(12) INTERNATIONAL APPLICATION PUBLISHED UNDER THE PATENT COOPERATION TREATY (PCT)
`
`(19) World Intellectual Property Organization
`International Bureau
`
`1111111111111111 IIIIII IIIII IIII I 111111111111111 lllll lllll llll 1111111111111111111
`
`(43) International Publication Date
`18 October 2001 (18.10.2001)
`
`PCT
`
`(10) International Publication Number
`WO 01/77876 A2
`
`(51) International Patent Classification 7:
`
`G06F 17/00
`
`(21) International Application Number: PCT/US0l/11642
`
`(22) International Filing Date:
`
`11 April 2001 (l 1.04.2001)
`
`(25) Filing Language:
`
`(26) Publication Language:
`
`English
`
`English
`
`(30) Priority Data:
`60/196,082
`
`11 April 2000 (11.04.2000) US
`
`(71) Applicants and
`(72) Inventors: BOLNICK, David, A. [US/US]; 3052 N.E.
`89th Street, Seattle, WA 98115 (US). KRAUTHAMER,
`Robert, M. [US/US]; 3851 N.E. 89th Street, Seattle, WA
`98115 (US). ESSES, Steven [US/US]; 1133 E. 22nd Street,
`Brooklyn, NY 11210 (US).
`
`(81) Designated States (national): AE, AG, AL, AM, AT, AU,
`AZ, BA, BB, BG, BR, BY, BZ, CA, CH, CN, CR, CU, CZ,
`DE, DK, DM, DZ, EE, ES, Fl, GB, GD, GE, GH, GM, HR,
`HU, ID, IL, IN, IS, JP, KE, KG, KP, KR, KZ, LC, LK, LR,
`LS, LT, LU, LV, MA, MD, MG, MK, MN, MW, MX, MZ,
`NO, NZ, PL, PT, RO, RU, SD, SE, SG, SI, SK, SL, TJ, TM,
`TR, TT, TZ, UA, UG, US, UZ, VN, YU, ZA, ZW.
`
`(84) Designated States (regional): ARIPO patent (GH, GM,
`KE, LS, MW, MZ, SD, SL, SZ, TZ, UG, ZW), Eurasian
`patent (AM, AZ, BY, KG, KZ, MD, RU, TJ, TM), European
`patent (AT, BE, CH, CY, DE, DK, ES, Fl, FR, GB, GR, IE,
`IT, LU, MC, NL, PT, SE, TR), OAPI patent (BF, BJ, CF,
`CG, CT, CM, GA, GN, GW, ML, MR, NE, SN, TD, TG).
`
`Published:
`with declaration under Article 17(2)(a); without abstract;
`title not checked by the International Searching Authority
`
`(74) Agent: ALBRECHT, Ralph, P.; Venable, Baetjer,
`Howard & Civiletti, LLP, 1201 New York Avenue, NW,
`Suite 1000, Washington, DC 20005-3917 (US).
`
`For two-letter codes and other abbreviations, refer to the "Guid(cid:173)
`ance Notes on Codes and Abbreviations" appearing at the begin(cid:173)
`ning of each regular issue of the PCT Gazette.
`
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`iiiiiiiiiii
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`0
`t"'-(cid:173)
`QO
`t"'-(cid:173)
`t"'--
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`= (54) Title: SYSTEM, METHOD AND COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCT FOR GATHERING AND DELNERTNG PERSON-
`,....,i - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
`0 ALIZED USER INFORMATION
`~ (57) Abstract:
`
`

`

`WO 01/77876
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`PCT/US0l/11642
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`System, Method and Computer Program Product for Gathering and
`
`Delivering Personalized User Information
`
`5
`
`Cross-Reference to Related Application
`
`. .
`The present application· is a non-prqyisj\)nal patent application claiming priority to
`related U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/196,082 (Attorney Docket No. 36841-
`
`16233 l, formerly A-21189/A-21939) "System, Method and Computer Program Product for
`
`Gathering and Delivering Personalized User Information," to Bolnick et al., filed April 11,
`
`10
`
`2000.
`
`The present invention is also related generally to U.S. Provisional Patent Application
`
`No. 60/218,852 (Attorney Docket No. 35850-164486) "System, Method and Computer
`
`Program Product for Generating a User Lockable E-Mail," to Bolnick et al., filed July 13,
`
`2000.
`
`Field oftlte Invention
`
`Background of the Invention
`
`The present invention relates generally to consumer information, and more
`
`particularly to centralized distribution of personalized user information.
`
`15
`
`20
`
`Related Art
`
`Manufacturers, distributors and retailers of conS'UIIler products conventionally
`
`maintain private information about consumers and the products they purchase. For example,
`
`when a consumer purchases a product such as, e.g., a car, from a manufacturer, a car dealer
`
`25
`
`will capture infonnation from the consumer, which can be forwarded on to a manufacturer.
`
`Such infonnation can be manually keyed in or delivered in a digital fonn to a database of the
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`manufacturer. Some other vital information related to the product is unknown to the
`
`consumer.
`
`From time to time, such information could be used by the consumer.
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`Unfortunately, however, there is no convenient, conventional way for the consumer to get this
`
`information. For example, the consumer may be interested in the warranty term remaining on
`
`the car that the consumer purchased. No conventional convenient means exists to provide
`
`this information to the consumer.
`
`5
`
`With the advent of the Internet, information portals have been provided to provide
`
`infonnation to consumers. Unfortunately, conventional information portals are designed to
`
`provide information to consumer users in a general format. Conventionally, portals will
`
`request user profile information from a user to categorize the user as belonging to a particular
`
`group or "profile."
`
`Based on
`
`the user's profile,
`
`the portal such as, e.g.,
`
`10
`
`http://www.my.yahoo.com, can deliver infonnation to the user. For example, if the user
`
`provides to the portal that the user is interested in Microsoft stock, then the portal can deliver
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`articles about Microsoft to the user. This information is broadcast to all consumer users
`
`identifying an interest in Microsoft stock. Thus, conventional information portals do not
`
`provide a personalized result to the user. Another example of information that is
`
`15
`
`conventionally provided is weather information. For weather information, the user states a
`
`city of interest and the portal broadcasts weather information to the user and others, which
`
`have stated an interest in the city.
`
`Conventional information portals, since they broadcast only general information to
`
`consumer users, suffer from disloyal users, i.e., users of one portal will often switch to
`
`20
`
`another portal on a whim. Conventional portals provide general information for broadcast to
`
`a mass market of users by profile category. This general information is easily retrievable
`
`from other portals. Users desire personalized infom1ation not provided by conventional
`
`portals. Such information can be related to the users' personal preferences and past
`
`purchases. An improved method of providing information to users is desired that overcomes
`
`25
`
`the shortcomings of conventional information portals.
`
`A conventional information portal is illustrated in block diagram 100 of FIG.
`
`lA.
`
`Specifically, block diagram 100 includes a user 102 interacting with portal 104, via, for
`
`example, a computer, phone, or other access device (i.e., not shown) such as, e.g., an
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`-2-
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`interactive television (TV), a wireless device, etc. User 102 can be a consumer purchaser of a
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`product that was manufactured by , e.g., a manufacturer 108. User 102 can purchase the
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`product directly from the manufacturer 108 or indirectly via, e.g., a wholesaler, distributor,
`
`reseller, or retailer, collectively referred to as an association or associate 108. Other users 102
`
`5
`
`can include, e.g., any purchaser of a product, a purchasing representative or other employee of
`
`a business.
`
`User 102 is shown conveying user profile information 110 to infonnation portal
`
`component 104. For example, the user 102 could, e.g., subscribe to an online portal account
`
`at a portal such as, e.g., http://www.my.yahoo.com, requiring entry of certain personal user
`
`10
`
`profile information 110.
`
`As shown in diagram 100, information portal 104 can then make a general request 112
`
`for information from a content provider 106.
`
`In response to the general request 112 for
`
`information, content provider 106 can provide information 114 by general profile category to
`
`portal 104, as also illustrated in diagram 100. Portal 104 can then broadcast 116 such
`
`15
`
`information by general profile category to users 102, which belong to the general profile
`
`category having interest in such general information.
`
`In one embodiment, portal 104 and content provider 106 can be part of the same
`
`entity, collectively referred to as entity 120.
`
`In one embodiment, the user 102 can provide information such as, e.g., user personal
`
`20
`
`information 118, to an associate manufacturer 108, or other organization or business ( such as,
`
`e.g., a retailer, distributor, agency, govemmental entity, nonprofit entity, and other associate).
`
`The information 118 can be in the form of an information response card to the manufacturer
`
`108, which could then be keyed into a data processing system. Altematively, the information
`
`could be provided electronically or via other manual or automated means. Note that line 118
`
`25
`
`is unidirectional representing this information is conveyed to the manufacturer 108. There is
`
`other information that would be useful in the hands of a consumer, which remains extremely
`
`difficult to access at, e.g., a manufacturer or other associate 108. Although some of this
`
`useful information may be available elsewhere, e.g., at a website where the user may have
`
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`inputted and stored some information, (although much valuable information is not available
`
`to the customer), it can be buried deep within various unrelated sites requiring separate logins
`
`with potentially separate usemames, interfaces and passwords. Thus, it would be desirable to
`
`have a more easily accessible centralized access to useful personal information related to a
`
`5
`
`consumer user or customer.
`
`Associate 108 can manually key-in the information appearing on a response card
`
`provided by user 102. Response card information can typically include various types of
`
`infom1ation such as, e.g., demographic information about the user 102, information about a
`
`particular type and model of product purchased, distribution cham1el used, and other
`
`1 o
`
`information such as, satisfaction of the user 102 with the product. A cleansing process can be
`
`performed on the keyed-in data to ensure the accuracy of the entered data. The keyed-in
`
`response card data can be placed in electronic fom1 by data entry clerks by categories. For
`
`example, data can be inserted into fields of a database record of a database. The keyed
`
`response card information (i.e., if prepared by a third party) can then be provided to the
`
`15
`
`associate 108. If received by the associate 108 from a third party, the associate 108 may
`
`perform further cleansing also. The associate 108 could import the data, parse the data, store
`
`the data for later use, or discard the data when aged beyond a threshold date. Some associates
`
`108 may choose not to input the registration information to a database at all. Unfortunately
`
`such valuable infonnation of users 102 available to associate 108, is conventionally
`
`20
`
`inaccessible to portals 104 and also unfortunately, is inaccessible to users 102.
`
`FIG.
`
`lB illustrates in further detail, in flow diagram 124, an example interaction
`
`between user 102, portal 104 and content provider 106, as depicted in block diagram 100.
`
`Specifically, diagram 124 begins with step 126 and continues immediately with step
`
`128. In step 128, user 102 conveys user profile information to the portal 104 via, some means
`
`25
`
`such as, e.g., an electronic communication or e-mail. The diagram 124 then continues as
`
`shown with step 130.
`
`In step 130, portal 104 assigns a group profile category or multiple categories to the
`
`user 104. Group categ~ries can include, e.g., various demographic and psychographic
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`-4-
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`attributes, and other areas of interest, including, e.g., gender, age, categorical interests,
`
`hobbies, etc. From step 130, diagram 124 continues with step 132.
`
`In step 132, portal 104 can store the user profile infom1ation 110 and can add to the
`
`profile any of various group profile categories with which the user 102 could possibly be
`
`5
`
`interested. Group profiles could include, e.g., investors in a given company or residents of a
`
`zip code or a city. Such broad group profiles might be assigned based on stereotypical
`
`interests associated with other users 102 having similar profiles to the user profile
`
`information 110 provided by user 102. From step 132, diagram 124 continues with step 134.
`
`In step 134, portal 104 can generate a query 134 for information by group profile
`
`10
`
`category to content providers 106 in order to request 112 information of interest to the general
`
`profile categories assigned in step 130 to the users 102 of portal 104. From step 134, diagram
`
`124 continues with step 136.
`
`In step 136, the content provider 106 can obtain content from time to time that is
`
`relevant to a particular group profile category. For example if a group profile category was
`
`15
`
`shareholders of Microsoft Corporation stock, then, when an article related to Microsoft is
`
`published by a wire service, this article, or content, would be available for delivery to users of
`
`the Microsoft shareholder group profile category. From step 136, diagram 124 continues with
`
`step 138.
`
`In step 138, the content provider 106 can convey the content relevant to the group
`
`20
`
`profile category, referred to now as "group profile focused content" to the portal 140. From
`
`step 138, the diagram 124 continues with step 140.
`
`In step 140, the portal 104 can then provide the group profile focused content to users
`
`102 which were assigned in step 132 to the group profile category to which the content is
`
`relevant. Thus, for the article about Microsoft, the portal 104 can convey the article to the
`
`25 Microsoft shareholder users 102. This is essentially a broadcast of information to the user
`
`102. The information is general information assumed to be relevant to the user 102, merely
`
`based upon the group profile category assigned in step 130. From step 140, diagram 124
`
`continues with step 142.
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`In step 142, the user 102 can review the group focused content conveyed by the portal
`
`140. Unfortunately, much of this broadcasted group focused content is oflittle interest to the
`
`user 102, since the user 102 may not have the broad stereotypical interests of the assigned
`
`general categories. Unfortunately, conventional portals 104 do not provide personalized
`
`5
`
`information of direct interest to the users 102. Thus, if a user 102 chooses to "opt-out" of
`
`irrelevant content from the portal 104, the user 102 may opt out of useful, desired and
`
`relevant information when trying to only opt out of the irrelevant content. From step 142,
`
`diagram 124 ends immediately with step 144.
`
`It is therefore desirable that an improved method, system and computer program
`
`10
`
`product be provided for enabling personalized information to be generated and conveyed to
`
`users.
`
`Summary of the Invention
`
`15
`
`An exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes a method, system, and
`
`computer program product for providing a secure data channel between a user and one or
`
`more associates, including receiving at a processing server, from the user, user profile
`
`information, user identification, a user acceptance, family definitions, sharing controls, and/or
`
`a hardware signature; receiving pushed information from the one or more associates (e.g., a
`
`20
`
`business, or organization), including an update to the user profile information, related
`
`information, or personalized content for the user; and conveying, to the user, personal
`
`information including a selectable union of the user profile information, the related
`
`information, and/or the personalized content. The personal information in an exemplary
`
`embodiment can be referred to as a personal information report (PIR).
`
`In an exemplary
`
`25
`
`embodiment, the hardware signature can be generated and sent by an application that can be
`
`downloaded from the processing server to user.
`
`In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, the conveyance step can convey
`
`information to the user using, e.g., a web interface, an interactive voice response (NR)
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`system, a wireless access device, a communications device, an interactive television (TV)
`
`device, a palm-top computing device, a synchronized device, a personal digital assistant, a
`
`computing device or another device having a direct and/or indirect access to the Internet.
`
`In ru1 exemplary embodiment of the invention, the method can further include sharing
`
`5
`
`access to the personal info1mation to an individual user or a family.
`
`In an exemplary
`
`embodiment, the family can include another user a multiple users, or multiple related users.
`
`In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, the associate can include an affiliated
`
`association, an unaffiliated association, or another association. In an exemplary embodiment
`
`of the invention, the associations can include, e.g., a manufacturer, a distributor, a retailer, an
`
`IO
`
`non-profit, a service provider, a sports franchise, an information provider, a news agency, a
`
`content provider, a television program, a movie, an entertainment event, or an agency.
`
`In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, the method can further include
`
`providing cumulative aggregate user profile infonnation to the association.
`
`In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, the pushed information can include,
`
`15
`
`e.g., textual data, digitized audio data, digitized video data, graphical image data, and/or other
`
`data.
`
`In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, the pushed information can include,
`
`e.g., prescription
`
`information, automobile service
`
`information, purchased product
`
`information,
`
`travel
`
`reservation
`
`information,
`
`sports
`
`information, TV programming
`
`20
`
`information, deductions
`
`information charitable contribution
`
`information, encrypted
`
`information, financial
`
`information, membership information, educational information,
`
`voicemail messages, and/or any information related to the user.
`
`In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a system is disclosed for
`
`providing a secure data channel between a user and associates including a database including
`
`25
`
`user profile information, user identification, user acceptance, sharing controls, and/or a
`
`hardware signature; multiple associates that convey updates of the user profile information,
`
`related information, and pushed personalized content into the database; and a component that
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`provides a selectable union of the pushed personalized content with the user profile
`
`information for conveyance to a user.
`
`In another exemplary embodiment, a computer program product is disclosed for
`
`enabling a computer to display an associates list to a user according to the present invention.
`
`5
`
`In yet another exemplary embodiment, a computer program product is disclosed
`
`including an instant message application to enable display of an associates list to a user.
`
`In another embodiment, an inflight entertainment portal is disclosed including a user
`
`interface operative to display an associates list to a user, including pushed personalized
`
`content relating to the user.
`
`10
`
`In an exemplary embodiment, an application-based, applet based, browser-based, or
`
`other form of application-based computer program product can be provided.
`
`Further features and advantages of the invention, as well as the structure and operation
`
`of various embodiments of the invention, are described in detail below with reference to the
`
`accompanying drawings. In the drawings, like reference numbers generally indicate identical,
`
`15
`
`functionally similar, and/or structurally similar elements. The drawing in which an element
`
`first appears is indicated by the leftmost digits in the corresponding reference number.
`
`Brief Description of the Drawings
`
`The foregoing and other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent
`
`20
`
`from the fallowing, more particular description of a preferred embodiment of the invention,
`
`as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
`
`FIG. lA depicts a high-level block diagram illustrating an example of a user
`
`interaction with a portal;
`
`FIG. lB depicts a more detailed flow diagram illustrating a user interaction with a
`
`25
`
`portal;
`
`FIG. lC depicts a block diagram of an exemplary embodiment of a real-time social
`
`network service provider according to the present invention;
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`FIG. 2 depicts a block diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of an improved
`
`method by which a user can provide information and associations can convey personalized
`
`information to a real-time social network for conveyance to the user according to the present
`
`invention;
`
`5
`
`FIG. 3 depicts an exemplary embodiment of a conveyance of a selectable union of
`
`personalized content information with information pushed from associates according to the
`
`present invention;
`
`FIG. 4 depicts a block diagran1 illustrating an exemplary embodiment of an associates
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`dynamic database of the real-time social network (RTSN) of the present invention;
`
`10
`
`FIG. 5 depicts a block diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of a families'
`
`dynamic database schematic according to the present invention;
`
`FIG. 6 depicts an exemplary embodiment of a your home to-do view list user interface
`
`according to the present invention;
`
`FIG. 7 depicts an exemplary embodiment of an associate providers list view user
`
`15
`
`interface according to the present invention;
`
`FIG. 8 depicts an exemplary embodiment of an associate provider pop-up window
`
`illustrating a personalized customer information record according to the present invention;
`
`FIG. 9 depicts an exemplary embodiment of a user interface illustrating a user's
`
`summary home page exemplary access device views of a RTSN according to the present
`
`20
`
`invention;
`
`FIG. 10 depicts an exemplary embodiment of a user interface illustrating a user's
`
`calendar according to the present invention;
`
`FIG. 11 depicts an exemplary embodiment of a computer system which can be used as
`
`any computing device such as a client or server computer according to the present invention;
`
`25
`
`FIG. 12 depicts an exemplary embodiment of a voicemail including a graphical image
`
`that could be a shared file which could be included as an example union of pushed
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`infonnation and personal information message according to the present invention;
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`FIG. 13A depicts an exemplary embodiment of an association list window integrated
`
`into an exemplary groupware application including a window illustrating a personal
`
`information report (PIR) according to the present invention;
`
`FIG. 13B depicts an exemplary embodiment of a redundant security transport (RST)
`
`5
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`architecture according to the present invention;
`
`FIG. 14 depicts an exemplary embodiment of a travel reservation personal information
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`record (PIR) integrated with a portal's calendar function, illustrating adjusting a flight
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`schedule to avoid a delay according to the present invention.
`
`FIG. 15 depicts an exemplary embodiment of a user interface illustrating an operating
`
`1 o
`
`system tray based alert and application based version of an associates list and PIR according
`
`to the present invention;
`
`FIG. 16 depicts an exemplary embodiment of' a user interface for an in-flight
`
`entertainment (IFE) portal according to the present invention; and
`
`FIG. 17 depicts an exemplary embodiment of a user interface of an instant messenger
`
`15
`
`including an exemplary associates list according to the present invention.
`
`Detailed Description of the Invention
`
`A preferred embodiment of the invention is discussed in detail below. While specific
`
`implementations are discussed, it should be understood that this is done for illustration
`
`20
`
`purposes only. A person skilled in the relevant art will recognize that other components and
`
`configurations may be used without parting from the spirit and scope of the invention.
`
`FIG. IA depicts, as described above, a high-level block diagram 100 illustrating an
`
`example of interaction between a user 102 and a portal 104.
`
`FIG. lB depicts a more detailed flow diagram 124 illustrating a detailed example
`
`25
`
`interaction between a user 102 and the portal 104.
`
`FIG. IC depicts a block digram 146 of an exemplary embodiment of a secure data
`
`channel between a user and associates referred to herein, in an exemplary implementation
`
`embodiment as a real-time social network (RTSN) service provider.
`
`In an exemplary
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`embodiment, block diagram 146 can include users 102a, 102b interacting with, e.g., computer
`
`systems 148a, 148b via, e.g., browsers 168a, 168b computer systems 148a, 148b can be
`
`coupled via network 150 to exemplary RTSN service provider 204. Associates 208a, 208b
`
`can interact with computer systems 118a, 118b via e.g., browsers 172a, 172b. Computer
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`5
`
`systems 170a, 170b can be coupled via network 150 to RTSN service provider 204.
`
`RTSN service provider 204, as shown, can include one or more webservers 156a,
`
`156b can be coupled to network 150 by a firewall 152 and load balancer 154. Webservers
`
`156a, 156b can be coupled to one or more application servers 158a, 158b. Application
`
`servers 158a, 158b can execute applications such as, e.g., application programs 160, 162.
`
`10
`
`Application 160 can be a personal information report (PIR) system application 160 that can
`
`generate various reports according to the present invention. Application 162 can be a
`
`database management system (DBMS) 162, which can manage database, such as, e.g.,
`
`databases 164, 166.
`
`FIG., 2 depicts a block diagram 200 illustrating an exemplary embodiment of an
`
`15
`
`improved method by which a user 102 can provide user profile registration information.
`
`Block diagram 200 also illustrates how retailers, manufacturers, agencies, and non-profits,
`
`collectively associates 108, 208 can convey information related to the user 102 to a real-time
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`social network service provider 204 database 164, 166.
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`Block diagram 200 in an exemplary embodiment, illustrates a system including a user
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`102 and a real-time social network service provider 204. Block diagram 200 can further
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`include associations 208a, 208b, and 208c and families 224a, 224b, and 224c. The block
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`diagran1 200 can include a real-time social network service provider 204 database 164,166
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`that can receive user profile information and family definitions in step 210 and sharing
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`controls conveyed in step 212. Multiple associations 108,208 can in step 202 convey updates
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`of the user profile information, and related information. The RTSN 204 can in step 206
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`provide cumulative aggregate profile information by associate. Specifically, affiliated
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`association 208a can be conveyed aggregate user profile information in step 214. Similarly,
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`for unaffiliated association 208b and other association 208c, aggregate user profile
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`infom1ation 216 and 218 can be conveyed, respectively. Block diagram 200 can also include
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`families 224a, 224b, and 224c and determinations of shared access 222a, 222b, and 222c
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`which can allow personal information such as, e.g., a calendar, a to-do list, an address book
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`and messages, to be shared as shown in step 220.
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`5
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`FIG. 3 depicts a block diagram 300 illustrating an exemplary embodiment of the
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`present invention, including the real-time social network (RTSN) service provider 204
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`conveying in step 314 a selectable union of personalized content information with
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`information pushed in steps 302, 304 and 306 from associates 208a, 208b, and 208c,
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`respectively. Block diagram 300 can include database locations 308, 310 and 312 of RTSN
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`10
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`204 into which associates 208a, 208b and 208c, respectively, can advantageously push
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`personalized information for users 102. Associations 208a, 208b, and 208c, in an exemplary
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`embodiment can continually push personalized content information as shown by steps 302,
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`304, and 306 into the real-time social network service provider 204 database 164, 166. In
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`step 314 the real-time social network (RTSN) service provider 204 database 164, 166 can
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`15
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`provide a selectable union of the personalized content pushed in steps 302, 304, and 306, with
`I
`the user profile information 210 for conveyance to the user 102, or for personal information
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`to be shared as shown in step 220 according to sharing controls conveyed in step 212, to users
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`102 of a family 224a, 224b, and 224c of users 102 for which access is shared using access
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`determinations 222a, 222b, and 222c.
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`An exemplary embodiment of the present invention can include a method, system, and
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`computer program product for providing the real-time social network 204, including
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`receiving at the real-time social network 204, from a user 102, user profile information and/or
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`family definitions as illustrated in step 210, and/or sharing controls as sho~ in step 212.
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`The method can receive as shown in step 202 user profile updates and related information
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`from an associate 208, which could have been provided to the associate 108 by the user 102
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`as shown by the conveyance of step 118, or could have already been within the possession of
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`associates 108, 208 but possibly inaccessible by user 102. Associates 208 can also send
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`information such as, e.g., an update to the user profile information, and/or related information
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`as shown in step 202. Associates 208a, 208b, and 208c are also shown in FIG. 3 providing
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`or "pushing" in steps 302, 304, and 306 personalized content for the user 102. The RTSN
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`204 is shown conveying, to the user 102, in step 314 personal information including a
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`selectable union of the user profile information, the related information, and/or the pushed
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`5
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`personalized content from associates 208a, 208b and 208c.
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`In one exemplary embodiment of the invention, step 316 illustrates the RTSN 204
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`conveying user-personalized content to the user 102 using, e.g., a web interface, an interactive
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`voice response (IVR) system, a wireless access device, an interactive television (TV) device,
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`a computing device, a communication device, a palm top computing device, a personal digital
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`assistant (PDA), or another access device.
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`In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, the RTSN 204 can further share access
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`to the personal information to users 102 of a family 222a-c. In an exemplary embodiment,
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`the family 222a-c can include e.g., another user, multiple users, or multiple related users.
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`In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, the associates 208 can include, e.g., at
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`15
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`an affiliated association 208a, an unaffiliated association 208b, or an other association 208c.
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`In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, the associations 208 can include, e.g., a
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`manufacturer, a distributor, a retailer, an non-profit, or an agency.
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`In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, the method can provide cumulative
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`aggressive profile infonnation by association as shown in step 206 and can further include as
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`20
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`illustrated in steps 214, 216, and 218 providing aggregate user profile information to
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`associations 208a-c, respectively.
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`In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, the pushed information can include,
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`e.g., textual data, digitized audio data, digitized video data, graphical image data, or other
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`data.
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`In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, the pushed information can include,
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`e.g., prescription
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`information, automobile service
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`information, purchased product
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`information, travel reservation information, sports information, deductions information
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`charitable contribution
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`information, encrypted
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`information,
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`financial
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`information,
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`membership information, educational information, voicemail messages, or other useful
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`infom1ation.
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`FIG. 4 depicts a block diagram 400 illustrating an exemplary embodiment of an
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`associates dynamic database of the real-time social network (RTSN) of the present invention.
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`5
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`FIG. 5 depicts a block diagram 500 illustrating an exemplary embodiment of a
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`families' dynamic database schematic.
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`FIG. 6 depicts a block diagram 600 illustrating an example embodiment of a your
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`home to-do view user interface of the present invention.
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`10
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`The Real-Time-Social-Network™ ("RTSN") service provider 204 allows users 102 to
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`become org