Location based presence and privacy management

[0001] 1. Field

[0002] The invention is a method and system for providing location based presence status and enhancing location privacy management in mobile, social networking and instant messaging environments.

[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art

[0004] Location based services (LBS) have been on the wireless carrier product roadmaps for several years, however there has been limited mainstream adoption of such services, and much of the infrastructure and systems have been put in place to meet the emergency services (E-911) mandates.

[0005] With the advancements in Global Positioning System (GPS) technology for mobile devices, the accuracy of mobile positioning systems has improved significantly, and consumer LBS applications such as real-time navigation using mobile devices are now available on selected mobile devices offered by carriers. However, both carriers and consumers are concerned about consumer privacy and liability issues involved with offering and enabling such applications.

[0006] A significant percentage of mobile phones sold today are enabled with a GPS chip, which can determine the precise location of the user. While users are given the ability to turn off location tracking on their mobile devices for all location based applications with the exception of E-911 services, this results in the user not being able to take advantage of any location based services.

[0007] Location based presence, messaging and mobile social networking applications require users to share their location coordinates, however due to privacy concerns many users don't take advantage of such services. Some of the location based applications offer ability to share location coordinates by user or a group of users, and/or restrict sharing location information at the city or zip code level. However, in order to convey location information related to a subscriber's presence at a precise and specific location, such as the subscriber's home or work, or a business or point of interest, the subscriber has to share their location coordinates or address information with other users and/or applications.

[0008] Further, the process of updating presence status with other users in a mobile instant messaging environment imposes additional challenges compared to the desktop instant messaging environment. Particularly, due to the battery, memory, processing and screen size limitations of the mobile devices, current mobile instant messaging applications drain the battery of the mobile device in the process of sending real time updates of the presence information of the entire buddy list.

[0009] Also, several mobile location-based and social networking applications require a mapping interface to display the mobile user's location. Due to bandwidth constraints of the mobile network, and the memory, processing capability and battery limitations of the mobile device, delivering mapping information on mobile networks adds additional costs and complexity limiting the adoption of such applications.

[0010] In most instances, what users really need is the ability to share location contextual information about their presence at specific locations (such as home, office, school, etc.) where they spend most of their time, and selectively sharing their location coordinates with other users when requested by the user or as the need arises. The invention provides users an option to share location contextual information related to user-specified locations by using generic or user-specified location names, graphical indicators and/or location category information, and further provide location based presence status to other users of instant messaging applications without sharing their location coordinates or address information.

[0011] In other instances, when users are at a business or a point of interest such as a restaurant, library, golf course, etc., the invention enables the mobile user to indicate their presence status based on the category of that location, (e.g., restaurant, golf course, library, etc.) and optionally based on the business or POI name without sharing location coordinates with other users.

[0012] In other instances when the user is driving, the invention enables the mobile user to indicate their presence status as driving to convey they are not at their regular locations such as home or work, and provide location contextual information based on geographical area or proximity to user-specified locations without sharing their location coordinates and without offering location tracking capability to other users.

[0013] Such location contextual information and location based presence status, in most instances, enables the calling or messaging party to become aware of the user's availability status, and can be broadly shared with all contacts, while significantly mitigating concerns about privacy and liability related to tracking user's location coordinates.

[0014] Another embodiment of the invention is to group users and/or location privacy options into multiple, numerically or descriptively labeled, location privacy or location sharing levels, wherein one of the levels is based on sharing location contextual status at precise locations using generic or user-specified location names, location status indicators, or location category information, without sharing location coordinates or address information of the user.

[0015] Another aspect of the invention is to enable an efficient and optimal method of updating location based presence status with a large number of contacts in a mobile and instant messaging environment. Other features of the invention will be apparent from the description, the drawings and the claims.

[0029] FIG. 1 and the following description provide a general description of a communication system 100 suitable for implementing various features of the invention. With reference to FIG. 1, an exemplary communication system for implementing the invention includes a mobile carrier network 110 which offers voice, messaging and/or data services to mobile phones 120a and 120b, and is capable of communicating with instant messaging (IM) networks, such as, a public IM network 130 and public IM client 132, or an enterprise IM network 140 and enterprise IM client 142. The mobile carrier network 110 is also capable of communicating with other telephone or data networks 150 such as a Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) or a Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) network capable of delivering voice and/or data services to communication devices such as a phone 152. The communication system may also comprise of a fixed mobile or a broadband mobile network 160, such as, for example, a WiMax network capable of delivering voice and data services through communication devices such as a mobile data card 162.

[0030] In particular, the communication system 100 is capable of detecting or receiving geographic location information of a user's mobile phone or other associated terminal or device. In one implementation, the mobile carrier network 110 includes a mobile positioning system 112 that is capable of determining location coordinates of the mobile phones 120a and 120b. The mobile positioning system 112 may receive the location coordinates from the Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver embedded in the mobile phone 120a or 120b, and in another implementation assist the mobile phone 120a or 120b in determining its location using one or more of the mobile positioning methods including Assisted (A-GPS), Time Difference of Arrival (TDOA), or other approaches that provide location coordinates within specified constraints of accuracy. In one implementation, the mobile positioning system 112 includes a location server which may be a Gateway Mobile Location Center (GMLC) in case of GSM networks or a Mobile Positioning Center (MPC) in case of CDMA networks, which provides the user's location information to third party location application servers implementing location based services and applications.

[0031] The mobile carrier network 110 also includes a mobile messaging system 114 that is capable of transmitting text or data messages from and to the mobile phones 120a or 120b, which may include image, audio or video messages, and may use one or more of the mobile data messaging services and protocols including Short Messaging Service (SMS), Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS), Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) or other Internet Protocol (IP) based data and application-layer protocols used in third generation (3G) mobile standards, such as, for example, Session Initiation Protocol (SIP). The mobile carrier network 110 may include any of the underlying RF transport protocols, such as, for example, General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), CDMA 20001x-RTT, CDMA 1x-EV-DO, or any of the 3G or 4G mobile standards.

[0032] The mobile phones 120a and 120b are exemplary mobile devices used by two different mobile subscribers, which may be on the same mobile carrier network, or may be part of different mobile carrier networks. The mobile phones 120a or 120b include an address book 122a or 122b, a location client application 124a or 124b, one or more mobile messaging applications 126a or 126b which may include a text messaging application, a multimedia messaging application, an email application, and/or an instant messaging application.

[0033] The public IM network 130 comprises of instant messaging (IM) services such as those offered by MSN, AOL, Yahoo, or Google, and may be based on proprietary implementations or based on industry standards such as Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) or Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP). The public IM client 132 may be a desktop or mobile IM client subscribing to a public IM network 130.

[0034] The enterprise IM network 140 comprises of instant messaging services provided by companies and large enterprises to their corporate users for a controlled and managed access to instant messaging services. The enterprise IM clients 142 may be a desktop or mobile IM client subscribing to an enterprise IM network 140.

[0035] FIG. 2a illustrates an exemplary implementation of grouping various types of location contextual information into multiple, numeric and descriptively labeled location sharing levels. Further, one of the sharing levels enables sharing location contextual names of user-specified locations without sharing location coordinates of the user. In one implementation, the invention enables a mobile user to select location sharing options and select or specify descriptive names for location sharing levels 0 to 3 as described in table 210. As shown in table 210, the location contextual information options at a particular sharing level are in addition to the options available at the previous sharing level. As shown in field 212, at level 0, no location information is shared. As shown in field 214, at level 1, only city and state level information is shared by default, with options to select zip or area level names. As shown in field 216, at level 2, location contextual information corresponding to precise user-specified geographic locations is shared when user is at or near these locations, without providing street address or location coordinates of the user. Location contextual information may include names, categories and representative graphical indicators of user-specified locations and user-specified business or POI locations, and optionally categories of other non-specified business or POI locations, such as, for example, home, office, work, school, restaurant, golf course, library, etc. The user may also specify the option to include business or POI names when user is at non-specified business or POI locations. As shown in field 218, at level 3, all relevant location information may be shared with selected users at this level including street name, nearest intersection, business and POI names and/or categories as specified by the user. Location coordinates and street address are also shared if an authorized user at this level requests location coordinates or other location information that requires sharing such information such as, for example, directions to mobile subscriber's current location.

[0036] FIG. 2b is an exemplary table for associating location contextual name types and corresponding sharing levels. As represented in table 220, the default settings for location name types and corresponding sharing levels are specified, along with the configuration options for sharing levels that maybe specified by the user. As represented in field 221, location names based on city and state are available for sharing with users at sharing level 1 or higher. As represented by field 222, when user is at or near user-specified locations, location contextual information based on location names and categories of these locations are available for sharing with users at sharing level 2 or higher, without providing location coordinates or street address information of the mobile subscriber's current location. As represented in field 223, user-specified POI names, which also include user-specified business names, will be available for sharing at level 2 or above. As shown in the configuration options, user may change the minimum sharing level for this location name type to level 3. As shown in field 224, the business or POI category information will be available for sharing with users at level 2 or above, when the mobile subscriber is determined to be at a business or POI location. The mobile subscriber may change the minimum sharing level for this location name type to level 3. Further, as shown in fields 225 and 226, location contextual information may also include street name and nearest intersection of their current location when sharing with users at level 3. The mobile subscriber may change the sharing level for this location name type to sharing level 2 or higher. As represented in field 227, business or POI names corresponding to user's current location, when user is determined to be at a location that is a business or POI will also be available for sharing with users at sharing level 3. The mobile subscriber may change the sharing level for this location name type to sharing level 2 or higher.

[0037] FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary flow diagram 300 for updating users at multiple location sharing levels with location based presence or status information corresponding to that level, as the mobile subscriber's location changes. Beginning at block 302, the location application server responsible for storing and sharing location contextual information of mobile phones 124a or 124b requests location coordinates and accuracy information from mobile positioning system 112. The mobile positioning system 112 may provide the most recent location information of the mobile device from its database or cache, or may request current location information from the corresponding mobile phone 120a or 120b. At the decision block 304, a test is made to determine if the current location of mobile device has changed from its previous location above a minimum threshold to account for the accuracy constraints of the location information. If the location has not changed, at block 308, the location application 124a or 124b is instructed to wait for a specified time interval and then repeat the process of requesting updated location coordinates in block 302. In another implementation, the functions of blocks 302, 304, and 308 may be performed by a trigger or notification step in the mobile positioning system, which would notify the designated location application server when the location of mobile device changes, and provide the updated location coordinates of the mobile subscriber. In yet another implementation, the functions of blocks 302, 304, and 308 may be performed by another location application server within the mobile carrier network working in conjunction with the mobile positioning system. At block 306, the location application 124a or 124b or the designated location application server determines and updates the location based presence status corresponding to each sharing level, described in detail in FIG. 4. After the location status table is updated based on the current location, tests are made in the decision blocks 310, 312 and 314 to determine if the location status corresponding to level 1, 2 and 3 changed as a result of the new location of the mobile subscriber. In blocks 316, 318, 320, corresponding level 1, 2 or 3 users are updated if the location status for their corresponding sharing levels has changed. In one scenario, only level 2 and/or level 3 status may change, while level 1 status may remain the same as before, e.g., if the mobile subscriber has moved to a new location which is in the same city, level 1 status would remain the same. The application server, in this case, will only update location status with level 2 and level 3 users, thus minimizing the frequency of updates for level 1 users, and providing an efficient way for updating only a subset of users that are authorized to receive more specific location status.

[0038] Additionally, mobile subscribers may select level 1 or level 2 as their default location sharing level for sharing with all users who request location status or are in the contacts list. In one implementation, any user can request and receive the mobile subscriber's location status corresponding to the default location sharing level, and the location application server only updates location status with a subset of users corresponding to the higher sharing levels, thus providing an efficient and optimal way for sharing location based presence status with a large number of users. In another implementation, location status corresponding to the default sharing level 1 or 2 is shared with the public IM network with an option to request location status corresponding to higher sharing levels, which may then be provided automatically if the contact is an authorized user at the higher sharing level, or the request may be sent for approval to the mobile subscriber.

[0039] FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary flowchart to update a mobile subscriber's location status table based on whether the user is at or near user-specified locations, driving, or at a business or POI location. As described earlier, when the test in decision block 304 determines that the location of mobile subscriber has changed, the subroutine 400 starts, and as shown in block 402, the mobile phone's location coordinates, accuracy and speed information are provided by the mobile positioning system 112. At block 404, the location coordinates of the mobile subscriber are compared with the location coordinates of the user-specified locations stored in the tables shown in FIGS. 5a and 5b, and the nearest location and corresponding distance from user's current location is determined. At decision block 406, if user's current location is determined to be at or near this user-specified location within a specified distance, it is further specified if the user is at this location or near this location (e.g., at home, near home, at work, near work). Accordingly, in block 408, the location status table is updated based on the user-specified location and user criteria for status at level 1, 2 and 3. And if, in decision block 406, the user is determined to be not at or near any of the user-specified locations, then another test is made in decision block 410 to determine if the user is moving at or above a certain specified speed (e.g. moving at or above a speed of 10 miles per hour) whereby the status of the user is considered as driving, otherwise the user is considered to be stationary or moving at a slower speed but not at or near any user-specified location. If the user is determined to be driving, then as shown in block 412, the location status table in updated accordingly. And if the user is determined to be stationary within reasonable constraints of accuracy, then another decision test is made at block 414 to determine if the user is at a business or a POI location. If the user is determined to be at a business or POI location, then as shown in block 424, business name, category, and address information is requested from a geo-database and/or a business or POI database, and accordingly in block 426, the location status is updated with the corresponding information and user-specified criteria for each sharing level. If user is determined to be moving at a slower speed than specified for being considered as driving, or if there are multiple co-located businesses at the current location, user maybe prompted to confirm or select the current business location, and for these scenarios, the functions of blocks 414, 424 and 426 are replaced by subroutine 1000, and shown in detail in FIG. 10. If the user is considered to be driving or if in block 414, the user was determined to be stationary but not at a business or POI location, then the location status is determined corresponding to geographical area level information or based on the sharing level 1 status of the user. Accordingly, in block 416, the address information of the user is requested using the reverse geocode feature of the mobile positioning system or using another geo-database. At decision block 418, if the city (or area level information, as specified by the user) has changed, then the level 1 status is updated accordingly. If the city or area level information has not changed, then as shown in block 422, then only level 2 and/or level 3 status information is updated in the location status table of the mobile subscriber. Further, the level 2 textual status in this case may be same as level 1 status, as no additional location name and/or status information may be available for level 2.

[0040] As shown in FIG. 5a, table 500 is an exemplary list of user-specified locations and corresponding settings saved in the pre-specified user's locations table that are available for determining the location status as described in steps 404, 406 and 408. In this example, two of the most common user locations, “Home” and “Work”, are saved, where a user is likely to spend most of their time. In field 502, a generic location name such as “Work” may be specified by the user, or a more contextual location name may be specified (e.g., HQ, Main Campus, Factory, Building 34, etc.). In field 504, the address of the location is saved, which maybe provided by the user, or determined by the system based on location coordinates provided or saved by the user. In field 506, location coordinates are either specified by the user, or determined based on the address information provided in 504, or saved while user selects the options to save current location while at that particular location. In field 508, user selects an appropriate location category from the available list, or specifies a new category, which may be used to indicate the location status of the user. In field 510, user selects the default setting for minimum sharing level, or specifies from the range of options, based on which the location status will be shared with users in the corresponding sharing levels when the user is at that particular location. In fields 512 and 514, the user may select default settings or specify options for days, dates, and/or time settings when the location status should be shared with other users.

[0041] As shown in FIG. 5b, table 520 is an exemplary table for storing user-specified business and POI locations, where the user wants to share location contextual status based on names, categories and/or address information of these locations. The user may save these locations and corresponding information while visiting these locations and building this list over time, or add locations at any time by specifying the required information, or by searching for specific business or POI locations by name or address using the options provided in the location application. In field 522, the name of the business or POI that may be used for location status is saved by either looking up from a business or POI database, or by having the user specify or customize the name. In field 524, the address of the location is saved, which maybe provided by the user, or determined by the system based on information available from the business or POI database, or by looking up address corresponding to the location coordinates. In field 526, location coordinates of the business or POI are either specified by the user, or determined based on the address information provided in 524, or saved while user selects the options to save current location while at that particular location. In field 528, geometry information of the POI is saved to indicate whether the POI is a point or covers an area of a specified geometry, in which case, additional information may be stored or requested from the geo database to determine location status at that location. In field 530, the appropriate location category is saved based on information received from the business or POI database, or as specified by the user. In field 532, user selects the default setting for minimum sharing level for location name of the business or POI, or specifies from the range of options, based on which the location status will be shared with users in the corresponding sharing levels when the user is at that particular location. In field 534, user selects the default setting for minimum sharing level for location category of the business or POI, or specifies from the range of options, based on which the location status will be shared with users in the corresponding sharing levels when the user is at that particular location.

[0042] As shown in FIG. 6, table 600 is an exemplary table and illustration for determining and storing a user's location based presence status corresponding to each sharing level. Field 602 indicates the sharing level, which in current implementation ranges from 0 to 3 as described in table 210. A user may add a new sharing level, but for the purpose of this exemplary implementation, we assume levels 0 to 3, whereby at level 0, no location status is shared, and hence only levels 1 to 3 have a corresponding location status. As described earlier, at level 1, location name is based on city and state information, and as the location status of mobile subscriber is determined, in blocks 408, 420 or 426, the corresponding city and state information is updated in the field 606 corresponding to the record 610. Additionally, the last known status for this level may be saved along with a timestamp in a similar table to determine in the decision block 310 if the current status has changed from the previous status. Further, as the location status of mobile subscriber is determined, in blocks 408, 422, and 426, the corresponding level 2 and level 3 records 612 and 614 are updated accordingly. If the user is at or near a user-specified location corresponding to table 500 or 520, the corresponding status in field 604 will indicate “at” or “near” or another descriptor indicating proximity to the specified location. Additionally, for level 3 status in 614, approximate distance or time to location may be saved to indicate user is “within x miles” or “within y minutes” of the respective location. In another instance, if the status of the mobile subscriber in block 410 was determined to be driving, corresponding status indicator option in field 608 of records 612 and 614 will be saved.

[0043] FIG. 7 is an exemplary user interface of the mobile device 120a or 120b for indicating the sharing level options of the location application 124a or 124b. The sharing level interface 700 includes an option to select the default sharing level as indicated by setting 702. The user can also select any of the sharing levels and change settings for that sharing level. The sharing level interface screen 710 describes the settings for sharing level 1 and includes the default name for this level “City, State” and provides an option button which provides an option to specify or change the name of the sharing level. The settings 712 indicate options available for location name types at this level, and are based on area level name types and provide options to select one or more area level name type for this level. The “+” indicates that the option is currently selected, and “−” indicates that the option is not selected, but is available for selection at this sharing level. The sharing level interface screen 720 describes the settings for sharing level 2 and includes the default name for this level “Favorite Locations” and provides options to change the name and other settings for this sharing level. The settings 722 indicate the selected and available options for location name types at this level, which include the options for selecting favorite locations, POI categories and POI names. Favorite locations include the user-specified locations in table 500 and user-specified business or POI locations in table 520. The POI categories setting include all the categories corresponding to other POI locations not included in table 520. The POI names setting includes the names corresponding to other POI locations not included in table 520, which is not selected by default at sharing level 2, but the user may specify this option at this sharing level. The sharing level interface screen 730 describes the settings for sharing level 3 and includes the default name for this level “Location Coordinates” and provides an option to specify or change the name of the sharing level. The settings 732 indicate options available for location information at this level, and are based on proximity based information such as nearest intersection, street name, and POI names, in addition location information available at sharing level 2, and also includes the options to share street address and location coordinates at this level.

[0044] FIG. 8 is an exemplary flowchart for determining user's preferred messaging options corresponding to user-specified locations. As described earlier in decision block 406, when user is determined to be at any of the user-specified locations, the block 408 also includes the subroutine 800 in the process of determining the location status at this location. As shown in block 802, user is determined to be at a user-specified location. In the decision test of block 804, it is determined whether the user has specified any preferred messaging options corresponding to that user-specified location. For example, user may specify the home phone as preferred calling option while user's location status is “at home”, or work phone as preferred calling option while user's location status is “at work”. In other instances, the user may specify email, SMS or IM as preferred messaging options. If such a preferred messaging or calling option is specified, in block 806, it is added to the location status table 600.

[0045] FIG. 9 is an exemplary flowchart for determining user's preferred messaging options corresponding to specific location categories. When user is determined to be at a business or POI location, the block 428 includes the subroutine 900 in the process of determining and updating the location status at this location. As shown in block 902, user is determined to be at a business or POI location. In the decision test of block 904, it is determined whether the user has specified any preferred messaging options corresponding to that business or POI location or any default options exists for the location category. For example, for the POI category library, the user may specify email, SMS or IM as preferred messaging options. If such a preferred messaging option is specified, in block 906, it is added to the location status in table 600 discussed earlier.

[0046] FIG. 10 is an exemplary flowchart for determining location status when there are multiple or co-located business or POI options at or near user's current location. As described earlier, in the test block 410, when the user is not at a user-specified location and not moving above a specified speed to be considered as driving, a test is made to determine if user is at a business or POI location. However, in several instances, multiple co-located business or POI locations may correspond to the user's current location within the constraints of accuracy of the mobile positioning system 112. Also, the user may be moving at a slower speed, and not stationary. In order to address these scenarios and determine the corresponding business or POI location, the functions of blocks 414, 424 and 426 may be replaced by subroutine 1000. In the decision block 1002, it is first determined if the user is stationary within the constraints of accuracy of the mobile positioning system 112. If the user is not considered stationary, then at block 1006, the location application 124a or 124b is instructed to wait for a specified time interval and then request updated location coordinates and repeat the process in block 1002. If the user is considered to be stationary, at block 1004, the nearest POI locations and corresponding distances are determined. At the decision block 1008, a test is made to determine if the user's current location corresponds to one and only one business or POI location, and if yes, then in block 1016, the business or POI name, category, and address information of that location are provided as the current location. If not, then at block 1010, it is determined if the user's current location may correspond to multiple POI locations, as determined within the accuracy constraints and specified distance criteria. If there are multiple co-located or nearby POI locations in the vicinity of user's location, at block 1012, a list of nearest locations within specified distance of user is provided to the user's location application 124a or 124b, and at block 1014, the user is prompted to select the current location from the list presented, and based on user's input, the information pertaining to that location is provided to block 1016. However, if there is no response from the user within a specified time, at block 1006, the location application 124a or 124b is instructed to wait for a specified time interval and request updated location coordinates and then repeat the process in block 1002.

[0047] It is also noted that while the above describes the exemplifying embodiments of the invention, those skilled in the art would appreciate several variations and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as described in the following claims.