. As a result, information stored in centralized databases is still copied to individuals' personal address books and other databases.
Another problem in the prior art is controlling access to stored information. For example, an individual may want to provide broad access to personal contact information such as address and telephone number, but may not wish to publicly share credit card information that is stored in the same database. While making an online purchase, the individual may need to provide the public address information as well as the personal credit card information. Thus, it would be desirable for a secure system and method that would provide individuals with control over their stored information so that the individual can control who and for how long that information is accessible.
In view of these problems with the prior art, there exists a need for a system and method for information exchange that provides
Desai Nimesh
Gustafson Jeffrey A.
Kimble, Jr. James David
Richardson David Dean
Udani Sanjay
Manatt Phelps & Phillips LLP
Moise Emmanuel L.
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