US 9,519,808 B2 · Method and apparatus for protecting data in a portable electronic device

Abstract

Data in a portable electronic device is protected by using external and internal status detection means to determine if the device is misplaced, lost, or stolen. The device then takes, singly or in combination, one of several actions to protect the data on the device, including declaring its location to an owner or service provider, locking the device or specific functions of the device to disable all data retrieval functionality, erasing or overwriting all the stored data in the device or, where the data has been stored in the device in an encrypted format, destroying an internally-stored encryption key, thereby preventing unauthorized access to the encrypted data in the device.

Claims20

Dependent claims

A method for protecting data in a portable electronic device, comprising the steps of:

the portable electronic device determining that the portable electronic device is misplaced, lost, or stolen;
and
the portable electronic device overwriting at least a portion of the data in the portable electronic device if it is determined that the portable electronic device is misplaced, lost, or stolen.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application

14/490,436Filed 18 Sep 2014 · continuation

Priority

2 Aug 2006

Published

US 2015/0007355 A11 Jan 2015

Granted

13 Dec 2016

Term ends

Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification22 codes

H04W 12/02
Security arrangements; Authentication; Protecting privacy or anonymity: protecting privacy or anonymity, e.g. protecting personally identifiable…
G06F 21/32
User authentication: using biometric data, e.g. fingerprints, iris scans or voiceprints
G06F 21/60
Security arrangements for protecting computers, components thereof, programs or data against unauthorised activity: protecting data
G06F 21/6245
To a system of files or objects, e.g. local or distributed file system or database: protecting personal data, e.g. for financial or medical purposes

Family

Application60/821,235Us provisional application · filed 2 Aug 2006

Application11/832,900Parent of this continuation · filed 2 Aug 2007

Application13/269,496Parent of this continuation · filed 7 Oct 2011

US 8,038,722 B2Parent of this continuation · filed 18 Oct 2011

US 2015/0007355 A1Pre-grant publication · published 1 Jan 2015

US 8,870,971 B2Parent of this continuation

US 2008/0034224 A1Published application

US 2012/0025978 A1Published application

US 9,519,808 B2This patent

From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.

Method and apparatus for protecting data in a portable electronic device

Life of this patent

Method and apparatus for protecting data in a portable electronic device

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims20