# US 10,375,077 B1 · Systems and methods for mediating information requests > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 10,375,077 B1 - Document ID: US10375077B1 - Status: Granted - Kind: B1 - Application number: 15/235,900 - Filed: 2016-08-12 - Granted: 2019-08-06 - Earliest claimed: 2016-08-12 - Assignees: Symantec Corporation - Applicants: Symantec Corporation - Inventors: Ilya Sokolov; Keith Newstadt - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10375077B1 ## CPC - H04L 63/101: {Access control lists [ACL]} - G06F 21/50: Monitoring users, programs or devices to maintain the integrity of platforms, e.g. of processors, firmware or operating systems - G06F 21/6245: {Protecting personal data, e.g. for financial or medical purposes} - H04B 1/3827: Portable transceivers - H04L 63/0407: {wherein the identity of one or more communicating identities is hidden (cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for anonymous credentials or for identity based cryptographic systems H04L9/00)} - H04L 63/08: {for authentication of entities (cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication H04L9/32)} - H04L 67/60: Scheduling or organising the servicing of application requests, e.g. requests for application data transmissions using the analysis and optimisation of the required network resources (admission control or resource allocation H04L47/70) - H04L 63/0823: {using certificates (cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication involving certificates H04L9/3263)} - H04L 63/107: {wherein the security policies are location-dependent, e.g. entities privileges depend on current location or allowing specific operations only from locally connected terminals} - H04L 63/108: {when the policy decisions are valid for a limited amount of time} - H04L: TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION (arrangements common to telegraphic and telephonic communication H04M) - G06F: ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING (computer systems based on specific computational models G06N) - H04B: TRANSMISSION ## Abstract The disclosed computer-implemented method for mediating information requests may include (1) detecting, at the information-managing device, a request for the information-managing device to provide at least one element of personal information to a requesting device that is within physical proximity of the information-managing device, (2) evaluating, based at least in part on an attribute of the request, whether the request for the element of personal information is appropriate, and (3) performing a security action that responds to the request in a manner that is commensurate to the appropriateness of the request for the element of personal information. Various other methods, systems, and computer-readable media are also disclosed. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A computer-implemented method for mediating information requests, at least a portion of the method being performed by an information-managing device comprising at least one processor, the method comprising: detecting, at the information-managing device, a request for the information-managing device to provide a plurality of elements of personal information to a requesting device that is within physical proximity of the information-managing device; identifying at least one attribute of the request that describes a context in which the information-managing device detected the request, wherein the at least one attribute comprises a device type of the requesting device; evaluating each requested element of personal information in the plurality of elements of personal information, based at least in part on determining whether the requested element of personal information matches the context in which the information-managing device detected the request, for whether the request for the requested element of personal information is an appropriate request for the requested element of personal information; and preventing the information-managing device from providing elements of personal information to requesting devices that requested the elements of personal information in an inappropriate context by performing, at the information-managing device, a security action that responds to the request in a manner that is commensurate to the appropriateness of the request for the element of personal information wherein the security action comprises: in response to determining that a first portion of the request represents an inappropriate request for a first element of personal information in the plurality of elements of personal information, preventing the information-managing device at least from providing the first element of personal information to the requesting device; and in response to determining that an additional portion of the request represents an appropriate request for an additional element of personal information in the plurality of elements of personal information, providing the additional element of personal information to the requesting device. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein preventing the information-managing device from providing the element of personal information comprises providing a partial response to the requesting device. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the security action further comprises at least one of: notifying a user of the information-managing device of the request; providing a security vendor with a report that contains details about the request; and generating a log entry that describes the request. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein evaluating whether the request for the plurality of elements of personal information is appropriate comprises determining whether the request exceeds user-privacy preferences specified by a user of the information-managing device. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein evaluating whether the request for the plurality of elements of personal information is appropriate comprises determining whether the requesting device is listed on: a whitelist that identifies approved requesting devices; or a blacklist that identifies disapproved requesting devices. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the attribute of the request further comprises at least one of: a time of day when the request was received; the physical location of the requesting device; a manufacturer of the requesting device; a unique identifier associated with the requesting device; a reputation score associated with the requesting device; a third-party verification certificate, included within the request, that digitally verifies the identity of the requesting device by a third party; and at least one characteristic of the element of personal information specified in the request. ### Claim 7 (depends on 6) The method of claim 6, wherein the reputation score is calculated based on at least one of: prior requests issued by the requesting device; and prior requests issued by other requesting devices. ### Claim 8 (depends on 6) The method of claim 6, wherein the reputation score is calculated by at least one of: a third-party security vendor; and the information-managing device. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising, prior to responding to the request, providing a user of the information-managing device with a security challenge that verifies the identity of the user. ### Claim 10 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the information-managing device comprises at least one of: a mobile device; a smart phone; and a smart badge. ### Claim 11 A system for mediating information requests, the system comprising: a detecting module, stored in memory, that detects, at an information-managing device, a request for the information-managing device to provide a plurality of elements of personal information to a requesting device that is within physical proximity of the information-managing device; an evaluating module, stored in memory, that: identifies at least one attribute of the request that describes a context in which the information-managing device detected the request, wherein the at least one attribute comprises a device type of the requesting device; and evaluates each requested element of personal information in the plurality of elements of personal information, based at least in part on determining whether the requested element of personal information matches the context in which the information-managing device detected the request, for whether the request for the requested element of personal information is an appropriate request for the requested element of personal information; a performing module, stored in memory, that prevents the information-managing device from providing elements of personal information to requesting devices that requested the elements of personal information in an inappropriate context by performing, at the information-managing device, a security action that responds to the request in a manner that is commensurate to the appropriateness of the request for the element of personal information, wherein the security action comprises: in response to determining that a first portion of the request represents an inappropriate request for a first element of personal information in the plurality of elements of personal information, preventing the information-managing device at least from providing the first element of personal information to the requesting device; and in response to determining that an additional portion of the request represents an appropriate request for an additional element of personal information in the plurality of elements of personal information, providing the additional element of personal information to the requesting device; and at least one physical processor configured to execute the detecting module, the evaluating module, and the performing module. ### Claim 12 (depends on 11) The system of claim 11, wherein the performing module prevents the information-managing device from providing the element of personal information by providing a partial response to the requesting device. ### Claim 13 (depends on 11) The system of claim 11, wherein the security action further comprises at least one of: notifying a user of the information-managing device of the request; providing a security vendor with a report that contains details about the request; and generating a log entry that describes the request. ### Claim 14 (depends on 11) The system of claim 11, wherein the evaluating module evaluates whether the request for the plurality of elements of personal information is appropriate by determining whether the request exceeds user-privacy preferences specified by a user of the information-managing device. ### Claim 15 (depends on 11) The system of claim 11, wherein the evaluating module evaluates whether the request for the plurality of elements of personal information is appropriate by determining whether the requesting device is listed on: a whitelist that identifies approved requesting devices; or a blacklist that identifies disapproved requesting devices. ### Claim 16 (depends on 11) The system of claim 11, wherein the attribute of the request further comprises at least one of: a time of day when the request was received; the physical location of the requesting device; a manufacturer of the requesting device; a unique identifier associated with the requesting device; a reputation score associated with the requesting device; a third-party verification certificate, included within the request, that digitally verifies the identity of the requesting device by a third party; and at least one characteristic of the element of personal information specified in the request. ### Claim 17 (depends on 16) The system of claim 16, wherein the reputation score is calculated based on at least one of: prior requests issued by the requesting device; and prior requests issued by other requesting devices. ### Claim 18 A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising one or more computer-readable instructions that, when executed by at least one processor of a computing device, cause the computing device to: detect, at the information-managing device, a request for the information-managing device to provide a plurality of elements of personal information to a requesting device that is within physical proximity of the information-managing device; identify at least one attribute of the request that describes a context in which the information-managing device detected the request, wherein the at least one attribute comprises a device type of the requesting device; evaluate each requested element of personal information in the plurality of elements of personal information, based at least in part on determining whether the requested element of personal information matches the context in which the information-managing device detected the request, for whether the request for the requested element of personal information is an appropriate request for the requested element of personal information; and prevent the information-managing device from providing elements of personal information to requesting devices that requested the elements of personal information in an inappropriate context by performing, at the information-managing device, a security action that responds to the request in a manner that is commensurate to the appropriateness of the request for the element of personal information, wherein the security action comprises: in response to determining that a first portion of the request represents an inappropriate request for a first element of personal information in the plurality of elements of personal information, preventing the information-managing device at least from providing the first element of personal information to the requesting device; and in response to determining that an additional portion of the request represents an appropriate request for an additional element of personal information in the plurality of elements of personal information, providing the additional element of personal information to the requesting device.