WO2017188958A1

WO2017188958A1 - System for anonymous communication from a user to the publisher of a scannable label

Info

Publication number: WO2017188958A1
Application number: PCT/US2016/029795
Authority: WO
Inventors: Vatche PAPAZIAN
Original assignee: Papazian Vatche
Priority date: 2016-04-28
Filing date: 2016-04-28
Publication date: 2017-11-02

Abstract

Publishers generate individual QR codes which may be either displayed on a smartphone or printed on a physical label, and consumers scan and decode those codes for secure and private communication with the publishers, without either party knowing the phone number or email address of the other party. At least one publisher profile is an anonymous profile that permits the disclosure of only a specified subset of the otherwise available information about that publisher, and that information is not directly embodied in the displayed code, but rather is stored on a secure remote server. A remote application on the publisher's smartphone may be used to generate the QR code and upload the associated contact information and permissions to the secure server, and a local app on the consumer's smartphone may be used to scan and process the QR code and commence secure communication with that publisher via the secure server.

Description

SYSTEW FOR ANOHYMOUS COMIIMICATfO ¥mm A USER TO THE

PUBLISHER OF A SCALABLE LABEL

Cross Reference to e ated Applications

Th s application claims he benefit of US Provisional Patent Application 62/151 ,524 ed on 23 April 201 S, which Is hereby incorporated by reference in l s entirety.

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to exchange of private information over a public network, and more parfeufarly to a system for publishing and using scannabte labels lor facilitating private communications with a remote bosiness or individual,

Saoisgfeund Art

A Q ("Quick Response *} code is a machine-readable optical label thai typically contains (or is linked to) Information about the item to which ills attached, St differs from a conventional UPC barcode label in that the encoded information is presented in two dimensions using a predetermined encoding mode such as numeric, alphanumeric, binary, or character (eg kanji) and an associated error correcting code to store and reconstruct the data, and offers more reliable readability and greater storage capacity. Applications include product tracking, item identification, time tracking, document management, and general marketing, A QR code consists of a two dimensional array of binary valued cells (typically either black or white square dots arranged in a sguare grid), which can be captured by an imaging device (such as a digital camera in a smart phone) and processed to reconstruct an approximation of the original two dimensional pattern of dots. Some of the cells have fixed values arranged In a fixed pattern and define the stee and orientation of the grid, and other cells represent hits of encoded binary data arranged in row and columns of the square grid. The associated error correcting code is then used to extract the original data from the horizontal and vertical components of the reconstructed square grid. The amount of data depends on the size (number of discrete data points) of the label and t complexity (robustness) of the associated error correcting code:

Level L - up to 7% damage

Level M - up to 15% damage

Level Q ~- up to 26% damage

Level H - up to 30% damage

Fig 1 specifies the data that may be encoded w h a 40-L (maximum capacity) QR Code.

Unlike the older, one-dlmanefena! barcodes that were designed to be t av r d by a narrow beam of light, a QR code is captured by a 2~dimensiorsai digital image sensor and the resultant digital image data then analyzed by a programmed processor. The processor locates the three distinctive squares at the comers of the QR code image, using a smaller squar (of multiple squares) near the fourth corner to normalize the Image for size, oriental on_* and angle of viewing. The small dots throughout the QR code are then converted to binar numbers and validated with an error-correcting code.

Although inially designed for tracking parts in vehicle manufacturing, QR codes now are used in a much broader context, including both ommercial tracking applications and convenience-oriented applications aimed at niobife-phone users (termed mobile tagging). OR codes may b used to display text to the user, to add a vOard contact to the use s devic , to open a Uniform Resource Identifier (U t), or to compose an e-mail or text message. Various QR code apps are available that can be used for publishing (generating and printing) a new QR code and for using (capturing and interpreting) a previously published QR Code. Japan's NTT DoCoMo has established de facto standards for the encoding of URis, contact Information, and several other data types. The open-source "ZXin * project maintain a list of Q code data types,

QR codes have been used over a wide range of applications, including commercial tracking, entertainment end transport ticketing, produci loyaily marketing and in-store product labeling. Ma y of these applications target mobiie^»phone users (via mobile tagging). Users may receive text, add a vCard contact to their device, open a URi, or compose an e-mail or t )d message aSer scanning QR codes. They can generate and print their own QR so es for others to scan and use by visiting one of several pay or fee QR code-generating sites or apps. Recruiters have placed OR codes in Job ■advertisements, white applicants have placed their own QR cods in their CVs and visiting cards. OR codes can also fee used in accessing persona! information for use by organizations.

Typically, a smartpbona having a bull in digital camera and a bull in QR scanning app functions as a QR code scanner and extracts land optionally displays) the encoded digital data m its original format (numeric, alphanumeric, binary, or character). A special user app (typically downloaded from or otherwise in communication w t the sam website that created and published that particular QR code) converts the decoded digital data Into some useful digital format (such as a standard URL for a website), thereby obviating th need for a user to type the encoded data Into a web browser or other user app. Such a QR code representation of a brand's URL l as become a focus of advertising strategy, since it provides a way to access a brand's website more quickly than by manually entering the individual characters comprising the U L and any associated search parameters.

O codes storing addresses and URLs may appear in magazines, on signs, on buses, on business cards, or on almost an object abou which users might want information. Users with a camera phone equipped with the correct reader application can scan the Image of the QR code to display text, contact information, connect to a wireless network, or open a w«b page in the phone's browser. This act of linking from physical world objects is termed hard!inking or object hyperiinking. <¾¾ codes also may be linked to a location to track where a code has been scanned. Either the application thai scans the QR code retrieves the geo information by using GPS and ceil tower triangyiation (aGPS) or the URL. data encoded In the QR code itself Is associated with a location.

QR codes can be used with various mobile device operating systems to support URL redirection, which allows the QR codes to input metadata to existing applications on the device, Ma y paid or free apps are available with the ability to scan the codes, extract the embedded metadata, and hard-link to an external URL. Q codes can be also used !o establish a secure log m to an associated device: a QR Code Is shown on the login page on a computer screen, and when a mgisfered user scans that code with a verified smartphone, that user will automatically he togged in on the computer. Authentication is performed by the user's smartphone which uses t © information in QR code to contact the responsible authentication server and execute the appropriat authentication protocol

The amount of data that can be stored in the QR code symbol depends on the datatype (mocfe, or input character mi)_t vwmn {1 through 40» indicating the overall dimensions of the symbol), and error correction eve (tow ~ 7%, Medium ~ 18%, Qu lify ^« 2S%, or High * 30%), The maximum storage capacities occur for 40-L symbols (version 40, error correction level t}_: as set forth in <3 1.

US Patent Publication 2Q1 /O03228S describes a system Irs whieivsoannJn§ a QR code generates an email address to a payment gateway. US Patent Publication

2014/0117087, describes a system for using codes in a dating service. Summary

In accordance with one aspect of the present in vention, a busi ess owner (or other responsible individual) dealing with external customers (or other unrelated individuals) is able to validate and correlate orders, offers, reviews and/or suggestions from a customer (or other unrelated individual) by means of an encoded label that is physicall associated with a particular time, location, activity, and/or transaction associated: wfth an Interaction between the business a id the unrelated Individual, and that may be used by any such unrelated individual to initiate and/or validate a private and/or anonymous communication with the business owner in a manner that ailows the business owner to manage his business and improve its service without any direct confrontation with that particular customer.

In accordance with another aspect of the present Inventions, a first individual seeking to establish a relationship {ether personal or professional) with other Individuals is able to initiate limited communication with tt¾se other individuals by means of an encoded label that Is physically associated w¾h the first Individyal, but that does not Include any private information (such as email addresses or Facebook pages) that the f rst individual does not want to disclose to strangers. The encoded label may then be us d by anothe individual to establish a private and/or anonymous communication with the first individual in a presently preferred embodiment, a "publisher" desiri g to maintain private and S anonymous communications wit customers or casual acquaintances or Q$m unrelated individuals ("consumers") must first download a remote app that generates OR codes specific to the publisher whic may be either displayed as individual digital images on a smartphone or other interactive display device in the physical possession of the publisher or orlnted on a physic l label which is accessible to the particular consumers W of interest to that publisher. In either case, the consumers are also required to install a local ap (which can be the same as (or part of a subset of) the downloaded remote app) on their devices sin order to scan and decode the displayed or printed QR code and commence secure and private communication with the publisher via a remote server.

The publisher^'s remote app preferably includes a first means for receiving contact IS information and other private details relaiing to each of th publisher's profiles,, a second means for general sig a unique Identification code (and associated QR code symbol) for each specified profile, a third means for publi hing the QR code symbol for each unique cod if and when Instructed to do so by the publisher, and a fourth means for transmitting to a secure remote server the imiqm eode and any related details for each 20 of the publisher's profiles.

The consumer's local app (or if the consumer is also a publisher, the local app portion of his remote app) preferably includes a test means for enabling fse consumer's interactive device to scan a digital Image of the publisher's displayed Q code symbol, a second means for processing that digital Image te recover the embedded unique 25 identiicaflon code, and a third means for transmitting th recovered unique identification code and any relevant details of the consumer's profile to the secure remote server,

A table is preferably maintained by th remote ap for storing previously received freosacficnai codes an the corresponding contact end transactional detals for the specific profile which each code repreeents, includi g any later received updates and/or 30 deletions thereof.. In a first exem lary specifics^■embodiment,, in

from a particular 0f¾ code ami any accompanying message received from a particular consumer, the remote serve sends a text message or email (or other private communication) to the individual or business who published fsat Q code withou S revealing to that publisher the text address (mobile phone number) or email address or any other private information associated with the consumer w o scanned that code. By this means, the consumer can send an anonyrnouste>it message, email, or other message (and/or can forward that accompanying message) to the owner or

management of a business, without either party knowing the phone number or email 0 address (or other contac inf orniafen) of the other party.

In a second exemplary specific embodiment, a unique QR code is generated by the remote app for each individual "publisher'¹ {or if a particular publisher wishes to maintain different public and/or anonymous profiles for different categories of acquaintances, for each profile maintained by that publisher) by means of the remote app. Upon scanning S and interpretation of the published code for a particular ^""profile" and transmittal of that code to the secure server, the remote apps of unrelated "consumers" have access only to certain information about a particular publisher that has been uploaded to the secure server by that publisher's remote app, linked to the particular profile associated with that particular published code, and marked as "disclose". For example, the information0 stored on the secure server may include first name, last name, phone number, address, email. Identification and/or Driver's license number, social security number, and photo, but the information disclosed to the unrelated consumer will be limited to first name, photo, and a numerical, code which may be used to send a limite number of text messages as defined by the "anonymous" profile that corresponds to the particular code S that was displayed by the publisher and was scanned by the consumer.

In boi of these specific embodiments, at least some (and preferably ail) of the stored information about a particular business or individual responsible for publishing the QR code is not directly embodied In tie code, but rather is stored on the remote app or on the same secure remote server which is selectively accessible by the local apps of the0 respective parties. An enhanced tog be maintaine at the secure rem te server for storing each instance of a recei ed transactionai code together with the time of transmission o the r&mote app and any other transactional details associated with that transmission, whereby suspicious transmissions from a particular user or user de ice for transmission to another particular user or user device may he identified and appropriate action may be performed after a specified number of suen communications have been eceived.

In a presently preferred embodiment, an individual or a business or other group of affiliated individuals^■(the "publisher'⁵} desiring to maintain private and/or anonymous communications with customers or other unrelated individuals {the ^consumer") must fi rst download a remote app that generates two dimensional Q codes specific to that publisher which may be either displayed on an interactive display device (such a a SmartPhone) or printed on a physical label, whereby a specific QR code associated with that particular publisher may be selectivel displayed to one or more consumers of Interest to that publisher. Once a partscylar consumer has already installed a local app (which can be the same as t e downloaded remote app) on his interactive display device, he may scan and decode tie displayed or printed code and use that decoded Information to commence communication (preferably anonymous) with the publisher, optionally including details (suoh as t me, transaction, and/or location) associated with its display by the publisher and its scanning by the consumer. In a first exemplary specific embodiment, the local app in ects the remote app to send a text message or email to the individual or business who published tie code but did not make public the text address (mobile phone number) or email address of the publisher-; By this means, a customer (the consumer) can send a private text message, email, or message to the owner or management of a business (the publisher), without either party knowing the phone number or emat address of the othe party .

In a second exemplary specific embodiment, the publisher's remote app generates and displays (publishes} the publisher's QR code (or a selected QR cod lithe publisher has more than one "profile") prior to the the publisher's display device being scanned by a particular consumer^'s Interactive display device by means of a looe! app (which ma be the same as the remote app). Preferably, at feast one profile associated with the publisher is an anonymous profile that permits the disclosure of only a specified subset of the otherwise available information about that publisher. For exam le, the known information about the publisher may Include first name, last name, phone number, address, email, Identification and/or Driver's License number, social security number, and photo, but the specified information disclosed to the unrelated consumer scanning the QR code associated with such an anonymous profile might be limited to first name, photo, and a temporary contact number which may be used to send a limited number of text messages during a limited time to the particular publisher. in both of these specie embodiments, most (and preferably all) of the known information about a particular business or individual responsible for publishing the code is preferably not directly embodied in the displayed code, but rather is stored on he secure remote server which may be selectively accessible by the con ume ' local app once that particular consumer has been given the appropriate permission. This is true even if the coded label uses a relatively high capacity two dimensional format such as a OR code.

In a further refinement of ti a invention, at least some information about the consumer is also stored on the secur remote server in a manner analogous to that of the publisher { preferably using the same remote app tinctlenality}, whereby the consumer may selectively authorise access to his information by, and/or direct communication from, the publisher who initiated the contact with the consumer, in yet another refinement, if both parties have not authorized the re¾¾as of their respective names and phone numbers {or other public contact Information) to the other party within a predetermined time period, any associated temporary contact numbers are disabled and all associated information is deleted torn the remote -server.

Brief Description of Drawings

Fig 1 specifies the data that may fee encoded with a 404 (maximum capacity) OH Code.

Figs 2 through 2$ are screen shots showing a typical operational sequence that may be performed by a presently preferred embodiment of the invention. Detailed Description

A .presently preferred embodiment combining asp ct of the previously described embodiments Is shown in Figs 2 though 25, Figs 2 and 3 represent the first page that c mes up on the publisher^'s screen, which asks him to allow f'OK^::) push notifications. The it Is followed fey the login screen (Fig 3}„ by entering the user's "Email" and

" ss o d'', . default at top of screen), or by linking io Facebook, Twitter, or GoogiePlus, using respective buttons at bottom of screen.

Fig 4 shows the different QR profiles the user has created, Including 3 default profiles that the app comes with. When the user selects (dicks on) one of these saved profiles, a correspondingl labeled QR code appear® (Fig S) on the publisher's screen whereby i may be scanned by the ether user {eg, a customer) (See also Fig 14).

Fig 8 shows how a saved profile may be deleted. To delete a prolle, simply slide (iOS) and tap (IQS) or hold {Android) Delete. Then confirm that you want to delete ft.

Figs 7 a d 8 show how a new profile may be created by simply cfeidng the * (add) Ico en the top right on the home page, and then selecting the prof le type (Personal or Professional),

Figs 9 and 10 show the available information field for a PERSONAL prolle ("John" In the illustrated exampte); Figs 11, 12 and 13 show the available information fields for a P OFESS Ormt profiie ("John lawyer" ih the illustrated example). After the publisher's selected Qt¾ cede appears on his screen (Fig 14), the publisher can show it to another user (the "consumer'} with a local app which has a Scan OR mode which scans it when the customer places his phone's camera above the QR code displayed on the publisher's screen. Once the consumer ( g, a potential customer at a trade show) has thereby successfully scanned the displayed QR oode_f a box (Fig 15) appears o his screen, which allows him enter a description (optional) and save the associated contact code and any optional description as a new anonymous contact (Fig 18).

After that other user clicks "OK", an "added successfully" message Is displayed on his screen (Fig 17), which verifies that the publisher's contact info (as defined in the particular profile which created that particular QR code) Has been added successfully to the customer's Contacts.

To edit his QR profile, the user sim ly goes to his "My QR Codes" tab (F ig 18) and clicks Edit on whichever profile he want to edit, whereupon the previously stored information for that profile (Figs 9 and 20} te displayed. This ^'will allow you to edit any of the fields of the selected profile. When fi ished editing, click "Save",, and the profilers} will be updated.

To see your contacts, click on tie "Contacts" tab (Fig 21). The contacts are displayed by group in he following order: Persona) profiles first (in alphabetical order), then Professional profiles (in alphabetical order), and then Anonymous profiles (in alphabetical order). If there is no name associated with the OR code you have scanned, then that profile goes on fo displaying any description you may have entered,, which is why the contact "Business" is before "Bob". You may email, text, or call your contacts by clicking the corresponding icons, but only if that contact has shared that information with you.

As shown in Fig 22, you may also see (and possibly edit) the information your contacts have shared ith you by dieting on the profile icon (Fig 21) for that contact.

Fig 23 shows the "Settings page, where users can invite friends via email, e^, Facebook, Twitter, or GoogiePfus; view any Notifications (see below); see the relevant 'Terms and Conditions", "Privacy Policy⁸, and/or About" pages, or Log Qui.

Fig 24 shows a blank Notification® page, A user receives notiloation when he ha scanned someone, someone has scanned him, when an anonymous chat message is waiting, when an anonymous contact is about to expire or hen i t has expired , a nd a!so when the system or the system administrator chooses to send any information relevant to a particular user or group of users. Since in the illustrated example, there are no notifications, the Notification screen says ου have no notieations at this time", if there were notifications, it would display them and have a time end date next to each. User receives notifications when he has scanned someone, someone has scanned him, when someone has sent an anonymous chat message and is waiting, when an anonymous contact is .about to e pire or when if has expired, and also when the system or the system administrator chooses to send any information relevant to a particular user or group of users.

As shown in Fig 2S, a user with an Anonymous profile can decide the number of days 5 someone can keep in contact with him, through a secure server, using that particular anonymous profile. Choices are 1 day, 3 days, 7 days, 15 days., or 30 days.

All confidential user data Is refera ly stored in the secure server and not in the client. In some en ironments, such as Android and the Picas image server, image such as Profile pictures and OR codes) may be securely cached In the client side, ίϋ It is required for second person to have the app In order to scan a OR code,

calL¾xt ernaiione of his/her contacts, and visit any of his/her contacts*

Facebook Twitter/Lsnkedln/lnstagram,

A 8 digit random code is preferably generated for eac profile created by any user. No private data is encoded Into the QR Code. If someone uses another application^' to scan 15 the Q Code, all they would get is an 8 digit random code that must he decoded after If is received by the secure server.

Each prolle is associated with a Q Code. If a user has two profiles, he has 2 QR Codes associated with them. The number of codes has no relation with the number of contacts of a user. For example, a user, say "personA", has SO contacts end 2 profiles 20 for himself. He has 2 QRCodes {one fo each prolle}. The contacts are linked through the internal user IDs of the app. So f "personA" ha SO people In his contacts, In the contacts table his user© is linked to SO of her user IDs.

The passwords are preferably enon pted using D5# algorithm (This encryption cannot be decrypted, only compared ). Ai) other data Is stored as such. If 2 parties are 2S exchanging messages they do if through a conversation ID which links their user IDs, Chat Messages that users send to each othe are stored in a messages Table in t e server. Other messages like S ¾S{Te t) messages .are stored in a standard way in the phones. Those skied in t e art will &m that although the in ention has been described with reference to a specific ceding format (a h gh capacity 40*t OR code) , many of the underlying concepts are usable with other known and not vet known scanoabie code formats, and the Invention is not necessarily limited to encoded data fiat are embodied in known scannabie codes such as one dimensional UPC barcodas or two dimensional QR oodes.

Claims

What m Claimed is:

1 , A system for facilitating private or anonymous communication bet en

'publishers and consumers, comprising:

a secure remote server for facilitating secure communications over a public digital communication network;

at least on® pablls r tamiina! integrated with a respective smartp one _: ^'communication device including:

an optical dis la for displaying a two dimensional code symbol in which is

mbedd d a respective sequence of digital data including digital identification code corresponding to a particular communication profile of local particular publisher, and

a remote app for generating tbe t o dimensional code symbol for a selected communication profile and for transmitting th corresponding uni ue identification code end related details of the corresponding communicatio profile to the sec re remote digital server over a public digital network; and a plurality of consumer terminals, each integrated with a respective smartphone

communication device which Includes:

an optical scanner for scanning a two dimensional eode from a publisher

terminal,

dimensional pattern of dots and for extracting therefrom the particular sequence of digital data embedded therein, and

a remote app for using the extracted digital identific ion code data about ihe publisher and ot er private information bo t th consumer and the consumer terminal to establish secure twe way com unieatlon with the publisher terminal via the remote digital server;

wherein tie code displayed by the publisher and scanned by the consumer includes sufficient encoded digital informatio to permit the consumer terminal to establish secure private two way communication with the publisher terminal vi the digital server, without revealing to the consumer or the consumer terminal the network ddress of the publisher terminal or any other information designated private by he publisher, and without revealing to the publisher or the publisher terminal the network address of the^■consumer terminal or any other information designated private by the consumer.

S

2. The system of claim 1 wherein the secure digital server store private information previously uploaded by the publisher or by the consumer,

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the previously uploaded private information is used by the secure digital server to establish secure communication with the atif that uploaded that information,

0 4. The system of claim 3, wherein any previously uploaded private information about the consumer is deleted from the secure digital server if the consumer has not subsequently authorized its release to the publisher within a. predetermined time.

5. The system of claim 3, wherein any previously released temporary contact information used to facilitate private communications between the publisher and a5 particular consumer Is disabled, and ail associated private information i deleted torn the secure digital sever if each party has not authorised release of that privat information to the other party within a predetermined time.

8, The system of claim 1 , wherein the publisher's remote app maintains a table of previously generated codes which include a corresponding time, location, ancho other6 transactional details associated with the generation of each.

7. The system of claim 1 _s wherein the remote spp maintains multiple contact profiles each associated with a different contact or class (personal, professional, or anonymous) of contact.

& The system of claim ?, wherein the encoded digital data does not Include an5 private data, but only an 8~d¾it pseudo random number f at is used by the secure digital server to access a previously stored profile.

9, Th system of claim 8, wherein the encoded profile data for a particular user that is In contact with multiple other users Is stored only once on the secure server, but is linked in a contacts fable to all the other users with which that particular user is in

0 contact. 1 Q. The system of claim ¾ wherein the profile of an anonymous user who subseqyenfiy authorizes sharing of his private coniaot Informal en with another user " automatically reclassified as a private contact of that other user.

11, A system for facilitating private or anonymous commurlca ion between publisher and consumer s, substantiall as shown and described.