Privacy protected cooperation network
View Patent ↗A computerized method and apparatus are established to identify a subject of common interest among multiple parties without releasing the true identity of any subject. Furthermore, a computerized network provides different parties at different locations with a mechanism to conduct cooperative activities concerning such a subject of common interest without exposing that subject to possible identity theft.
1. A computerized method for using a shared computer network to determine whether multiple parties may have a common interest in the same subject, without disclosing any private identification information concerning a specific subject to a party not already in possession of that private information, comprising:
collecting from one party an “identity code,” which is established by at least one pre-agreed rule of encoding alpha-numerical characters selected from only a portion of the identification information known to that one party concerning a subject of possible common interest to other parties, in which said identity code cannot be used to recover said identification information;
reporting said identity code to the shared computer network for storage in a networked database together with the contact information of the reporting party;
using a processor to compare said identity code with other identity codes from other parties that have been reported and stored in the networked database; and
informing all parties, which have reported the same identity code, of the contact information of the other reporting parties so that these reporting parties can contact one another for further cooperation regarding the subject of possible common interest.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein:
the identity code is established by means of a pre-agreed data encryption of at least a portion of the identification information of the subject.
3. The method of claim 2 wherein:
at least one key component for decryption is withheld from the recipient whereby the original identification information cannot be recovered.
4. The method of claim 3 wherein:
the encryption process uses a first key to encrypt the data and a second key to recover the unencrypted; and
only the first key is shared with the party not already in possession of the identification information.
5. The method of claim 1 wherein:
the identity code is established by means of a pre-agreed data encryption of encoded alpha-numerical characters selected from only a portion of the identification information of the subject.
6. The method of claim 5 wherein:
at least one key component for decryption is withheld from the recipient whereby the original identification information cannot be recovered.
7. The method of claim 6 wherein:
the encryption process uses a first key to encrypt the data and a second key to recover the unencrypted; and
only the first key is shared with the party not already in possession of the identification information.
8. The method of claim 1 wherein:
the subject is a person.
9. The method of claim 1 wherein:
the subject is an organization.
10. The method of claim 1 wherein:
the subject is a legal entity.
11. The method of claim 1 wherein:
the identification information for at least one of said subjects includes multiple types of information selected from the group consisting essentially of person's name, address, date of birth, tax identification number, type of identification document or instrument, number of identification document or instrument, country that issues the identification document or instrument, state that issues the identification document or instrument, government organization that issues the identification document or instrument, expiration date of identification document or instrument, phone number, e-mail address, and biometrical information.
12. The method of claim 11 wherein:
the identification document is selected from the group consisting essentially of driver's license, stale-issued identification card, passport, alien identification card, and publicly accepted identification document.
13. The method of claim 11 wherein:
the identification instrument is selected from the group consisting essentially of credit card, debit card, and publicly accepted identification device.
14. The method of claim 1 wherein:
the identification information for at least one of said subjects includes multiple types of information selected from the group consisting essentially of organization's name, organization's address, tax Identification number, date of issuing the license, type of license, country that issues the license, state that issues the license, government organization that issues the license, identification number of the license, and expiration date of the license.
15. The method of claim 1 wherein:
the reporting party is selected from the group consisting essentially of a person, an organization, and a legal entity.
16. The method of claim 1 wherein:
the further cooperation concerns activities selected from the group consisting essentially of identifying a suspicious subject, identifying a subject that is prohibited from participating in certain activities, identifying a subject that is welcome to participate in certain activities, identifying a subject that the reporting party intends to find more information, identifying a subject that the reporting party is searching for, and identifying a subject that the reporting party has an interest in for any reason.
17. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
permitting a party to log into the shared computer network and download a list of identity codes from the database based on certain criteria for at least one particular purpose;
comparing the downloaded identity codes with corresponding identity codes derived from identification information in said party's private database;
identifying any matched identity codes included in both the downloaded identity codes and the derived identity codes; and
obtaining from saud shared computer network the contact information of those parties, which have reported to the computer system the matched identity codes.