WO2010063969A1

WO2010063969A1 - Identifying a client when accessing a service provided by a service provider

Info

Publication number: WO2010063969A1
Application number: PCT/FR2009/052397
Authority: WO
Inventors: Michael Barreau; Sabine Zander
Original assignee: France Telecom
Priority date: 2008-12-05
Filing date: 2009-12-03
Publication date: 2010-06-10

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for identifying a client (UT) capable of accessing a plurality of services (S1, S2, S3), at least one first service (S1, S2) of which has access to at least one piece of information ((IDS1, TEL), (TEL, LOC)) associated with the client. The method includes a step (ET3) of obtaining at least one second piece of information (LOC) that is associated with the client relative to the second service (S3), and a step of searching for a connection between at least one first piece of information ((IDS1, TEL), (TEL, LOC)) and at least one second piece of information (LOC). If a connection exists, the method further includes a step (ET6 or EU) of identifying on the basis of at least one piece of information selected from among the information connected together in the searching step.

Description

Identification of a customer when accessing a service provided by a service provider.

The field of the invention is that of the identification of a customer during a request for access to a service offered by a service provider. The client can be indifferently a natural person or a data processing device through which a user accesses the service.

A client's access to a service offered by a service provider is usually preceded by a prior step of registering the user with the service. This prior step is followed by a step of issuing secret information, such as a username and a password, shared between the client and the service. Then, when accessing the service, when the customer is a user, the latter provides his personal data to the provider, who verifies and authorizes access when the data corresponds to the secret information provided during the issuing step. Once authorized access, the user accesses the service. Conversely, the provider denies access when these data do not correspond to any recorded data.

The customer is therefore forced to obtain secret information to be able to access each service he wishes to use. The big drawback is that it is very difficult to memorize all the secret data provided by all the services with which the customer has registered, especially when the number of services involved is high.

On the other hand, some services adapt their content according to the client connected to the service. The disadvantage is that adaptation requires knowledge of the customer. However, a customer does not always want to register with the service, and in this case, the service has no way to adapt its content.

The invention proposes a solution that does not have the disadvantages of the state of the art. For this purpose, the subject of the invention is a method for identifying a client able to access a plurality of services, including at least one first service having at least one first information associated with the client, characterized in that it includes, when an access of said client to a second service,

a step of obtaining at least a second information associated with the client relative to the second service,

a step of searching for a link between at least one first piece of information and at least one second piece of information,

and in that, if a link exists, an identification step based on at least one information selected from the related information from the search step.

In this way, once said at least one second piece of information is collected, a link is made between a second piece of information and a first piece of information associated with the same client with respect to another service, and if that link exists, an identification based on a information from the search step, in particular on a second piece of information, is possible. Thus, a customer wishing to access a first service can be identified by means of information held by a second service. We understand that the user is not forced to register with a service to be identified by the service. The number of identifiers to be memorized is therefore greatly reduced.

Also, thanks to the invention, a service can identify a customer even if it has not registered. The service can therefore adapt its content, for example by offering additional services, depending on the client identified.

We will see in the following description that the information can be both secret information shared between the client and the service provider and / or useful information able to characterize a customer and thus to distinguish it from other customers. This useful information is for example the customer's location, the customer's telephone number, the ambient temperature of the customer's environment, etc. This useful information can be collected over time. We will also see that each useful information is related to a customer in relation to a service.

Note that in this application, identifying a customer means recognizing a customer as belonging to a class of customers, or distinguishing that customer from other customers.

According to a first variant of the method, the information is hierarchical, and the identification step is based on at least one information chosen according to its hierarchical position. Thus, if a link exists, the information selected from the information related to each other resulting from the search step will be, for example, the one with the highest hierarchy. It will be seen in the exemplary embodiment that the secret information has a hierarchical level higher than the useful information and that if any of the information can be used, the secret information will preferably be chosen to identify the client. It will also be seen that if no secret information results from the search step, and the only information available is useful information, the useful information used to identify a customer will be the one with the highest hierarchical position.

According to another variant of the method, when there is no link, said at least one second information is stored and associated with the client relative to the second service. In this way, during a subsequent access of said client to a third service, the steps of the method are again executed, namely, a step of obtaining at least a third information associated with the client relative to the third service, and a step of seeking a link between at least a third piece of information and at least one other piece of client-related information relating to at least one other item. The storage of information, in particular useful information, thus increases the possibility of obtaining a link between useful information during the search step, and therefore increases the probability of obtaining the most relevant information to identify a customer. According to a material aspect, the invention relates to a data processing device capable of identifying a client able to access a plurality of services including at least a first service having at least a first information associated with this client, characterized in that that he understands

means for obtaining at least one second information associated with the client relative to a second service,

means for finding a link between at least one first piece of information and at least one second piece of information,

- Identification means adapted to perform an identification based on at least one information selected from the information related to each other.

Finally, the invention also relates to the computer program comprising code instructions which, when the program is executed by a processor, performs the steps of the identification method defined above, namely

and in that, if a link exists,

an identification step based on at least one information associated with the client relative to the first service or the second service.

The invention will be better understood on reading the description which follows, given by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The figures: FIG. 1 represents a computer system on which is illustrated an exemplary embodiment illustrating an identification method according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 represents a flowchart illustrating the different steps of one embodiment of the method of the invention.

FIGS. 3 to 6 illustrate hierarchically organized information in the form of a table, this information being able to identify a client according to the method of the invention.

Detailed description of an exemplary embodiment illustrating the invention

Figure 1 shows a SYS system illustrating an embodiment of the invention. In this system, a customer is able to access services Sk (k = 1 to 3) through a telecommunication network RES.

In our example, these clients are communication devices, in this case a MOB radiotelephone and a personal computer PC. Recall that a communication device comprises a microcontroller (not shown) capable of processing information.

A user UT uses these devices by means of a respective man-machine interface (not shown in the figures). This user is indifferently an individual or a group of individuals for example a family.

The services are offered by service providers. The nature of the services is of little importance for the explanation of the invention, we will therefore designate these services by first service S1, second service S2 and third service S3. For information, a service is for example a service capable of providing the weather, or a service to access a bank account, etc.

In our example, access to the first service Sl requires the knowledge of secret information previously known to both the first service Sl and the user UT. In our example, this information secret is an identifier IDSl, for example a username and a password, provided by the first service Sl to the user UT.

In our example, the user UT does not have secret information for access to the other two services S2 and S3.

In our example, the different services collect over time useful information related to the user UT. For example, consider that the user has already connected in the past to the second service S2 and that second service, or another device of the network (not shown in the figures), has raised, in conjunction with the user UT, the following useful information:

- the TEL telephone number of the UT user's MOB radiotelephone,

and the location of the PC computer obtained for example by the Internet Protocol (IP) address of the computer.

Note that there are known localization techniques able to locate a PC according to the IP address. Localization consists of comparing the IP address of the PC computer with an IP address base qualified by fields of a geographical nature.

Note that the useful information is able to characterize a customer and are therefore able to distinguish a customer among several customers.

In our example, all IDS IDs and useful information are grouped together in one device. In our example, this device is an SRV server. This data can be grouped together for example in the form of a table similar to that shown in FIG. 3. This table comprises the IDS identifiers and useful information. Note that, in the aforementioned table, a box on a black background indicates that there is no known information (secret or useful) associated with the user relative to the service concerned. In our example, the useful information includes two groups of information. A first group includes environmental data such as the location of the device used when accessing a service, the ambient temperature of the room where the customer is located, and so on. This first group is referenced DUE in the figures. A second group includes data related to the use of the device, for example its telephone number. This second group is referenced DUD in the figures.

The invention is not limited to the aforementioned useful information but extends to all useful information able to characterize a customer. For example, another type of data may be data related to the network used for example UMTS, GSM, etc., or to the type of device used, for example a radiotelephone, a PC, a GPS-type guidance device (Global Positioning System), etc.

In our example, we establish a hierarchy of information. In our example, we consider that the secret information has a higher hierarchical level than the useful information. Thus, when two pieces of information of a different type are available, first secret information and useful information, the secret information is preferably used to identify the client. A one-sided axis is shown in Figure 2. This axis shows the sign "-" and the sign "+" to designate respectively the hierarchical order between information INF.

Similarly, for each type of information, a hierarchy is also established. Thus, if several information of a given type is available for a client, the information chosen will be the one with the highest hierarchical position. For example, in our example, it is considered that the useful information DUE related to the environment has a lower hierarchical level than useful information DUD related to the use of the device. The rest of the description will illustrate the interest of such a hierarchy.

On the other hand, the hierarchy described in the preceding paragraph may vary over time. For example, we can consider that useful information is relevant only for a limited time. Thus, the hierarchical classification takes into account the obsolescence of information to constitute a new hierarchy of information. For example, the IP address of a personal computer can be useful information able to characterize a computer. However, this IP address may vary with each new connection of the computer to the network. Thus, during a first connection of the computer, this IP address can have a high hierarchical level. Then, during a second connection of the computer, a new IP address is created for this computer. The old IP address used during the first connection has therefore become obsolete and its level in the hierarchy is lower during the second connection.

In our example, the user UT wishes to access the third service S3. It is considered that the third service S3 offers both basic services not requiring identification by means of secret information, and also other additional services the use of which is subordinated to the knowledge of an identifier IDS3 for example a username and password. However, it is assumed that the customer does not know this third identifier but nevertheless wishes to use these additional services.

The steps of accessing the third service S3 are described with reference to the flowchart illustrated in FIG. 2. In this example, it is considered that there is only one type of secret information, namely an IDS identifier.

The following steps illustrate an exemplary embodiment.

In a first step ET1, the user UT accesses the third service S3.

In a second step ET2, the third service S3 checks whether it receives a username and a password from the client.

If yes, an ET21 identification step of the client is performed using the username and password. If not, in a third step ET3, the third service S3 attempts to obtain at least one information, in particular useful information because the user has not provided an identifier in the second step ET2, associated with the user relative to the service in use know the third service S3.

If the third service S3 does not obtain any useful information associated with the user, the user accesses the service in step ET31 without being able to access the additional services offered by this third service S3.

In our example, in a third step ET3, the third service S3 obtains as useful information the LOC location of the user, for example by the IP address of his PC computer.

The following step ET4n and ET5n are performed in a loop, the parameter

"n" designating the number of loops.

In a fourth step ET41, a search for a link is made between the information obtained in the third step and useful information associated with another service that the user would have used in the past, or that the user is in use.

We have previously assumed that the second service S2 has the location information of the user. Thus, in the step EΞT41, the localization LOC of the PC computer makes it possible to link the third service S3 and the second service S2.

During a fifth step EΞT51, the third service S3 collects the useful information associated with the user UT with regard to the second service S2, namely its localization LOC and its telephone number TEL.

In the fourth step ET42, the third service S3 checks whether the useful information TEL is known by another service. If not, and in accordance with the hierarchy defined above, the TEL data is used to identify the customer. If so, the third S3 service links to another service. In our example, the telephone number is known data of the first service Sl relative to the customer. A link is made with this first service Sl. In the fifth step EET52, the third service S3 collects the useful information associated with the client relative to the first service Sl. The third service S3 thus obtains, in addition to the telephone number TEL, the identifier IDSl of access to the first service.

In our exemplary embodiment, the steps ET4n and ET5n are performed in a loop until there is no longer a link resulting from the step ET4n.

Thus, the identifier collected in the EET42 step having, in the hierarchy defined above, the highest hierarchical level, it is not necessary to repeat the steps ET4n and EETSn. In a sixth step ET6, the user is identified by means of the identifier IDSl associated with the first service Sl.

Once the customer is identified, the service can for example adapt its content to this customer.

The above example is only an example embodiment. More generally, the identification step (ET6 or ET7) is based on at least one information selected from the information related to each other. In other words, when the link is established between at least a first information and at least a second information, the identification can be based on at least a first information resulting from the search step (ET41), or on least second information resulting from the search step (ET41), or a set of information including both at least one first information and at least one second information resulting from the search step (ET41).

According to a first variant of the method, with reference to FIG. 5, if it is considered that the table is identical to the table of FIG. 3, with the difference that the service Sl does not have a declared IDSl identifier, the process ends at a seventh step ET7, in place of the sixth step ET6 described above, identifying the customer by means of useful information, in this case the telephone number TEL. According to a second variant, in the preceding embodiment, in the event that there is no link in the step ET41 executed during a first loop (n = 1), the useful information is stored and customer associated with the service in use ie the third service. This useful information can then be used for later access to another service. This case is illustrated with reference to FIG. 4. This figure shows a table identical to the table of FIG. 3, with the difference that the useful information LOC associated with the second service S2 does not exist. Thus, in this table it is not possible to establish a link between useful information.

We have seen previously in the embodiment that the invention has an interest when the service wants to adapt its content according to the user. The invention can also be used when the user uses several services simultaneously. For example, consider that the first service Sl and the third service S3 are used simultaneously. Consider that the first service Sl is an internet service for receiving data, in particular television, via a first network, for example the Internet and that the third service S3 allows the reception of television on the Internet. MOB radiotelephone through a first telecommunication network. Consider also that a switching device (not shown) is able to switch the transmission of the television from the first network to the second network when the location of the radiotelephone coincides with the location of the home DOM of the client. In this example, it is considered that the customer moves with his MOB radiotelephone towards his home. Suppose also that the first service Sl comprises as useful information the home address DOM of the customer obtained for example during the subscription of the customer to the internet service and an IDSl identifier. The TBL table comprising the identifiers and the useful information is represented in FIG. 6. The latter table TBL is the same as the table illustrated in FIG. 3, with the difference that the service Sl has the DOM address of the customer's home and it does not have the phone number associated with the user. The user views a television program on his MOB radiotelephone, and at a given moment, during the client's journey, the geographical location LOC associated with the S3 service is the same, or approximately the same, as the DOM address declared at the first service. A link is established in the search step ET41 (n = 1) between the first service and the third service S3 through location. In step ET51, the identifier IDSl associated with the user relative to the first service is collected. Since the only known identifier is IDS1, in step ET6, and an identifier has a higher hierarchical position than useful information, the user is identified by means of this identifier. Then, the switchover is realized, and the user can view the program on the television. Thanks to the invention, the user is not forced to identify with the first service Sl to receive the television program.

Finally, in our exemplary embodiment, the computer program capable of implementing the invention is installed on the server SRV. The SRV server therefore includes

means for obtaining at least a second information LOC associated with the client relative to a second service S3,

means for finding a link between at least one first piece of information (IDS1, TEL), (TEL, LOC) and at least one second piece of LOC information,

- Identification means based on at least one information associated with the client relative to the first service or the second service.

Naturally the place of installation of the program is indifferent. This could have been installed on any data processing device comprising the aforementioned means.

Claims

claims

1. A method of identifying a client (UT) able to access a plurality of services (S1, S2, S3) including at least a first service (S1, S2) having at least one first information ((IDS1 , TΕL), (7ΕL, LOC)) associated with the client, characterized in that it comprises, when an access of said client to a second service (S3),

a step of obtaining (ET3) at least one second information (LOC) associated with the client relative to the second service (S3),

a search step (ET41) of a link between at least a first piece of information ((IDS1, TEL), (TEL, LOC)) and at least a second piece of information (LOC),

and in that, if a link exists, an identification step (ET6 or ET7) based on at least one information selected from the linked information from the search step.

2. Identification method according to claim 1, characterized in that the information ((IDS1, TEL), (TEL, LOC)) is hierarchical, and in that the identification step is based on at least one piece of information. chosen according to its hierarchical position.

3. Identification method according to claim 1, characterized in that, when there is no link, said at least one second information is stored and associated with the client relative to the second service.

4. Data processing device (SRV) capable of identifying a client able to access a plurality of services (S1, S2, S3) including at least a first service (S1, S2) having at least a first piece of information ( IDS1, TEL), (TEL, LOC) associated with this client, characterized in that it comprises

means for obtaining at least a second piece of information (LOC) associated with the client relative to a second service (S3), means for finding a link between at least one first piece of information ((IDS1, TEL), (TEL, LOC)) and at least one second piece of information (LOC),

A computer program comprising code instructions which, when the program is executed by a processor, performed the steps defined in claim 1.