JP2004056317A - Mail transfer system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a mail transfer system in which a mail can be transmitted to the opposite transmitting party while a mail address of a transmitter is kept secret and a reply mail to the mail can be received. <P>SOLUTION: The system with a user database to put personal information of a user in order and to manage it with a registration ID mediates and transfers communications between registered users. The system is characterized in that when disclosure of the mail address of a specific user registered to the user database is requested by the registered user, a transfer address is generated and disclosed, and the mail transmitted to a transfer address is transferred to a receiver while keeping the mail address of a transmitting origin secret by converting it. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

[0001]
[Field of the Invention]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a mail transfer system that enables a mail to be sent without sending a mail to another party when sending the mail.
[0002]
[Prior art]
2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, transmission and reception of electronic mail using the Internet has been performed using a computer device such as a personal computer. However, a transmitted mail always records a destination mail address together with a destination mail address.
[0003]
This indicates that it is impossible to send an e-mail to the other party without knowing his / her own e-mail address and receive a reply e-mail from the destination. It is possible to disguise the sender's e-mail address by making settings in the e-mail sending software, but in this case, the reply e-mail from the other party will reach the forged e-mail address, so you can receive the reply e-mail Will be gone.
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
An object of the present invention is to provide a mail transfer system capable of transmitting a mail to a transmission destination while concealing a mail address of a sender and receiving a reply mail to the mail.
[0005]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
Means adopted by the present invention to solve the above-mentioned problem is to provide a user database which organizes and manages personal information of users by a registration ID. When an e-mail address disclosure request of a specific user registered in is made, a transfer address is generated and disclosed, and the e-mail sent to the transfer address is converted to a recipient by translating the e-mail address of the sender. It is characterized in that it is transferred while keeping it secret.
[0006]
The transfer address includes the sender and receiver registration IDs, analyzes the mail addressed to the transfer address, extracts the sender's mail address, obtains the registration ID corresponding to the address from the user database, and includes the transfer address in the transfer address. The comparison with the registered ID is performed, and the mail is transferred only when the addresses match.
[0007]
When the forwarding address includes the sender's and recipient's email addresses, the email addressed to the forwarding address is analyzed, the sender's email address is obtained, and the email address included in the forwarding address is compared and verified. Only the mail is forwarded.
[0008]
It is characterized in that information indicating either the sender or the recipient is recorded in a registration ID or a mail address included in the transfer address, and the direction of transfer processing of mail addressed to the transfer address is given.
[0009]
The transfer address is invalidated when a specified number of mails to the transfer address are transmitted or when a certain period of time has elapsed since the creation of the transfer address.
[0010]
When a registered user writes on the electronic bulletin board, a transfer address is generated, and the transfer address is posted on the electronic bulletin board together with the written text.
[0011]
It is characterized in that the transfer address is encrypted to prevent a mail transfer process due to a forgery of the source mail address by a third party.
[0012]
It is characterized in that the registered user who sent the mail to the transfer address is charged according to the number of mails sent.
[0013]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below. The mail transfer system of the present invention basically transfers mail so that users registered in a user database provided in a server can transmit and receive mail while keeping their mail addresses secret.
[0014]
When a user who is searching for an e-mail transmission destination (hereinafter simply referred to as a “sender”) refers to a user database, picks up a specific user (hereinafter simply referred to as a “recipient”), and wants to send an e-mail to the recipient, the e-mail sender Requests the server to disclose the recipient's email address. This is because even if a user searches the database and a desired user is picked up, the registered mail address of the picked up user is not disclosed.
[0015]
The server that has received the e-mail address request from the sender generates and discloses not the original e-mail address of the receiver, but a transfer address having information of the registered ID of the sender and the receiver or the registered e-mail address. The e-mail sent to this transfer address is analyzed for header information, and the sender and receiver are compared and verified whether the e-mail address matches the transfer address information. Transfers to the registered e-mail address of the recipient while converting the original e-mail address. Therefore, the mail can be transmitted to the recipient while the sender's own mail address is kept secret.
[0016]
【Example】
The detailed operation of the present system will be described. A user who intends to use this system registers his or her mail address in the mail transfer server to receive mail transferred from the server. In addition, information such as address, name, age, gender, etc. is also registered depending on the use form of the application system. The registered information is arranged and recorded in the user database using the identification number (registration ID) as a key.
[0017]
FIG. 1 shows an example in which the system of the present invention is used for a staffing system. (A) is a recruiting user, and (B) is a job seeker. (A) and (B) are both registered users, each of which registers personal information such as their own mail address and name on the server. (A) first logs in to the server to search for a job seeker. The login method is not particularly limited, as long as the user can be authenticated as a registered user. For example, an ID and password for login authentication may be issued at the time of user registration, and authentication may be performed using the ID and password. Note that a person who cannot be authenticated is notified that the user cannot be used unless the registration is performed, and prompts user registration.
[0018]
When the login is authenticated (A), the user database is searched next. The search is not particularly limited. For example, in the case of a temporary staffing system, it is desirable that the job seeker can search while setting the desired business type, occupation, and work system in detail. If (B) is picked up by (A) as a human resource to be searched for, (A) requests the server to disclose the (B) mail address in order to transmit the details to (B) by mail. This is because the above search discloses the personnel information of (B) but does not disclose the registered e-mail address of (B).
[0019]
The server that has received the e-mail address disclosure request acquires the registration IDs (A) and (B) from the user database. It is assumed that the registration ID of (A) is (001) and the registration ID of (B) is (002). Next, as shown in FIG. 2, a transfer mail address including the registration IDs of (A) and (B) is generated using the registration ID, and is disclosed to (A) as the mail address of (B). . Therefore, (A) can transmit a mail to (B) by transmitting a mail to the disclosed mail address. It should be noted that (A) and (B) both registration IDs are included in order to make it possible to transfer only the mail between the two in the later-described header information verification processing. In addition to the disclosure of the transfer address by the server, it is also possible, for example, to input the text of the mail in (A) on the WEB, process this as a mail, and then distribute the mail to (B) from the server.
[0020]
The information to be included in the generated e-mail address does not use the registration ID, but uses the e-mail address corresponding to the registration ID, and further combines information such as the generation date and time of the transfer address and the validity period of the transfer processing. Inclusion is also possible. Also, the registration ID and the mail address to be included are recorded together with information indicating the sender or the recipient, so that the mail transfer has a direction, that is, the transfer address is the mail from (A) to (B). Can be set to perform transfer processing, but not transfer the other way around, and this can be flexibly handled according to the usage of the system.
[0021]
Next, transfer processing of the mail transmitted to the transfer address will be described. When (A) sends a mail to the transfer address addressed to (B) acquired from the server, the mail is delivered to the server without being delivered to (B). The server that has received the mail analyzes the header information, extracts the transfer address described from the destination information (To section), and analyzes the extracted transfer address to obtain the included registration ID. Next, the source mail address is obtained from the source information (From item).
[0022]
The server acquires a mail address corresponding to the acquired registration ID from the user database. Here, comparison and verification are performed with the previously acquired source mail address, that is, the mail address in (A) in this case, and if they match, the processing shifts to mail transfer processing. Since two registration IDs are included in the transfer address, if one matches the sender, the mail address corresponding to the other registration ID, in this case, the mail address of (B) is the transfer destination of this mail. It becomes. If the source email address does not match the information contained in the forwarding address, there is a possibility that the forwarding address has been leaked to a third party, and a suspicious email forwarding request has been made to the system administrator. Will be notified. At this time, if the sender is notified that the mail has been error-processed, do not notify the sender that the mail has been error-processed because a malicious sender may repeat the mail transfer request. Is desirable.
[0023]
For the mail whose email address matches, the destination (To section) and the sender (From section) of the header information are respectively
The To item is rewritten from the transfer address to the mail address in (B), and the From item is rewritten from the address in (A) to the transfer address, and then transmitted to (B).
[0024]
Therefore, even if the mail (B) receives the mail, the original mail address of the mail sender (A) cannot be known by looking at the header information of the mail. Therefore, (A) can transmit the mail while concealing its own mail address from (B). By the way, when the mail transferred in the above process is received (B), it is not possible to know who sent the mail. Therefore, at the time of mail transfer, a sentence such as, for example, [this mail is from registration ID (xxx)] is added to the text, and the mail sender is notified to (B). Further, the user may be allowed to select whether to continuously receive the mail from the sender. In this case, two special addresses (url) are described in the text, and the first address is clicked if the message is to be continuously received, and the second address is clicked if the message is not received continuously. It is conceivable to limit the transfer process.
[0025]
Now, when (B) replies to this address, it usually sets its own e-mail address as the From item, and sets the From item of the received e-mail to the To item. Since the reply mail has been rewritten, the reply mail whose transmission destination is the transfer address is created and transmitted, and the reply mail also reaches the server like the mail addressed to the transfer address transmitted in (A). The server that has received the mail analyzes the header information of the mail, verifies the sender / destination mail address, rewrites the header information, and transfers the mail in the same manner as described above. Therefore, (A) receiving the reply mail from (B) transferred by the server cannot know the mail address of (B).
[0026]
At the time of transferring the mail, it is desirable that the information of the transferred mail, for example, the mail address and time of the mail sender, and further, the text be stored based on a certain standard. This is because it is preferable to maintain as proof for trouble mediation when slander or breach of contract occurs during mail exchange between the sender and the receiver. However, due to the privacy concerns of the user regarding the recording of the text, be very careful, for example, to automatically analyze the text to be transferred and record the text only when it contains a phrase that is considered slanderous. Is required.
[0027]
It is also possible to charge the user who has transmitted the mail to the transfer address according to the number of times the mail has been transmitted. The billing method in this case is not particularly limited, and any billing system that can handle the transfer processing of the system of the present invention may be used.
[0028]
In the above embodiment, the registration ID of the user is included when the transfer address is generated. However, each mail address can be included instead of the registration ID. When the mail address is included, the operation of extracting the mail address corresponding to the registration ID from the user database is not required at the time of mail transfer as described above, so that a higher-speed transfer process can be performed. Further, even when a transfer address including any of the registered ID and the mail address is generated, additional information such as a valid period and a valid number of times of the transfer address can be included at the same time. However, regarding the characters to be included, a restriction must be made so that ordinary mail servers (for example, mail servers used by senders and receivers in daily use) do not include characters dependent on a specific computer so that they can process. It is preferable to provide it. It is also desirable to set a certain upper limit on the number of characters.
[0029]
For example, if the forwarding address also includes a validity period, the mail forwarding is refused when the recipient replies after a certain period of time, or if the billing system is installed, By setting the number of times, it is possible to easily perform settings such as processing the mail transfer up to a certain number of times with a certain amount.
[0030]
It should be noted that when the transfer address is generated, the mail address is included in the transfer address. This is because if the forwarding address is known to a third party and it is found that the third party has further included the e-mail address, the third party has sent an e-mail from the included e-mail address. If disguised, the mail would be forwarded to another included mail address, and the recipient would be inconvenienced. For this reason, in the system of the present invention, the transfer address is encrypted even if it includes any information so that even if the transfer address is leaked to a third party, no damage occurs.
[0031]
Embodiment 2
Next, as an application example using the present application system, a method in which the present application system has a function of a bulletin board or a method of operating in close cooperation with another bulletin board system will be described. It is assumed that (C) is a registered user who is going to write on the bulletin board, and (D) is a registered user who is browsing the bulletin board. Normally, the bulletin board is designed to be able to write the text when writing, and to write its own mail address if necessary. If you want to write the e-mail address together, you must write your own e-mail address. In this case, if a malicious third party who browsed the bulletin board sends unsolicited e-mail to the e-mail address, it will not be accepted. You will receive spam. In order to solve this problem, the bulletin board using this system will immediately post the message to the bulletin board when a request is made to write the text of the message to the bulletin board at the same time as in (C). First, after creating a transfer address of the writing user (in this case, a transfer address for transferring mail to the user (C)), the transfer address is posted on the bulletin board together with the text.
[0032]
As the transfer address, an address including both the registration ID and the mail address of both the sender and the receiver is generated as in the first embodiment, but the address is posted on a bulletin board where the sender cannot be specified. The registration ID of (C) is adopted for the information of, and the sender is not limited. Therefore, anyone can send mail to the transfer address. In addition, information should be stored for the user who wrote the mail address to the bulletin board, and when the same user wrote the mail address to the bulletin board multiple times, all the same forwarding addresses should be posted. Is also possible.
[0033]
After browsing the bulletin board, (D) sends a mail addressed to this forwarding address. The server that has received the mail analyzes the To term and the From term as described above, acquires the registration ID included in the To term, and acquires the mail address corresponding to the registration ID from the user database. Also, the source address is obtained from the From item. The registration ID is acquired with reference to the user database also for the transmission source address.
[0034]
Next, the destination (To section) and the sender (From section) of the header information, respectively,
For the To item, the mail is rewritten from the transfer address to the mail address of (C), and for the From item, the mail rewritten from the address of (D) to the transfer address is sent to (C).
[0035]
By the way, in the forwarded mail, since the From item is the mail address generated when (C) wrote the message on the bulletin board, it is impossible to know who sent the mail in (C). Therefore, when the server forwards the mail, the sender information of the mail is added to the body, for example, a description such as [this mail is a mail transmitted from the registration ID (yyy)] is added to the body. When the user (C) wants to reply to the mail, he or she may log in to the server, search for the registration ID (yyy) described in the mail, obtain the transfer address from the server, and send the mail. Alternatively, when a mail to the transfer address is transmitted from (D), a transfer address including both IDs of (C) and (D) is newly generated and written in the From item of the header information, and thereafter, (C) and (D) can also send and receive mail using this transfer address.
[0036]
The above-mentioned bulletin board may be used only by a registered user, but it is also possible to employ a form in which only a registered user can write and only a non-registered user can browse. In this case, when the unregistered user (E) browses the bulletin board and sends a mail to the transfer address of (C) after seeing the writing of (C), the server analyzes the header information and registers the source address as described above. An attempt is made to obtain an ID from the user database. Since (E) is a non-registered user, the registered ID cannot be acquired. Therefore, the transfer process is stopped, and the fact that the user registration is necessary for sending the e-mail is notified by e-mail to (E). Therefore, even if the e-mail address is written in (C), even if the e-mail address is posted on the bulletin board, You will not receive spam.
[0037]
Even when the present system is applied to a bulletin board system, it is possible to charge a registered user who has transmitted an e-mail to a transfer address according to the number of transmitted e-mails.
[0038]
【The invention's effect】
According to the present invention, when a registered user sends an e-mail to a registered user who cannot know the e-mail address, the server intervenes and mail transfer between the two is performed using the transfer address. It is possible to securely transmit and receive e-mails while keeping the e-mail address confidential to the recipient.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic diagram of a system of the present application; FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an outline of generation of a transfer address;
(1) Mail transfer server (A) Registered user who wants to send mail (B) Registered user who wants to receive mail

Claims (8)

In a system that includes a user database that organizes and manages personal information of users by a registration ID, and that transmits and mediates communication between registered users, a registered user makes a request to disclose an e-mail address of a specific user registered in the user database. A transfer address generated and disclosed, and a mail transmitted to the transfer address is forwarded to a recipient while converting the source mail address and concealing the mail. system. The transfer address includes the sender and receiver registration IDs, analyzes the mail addressed to the transfer address, extracts the sender's mail address, obtains the registration ID corresponding to the address from the user database, and includes the transfer address in the transfer address. 2. The mail transfer system according to claim 1, wherein comparison verification with the registered ID is performed, and mail transfer is performed only when both addresses match. When the forwarding address includes the sender's and recipient's email addresses, the email addressed to the forwarding address is analyzed, the sender's email address is obtained, and the email address included in the forwarding address is compared and verified. 3. The mail transfer system according to claim 1, wherein only the mail is transferred. The information indicating either the sender or the recipient is recorded in a registration ID or a mail address included in the transfer address, and the direction of transfer of the mail addressed to the transfer address is given direction. The described mail transfer system. 5. The sender's mail according to claim 1, wherein the transfer address is invalidated when a specified number of mails to the transfer address have been transmitted or when a certain period has elapsed since the transfer address was created. Transfer system. 6. The mail transfer system according to claim 1, wherein a transfer address is generated when the registered user writes on the electronic bulletin board, and the transfer address is posted on the electronic bulletin board together with the written text. . 7. The mail transfer system according to claim 1, wherein the transfer address is encrypted so as to prevent a mail transfer process due to a forgery of a source mail address by a third party. 8. The mail transfer system according to claim 1, wherein the registered user who sent the mail to the transfer address is charged according to the number of mails sent.

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