Encoded attribute matching on communication devices

A communication device, comprising:

• a processor;
• memory accessible to said processor and containing an attribute and software executable on said processor;
• a communication interface coupled to said processor and adapted to permit the communication device to communicate with at least one other external device;
• wherein, by executing said software, said processor determines whether the communication device's attribute matches an attribute stored in an external device, without receiving the attributes from the external device, based on a first encoded value received via the local communication interface from the external device, said first encoded value being indicative of an attribute stored in the external device.

A system, comprising:

• a first communication device having a first plurality of attributes and a first key;
• a second communication device having a second plurality of attributes and a second key, the second communication device adapted to communicate with the first communication device;
• wherein the first communication device encrypts each of the first plurality of attributes with a first key to form a first plurality of encrypted values and the second communication device encrypts each of the second plurality of attributes with a second key to form a second plurality of encrypted values;
• wherein the first communication device transmits each first encrypted value to the second communication device and the second communication device transmits each second encrypted value to the first communication device;
• wherein the first communication device encrypts each second encrypted value with the first key to produce a third plurality of encrypted values, and the second communication device encrypts each first encrypted value with the second key to produce a fourth plurality of encrypted values;
• wherein the first communication device transmits each third encrypted value to the second communication device, and the second communication device transmits each fourth encrypted value to the first communication device;
• and
• wherein one of the first or second communication devices determines whether any third encoded value matches any fourth encoded value.