Systems and methods for permission arbitrated transaction services

[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/360,904, filed Jul. 1, 2010 and titled SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR PERMISSION ARBITRATED TRANSACTION SERVICES, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety into this application.

[0002] This disclosure generally relates to accessing personal information, and more particularly to systems and methods for permission arbitrated transaction services relating to personal information.

[0008] The terminology used in the description presented herein is not intended to be interpreted in any limited or restrictive manner, simply because it is being utilized in conjunction with a detailed description of certain specific embodiments of the invention. Furthermore, embodiments of the invention may include several novel features, no single one of which is solely responsible for its desirable attributes or which is essential to practicing the inventions described herein.

[0009] In some embodiments, the systems, computer clients and/or servers described below take the form of a computing system as shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment in which the computing system 100 is in communication with a network 160 and various systems are also in communication with the network 160. The computing system 100 may be used to implement systems and methods described herein. For example, the computing system 100 may be configured to receive requests for personal information and generate outputs corresponding to the type of information requested. In some embodiments, the system is accessed remotely by a client, the system is local to the client, and/or a combination of the two. One example client may be an individual or a business that uses the systems and methods to request access to another individual's personal information, such as information that is indicative of character attributes of the individual.

[0010] The terms “individual,” “consumer,” “customer,” “people,” “persons,” “party,” “entity,” and the like, whether singular or plural, should be interpreted to include either individuals or groups of individuals, such as, for example, married couples or domestic partners, organizations, groups, business entities, and other entities.

[0011] The computing system 100 includes, for example, a personal computer that is IBM, Macintosh, or Linux/Unix compatible. In one embodiment, the computing system 100 comprises a server, a laptop computer, a cell phone, a personal digital assistant, a kiosk, or an audio player, for example. In one embodiment, the exemplary computing system 100 includes a central processing unit (CPU) 105, which may include a conventional microprocessor. The computing system 100 further includes a memory 130, such as random access memory (RAM) for temporary storage of information and a read only memory (ROM) for permanent storage of information, and a mass storage device 120, such as a hard drive, diskette, or optical media storage device. Typically, the modules of the computing system 100 are connected to the computer using a standard based bus system 180. In different embodiments, the standard based bus system 180 could be Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI), Microchannel, Small Computer System Interface (SCSI), Industrial Standard Architecture (ISA) and Extended ISA (EISA) architectures, for example. In addition, the functionality provided for in the components and modules of the computing system 100, which is also referred to herein as the permission arbitrated transaction services system 100 or simply the PATS system 100, may be combined into fewer components and modules or further separated into additional components and modules.

[0012] The computing system 100 is generally controlled and coordinated by operating system software, such as Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Unix, Linux, SunOS, Solaris, or other compatible operating systems. In Macintosh systems, the operating system may be any available operating system, such as MAC OS X. In other embodiments, the computing system 100 may be controlled by a proprietary operating system. Conventional operating systems control and schedule computer processes for execution, perform memory management, provide file system, networking, I/O services, and provide a user interface, such as a graphical user interface (GUI), among other things.

[0013] The exemplary computing system 100 includes one or more commonly available input/output (I/O) devices and interfaces 110, such as a keyboard, mouse, touchpad, and printer. In one embodiment, the I/O devices and interfaces 110 include one or more display device, such as a monitor, that allows the visual presentation of data to a user. More particularly, a display device provides for the presentation of GUIs, application software data, and multimedia presentations, for example. The computing system 100 may also include one or more multimedia devices 140, such as speakers, video cards, graphics accelerators, and microphones, for example.

[0014] In the embodiment of FIG. 1, the I/O devices and interfaces 110 provide a communication interface to various external devices. In the embodiment of FIG. 1, the computing system 100 is electronically coupled to a network 160, which comprises one or more of a LAN, WAN, or the Internet, for example, via a wired, wireless, or combination of wired and wireless, communication link 115. The network 160 communicates with various computing devices and/or other electronic devices via wired or wireless communication links.

[0015] In addition to the devices that are illustrated in FIG. 1, the network 160 may communicate with other data sources or other computing devices. In addition, the data sources may include one or more internal and/or external data sources. In some embodiments, one or more of the data structures or data sources may be implemented using a relational database, such as Sybase, Oracle, CodeBase and Microsoft® SQL Server as well as other types of data structures such as, for example, a flat file data structure, an entity-relationship data structure, and object-oriented data structure, and/or a record-based data structure.

[0016] In the embodiment of FIG. 1, the computing system 100 is coupled to a secured network 160, such as a secured LAN, for example. The system communicates with the internal data structure(s) 172 and external data structure(s) 173. In some embodiments, the system 100 may communicate with the internal data structure 172 via a secured network 161, such as a secured LAN. In some embodiments, the internal data structure(s) 172 and the external data structure 173 may be configured to communicate with additional computing devices over the networks 160, 161 and/or some other network, such as a LAN, WAN, or the Internet via a wired, wireless, or combination of wired and wireless, communication link.

[0017] In the embodiment of FIG. 1, the computing system 100 also includes a permission arbitrated transactions services (“PATS”) module 150 that may be executed by the CPU 105. For example, the computing system 100 may be configured to execute the PATS module 150, among others, in order to provide information based on data in internal data structure(s) 172 and/or external data structure(s) 173, as explained in further detail below. The sources of the data accessed may include consumer information available to a credit bureau such as credit profile data, demographic data, marketing data, credit scores, marketing scores, behavioral scores, inferred data, and the like, and any third party data to which the credit bureau may have access. The sources of data may also include consumer-provided data such as preferences, interests, affinity, desires, behavioral data, transactional data such as purchases, and any other self-defined or personally created data. In various embodiments, such data may be available on one or more of the internal data structure(s) 172 and/or external data structure(s) 173.

[0018] FIG. 1 also illustrates a requesting party 164 that is in communication with the network 160. The requesting party may be any entity that desires information regarding another entity. For example, a landlord may be a requesting party that desires information regarding potential tenants. In one embodiment, the computing system 100 provides an arbitration service between requesting parties and parties from which personal information is requested. For example, the requesting party 164 may request data related to another entity (a permitting party 190). The permitting party 190 may provide permission to the computing system 100 to grant the requesting party 164 access to certain information regarding the permitting party. As another example, the permitting party 190 may provide permission to the computing system 100 to make information available to a receiving party 184, without the receiving party 184 first requesting access to the information. Thus, the permitting party 190 can selectively allow personal information to be provided to various entities in response to specific requests for information (e.g., in response to a request from the requesting party 164) or without requests from parties (e.g., information may be made available to the requesting party 164). In various embodiments, some of the parties 164, 184 and 190 may overlap with one another. In various embodiments, the receiving party 184 may include various types of entities. For example, the receiving party 184 may also be the permitting party 190 (for example, a consumer may provide authorization rules that permit sending of personal information to the consumer on a periodic basis), a third party distinct the permitting party 190, a credit bureau, an information service provider, a financial institution, or a party that stores and maintains personal information on the permitting party 190. Depending on the embodiment, the parties 190, 164 and 184 may be unknown/anonymous to each other. In yet other embodiments, the parties 190, 164 and 184 may be partially known to each other, such as through a user name or a screen name on a social networking site, or a URL name, for example. In general, the word “module,” as used herein, refers to logic embodied in hardware or firmware, or to a collection of software instructions, possibly having entry and exit points, written in a programming language, such as, for example, Java, Lua, C or C++. A software module may be compiled and linked into an executable program, installed in a dynamic link library, or may be written in an interpreted programming language such as, for example, BASIC, Perl, or Python. It will be appreciated that software modules may be callable from other modules or from themselves, and/or may be invoked in response to detected events or interrupts. Software instructions may be embedded in firmware, such as an EPROM. It will be further appreciated that hardware modules may be comprised of connected logic units, such as gates and flip-flops, and/or may be comprised of programmable units, such as programmable gate arrays or processors. The modules described herein are preferably implemented as software modules, but may be represented in hardware or firmware. Generally, the modules described herein refer to logical modules that may be combined with other modules or divided into sub-modules despite their physical organization or storage.

[0019] It is recognized that the term “remote” may include data, objects, devices, components, and/or modules not stored locally, that is not accessible via the local bus. Thus, remote data may include a device which is physically stored in the same room and connected to the computing system via a network. In other situations, a remote device may also be located in a separate geographic area, such as, for example, in a different location, country, and so forth.

[0020] In one embodiment, the computing system 100 may allow a user, also referred to as the permitting party 190, to share the user's personal information with another party, such as the receiving party 184. The receiving party 184 may then use the information to authenticate the permitting party 190, assess information associated with the permitting party 190, determine if the permitting party 190 is compatible with one or more other users associated with the receiving party 184, validate the permitting party 190, and so forth. The permitting party 190 may define how much of the permitting party 190's personal information is shared, and/or limit the use of the information for one or more specific purposes. Personal information may include any information associated with an entity, such as information that may be used for purpose of one or more of authentication, assessment, compatibility, legitimacy and validation. Requesting parties and/or receiving parties may also request, and be provided access to via the computing system 100, non-personal aggregate attributes, such as for the purpose of enabling the use of summarized attributes in areas such as website advertising, for example.

[0021] Similarly, a requesting party 164 may set up criteria for the types of information it wants to review along with the intended use of the information. The requesting party 164 may also provide a system that enables permitting parties 190 the ability to grant the requesting party 164 access to the requested information. This access may be direct or via a gateway.

[0022] As one example, a requesting party 164 may be the Smith family, which is looking to hire a home nurse to watch over the family's aging grandmother. The Smith family can then decide that it would like to review credit information, criminal background information, and general demographic information of potential home nurse applicants. One such potential home nurse applicant may be Jane Jones. The Smith family may provide information to the computing system 100, and more particularly, to the PATS module 150, requesting certain personal information regarding Jane Jones. For example, the Smith family may access a website that is controlled by the provider of the PATS module 150 in order to provide a request for information regarding Jane Jones. The requested may be provided via any available user interface elements, and may include various options for payment for provision of the personal information. Alternatively, the request for information regarding an individual may be communicated to the computing system 100 in any other manner, such as via SMS message, email message, phone call, letter, or other In this embodiment, Jane Jones, a home health nurse, who is looking for a new patient, is the permitting party 190, that is provided an opportunity to permit the Smith family (the requesting party 164) to access certain of her personal information. In one embodiment, Ms. Jones is notified of a request for personal information in one or more of various manners, such as an SMS message, email message, letter, phone call, or an alert in an online portal, such as a credit monitoring portal of which Mr. Jones is a member. Thus, Jane Jones can utilize the system 100 to permit the Smith family to review her personal information, and the Smith family can use the system 100 to determine that Jane Jones is looking for a new patient, receive information verifying whether Jane Jones is who she says she is, and receive information from the computing system 100 about Jane Jones' credit history, criminal background and/or any other requested information.

[0023] As another example, nurse Jack Brown may be another nurse looking for potential patients to take care of. As the permitting party 190, Jack Brown may provide information to the computing system 100, and more particularly, to the PATS module 150, indicating agreement to make certain of his personal information, such as his credit history and criminal background information, available to certain receiving parties 184, which may be families looking to hire a home nurse. Thus, Jack Brown can utilize the system 100 to permit receiving parties 184 to review his personal information. One such family, the Doe family, which is qualified as a receiving party 184 based on criteria provided by Jack Brown (the permitting party 190), can access information over a network 160 to determine that Jack Brown is looking for a new patient and receive information from the computing system 100 about Jack Brown's credit history and criminal background.

[0024] Credit data as well as public records, demographics such as, for example, age, and aggregated attributes relating to credit data may be enabled for scalable distribution into digital and non-digital platforms. Permission arbitrated transaction services systems and methods disclosed herein may enable such scalable distribution through various web properties, utilizing permission-based handshakes, an open web framework and/or architecture, transformation layers and authentication rules. Website developers or others may utilize an API/SDK framework to write to the computing system 100. Such a PATS system 100 may accept common request and delivery types such as XML (world-wide web), SMS (mobile technology), and the like, over secure channels (such as https for example), using common web services (such as REST and SOAP, for example).

[0025] Embodiments of the permission arbitrated transaction services systems and methods may leverage a variety of possible interactions between parties to present potential opportunities for character and personal assessment between two or more parties 164, 184 and 190. Some example interactions include tenant screening, social networks and matchmaking, hiring and employment, electronic exchanges, searching for caregivers, client screening, background checks. Credit data as well as public records, demographics such as, for example, age, and aggregated attributes relating to credit data may be transformed, using the permission arbitrated transaction services (“PATS”) system 100, into a broad consumable language where required, in order to provide parties with new standards for assessment of other parties' character, compatibility, employability, and the like. In various embodiments, the PATS system may be operated by a credible and trusted entity acting as an arbitrator between the various parties. In some embodiments, the PATS system may be operated by a credit bureau.

[0026] Some embodiments of the permission arbitrated transaction services systems and methods may also enable entities, such as small business owners, with a simplified mechanism for accessing personal information of entities. Typically, business owners undergo extensive verification processes (including site visits for example) in order to be authorized to access credit data. The permission arbitrated transaction services may speed up this process by performing the necessary validation electronically and/or online in real-time to allow the small business owners quicker access to credit data.

[0027] Embodiments of the PATS system 100 may be implemented as a data-as-a-service model. Such a model includes standardized processes for accessing data “where it lives”—the actual platform on which the data resides does not matter. For data-as-a-service, the consumption of resources may be determined by the buyer/customer/user on an as-needed basis, and may utilize web services or cloud computing. Applications and methods of access to a data-as-a-service model may vary depending on the type of information requested, primarily due to statutory requirements and governing regulations relating to the information.

[0028] The table below lists some of the potential features of a PATS system 100.

[0029]

TABLE 1
			Client
Market	Major Features	Platform	Interface	Server	Pricing Model
US Consumers/Businesses	Data-as-a-service platform	Web services/custom	Browser	Web	Transaction
digital networks, social	and application layer(s) to	solutions	application	server	and Revenue
networks, employment sites,	enable aggregated statistics		and/or XML		Share
match making sites, and	and permission actuated		integration
similar	access for assessments of
	authentication, legitimacy,
	and character/background
	(P2P, B2C, Web)

[0030] FIG. 2 (FIGS. 2A, 2B, and 2C) is a flowchart illustrating one embodiment of a method of arbitrating access to personal information of a permitting party. Depending on the embodiment, the method of FIG. 2 may include fewer or additional blocks and/or the blocks may be performed in a different order than is illustrated. Software code configured for execution on a computing device in order to perform the method of FIG. 2 may be provided on a computer readable medium, such as a compact disc, digital video disc, flash drive, or any other tangible medium. Such software code may be stored, partially or fully, on a memory device of the computer, such as the memory 130 (FIG. 1), in order to perform the method outlined in FIG. 2. For ease of explanation, the method will be described herein as performed by a PATS system 100; however, the method may be performed by any other suitable computing device.

[0031] FIG. 2A illustrates a first portion of the method, based on an initiation by a requesting party 164. Beginning in block 210, the PATS system 100 receives a request for account creation by a requesting party 164. In various embodiments, the request for account creation may include information about the requesting party 164 including one or more of: a name, an address, a date of birth, a driver's license number, a social security number, employer name, tax identification number, phone number, and the like. If the requesting party 164 has already established an account with the PATS system 100, block 210 may be simplified such that the requesting party 164 provides login/authentication information. For example, the requesting party 164 may provide a username and password that is usable by the PATS system 100 to identify the particular requesting party.

[0032] Next, in block 220, the PATS system 100 receives a selected purpose from the requesting party 164. In various embodiments, the selected purpose may be one or more of compatibility, assessment, authentication, legitimacy, validation, and the like. In one embodiment, the requesting party 164 establishes a default purpose for requesting personal information of other entities, such that block 220 may be skipped in requests for personal information by that particular requesting party 64. For example, a landlord may select a default purpose of determining credibility that should be used with subsequent request for personal information by the landlord using the PATS system 100.

[0033] Moving to block 230, the PATS system 100 may optionally receive an additional purpose. In various embodiments, the additional purpose may be that the data be used only for social networking purposes, for rental screening purposes, and the like. Additionally, the system 100 may receive details such as when the data is needed (for example, as a one-time transaction or as part of batch processing) and whether the data should be transformed in any way. In some embodiments, the requesting party 164 can provide preferences for one or more of the above tasks in blocks 220 and 230 such that those tasks may be automated using the requesting party 164's default preferences. Thus, blocks 220 and 230 may not be individually performed for each request from a requesting party 164.

[0034] Next, in block 240, the PATS system 100 ensures that the requesting party 164 complies with and accepts any legal requirements for customer responsibility. Such requirements may include one or more of: obtaining acceptance and an electronic signature from the requesting party 164, receiving payment details such as credit card information from the requesting party 164, or other legal consent information. The requesting party 164 may be asked by the system 100 to provide evidence of written instruction. Such written instruction may include an electronic signature as defined by the ESIGN Act, or any other method that governing bodies may approve as adequate proof.

[0035] The PATS system 100 may then use the payment details to process payment for the account creation fee. In some embodiments, the payment model for the PATS system 100 may be transactional. In other embodiments, it may be by batch. The payment method may be by credit, by debit, by PayPal™ account, and the like. Payment for a transaction may be received from the requesting party 164, from the permitting party 190, or both.

[0036] Next, in block 250, the PATS system 100 verifies whether there may be identity theft or some other form of fraud, based on the information received by the requesting party 164. The parties' identities may be verified using a variety of authentication and fraud detection techniques by the PATS system 100. Regardless of the result of this verification, the PATS system 100 may store the details of the transaction(s) with the requesting party 164 in a device such as mass storage device 120, for example, in order to enable comprehensive tracking of each transaction. The requesting party 164 may also be asked to affirmatively accept or reject clear and conspicuous instructions to support, defend or refute that the transaction was requested. Details of the transaction(s) may include IP address, transaction time, originating source (for example, member number, third party website/partner, and reseller identification), data with respect to the requesting party 164's actions (such as, for example, obligation and responsibilities acceptance, e-signature, and acknowledgments of instructions).

[0037] If the PATS system 100 detects identity theft or fraud, then, at block 252, the system 100 may request a fax of personally identifiable information from the requesting party 164, and any other information relating to the additional purpose received at block 230. If the system 100 receives such information (the system 100 may or may not receive such requested information) from the requesting party 164, then at block 254, the information is reviewed, and if the information is verified, the method continues to block 260. In one embodiment, if the information is verified (e.g., the requesting party is authenticated), a message with a traceable and/or encrypted message and/or link may be sent to the requesting party 164's location (which may be, for example, an email address, a social networking username, and/or a mobile phone reached by an SMS), where the link is usable to continue with the request for personal information. If the system 100 determines that the requesting party 164 cannot be authenticated based on the received information, or if personally identifiable information is not received, the method continues to block 256 where follow up with the requesting party 164 using standard membership processes for suspicious account handling may be performed.

[0038] If the PATS system 100 does not detect identity theft or fraud at block 250, or if there was a suspicion of theft or fraud but the personally identifiable information was verified at block 254, then, at block 260, the system 100 may receive information regarding the targeted permitting party 190 from the receiving party 164, as well as the type of product to request regarding the permitting party 190. In various embodiments, the information regarding the permitting party 190 may include one or more of the permitting party 190's email address, name, address, date of birth, driver's license number, employer name, income, and the like. In various embodiments, the type of information regarding the permitting party 190 that is requested may include one or more of: a credit score, a credit profile with a decision, a full credit profile with personally identifiable information removed, a credit profile with some information removed, information regarding the character of permitting party 190, and the like. In some embodiments, the authentication blocks 210-250 may be performed in another manner, possibly by another entity that specializes in authentication. Authentication performed by the PATS system 100 and/or the other entity may include one or more of several authentication techniques known to one skilled in the art. Thus, in some embodiments, a process of requesting personal information of an entity that is executed by the PATS system 100 begins with block 260 of FIG. 2A.

[0039] Next, at block 270, the PATS system 100 may use the details regarding the permitting party 190 to contact the permitting party 190. In some embodiments, the PATS system 100 may have access to further contact information regarding the permitting party 190 that may not be available to the requesting party 164. For example, the requesting party 164 may not have an e-mail address of the permitting party 190, but the PATS system 100 may determine the e-mail address of the permitting party 190 and communicate with the permitting party 190 via the e-mail address. For example, in a social networking scenario, the PATS system 100 may request and receive contact information of the permitting party from the social networking system, where the contact information is not available to requesting party 164. When the PATS system 100 communicates with the permitting party 190, information that at least partially identifies the requesting party 164 and details regarding the request are provided. In one embodiment, the permitting party 190 may initiate acceptance of the request by the requesting party 164, for example, by clicking an encrypted link, if received by email. In this way, the permitting party 190 may authorize or reject the request for information. In other embodiments, the permitting party may authorize/reject requests for access to personal information in any other manners, such as via a web interface, telephone call, email, or other means.

[0040] Next, at block 275, the permitting party 190 the permitting party may be given the ability to provide authorizations after being informed of a specific request for access to their information. The permitting party 190 may provide authorization to the system 100 for the requesting party 164 in any number of ways (including those discussed above). In some embodiments, the permitting party 190 may select portions of the requested information that the requesting party 164 is authorized to access.

[0041] In one embodiment, the permitting party 190 is also required to have an account with the PATS system 100, such as to authenticate that the permitting party really is the entity that the requesting party is seeking information from. Thus, the permitting party 190 may need to provide authentication information to the PATS system. For example, if the permitting party 190 has not previously set up an account with the PATS system 100, blocks 210-250, and if necessary, blocks 252-258, may be repeated for the permitting party 190. Depending on the embodiment, authentication of the permitting party 190 may be different than the required authentication for the requesting party 164. For example, the permitting party 190 may not need to provide as much authentication information as the requesting party 164, or vice versa.

[0042] During the set up of the account for the permitting party, or for a previously set-up account, the permitting party 190 may be asked at block 260 to provide permission for access to personal information, and to determine the type of information to make available to the requesting party 164. In various embodiments, the types of information available for request by the requesting party, and available to allow access to by the permitting party 190, may include one or more of: a credit score, a credit profile with a decision, a full credit profile with personally identifiable information removed, a credit profile with some information removed, and the like. Next, the method moves to block 280 (FIG. 2C) described further below.

[0043] FIG. 2B illustrates the first portion of the method based on an initiation by a permitting party 190, where personal information is to be made available to one or more receiving parties 184. Beginning in block 210, the PATS system 100 receives a request for account creation by a permitting party 190. In various embodiments, the request for account creation may include information about the permitting party 190 including one or more of: a name, an address, a date of birth, a driver's license number, a social security number, employer name, tax identification number, phone number, and the like.

[0044] Next, in block 220, the PATS system 100 receives a selected purpose from the permitting party 190. In various embodiments, the selected purpose may be one or more of compatibility, assessment, authentication, legitimacy, validation, and the like. In some embodiments, the PATS system 100 may also receive information from the permitting party 190 identifying one or more receiving parties 184 for which information may be made available. In other embodiments, the system 100 may receive information from the permitting party 190 identifying receiving parties 184 for which information may be restricted from being available.

[0045] Moving to block 230, the PATS system 100 may optionally receive an additional purpose. In various embodiments, the additional purpose may be that the data be used only for social networking purposes, for rental screening purposes, and the like. Additionally, the system 100 may receive details such as when the data is needed (for example, as a one-time transaction or as part of batch processing) and whether the data should be transformed in any way. In some embodiments, the permitting party 190 can provide preferences for one or more of the above tasks in blocks 220 and 230 such that those tasks may be automated using the permitting party 190's default preferences.

[0046] Next, in block 240, the PATS system 100 ensures that the permitting party 190 complies with and accepts any legal requirements for customer responsibility. Such requirements may include one or more of: obtaining acceptance and an electronic signature from the permitting party 190, receiving payment details such as credit card information from the permitting party 190, or other legal consent information. The permitting party 190 may be asked by the system 100 to provide evidence of written instruction. Such written instruction may include an electronic signature as defined by the ESIGN Act, or any other method that governing bodies may approve as adequate proof.

[0047] Then, in block 245, the PATS system 100 receives details about the type of information for which permission is granted by the permitting party 190 for the receiving part(ies) 184. In various embodiments, the type of product may include one or more of: a credit score, a credit profile with a decision, a full credit profile with personally identifiable information removed, a credit profile with some information removed, and the like.

[0048] Next, in block 250, the PATS system 100 verifies whether there may be identity theft or some other form of fraud, based on the information received by the permitting party 190. The parties' identities may also be verified using a variety of authentication and fraud detection techniques by the PATS system 100. Regardless of the result of this verification, the PATS system 100 may store the details of the transaction(s) with the permitting party 190 in a device such as mass storage device 120, for example, in order to enable comprehensive tracking of each transaction. The permitting party 190 may also be asked to affirmatively accept or reject clear and conspicuous instructions to support, defend or refute that the transaction was requested. Details of the transaction(s) may include IP address, transaction time, originating source (for example, member number, third party website/partner, and reseller identification), data with respect to the permitting party 190's actions (such as, for example, obligation and responsibilities acceptance, e-signature, and acknowledgments of instructions).

[0049] If the PATS system 100 detects identity theft or fraud, then, at block 252, the system 100 may request a fax of personally identifiable information from the permitting party 190, and any other information relating to the additional purpose received at block 230. If the system 100 receives such information from the permitting party 190, then at block 254, the information is reviewed, the method continues to block 260. In one embodiment, if the information is verified (e.g., the permitting party is authenticated), a message with a traceable and/or encrypted message and/or link may be sent to the permitting party 190's location (which may be, for example, an email address, a social networking username, and/or a mobile phone reached by an SMS), where the link is usable to further define details regarding access to the permitting party 190's personal information. If the system 100 determines that the permitting party 190 cannot be authenticated based on the received information, or if personally identifiable information is not received, the method continues to block 256 where follow up with the permitting party 190 using standard membership processes for suspicious account handling may be performed.

[0050] If the PATS system 100 does not detect identity theft or fraud at block 250, or if there was a suspicion of theft or fraud but the personally identifiable information was verified at block 254, then, at block 265, the PATS system 100 may use the payment details to process payment for the account creation fee, and/or for providing a product to a receiving party 184. In some embodiments, the payment model for the PATS system 100 may be transactional. In other embodiments, it may be by batch. The payment method may be by credit, by debit, by PayPal™ account, and the like. Payment for a transaction may be received by the requesting party 164, by the permitting party 190, or both. In some embodiments, the authentication blocks 210-250 may be performed in another manner, possibly by another entity that specializes in authentication. Thus, in some embodiments, a process of permitting use of personal information of an entity that is executed by the PATS system 100 begins with block 265 of FIG. 2B.

[0051] Next, at block 270, the PATS system 100 may contact one or more receiving party 184. In some embodiments, the PATS system 100 may have access to further contact information regarding the receiving party 184 that may not be available to the permitting party 190. For example, the permitting party 190 may not have an e-mail address of the receiving party 184, but the PATS system 100 may determine the e-mail address of the receiving party 184 and communicate with the receiving party 184 via the e-mail address. For example, in a social networking scenario, the PATS system 100 may request and receive contact information of the receiving party from the social networking system, where the contact information is not available to permitting party 190.

[0052] In one embodiment, the receiving party 184 is also required to have an account with the PATS system 100, such as to authenticate that the receiving party really is the entity to whom the permitting party has provided permission to access information. Thus, the receiving party 184 may need to provide authentication information to the PATS system. For example, if the receiving party 184 has not previously set up an account with the PATS system 100, blocks 210-250, and if necessary, blocks 252-258, may be repeated for the receiving party 184. Depending on the embodiment, authentication of the receiving party 184 may be different than the required authentication for the permitting party 190. For example, the receiving party 184 may not need to provide as much authentication information as the permitting party 190, or vice versa.

[0053] FIG. 2C is illustrates a second portion of the embodiment of a method of arbitrating access to personal information. Once the PATS system 100 has contacted the permitting party and received further authorizations if necessary at block 275 (FIG. 2A) or the receiving party at block 270 (FIG. 2B), then at block 280, the PATS system 100 performs a data structure inquiry to obtain the information requested by the requesting party 164 for which the permitting party 190 authorized access by the requesting party 164. In various embodiments, this data structure enquiry may include accessing data in internal credit data structure(s) 172 and/or one or more external data structure(s) 173.

[0054] Next, at block 285, the PATS system 100 generates credit bureau data, credit attributes, and/or transformation of such data in order to generate the a product including the information requested and/or permitted at blocks 245 or 260. In one embodiment, personal information is grouped into various products that may be authorized for release to requesting and/or permitting parties. For example, a credit report product may include the typical pieces of credit information, and information associated with the credit information, that is provided to consumers in credit reports. The type of information requested by a requesting party 164, and/or permitted by the permitting party 190 may vary. In some embodiments, the information may be, for example, header information included in a typical credit bureau report, which may be used for authentication. In other embodiments, the information may be, for example, a credit bureau profile, which may include the full profile, some credit scores, some credit attributes, and/or abstractions of the score and/or attributes.

[0055] In some embodiments, the information provide to requesting and/or receiving parties may be transformed from its original format. For example, an abstract representation of a credit score or decision may be rendered in the form of an expression, such as an icon that ranges from a smile to a frown, wherein the expression is representative of the credit score. For example, expressive face icons may be associated with credit score ranges so that a credit scores in the range of 780-820, for example, may be associated with a smiley face icon while credit scores in the range of 300-600 may be associated with a frowny face. Expressions may also include common connotations such as number of stars or degrees of moon fullness. Additionally, embodiments in the form of low-to-high scores and decisions may be abstracted in quantitative progressions, ranges and volumes and can be rendered as gauges, thermometers, speedometers and other meters, as well as in common chart formats such as pie charts, bar charts and sliders.

[0056] In yet other embodiments, the information may be demographics such as age, sex, location, and so forth. In some embodiments, the information may be education records. In other embodiments, the information may be public records such as liens and lawsuits, for example. In other embodiments, the information may be criminal records. In other embodiments, the information may include some other form of data and/or transformations of the other types of information listed above.

[0057] If the request for data comprises a soft inquiry, the permitting party 190 may acknowledge that they are sharing the result with the requesting party 164, and a transformed result (such as a score, for example, indicating a consumable grade such as “excellent”) may be provided. If the request comprises a hard inquiry, the permitting party 190 may provide written authorization to the system 100 and by proxy to the requesting party 164. Such written authorization may need to conform to electronic standards for providing written authorization. A transformed result (such as a score for example, indicating a consumable grade such as “excellent”) may be provided. In some embodiments, the information generated at block 285 may be provisioned to a location (for example, a secure server, an encrypted file mailbox, an access point, a message, or the like).

[0058] Finally, at block 290, the PATS system 100 may contact the requesting party 164, or the receiving party 184 to alert that they are authorized to access the generated information. In various embodiments, the system 100 may notify (for example, by encrypted email, or by short message service (SMS) message, or the like) the party that the information is available; require the party to acknowledge their obligations under law, if required, by affirming the singular purpose for the receipt of the information. The PATS system 100 may then allow the party to access the information at the provided location. In some embodiments, the access to the generated file (for example, the party's credit report) may be limited in time. The time limit may be 24 hours, or some other time limit that agreeably reduces the established and standard risk parameters.

[0059] The output provided by the PATS system 100 may depend on the type of service for which information is requested. FIG. 3 illustrates one embodiment of the permission based transaction services system and the flow of data between entities for tenant screening purposes. As seen in FIG. 3, for tenant screening services, (1) the landlord 364, as the requesting party, sends a request to the PATS system 100 via the network 160 for information regarding a potential tenant (e.g., a credit report of a potential tenant, Joan Doe). Then, (2) the PATS system 100 contacts, via the network 160, a potential tenant, as a permitting party 190, to receive permission to send information regarding the potential tenant 390 to the landlord 364. Then, (3) the potential tenant 390, via the network 160, provides permission to the PATS system 100 to send or otherwise provide access to the information to the landlord 364. The potential tenant 390 may decide to provide no or a limited amount of the requested information. For example, the potential tenant 390 may authorize the landlord 364 to access only a credit report including Personal Information, Profile Summary, Score Summary, Public records, or an extract of the credit report and score, and/or a decision. For example, the PATS system 100 may include, or may have access to logic provided by another entity, to analyze certain personal information of the potential tenant and provide an indicator of a recommended decision for the landlord 364, such as, for example, approve, refer, and/or decline based on the property manager's established parameters. Such decision logic may have various options for customization by the landlord 364, such as based on the landlords willingness to risk entering into an agreement with an unsuitable tenant. In one embodiment, the PATS system 100 may suppress certain personally identifiable information of the tenant 390 (either by default or by specific request by the potential tenant 390), such as social security number and detailed tradeline data from being returned in the output to the landlord 364. Based on the permissions authorized by the potential tenant, in step (4) the PATS system 100 returns to the landlord 364 only the information permitted by the potential tenant 390.

[0060] The example of FIG. 3 also illustrates authentication steps (labeled with “A”) between the PATS system 100 and both of the potential tenant 390 and the landlord 364. As discussed above, some level of authentication of both the permitting party and the requesting party may be required. Various authentication techniques may be used, such as those illustrated and discussed with reference to FIG. 2. Authentication may occur prior to steps 1-4 discussed above and/or at other points between or during completion of the steps. For example, the landlord 364 may need to provide authentication information before providing the request for the credit report of Joan Doe, and may be required to again provide authentication information after permission has been granted by Joan Doe and prior to accesses the information.

[0061] In another embodiment, such as for example for hiring and employment services, the data output may include a credit report including Personal Information, Profile Summary, Score Summary, Public Records, or an extract of the credit report, and a credit score, and/or a decision (such as for example, hire, do not hire, based on the employer's established parameters). In some embodiments, the output may include only a credit score, or a transformation of a credit score into another abstraction.

[0062] FIG. 4 illustrates another embodiment of the permission based transaction services system and the flow of data between the entities when a social networking service is arbitrated. As seen in FIG. 4, for social networking services, (1) a social networker, such as for example Jack Brown, as a permitting party 490, sends permission to the PATS system 100 via the network 160 to share information regarding his age, or other demographic information with other social networkers which may be seeking a social networker to match some criteria. The social networker 490 may decide to provide no or a limited amount of information. For example, the social networker 490 may authorize other seeking social networkers, as receiving parties 484, to only receive the information transformed from its original format, such as an indication of the other social networker's compatibility with Jack Brown. Then, (2) the PATS system 100, via the network 160, may receive from a social networking seeker 484, such as Jill Stone, some criteria of interested age or demographics of Jack Brown. For example, Jill may ask request an age check, and may submit a parameter such as “age between of 18-25” for Jack, also request to know Jack's credit score, and possibly an indication of compatibility with Jack. The PATS system 100 may then (3) send, via the network 160, information regarding the social networker 490, Jack Brown. In one embodiment, Personally Identifiable Information (including for example name, address, phone number, Social Security Number, and/or Driver's License Number), Score Summary, Profile Summary, or Detailed Tradeline data is not delivered to Jill. In some embodiments, the output may include a matching capability in which receiving parties receive a “yes/no” match to the parameters or criteria they enter. The response from the PATS system 100 at (3) may be “Yes” if Jack's profile includes Age of 18-25, “No” if not between 18-25, and “N/A” if unknown. Another example may include a request for compatibility (e.g., financial or social compatibility) where Jill submits a parameter of “excellent” credit to be matched, and the PATS system 100 returns a smiley face, wherein the smiley face is representative of Jack's credit score or possibly an indication of a match between Jacks personal information (e.g., Jack's credit score or some information derived from Jack's personal information, such as a financial stability indication) and criteria provided by Jill Stone.

[0063] The example of FIG. 4 also illustrates authentication steps (labeled with “A”) between the PATS system 100 and both of the social networkers 490 and 484. As discussed above, some level of authentication of both the permitting party and the receiving party may be required. Various authentication techniques may be used, such as those illustrated and discussed with reference to FIG. 2. Authentication may occur prior to steps 1-3 discussed above and/or at other points between or during completion of the steps.

[0064] In another embodiment, for search of caregiver services, the data output may include a consumer report including Personal Information, Score Summary, and/or Public Records. The permission arbitrated transaction services system may suppress information such as the party's social security number and detailed Tradeline data from being returned in the output. In some embodiments, the output may include a transformation of a credit score into another abstraction (such as, for example a red, yellow or green symbol or icon), and/or a transformation of public records into another abstraction (such as for example, red, yellow or green symbol or icon).

[0065] In another embodiment, for electronic exchanges, the output may comprise authentication, credit and public record data that is returned in transformed format.

[0066] Embodiments of the permission arbitrated transaction services systems and methods disclosed herein may also provide a framework in which commercial parties such as developers, application engineers, and the like, build independent applications and services leveraging the PATS system 100 data, and the commercial parties may deliver those applications and services to their customers.

[0067] Embodiments of the permission arbitrated transaction services systems and methods disclosed herein may comprise a component based framework developed to meet the needs and opportunities of a multitude of international markets, localized for regulatory rules. For example, the framework may be developed for the United States market in compliance with the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FRCA). The framework may also be developed for the United Kingdom, for example, in compliance with the Data Protection Act (DPA).

[0068] The permission arbitrated transaction services systems and methods disclosed herein may support credit bureau businesses and websites, personal connection websites (such as Facebook, MySpace, and the like), matchmaking sites (such as eHarmony®, match.com®, and the like), employment-relates sites (such as LinkedIn®, ZoomInfo, and the like), people search sites (such as RapLeaf, Pipl, and the like), communications services (such as Skype™, and the like), mobile telephony platforms, tenant screening companies, credit reporting companies, and/or other businesses to enable two or more people or entities to exchange personal information in an arbitrated, secure manner, quickly, easily and safely.

[0069] The systems and methods disclosed herein may also support doctors, lawyers, small retailers, and other parties wishing to initiate permissible purpose requests for credit or other related variables for purposes of making business decisions.

[0070] Some of the contemplated benefits of some embodiments of permission arbitrated transaction services systems and methods include the ability to provide end users with assessment of their connections before getting too involved with them in a fast, inexpensive and reliable manner; the ability to provide delivery channel partners with a complementary value add service to their constituents as well as an additional source of revenue; the ability to provide credit bureaus with scaled enablement for distribution of credit data, collection of proof of life data on consumers, additional revenue sources, leveraging of other business assets.

[0071] All of the processes described above may be embodied in, and fully automated via, software code modules executed by one or more general purpose computers. The code module may be stored in any type of tangible computer-readable medium or other computer storage device. A tangible computer readable medium is a data storage device that can store data that is readable by a computer system. Examples of computer readable mediums include read-only memory, random-access memory, other volatile or non-volatile memory devices, CD-ROMs, magnetic tape, flash drives, and optical data storage devices. Some or all of the methods may alternatively be embodied in specialized computer hardware. As will be apparent, the features, and attributes of the specific embodiments disclosed above may be combined in different ways to form additional embodiments, all of which are fall within the scope of the present disclosure. Although this disclosure has been described in terms of certain preferred embodiments and applications, other embodiments and applications that are apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art, including embodiments which do not provide all of the features and advantages set forth herein, are also within the scope of this disclosure.

[0072] Conditional language, such as, among others, “can,” “could,” “might,” or “may,” unless specifically stated otherwise, or otherwise understood within the context as used, is generally intended to convey that certain embodiments include, while other embodiments do not include, certain features, elements and/or steps. Thus, such conditional language is not generally intended to imply that features, elements and/or steps are in any way required for one or more embodiments or that one or more embodiments necessarily include logic for deciding, with or without user input or prompting, whether these features, elements and/or steps are included or are to be performed in any particular embodiment.

[0073] Any process descriptions, elements, or blocks in the flow diagrams described herein and/or depicted in the attached figures should be understood as potentially representing modules, segments, or portions of code which include one or more executable instructions for implementing specific logical functions or steps in the process. Alternate implementations are included within the scope of the embodiments described herein in which elements or functions may be deleted, executed out of order from that shown or discussed, including substantially concurrently or in reverse order, depending on the functionality involved, as would be understood by those skilled in the art.

[0074] It should be emphasized that many variations and modifications may be made to the above-described embodiments, the elements of which are to be understood as being among other acceptable examples. All such modifications and variations are intended to be included herein within the scope of this disclosure. The foregoing description details certain embodiments of the invention. It will be appreciated, however, that no matter how detailed the foregoing appears in text, the invention can be practiced in many ways. As is also stated above, it should be noted that the use of particular terminology when describing certain features or aspects of the invention should not be taken to imply that the terminology is being re-defined herein to be restricted to including any specific characteristics of the features or aspects of the invention with which that terminology is associated. The scope of the invention should therefore be construed in accordance with the appended claims and any equivalents thereof.