IP Library Granted Patent US 10,346,634
Granted Patent B2
US 10,346,634 · App. 14/548,782 · Granted Jul 9, 2019

Obscuring and deleting information from a messaging account

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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 10,346,634
App. No.
14/548,782
Granted
Jul 9, 2019
Kind
B2
Abstract

In one aspect, a device includes a processor and a memory accessible to the processor. The memory bears instructions executable by the processor to access a messaging account and parse contents of the messaging account to identify personal information to at least obscure in the messaging account.

Claims (40)

1. A device, comprising:

a processor; and

storage accessible to the processor and bearing instructions executable by the processor to:

access a messaging account;

parse at least a first message of the messaging account to identify personal information to at least obscure in the first message, wherein the contents of the messaging account are parsed at intervals in response to a command to parse the contents of the messaging account at intervals to identify personal information to at least obscure in the messaging account;

permit access to the first message with personal information at least obscured; and

present at least one user interface (UI) on a display accessible to the processor, the UI comprising a setting that is selectable to configure the device to automatically obscure personal information in messages associated with the messaging account based on personal information being identified.

2. The device of claim 1 , wherein the at least obscuring comprises deleting personal information from the messaging account.

3. The device of claim 1 , wherein the instructions are further executable to:

in response to identification of at least some personal information to obscure in the first message, obscure the at least some personal information from being observed upon access to the first message by replacing the at least some personal information with text that does not indicate the at least some personal information itself.

4. The device of claim 1 , wherein the instructions are further executable to:

in response to identification of at least some personal information in at least one attachment to the first message to obscure, obscure the at least some personal information in the at least one attachment from being observed upon access to the at least one attachment.

5. The device of claim 2 , wherein the instructions are further executable to:

in response to identification of at least some personal information to delete from the messaging account, delete one or more messages containing the at least some personal information.

6. The device of claim 2 , wherein the instructions are further executable to:

in response to identification of at least some personal information in a message attachment to delete from the messaging account, delete the attachment.

7. The device of claim 1 , wherein the personal information is information selected from the group consisting of: social security number information, bank account number information, password information, loan information, credit card number information, health insurance information, medical record information, bank name information, credit card provider information, health insurance provider name information, healthcare provider name information, bank routing number information.

8. The device of claim 1 , wherein at least the first message is parsed in response to a command from a user without further input from a user.

9. The device of claim 1 , wherein the setting is selectable via selection of a selector element that is associated with the setting and that is presented on the UI.

10. The device of claim 1 , wherein the UI is a settings UI.

11. A method, comprising:

accessing messages in an account; and

parsing the messages to identify, based on one or more of a particular numerical format and a particular number, personal information to at least obfuscate in the account; and

presenting, on a display, at least one user interface (UI), the UI comprising a setting that is selectable to enable automatic parsing of messages associated with the account to identify personal information to at least obfuscate, wherein the automatic parsing is enabled so that parsing is performed at predefined intervals.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the UI is a UI for configuring settings related to parsing messages to identify information to at least obfuscate in the account.

13. The method of claim 11 , comprising:

obfuscating personal information at least in part by corrupting portions of messages containing personal information.

14. The method of claim 11 , comprising:

based on identification, in a first message, of personal information to at least obfuscate, sort the first message into a folder for messages that have been identified as having personal information.

15. A computer readable storage medium that is not a transitory signal, the computer readable storage medium comprising instructions executable by a processor to:

based on receipt of a first message at a messaging account, access the first message to identify information to at least one of obfuscate in the first message and remove from the first message; and

based on the first message being opened a first time, at least one of: obfuscate the information in the first message, and remove the information from the first message.

16. The computer readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein the instructions are executable to:

in response to identification of at least some of the information in the first message to at least one of obfuscate and remove from the messaging account, render the first message unable to be forwarded from the messaging account.

17. The computer readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein the instructions are executable by the processor to:

responsive to the first message being opened the first time, at least one of: obfuscate the information in the first message, and remove the information from the first message.

18. The computer readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein the instructions are executable by the processor to:

responsive to the first message being closed subsequent to being opened the first time, at least one of: obfuscate the information in the first message, and remove the information from the first message.

19. The computer readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein the instructions are executable by the processor to:

highlight the information while the first message is opened the first time, the highlighting being performed without obfuscating or removing the information from the first message.

Assignments (3)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jan 10, 2025
From: LENOVO PC INTERNATIONAL LIMITED
To: LENOVO SWITZERLAND INTERNATIONAL GMBH
Reel/Frame 069870/0670 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jun 12, 2020
From: LENOVO (SINGAPORE) PTE LTD
To: LENOVO PC INTERNATIONAL LTD
Reel/Frame 052931/0633 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Nov 20, 2014
From: PETERSON, NATHAN J.; VANBLON, RUSSELL SPEIGHT; WEKSLER, ARNOLD S.; MESE, JOHN CARL
To: LENOVO (SINGAPORE) PTE. LTD.
Reel/Frame 034327/0546 →