Interrogate-response communication system with privacy indication
AssigneeAT&T Mobility II LLC
InventorRobert Engelhart
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method of and apparatus for obtaining information about a product or service offering having an associated receiver responsive to an information request or query. The method comprise providing a portable subscriber device linked with a communication network, presenting at least one selectable query for information to a subscriber via the subscriber device, selecting the at least one query for information, providing a desired privacy status of the subscriber utilizing the subscriber device, transmitting the query and the privacy status and, at the associated receiver, processing the privacy status and responding to the query by providing the requested information to the subscriber. A corresponding apparatus is also disclosed.
Claims20
A portable user device that enables information associated with a product or service offering to be wirelessly requested, the portable user device comprising:
- a display module to present at least one item or category of information available to be requested for the product or service offering;
- a selector to select the at least one item or category of information to request;
- a destination register to identify a destination to receive requested information;
- an anonymity switch to select at least one of an affirmative or a negative privacy status, wherein the affirmative privacy status indicates that identity information should be discarded after use and the negative privacy status indicates that the identity information should be stored after use;
- and
- a transmitter to transmit the at least on item or category of requested information, the destination, and the affirmative or negative privacy status to a responder associated with the product or service offering.
A method of providing information associated with a product or service offering in response to an information request, the method comprising:
- receiving a transmission from a portable subscriber device, wherein the transmission includes a request for information associated with a product or service offering, a destination address, and a privacy status indication;
- transmitting the information associated with the product or service offering to the destination address;
- discarding subscriber identity information in response to an affirmative privacy status indication;
- and
- storing subscriber identity information in response to a negative privacy status indication.
A method of requesting information associated with a product or service offering, the method comprising:
- displaying at least one item or category of information available to be requested for the product or service offering;
- selecting the at least one item or category of information to request;
- identifying a destination to receive requested information;
- selecting at least one of an affirmative or negative privacy status, wherein the affirmative privacy status indicates that identity information should be discarded after use and the negative privacy status indicates that identity information should be stored after use;
- and
- transmitting the at least one item or category of requested information, the destination, and the affirmative or negative privacy status to a responder associated with the product or service offering.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.