111111
`
`1111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111
`US 20130263227Al
`
`(19) United States
`c12) Patent Application Publication
`Gongaware et al.
`
`(10) Pub. No.: US 2013/0263227 A1
`Oct. 3, 2013
`(43) Pub. Date:
`
`(54) SECURE COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS AND
`METHODS
`
`(71) Applicant: TELMATE, LLC, San Francisco, CA
`(US)
`
`(72)
`
`Inventors: Grant Gongaware, San Francisco, CA
`(US); Nicolas Garcia, Oakland, CA
`(US); Richard Torgersrud, San
`Francisco, CA (US); Peter Kelley
`Sheerin, Foster City, CA (US)
`
`(21) Appl. No.: 13/844,281
`
`(22) Filed:
`
`Mar. 15, 2013
`
`Related U.S. Application Data
`
`(63) Continuation-in-part of application No. 13/088,883,
`filed on Apr. 18, 2011.
`
`Publication Classification
`
`(51)
`
`Int. Cl.
`H04L29/06
`(52) U.S. Cl.
`CPC ...................................... H04L 63108 (2013.01)
`USPC .............................................................. 726/4
`
`(2006.01)
`
`ABSTRACT
`(57)
`Systems and methods for determining whether a communi(cid:173)
`cation session is authorized are provided. In some aspects, a
`method includes initiating a communication session between
`a first user and a second user, and obtaining an identity
`attribute associated with a third user engaged in the commu(cid:173)
`nication session. The method also includes determining
`whether the third user is the first user, the second user, or an
`unauthorized user based on the obtained identity attribute.
`The method also includes determining whether the commu(cid:173)
`nication session is authorized based on whether the third user
`is determined to be the first user, the second user, or the
`unauthorized user.
`
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`

`
`Patent Application Publication
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`US 2013/0263227 A1
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`Patent Application Publication
`
`Oct. 3, 2013 Sheet 19 of 20
`
`US 2013/0263227 A1
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`Patent Application Publication
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`Oct. 3, 2013 Sheet 20 of 20
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`US 2013/0263227 Al
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`US 2013/0263227 AI
`
`Oct. 3, 2013
`
`1
`
`SECURE COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS AND
`METHODS
`
`CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED
`APPLICATIONS
`
`[0001] This application is a continuation-in-part applica(cid:173)
`tion of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/088,883, titled,
`"Interactive Audio/Video System and Device for Use in a
`Secure Facility," filed on Apr. 18, 2011, which is hereby
`incorporated by reference in its entirety for all purposes.
`
`FIELD
`
`[0002] The subject technology generally relates to commu(cid:173)
`nications, and more particularly to the use of secure commu(cid:173)
`nication systems to provide communications.
`
`BACKGROUND
`
`[0003] Detention environments, such as jails, prisons,
`detention facilities, secured hospitals, or addiction treatment
`facilities, may house large populations of individuals in con(cid:173)
`finement, which presents unique administrative challenges.
`In such detention environments, detained individuals may
`frequently desire to communicate with individuals outside
`the detention environment (outside parties) such as friends or
`family members. A variety of methods may be used to support
`such communications, including in-person visits (e.g., in
`which both a detained individual and a visitor may be in the
`same room, such as in lower security facilities or for low-risk
`detainees) or in a special visitation room (e.g., where the
`parties are separated by thick glass or plastic, and may com(cid:173)
`municate via wired telephone equipment on both sides of the
`partition). The costs and security measures associated with
`these methods of communication can be significant for both
`the facilities and the visitors.
`
`SUMMARY
`
`[0004] According to various aspects of the subject technol(cid:173)
`ogy, a computer-implemented method is provided for deter(cid:173)
`mining whether a communication session is authorized. The
`method includes initiating a communication session between
`a first user and a second user, and obtaining an identity
`attribute associated with a third user engaged in the commu(cid:173)
`nication session. The method also includes determining
`whether the third user is the first user, the second user, or an
`unauthorized user based on the obtained identity attribute.
`The method also includes determining whether the commu(cid:173)
`nication session is authorized based on whether the third user
`is determined to be the first user, the second user, or the
`unauthorized user.
`[0005] According to various aspects of the subject technol(cid:173)
`ogy, an apparatus comprising memory and a processor is
`provided. The memory includes instructions for determining
`whether a communication session between a first user and a
`second user is authorized. The processor is configured to
`execute the instructions to: initiate the communication ses(cid:173)
`sion; obtain an identity attribute associated with a third user
`engaged in the communication session; determine whether
`the third user is the first user, the second user, or an unautho(cid:173)
`rized user based on the obtained identity attribute; and deter(cid:173)
`mine whether the communication session is authorized based
`on whether the third user is determined to be the first user, the
`second user, or the unauthorized user.
`
`[0006] According to various aspects of the subject technol(cid:173)
`ogy, a machine-readable medium comprising instructions for
`a method of determining whether a communication session is
`authorized is provided. The method includes initiating a com(cid:173)
`munication session between a first user and a second user, and
`obtaining an identity attribute associated with a third user
`engaged in the communication session. The method also
`includes determining whether the third user is the first user,
`the second user, or an unauthorized user based on the obtained
`identity attribute. The method also includes determining
`whether the communication session is authorized based on
`whether the third user is determined to be the first user, the
`second user, or the unauthorized user.
`[0007] According to various aspects of the subject technol(cid:173)
`ogy, a computer-implemented method for determining iden(cid:173)
`tity attribute variations of a user is provided. The method
`includes obtaining an identity attribute of a first user and
`comparing the identity attribute of the first user to a stored
`identity attribute of an authorized user who is authorized to
`engage in a communication session. The method also
`includes determining that the first user is authorized to engage
`in the communication session if the identity attribute of the
`first user matches the identity attribute of the authorized user.
`If the identity attribute of the first user does not match the
`identity attribute of the authorized user, the method also
`includes: flagging the identity attribute of the first user for
`review by an investigator; receiving verification from the
`investigator that the flagged identity attribute of the first user
`is or is not a variant of the identity attribute of the authorized
`user; and determining that the identity attribute of the first
`user is the variant of the identity attribute of the authorized
`user if the verification indicates that the flagged identity
`attribute of the first user is the variant.
`[0008] According to various aspects of the subject technol(cid:173)
`ogy, a computer-implemented method for identifYing users is
`provided. The method includes obtaining an identity attribute
`of a first user. The identity attribute of the first user includes a
`first behavior. The method also includes comparing the iden(cid:173)
`tity attribute of the first user to a stored identity attribute of a
`second user. The identity attribute of the second user includes
`a second behavior. The method also includes determining
`whether the first user is the second user based on the com(cid:173)
`parison.
`[0009] According to various aspects of the subject technol(cid:173)
`ogy, a computer-implemented method for enhancing facial
`recognition accuracy is provided. The method includes initi(cid:173)
`ating, by a first device comprising a camera, an interactive
`session with a first user. The method also includes surrepti(cid:173)
`tiously directing the first user to engage in one or more activi(cid:173)
`ties in front of the camera such that the first user is positioned
`at a plurality of different angles relative to the camera. The
`method also includes capturing, with the camera, a plurality
`of images of the first user when the first user is positioned at
`the plurality of different angles. The method also comprises
`using the plurality of images to perform facial recognition of
`the first user.
`[0010] Additional features and advantages of the subject
`technology will be set forth in the description below, and in
`part will be apparent from the description, or may be learned
`by practice of the subject technology. The advantages of the
`subject technology will be realized and attained by the struc(cid:173)
`ture particularly pointed out in the written description and
`claims hereof as well as the appended drawings.
`
`

`
`US 2013/0263227 AI
`
`Oct. 3, 2013
`
`2
`
`[0011]
`It is to be understood that both the foregoing general
`description and the following detailed description are exem(cid:173)
`plary and explanatory and are intended to provide further
`explanation of the invention as claimed.
`
`BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
`
`[0012] The accompanying drawings, which are included to
`provide further understanding of the subject technology and
`are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification,
`illustrate aspects of the subject technology and together with
`the description serve to explain the principles of the subject
`technology.
`[0013] FIG. 1 illustrates an embodiment of the interactive
`audio/video platform.
`[0014] FIG. 2 illustrates the organization and interaction of
`clusters of another embodiment of the interactive audio/video
`platform.
`[0015] FIG. 3 illustrates an example kiosk for use in the
`interactive audio/video platform.
`[0016] FIG. 4 illustrates an example processor-based com(cid:173)
`puter system of the kiosk.
`[0017] FIG. 5 illustrates an example idle screen of a kiosk
`interface described herein.
`[0018] FIG. 6 illustrates an example reservation screen of
`the kiosk interface.
`[0019] FIG. 7 illustrates an example login screen of the
`kiosk interface.
`[0020] FIG. 8 illustrates an example voice verification
`screen of the kiosk interface.
`[ 0021] FIG. 9 illustrates an example facial recognition veri(cid:173)
`fication screen of the kiosk interface.
`[0022] FIG. 10 illustrates an example main screen of the
`kiosk interface.
`[0023] FIG. 11 illustrates an example phone screen of the
`kiosk interface.
`[0024] FIG. 12 illustrates an example voicemail screen of
`the kiosk interface.
`[0025] FIG. 13 illustrates an example bail bonds screen of
`the kiosk interface.
`[0026] FIG. 14 illustrates an example video conferencing
`screen of the kiosk interface.
`[0027] FIG. 15 illustrates an example video messaging
`screen of the kiosk interface.
`[0028] FIG. 16 illustrates an example kite screen of the
`kiosk interface.
`[0029] FIG.17 illustrates an example internet screen of the
`kiosk interface.
`[0030] FIG. 18 illustrates an example fund request screen
`of the kiosk interface.
`[0031] FIGS. 19A and 19B illustrate an example audio that
`may be displayed.
`[0032] FIG. 20 conceptually illustrates an electronic sys(cid:173)
`tem with which implementations of the subject technology
`may be implemented.
`
`DETAILED DESCRIPTION
`
`[0033]
`In the following detailed description, numerous spe(cid:173)
`cific details are set forth to provide a full understanding of the
`subject technology. It will be apparent, however, that the
`subject technology may be practiced without some of these
`specific details. In other instances, structures and techniques
`have not been shown in detail so as not to obscure the subject
`technology.
`
`[0034] Detention environments often have telephone sys(cid:173)
`tems installed specifically for use by inmates. These systems,
`commonly known as Inmate Telephone Systems, allow
`detainees to call individuals residing outside secure facilities,
`and such calls may be limited to pre-authorized and identity(cid:173)
`verified individuals, or may be fairly unrestricted, limited
`only by a facility-maintained "prohibited contact list," or
`anything in between. One such system is described in U.S.
`Patent Application Publication No. 2011/0317820 A1: Cen(cid:173)
`tral Call Platform, which is incorporated by reference herein.
`[0035] A detention environment may also have one or more
`video visitation systems installed, wherein specialized vid(cid:173)
`eoconferencing systems are used to allow friends and family
`members to visit with incarcerated individuals from the lobby
`of the detention environment (e.g., on-site video visitation),
`the lobby of another detention environment with a suitable
`service, or even a computer (e.g., desktop or mobile com(cid:173)
`puter) suitably equipped with a web camera and video con(cid:173)
`ferencing or web browser software. This latter method is
`commonly called "remote video visitation," and if one or
`more endpoints are handheld computing devices, the method
`is commonly called "mobile video visitation." Examples of
`these systems are described in U.S. Patent Application Pub(cid:173)
`lication No. 2012/0262271 Al: InteractiveAudioNideo Sys(cid:173)
`tem and Device for Use in a Secure Facility, which is incor(cid:173)
`porated by reference herein.
`[0036] One endpoint in these video visitations takes place
`inside secure facilities in or near the inmates' cells. Custom
`network computing terminals, such as video visitation kiosks,
`installed inside these secure facilities for such purposes can
`be hardened against physical and electronic attempts to cir(cid:173)
`cnmvent their being used contrary to the facilities' rules, as
`these are generally owned and operated exclusively by a
`single company at any particular facility, which has an exclu(cid:173)
`sive contract to provide such equipment and services to that
`facility.
`[0037] Secure facilities may require additional levels of
`monitoring and oversight that are not required when similar
`services are provided to otherpopulations.Although two-way
`video conferencing is now quite common on desktop and
`laptop computers suitably equipped with appropriate hard(cid:173)
`ware and software, and is now becoming available on com(cid:173)
`monly available computing tablets and smartphones with
`wireless Internet connections, the increased transportability
`and concomitant increased usage and propensity to share use
`of a device with multiple people increases security concerns
`related to allowing such video visitations for inmates.
`[0038] The above-described system may be used to interact
`with a Secure Social Network (SSN), as described in U.S.
`patent application Publication Ser. No. 13/438,940, which is
`incorporated by reference herein. In some aspects, the SSN
`provides a method for facilitating the exchange or transmis(cid:173)
`sion of information between members of a social network in
`which at least one member is subject to limitations of a
`controlled facility, including the steps of: receiving content in
`an electronic form from a member for display to members or
`intended members of the social network; evaluating the
`received content to determine if it is appropriate for display to
`the members or intended members of the social network;
`allowing the received content to be viewed by the members or
`intended members of the social network only if it is deemed
`appropriate for display in the evaluating step; and recording
`data relative to one or more of the receiving, evaluating, and
`allowing steps.
`
`

`
`US 2013/0263227 AI
`
`Oct. 3, 2013
`
`3
`
`[0039] According to certain aspects, the SSN provides a
`system for facilitating the exchange or transmission of infor(cid:173)
`mation between members of a social network in which at least
`one member is subject to limitations of a controlled facility,
`including: a data receiving module configured to receive con(cid:173)
`tent in an electronic form from a user for display to members
`or intended members of the social network; an evaluation
`module configured to evaluate the received content and deter(cid:173)
`mine if it is appropriate for display to the members or
`intended members of the social network; a content dissemi(cid:173)
`nation module configured to provide received content that is
`deemed appropriate by the evaluation module to the members
`or intended members of the social network for viewing; and a
`data recording module configured to record data relative to
`the actions of one or more of the data receiving module, the
`evaluation module, and the content dissemination module.
`[0040] Some or all of the foregoing mentioned systems
`may generally seek specific authorization and individual
`authentication prior to each use to ensure that only inmates
`with telecommunications privileges are allowed to commu(cid:173)
`nicate, and that they are only able to communicate with indi(cid:173)
`viduals residing outside the facility and whom the inmate is
`allowed to communicate with. For instance, inmates are gen(cid:173)
`erally prohibited from communicating with judges, jurors,
`witnesses, victims, and others involved in their charges or
`convictions, as well as known felons and gang members.
`[0041] Aspects of the subject technology include the con(cid:173)
`tinuous, real-time or near-real-time use of biometrics to
`ensure that only persons authenticated and authorized as
`described above may use these telephone, video visitation,
`SSN, and/or other communication systems. In some aspects,
`secure facility operators may elect to allow all or substantially
`all communications activity to take place, save for blocking
`communications among individuals prohibited from commu(cid:173)
`nicating with each other, for the purpose of intelligence gath(cid:173)
`ering activities, which may both aid the security of the facility
`and provide law-enforcement officials with a rich source of
`information relating to criminal activities. The decision of
`which of these two methods to use may be implemented on a
`per-facility, per-wing, per-group, or per-inmate basis, at the
`discretion of the facility administrators and investigators.
`[0042] For instance, allowing communications containing
`persons who might be in a category prohibited from commu(cid:173)
`nicating with any inmate or the particular one involved in the
`communication in question, at least for one to several occur(cid:173)
`rences, may also allow for the recording, archiving, and
`analysis of small-to-large amounts of audio and video
`streams and other activity by inmates using these communi(cid:173)
`cations terminals. Commonly called "data mining," this often
`large-scale analysis of data and patterns therein can uncover
`links between and among individual users of the system that
`may otherwise have gone undetected by facility administra(cid:173)
`tors and law-enforcement officials.
`[0043] According to various aspects of the subject technol(cid:173)
`ogy, voice comparison techniques (e.g., using commercial
`off-the-shelf voice comparison software and/or other suitable
`software) may be used in novel ways to perform voice recog(cid:173)
`nition on persons using telephone and/or video communica(cid:173)
`tions related to secure facilities, such as in the case of inmate
`telephone and visitation systems, to ensure only authorized
`individuals communicate. In some aspects, facial recognition
`techniques may be used to limit and authenticate access to
`devices used by inmates to communicate with outsiders, and
`to limit and authenticate access to software and terminals
`
`capable of interacting with the devices to only individuals
`authorized to communicate with any particular inmate. In
`some aspects, tools are provided to otherwise analyze above(cid:173)
`mentioned images and/or videos on a broader basis, thereby
`allowing a catalog of all individuals and/or objects recog(cid:173)
`nized in all images and videos uploaded to the system to be
`built, regardless of which facility or individual they are
`intended for, for the purpose of creating an investigative tool.
`[0044] Voice and/or facial biometrics may be used to
`authenticate users, to identifY other persons involved in com(cid:173)
`munications sessions, and to sleuth out previously unknown
`links among users of the system. A biometrics system may be
`used to identify individuals. The system may use these bio(cid:173)
`metric profiles to identify individuals appearing in any and all
`content passing through or otherwise available to the system.
`Other software may then search for connections (e.g., using
`six-degrees-of-separation principles) to find possible links
`among inmates and their contacts.
`[0045] According to various aspects of the subject technol(cid:173)
`ogy, voiceprint matching (e.g., using continuous voice bio(cid:173)
`metrics) may be used as an additional verification step when
`inmates log into an inmate communication system (e.g.,
`Inmate Telephone System). In some aspects, the same capa(cid:173)
`bility may be used to detect when one inmate logs in using his
`personal identification number (PIN) and voice, then hands
`the telephone to another inmate. This practice may be com(cid:173)
`monly the result of fraud (e.g., a first inmate offering use of
`his login for a second inmate to avoid restrictions on whom
`the latter can call, or even an outright prohibition on making
`any calls), and also intimidation (e.g., a third inmate f