# US 10,320,753 B1 · Method and system for providing persona masking in a computer network

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- Number: US 10,320,753 B1
- Document ID: US10320753B1
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B1
- Application number: 15/001,132
- Filed: 2016-01-19
- Granted: 2019-06-11
- Earliest claimed: 2015-11-19
- Assignees: Anonyome Labs, Inc.
- Applicants: Anonyome Labs, Inc.
- Inventors: Paul Ashley; Steve Shillingford; Simon Gee; Glen Leeder; Greg Clark
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10320753B1

## CPC

- H04L 63/0421: {Anonymous communication, i.e. the party's identifiers are hidden from the other party or parties, e.g. using an anonymizer}
- H04L 51/48: Message addressing, e.g. address format or anonymous messages, aliases
- H04L 63/0272: {Virtual private networks}
- H04L 12/1886: {with traffic restrictions for efficiency improvement, e.g. involving subnets or subdomains}
- H04L: TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION (arrangements common to telegraphic and telephonic communication H04M)

## Abstract

A machine has a processor and a memory connected to the processor. The memory stores instructions executed by the processor to allow a user to designate a selected persona from a pool of potential personas, where each potential persona is associated with the user and has a distinct set of computer network attributes. A virtual private network egress point for the selected persona is designated, where the virtual private network egress point masks computer network attributes of the selected persona. Contact with the virtual private network egress point is coordinated to initiate a network communication for the selected persona.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A machine, comprising:
a processor; and
a memory connected to the processor, the memory storing instructions executed by the processor to:
host a persona service platform to allow a user to designate a selected persona from a pool of potential personas, wherein each potential persona is associated with the user and has a distinct set of computer network attributes including a user name and email address, wherein each potential persona is associated with a compartmentalized online activity and therefore is operative as a personal privacy proxy, and
designate a virtual private network egress point for the selected persona, wherein the virtual private network egress point masks computer network attributes of the selected persona, wherein the virtual private network egress point for the selected persona is automatically selected from a pool of virtual private network egress points utilized by the pool of potential personas and wherein each potential persona is associated with a different virtual private network user account; and
wherein the persona service platform allows the user to have multiple persona instances on different devices and each persona instance uses a different VPN account and VPN egress point, thereby VPN accounts are unrelated, making the user's persona correlation more difficult to discover.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The machine of claim 1 wherein the selected persona is designated as a function of persona physical location.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The machine of claim 1 wherein the network communication is selected from a browser session, a voice call, a short message service communication, a multimedia message service communication and an email.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The machine of claim 1 wherein the virtual private network egress point is selected from one of a plurality of virtual private network services, each of which hosts a plurality of virtual private network egress points.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The machine of claim 1 wherein the persona service platform communicates with virtual private networks to obtain virtual private network user accounts.