JP2003108493A - System for providing service information - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To receive service information from a service provider by an electronic mail, without informing the service provider of an actual mail address by a user. SOLUTION: The service provider has a step for transmitting the electronic mail including the service information to a provider server, using an innominate mail address informed from the user as a transmission-objective mail address, and the provider server has a step for transferring the electronic mail to the actual mail address corresponding to the innominate mail address, when receiving from the service provider the electronic mail using an innominate mail address as the transmission-objective mail address.

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0001] The present invention relates to a service information providing system. 2. Description of the Related Art Some supermarkets and restaurants provide services such as delivery of service information to customers by e-mail. There is also a service that delivers product information, service information, and the like by e-mail even when browsing with a browser on the Internet. In order to receive such a service, the customer needs to notify the service provider of his / her mail address. [0003] However, if a service provider is notified of his / her own mail address, there is a fear that the mail address may be misused or that his / her mail address may be known to an unexpected third party. [0004] The present invention provides service information that enables a user to receive service information from a service provider by e-mail without notifying the service provider of an actual mail address. The purpose is to provide a providing system. [0005] In the service information providing system of the present invention, the provider server generates an anonymous mail address for the user, and generates the anonymous mail address for each user by using the mail address management table. Step of notifying the anonymous e-mail address generated by the provider server to the user, and recording or recording the anonymous e-mail address of the notified user by printing out or the like. Sending an e-mail including service information to a provider server using the anonymous mail address notified by the user as a destination e-mail address, and the provider server uses the anonymous e-mail address from the service provider as a destination e-mail address. If you receive an email Has a step of transferring the electronic mail to a real mail address corresponding to the anonymous mail address. According to the present invention, this can be realized by constructing a system on the provider side, and it is not necessary to add a special configuration to the user or the service provider side. [0007] The mail address management table used in the present invention contains, for example, information on the expiration date of the anonymous mail address. The provider server uses the anonymous mail address from the service provider as the destination mail address. When an e-mail is received, it is determined whether or not the anonymous e-mail address can be used based on the information regarding the expiration date of the anonymous e-mail address included in the e-mail address management table, and when it is determined that the e-mail is usable It is preferable that the e-mail is transferred only to the real e-mail address corresponding to the anonymous e-mail address. Further, the provider server, for example,
Based on the access from the user terminal, a Web page for changing the information on the expiration date of the anonymous e-mail address of the user is provided to the user terminal, and an e-mail is sent according to the change specified by the user on the Web page. The method may further include a step of changing information about an expiration date of the anonymous mail address in the address management table. Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. [1] Description of Basic Configuration of Service Information Providing System FIG. 1 shows a basic configuration of a service information providing system. The service information providing system includes a user terminal 1 owned by a user, a provider server 2 operated by an Internet service provider (hereinafter, simply referred to as a provider) to which the user subscribes to an Internet service, and a service server. The service provider comprises a service provider terminal 3 installed on the Internet. The user terminal 1, the provider server 2, and the service provider terminal 3 are connected to the Internet 10. [2] Outline of the overall system flow FIG. 2 shows an outline of the overall system flow. First, a user requests the provider server 2 to issue an anonymous mail address from the user terminal 1 (step 1). Upon receiving the request for issuing an anonymous mail address, the provider server 2 generates an anonymous mail address for the user, records the generated anonymous mail address in the mail address management table, and generates the generated anonymous mail address. Is transmitted to the user terminal 1 (step 2). The user saves the displayed anonymous mail address at hand by printing out or writing it down (step 3). When the user displays a web page operated by the service provider on the browser of the user terminal 1 and wants the service provider to transmit service information by e-mail, the user must save the information in advance. From the printout or handwritten memo in which the put anonymous mail address is recorded, fill in the place where the e-mail address of the website of the service provider is to be entered (step 4). When the service provider wants to provide service information to the user, the service provider terminal 3
To send an e-mail including service information to the provider server 2 using the anonymous mail address stored in the service information transmission destination database as a transmission destination mail address (hereinafter, referred to as a transmission destination address) (step). 5). When the provider server 2 receives the e-mail, it receives the e-mail based on the e-mail address management table.
It is determined whether or not the anonymous mail address as the transmission destination address is valid. If it is determined that the mail address is valid, the electronic mail is transferred to a real mail address corresponding to the anonymous mail address (step 6). The user obtains service information by opening the received e-mail (step 7). When the user wants to change the contents of the mail address management table held by the provider server 2 (for example, the expiration date of an anonymous mail address) or the initial rule, the user accesses the provider server 2 to change the contents. Then, the contents of the change are instructed on the Web page (step 8). The provider server 2 changes the content of the mail address management table or the initial rule according to the specified change (step 9). [3] Detailed Description of Operation for Obtaining Anonymous Mail Address The user connects to the provider server from the user terminal 1 and inputs necessary information (user ID and password) in a menu for issuing an anonymous mail address. input. The provider server 2 determines whether or not the received password matches a password registered in advance for the received ID. If they do not match, the user terminal 1 is notified of this. If the entered password matches the password registered for the user, the provider server 2 generates a plurality of anonymous mail addresses for the user and manages the mail address of the user. The generated anonymous mail address is recorded in the table, and the generated anonymous mail address is transmitted to the user terminal 1. The anonymous mail address is generated by converting the real mail address of the user using, for example, a one-way hash function. The one-way hash function is a fixed-length data h (x) from an arbitrary-length data x.
This function has the following characteristics. It is difficult to calculate x from h (x). Given x, it is difficult to find y such that h (x) = h (y). FIG. 3 shows that the real address is "user@user.ne.j".
The mail address management table for the user "p" is shown. The mail address management table includes an anonymous mail address, the start of use, the end of use, the number of times of use, the shop address (the shop address of the service provider). ), A shop name and a comment entry field.When the use is completed, the number of valid uses indicates the expiration date and the number of valid uses of the anonymous address, respectively. "A24i
“kasw”, “dvd9gv2p”, and “ql20hskl” are the anonymous mail addresses generated for the user. 5 (a), 5 (b) and 5 (c) show examples of the contents of an e-mail including service information. FIG. 5 (b) shows an example of service information when the person is a supermarket.
Shows an example of service information when the service provider is a restaurant, and FIG. 5C shows an example of service information when the service provider is a travel agency. [5] Detailed Description of Operation of Provider Server (Step 8 in FIG. 2) When Provider Server Receives E-Mail with Anonymous Mail Address as Destination Address FIG. 9 shows the operation of the provider server when the provider server receives an e-mail to be sent. When the provider server 2 receives an e-mail from the service provider with the anonymous mail address as the destination address (step 21), it determines whether or not the service provider is registered in a blacklist described later. (Step 22). If the service provider is registered in the black list, a warning mail is sent to the service provider (step 23). If the service provider is not registered in the blacklist, it is determined based on the mail address management table (see FIG. 3) whether the anonymous mail address used for the electronic mail is valid. (Step 24). Whether the anonymous e-mail address is valid or not is determined based on whether the anonymous e-mail address has expired (at the end of use) and whether the number of uses of the anonymous e-mail address exceeds the number of valid uses. . In order to understand this determination method, how the contents of the mail address management table are updated will be described. On September 1, 2000, the service provider "ABC Super" (mail address; abc @ supe
r.co.jp), when an e-mail is sent for the first time to the anonymous e-mail address "a24ikasw", as shown in FIG. 7A, the e-mail address where the anonymous e-mail address "a24ikasw" is recorded 20 in the column at the start of use
While data representing September 1, 2000 is written,
According to the rule for determining the expiration date, data representing September 6, 2000 is written in the column at the end of use. In the column of the number of usable times, data representing the remaining usable number of 5 times is written based on a rule for determining the number of usable times. Further, the mail address (abc@super.co.jp) of the service provider of the mail transmission source is written in the shop address column. Thereafter, on September 3, 2000, "ABC
When the second e-mail is sent from the “supermarket” to the anonymous e-mail address “a24ikasw”, FIG.
As shown in (b), the number of usable remaining times in the column of valid use times of the mail address management table in which the anonymous mail address "a24ikasw" is recorded is decremented by one. Thereafter, on September 8, 2000, "ABC
When the third e-mail is sent to the anonymous e-mail address “a24ikasw” from “Supermarket”, the expiration date has passed on September 6, 2000, so this anonymous e-mail address “a24ikasw” Even if the e-mail transmission date is within the expiration date, if the number of times of use exceeds the number of times of use, that is, the remaining number of usable times in the column of number of times of use becomes zero. If the anonymous e-mail address "a24ikasw" is not valid, it is determined in step 24 that the anonymous e-mail address is valid. (Step 25) If the anonymous mail address is determined not to be valid in step 4, To determine the arrival times of the e-mail whether more than 10 times than the use enable times using the anonymous email address (Step 2
6). If the number of e-mail arrivals using the anonymous e-mail address is not more than 10 times more than the valid use number, a message indicating that the anonymous e-mail address has expired is sent to the service provider of the sender. (Step 27). If the number of arrivals of the e-mail using the anonymous mail address is at least 10 times greater than the number of valid uses, the source service provider is registered in the blacklist as a malicious service provider (step 28). ). [6] Detailed Description of Operation (Steps 10 and 11 in FIG. 2) when User Changes Contents of Mail Address Management Table or Initial Rule Held by Provider Server 2 FIG. The detailed procedure for changing the contents of the mail address management table held by the provider server 2 or the initial rule is shown. First, the user accesses the provider server 2 from the user terminal 1 and accesses the provider server 2 as shown in FIG.
Acquire an authentication screen consisting of page b (step 3
1). On this authentication screen, the user presses the OK button after inputting the ID and the password (step 32). When the user presses the OK button on the authentication screen, the ID and password input by the user are sent to the provider server 2. Upon receiving the user's ID and password, the provider server 2 performs authentication, and then sends data for displaying the contents of the mail address management table for the user to the user terminal 1. As a result, as shown in FIG. 10, the contents of the mail address management table and the common initial rule for the user are displayed on the user terminal 1 (step 33). The user clicks an item (shop address or initial rule) to be changed (step 3).
4). The items specified by the user are sent to the provider server 2. When receiving the item designated by the user, the provider server 2 sends the change content input screen data corresponding to the item to the user terminal 1. Here, as the item to be changed, the shop address “abc ＠
super.co.jp "is selected. As a result, a change content input screen is displayed on the user terminal 1 as shown in Fig. 11 (step 35). On the input screen data,
After the contents are changed or added, the OK button is pressed (step 36). When the user presses the OK button on the content change screen, the content changed or added by the user is sent to the provider server 2. Upon receiving the content changed or added by the user, the provider server 2 changes the content of the mail address management table for the user (step 37). FIG. 12 shows an example of the mail address management table after the change. In the above embodiment, the provider server 2
Records the anonymous e-mail address generated on the IC card. However, other recording media, for example, PDA,
The anonymous mail address may be recorded in a storage device in the mobile phone. According to the present invention, it becomes possible for a user to receive service information from a service provider by e-mail without notifying the service provider of the actual mail address.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a basic configuration of a service information providing system. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing an outline of a flow of the entire system. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the contents of a mail address management table. FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a service provider terminal. FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the content of an electronic mail including service information. FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the provider server when the provider server receives an electronic mail having an anonymous mail address as a destination address. FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram for explaining how the contents of a mail address management table are updated. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a procedure when the user changes the contents or the initial rule of the mail address management table held by the provider server. FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of an authentication screen. FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a display screen of a content of a mail address management table and a common initial rule. FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a change content input screen. FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a mail address management table after a change. [Description of Signs] 1 User terminal 2 Provider server 3 Service provider terminal 4 Anonymous mail address issuing device

   ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page    (72) Inventor Yoshio Ozawa             2-5-5 Keihanhondori, Moriguchi-shi, Osaka 3             Yoden Electric Co., Ltd. F term (reference) 5K030 GA15 HA05 HC01 JT03 KA01                       KA06 KA13 LD11 MB18

Claims (1)

Claims 1. A provider server generates an anonymous e-mail address for a user and manages the generated anonymous e-mail address for each user using an e-mail address management table. Notifying the user of the generated anonymous email address and recording the anonymous email address notified by the user. The service provider provides the service by using the anonymous email address notified by the user as a destination email address. Sending an e-mail containing information to the provider server, and, when receiving an e-mail with the anonymous e-mail address as the destination e-mail address from the service provider, the e-mail corresponding to the anonymous e-mail address Email address A service information providing system, comprising: