WO2015097647A1

WO2015097647A1 - Secured locating service

Info

Publication number: WO2015097647A1
Application number: PCT/IB2014/067231
Authority: WO
Inventors: Michael Rothschild
Original assignee: Michael Rothschild
Priority date: 2013-12-23
Filing date: 2014-12-22
Publication date: 2015-07-02

Abstract

Embodiments of the present invention safeguard the privacy of a traveler while simultaneously tracking the traveler's location for emergency purposes. Two or more vectors are derived from a vector that indicates the traveler's location, and the derived vectors are sent to different destinations. An individual derived vector by itself is insufficient to reconstruct the traveler's location vector. However, the derived vectors together may be processed to reconstruct the location vector. Accordingly, a traveler's privacy regarding his/her location may remain safeguarded when the derived vectors remain separated among the separate destinations, but under emergency circumstances the derived vectors may be transferred to an authorized party for determination of the traveler's location.

Description

SECURED LOCATING SERVICE

RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims benefit under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) of the December 23, 2013 filing of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/919,905, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

A constant compromise exists between ( 1 ) the interest of the public or of a government body demanding personal information from an individual for the purpose of safeguarding the welfare of that individual and/or of the general public and (2) the interest of the individual wanting respect for his/her private life. For example, a government tax collection service may want excruciatingly detailed financial data from a person or business to ensure compliance with tax obligations, while the person/business likely prefers to keep many details unavailable to government inspectors.

Another example of the conflict between the "desire to know" and the desire for privacy concerns travelers' activities. For instance, a young adult touring in another country may prefer to withhold from his/her parents some details of his/her vacation, such as his/her particular location within the foreign country, while the parents of the traveler may instead want the ability to trace the person's travel in case that person unfortunately becomes missing or if an emergency otherwise occurs. The traveler may in fact want his/her parents to have access to the travel information - but only under emergency conditions.

The present inventor is unaware of any acceptable way of making such location information of the traveler available in the event of an emergency and keeping the location information confidential otherwise. Accordingly, he invented the following: SUMMARY

Embodiments of the present invention enable tracking of a traveler's or other object's location such that the tracking information is effectively safeguarded under non-emergency conditions but available in the event of a recognized emergency.

The invention may be embodied as a method of determining a location vector of a tracked object. The method includes: receiving from a first point a first vector, the first vector having been derived from the location vector; receiving from a second point a second vector, the second vector having been derived from the location vector; and computing the location vector from at least the first vector and the second vector. Neither the first vector nor the second vector is sufficient by itself to provide the location vector.

The invention may also be embodied as a method of providing location information for a tracked object. This method includes: generating a location vector of a tracked object from the object's spatial coordinates and from the time the spatial coordinates were determined; deriving a first vector and a second vector from the location vector; transmitting the first vector to a first point; and transmitting the second vector to a second point. Neither the first vector nor the second vector is sufficient by itself to provide the location vector.

The invention may further be embodied as a tracking device that includes circuitry and a transmitter. The circuitry is operative to determine spatial and time coordinates of a location vector, and the circuitry derives at least first and second vectors from the location vector such that the location vector may be determined from at least the first and second vectors. The transmitter is operative to send the first vector to a first point and the second vector to a second point. Neither the first vector nor the second vector is sufficient by itself to provide the location vector. Embodiments of the present invention are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings, which are briefly described as follows:

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention is described below in the appended claims, which are read in view of the accompanying description including the following drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 depicts a traveler's location remote from his parents and associated businesses;

Fig. 2 illustrates schematically the components of a tracking device that the traveler in Fig. 1 may take during his travels in accordance with an embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 3 provides a flowchart indicating the process flow during the execution of a method of providing location information for a tracked object in accordance with another embodiment of the invention; and

Fig. 4 provides a flowchart indicating the process flow during the execution of a method of determining a location vector of a tracked object in accordance with yet another embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The invention summarized above and defined by the claims below will be better understood by referring to the present detailed description of embodiments of the invention. This description is not intended to limit the scope of claims but instead to provide examples of the invention. Embodiments of the present invention enable a traveler to send information capable, when processed correctly, of providing the traveler's location, but such processing is effectively prevented under non-emergency conditions. The invention may be embodied as a system/device, a method, and as a storage medium containing instructions that when executed perform the method and/or reside within the system/device.

The scenario of a first embodiment of the invention is described as follows with reference to Figs. 1 and 2. In the present scenario, a vacationer 10, who lives with his parents 12 in Phoenix, AZ (U.S.A.), is hiking in Quebec, Canada. The vacationer 10 carries a tracking device 14, which sends signals to the parents 12 and to another entity 16, an insurance provider located in Boston, MA. Before the trip, the vacationer 10 obtained coverage from the insurance provider 16 such that in an emergency the insurance provider 16 would dispatch search and rescue services from a service provider 18, which is headquartered in the Vancouver area. In such a situation, the search and rescue service 18 would need to know the location of the vacationer 10, but under ordinary circumstances the vacationer 10 does not want his location known to others. Accordingly, neither the signals sent to the parents 12 nor the signals sent to the insurance provider 16 by themselves can provide the location of the vacationer 10. Both of those signals would need to be sent to the search and rescue service 18, which would be able to compute the location of the vacationer 10 from the combined signals.

The tracking device 14 has circuitry that includes a processor 20, a GPS (global positioning satellite) sensor 22, a clock 24, storage 26, a transmitter 28, and any hardware, software, and/or firmware acting as instructions for operation. Both the GPS sensor 22 and the clock 24 provide signals to the processor 20 so that the processor 20 may determine spatial and time coordinates of the location vector of the vacationer 10 based on instructions residing in the storage 26. As discussed in more detail below, the circuitry derives first and second vectors from the location vector such that the location vector may, if necessary, be determined from the first and second vectors that were earlier derived from the location vector. The transmitter 28 sends the first derived vector to a first point, the location of the vacationer's parents 12, and the second derived vector to a second point, the location of the insurance provider 16. As discussed, neither the first nor second derived vector is sufficient by itself to provide the location vector.

Variations of the first embodiment that are within the scope of the invention include an embodiment which the tracking device 14 sends a derived vector directly to the search and rescue service 18 instead of to the insurance company 16. It is still not possible for the insurance company 16 to determine the traveler's location, until the parents 12 send their derived vector to the search and rescue service 18. In the first embodiment, the first and second derived vectors together suffice to provide the location vector. However, in another alternate embodiment, the circuitry of the tracking device 14 provides a third vector derived from the location vector so that the transmitter 28 sends the first, second, and third vectors to three points, the locations of the parents 12, of the insurance company 16, and of the search and rescue service 18, respectively. In this embodiment, no one or two of the first, second, and third derived vectors is/are sufficient by itself/themselves to provide the location vector. Any number of additional vectors may be derived accordingly from the location vector and sent to separate points to increase the safeguard on the traveler's privacy.

The present invention also may be embodied as a method of providing location information for a tracked object. Such embodiment will be described with reference to the flow chart 30 in Fig. 3.

The method begins by generating a location vector of a tracked object from the object's spatial coordinates and from the time that the spatial coordinates were determined. (Step SI.) As an example, the tracked object may be the tracking device 14 of Fig. 2, which operates circuitry to generate the location vector accordingly. In some implementations, the tracking device functionality is provided by an application running on a smartphone and residing in the smartphone's storage, the smartphone having both a GPS sensor and a clock to provide the spatial and time information.

The next step is to derive a first vector and a second vector from the location vector. (Step S2.) Neither the first vector nor the second vector is sufficient by itself to provide the location vector. Example ways to derive the first and second vectors accordingly are discussed below.

The following steps are to transmit the first derived vector to a first point (step S3), for example, to the traveler's parents 12 in Fig. 1, and to transmit the second derived vector to a second point (step S4), for example, to the insurance provider 16 in Fig. 1. At this stage, both first and second derived vectors are "possessed" at the first and second points, respectively. The location vector cannot be determined though, unless some party possesses at least both the first and second derived vectors.

The last sentence includes the qualifier "at least" for cases in which case the embodiment (or a variant of the embodiment) includes also steps of deriving a third vector from the location vector and transmitting the third vector to a third point. For such embodiment, no one or two of the first, second, and third vectors is/are sufficient by itself/themselves to provide the location vector. In some implementations of the embodiment, only two vectors are derived from the location vector, and the first and second vectors together suffice to provide the location vector.

Also in the embodiment of Fig. 3, the first and second vectors are derived at the point that the location vector specifies, for example, at the location of a tracking device performing the derivations. In alternate embodiments, though, the location vector can be sent to another point, where vectors are derived there and then sent to the first and second points of steps S3 and S4. The present invention may further be embodied as a method of determining a location vector of a tracked object. Such embodiment will be described with reference to the flow chart 32 in Fig. 4.

The method begins by receiving a first vector from a first point (step SI) and a second vector from a second point (step S2). For example, the search and rescue service 18 of Fig. 1 receives the first derived vector from the parents 12 (at a first point) and the second derived vector from the insurance provider 16 (at a second point). Both of the first and second vectors were previously derived from the location vector, such as by ways discussed below. As in the embodiments described above, neither the first vector nor the second vector are sufficient by itself to provide the location vector.

The following step is to compute the location vector from at least the first vector and the second vector. (Step S3.) Although in this embodiment, the first and second vectors together suffice to provide the location vector (examples ways of providing the location vector discussed below), the qualifier "at least" is written because in some alternate embodiments a third vector is received from a third point, the third vector having been derived from the location vector, and the location vector is computed from the first, second, and third vectors. In this embodiment, no one or two of the first, second, and third vectors is/are sufficient by itself/themselves to provide the location vector. Any number of additional vectors may be derived, received, and used to compute location vectors accordingly in alternate embodiments.

Also, similarly to the embodiment of Fig. 3, in the embodiment of Fig. 4, the first and second vectors are derived at the point that the location vector specifies, for example, at the location of a tracking device performing the derivations. In alternate embodiments, though, the location vector may have been sent to another point, where vectors were derived there and then sent to the first and second points of steps SI and S2.

In a typical scenario of an embodiment of the invention, a user carries a mobile telephone hosting an application that obtains location information of the mobile telephone and records the information as location vector values that include associated times. In the present embodiment, the location vector has three components (latitude, longitude, time), but alternate embodiments may be employed with more components (such as including elevation, which could be useful in mountainous terrain and even in tall buildings) or with fewer components (for example, if one degree of freedom were sufficient to identify a location, such as for hiking along the Appalachian Trail in the eastern United States or along the Israel National Trail in Israel). Other

embodiments may dispense with recording the time, tasking the derived vectors recipients (such as those at points A and B above) with recording time. The application running on the mobile telephone may use NAVSTAR GPS (or other type of global navigation satellite system) or multilateration of signals from cellular telephone towers as non-limiting examples of obtaining location information.

Also in the present embodiment, the application running on the user's mobile telephone processes each location vector to produce therefrom a first derived vector and a second derived vector. Neither the first derived vector nor the second derived vector is sufficient by itself to provide the location vector. However, the location vector may be computed when knowing both the first derived vector and the second derived vector.

One example of how to derive first and second vectors from a location vector is as follows: First, for one component of the vector, the latitude, the associated component in the first derived vector is a random number, and the associated component in the second derived vector is the difference between the latitude and the random number. Accordingly, the latitude may be computed when knowing the associated components of both the first and second derived vectors by adding both associated components, but neither of the associated components individually are sufficient by itself to provide latitude. Analogous computations may be performed on the other components of the location vector and their subsequent associated components in the first and second derived vectors. Optionally, the time component may be sent without derivations to different values, and accordingly the time component may be used to subsequently match the latitude and longitude components of the first and second derived vectors.

Again, for this embodiment, after the application running on the mobile telephone produces the first and second derived vectors, it sends using the mobile telephone's transmitter the first derived vector to a first destination (a first point) and the second derived vector to a second destination (a second point). For example, the first destination may be a computerized device (a networked personal computer, tablet, or smart phone, as non-limiting examples) of the traveler's parents, and the second destination may be a computerized device of a business providing travel insurance to the traveler. The mobile telephone's transmitter may transmit the first and second derived vectors, via the Internet or by short message service (SMS), as non- limiting examples of transmission options.

In the preceding scenario, neither the traveler's parents nor the underwriter can independently determine the location vector of the traveler, and safeguards may be ensured through contractual agreements or otherwise to prohibit the two parties, the parents and the underwriter, from collaborating to determine the location vector except under pre-defined emergency conditions or perhaps also under court order. Thus, the traveler's privacy with respect to his/her location is protected under routine circumstances, but the location information becomes available when an emergency exists that requires knowledge of the traveler's present and/or recent past locations.

Variations of the preceding embodiment are within the scope of the invention. For example, in the preceding embodiment, the "tracked object" is a tourist on an extended vacation, but it is also within the scope of the invention that the tracked object is a private investigator, anyone traveling within his/her own country, or even cargo being shipped. Further, in the preceding embodiment, the tracking device is a mobile telephone hosting a specially-developed application, but in alternate embodiments the tracking device may be a different electronic device designed solely for the purpose of providing derivations of location vectors.

Other variations of the preceding embodiment that are within the scope of the invention include alternate ways to derive first and second vectors from the location vector and then how to recover the location vector later from the two derived vectors. For example, a component of the first derived vector may be a random bit string X, and the corresponding component of the second derived vector may be the result Y of the exclusive or logical operation ("XOR") on X and the associated component of the location vector L, that is, Y=X XOR L. Later recovery of the location vector L component is simply the computation X XOR Y. Another example is to encrypt a component of the location vector data using a random encryption key so that the first derived vector is the result of the encryption and corresponding component of the second derived vector is the decryption key. Later recovery of the component of the location vector may be performed by a party having both the encrypted location vector and the decryption key.

Another aspect of the invention is a method of determining a location vector of a tracked object, for example, the tourist on the lengthy vacation in a distant location. The underwriter or emergency search and rescue services may perform this method, and all parties involved may be prohibited from collaborating as necessary from participating in the performance of this method except under recognized emergency conditions or a court order. The method may be performed using a networked personal computer, as a non-limiting example.

The steps of the method include receiving from a first source (a first point) a first derived vector and receiving from a second source (a second point) a second derived vector. Both the first and second vectors were previously derived from the tracked object's location vector and sent to the first and second sources as discussed above. Neither the first vector nor the second vector are sufficient by itself to provide the location vector.

The first source in this embodiment may be the computerized device that the tourist's parents used to receive the first derived vector, and the computerized device may have forwarded the first derived vector to the party performing the present method via the Internet, as a non- limiting example. The second source may be a computerized device that an insurance provider used to receive the second derived vector.

After the first and second derived vectors are received, the next step is to compute the location vector from the two derived vectors. The computation may be adding the two derived vectors, as discussed above, as a non-limiting example. Accordingly, the location vector is now available for its authorized use.

The preceding embodiments produce from a location vector two derived vectors and then send the derived vectors to a total of two separate destinations. In alternate embodiments, though, a third destination, such as a court empowered to authorize the determination of the location vector, or even more destinations may be part of the system, and the associated individual derived vectors will be computed accordingly. That is, none of the derived vectors will be sufficient by itself to provide the location vector, but all of them together provide enough information to enable the computation of the location vector. Generally, the invention may be embodied such that any number that exceeds one is the number of derived vectors that are processed. Also, other embodiments introduce redundancy by sending some or all of the same derived vectors to different destinations to prepare for situations where some of the parties may not be available for reconstructing the location vector.

Many options exist as methods for providing more than two derived vectors from a location vector. For example, each derived vector, except one, can have as its first component a different random number, and the remaining derived vector can have as its first component the difference between the first component of the location vector and the sum of all the random numbers. To recover the component of the location vector, all of the associated components of the derived vectors are added. As another example, the first components of the derived vectors can be random numbers, except for the last random number, which can be result of the XOR logical operation on each random number and the associated component of the location vector. To recover the component of the location vector, all of the associated components of the derived vectors are XOR-processed.

Another embodiment of the invention provides location information as a vector having a bit string and an associated time as components, the bit string representing a street address. Conventional algorithms known in the art are available to provide the street address, such as from GPS data. To derive vectors and later reconstruct the vectors of location information, the bit string and random numbers may be added or XOR-processed, or the bit string may be encrypted and decrypted, using algorithms that are analogous to the algorithms discussed above. Having thus described exemplary embodiments of the invention, it will be apparent that various alterations, modifications, and improvements will readily occur to those skilled in the art. Alternations, modifications, and improvements of the disclosed invention, although not expressly described above, are nonetheless intended and implied to be within spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the foregoing discussion is intended to be illustrative only; the invention is limited and defined only by the following claims and equivalents thereto.

Claims

CLAIMS I claim:

1. A method of determining a location vector of a tracked object, the method comprising: receiving from a first point a first vector, the first vector having been derived from the location vector;

receiving from a second point a second vector, the second vector having been derived from the location vector; and

computing the location vector from at least the first vector and the second vector;

wherein neither the first vector nor the second vector is sufficient by itself to provide the location vector.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first vector and the second vector together suffice to provide the location vector.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

receiving from a third point a third vector, the third vector having been derived from the location vector;

computing the location vector from at least the first vector, the second vector, and the third vector;

wherein no one or two of the first vector, the second vector, and third vector is/are sufficient by itself/themselves to provide the location vector.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the first vector and the second vector are derived at a point that the location vector specifies.

5. A method of providing location information for a tracked object, the method comprising: generating a location vector of a tracked object from the object's spatial coordinates and from the time the spatial coordinates were determined;

deriving a first vector and a second vector from the location vector;

transmitting the first vector to a first point; and

transmitting the second vector to a second point;

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the first vector and the second vector together suffice to provide the location vector.

7. The method of claim 5 further comprising:

deriving a third vector from the location vector; and

transmitting the third vector to a third point;

8. The method of claim 5, wherein the first vector and the second vector are derived at a point that the location vector specifies.

9. A tracking device comprising:

a circuitry operative to determine spatial and time coordinates of a location vector, the circuitry deriving at least first and second vectors from the location vector such that the location vector may be determined from at least the first and second vectors; and

a transmitter operative to send the first vector to a first point and the second vector to a second point;

10. The tracking device of claim 9, wherein the first vector and the second vector together suffice to provide the location vector.

11. The tracking device of claim 9, wherein:

the circuitry is operative to derive a third vector from the location vector such that the location vector may be determined from the first, the second, and the third vectors;

the transmitter is operative to send the third vector to a third point; and

no one or two of the first vector, the second vector, and third is/are sufficient by itself/themselves to provide the location vector.