Mobile device location proofing

1. A computer-implemented method of verifying a location of a mobile device, the method comprising:

receiving, on a computer system, a request from a first mobile device for access to a location-restricted service provided by the computer system, including receiving a first location report from the first mobile device, the first location report including a location identification for the first mobile device and pairing information identifying mobile devices with which the first mobile device is paired;

selecting a pool of reference mobile devices independent of the pairing information in the location identification received from the first mobile device;

identifying at least one of the reference mobile devices, from the pool of reference mobile devices, in the vicinity of the identified location of the first mobile device;

requesting from the at least one reference mobile device a reference location report including further pairing information identifying mobile devices with which the reference mobile device is paired;

receiving the reference location report from the at least one reference mobile device; and

evaluating the received reference location report to check whether the received reference location report verifies the location identification for the first mobile device in the first location report received from the first mobile device, including

verifying the location identification in the first location report received from the first mobile device by identifying the first mobile device in the further pairing information in the received at least one reference location report; and

when the location identification in the first location report is verified, granting the first mobile device access to the requested location-restricted service.

2. The computer-implemented method, wherein each reference location report further comprises a reference location identification of the reference mobile device.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein:

the further pairing information identifies each of the mobile devices with which the reference mobile device is paired by a further device identifier; and

verifying the location identification in the first location report received from the first mobile device by identifying the first mobile device in the further pairing information in the received at least one reference location report comprises:

comparing a device identifier of the first mobile device with the one or more further device identifiers in the further pairing information.

4. A computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein verifying the location identification in the location report received from the first mobile device by identifying the first mobile device in the further pairing information in the received at least one reference location report further comprises determining a consistency between the pairing information and the further pairing information.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 4 , further comprising maintaining a history of location reports, the history including historical first location reports and historical reference location reports for referencing the historical first location reports.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 5 , further comprising calculating a trust value for the verified location identification from the history of location reports.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 6 , wherein calculating a trust value for the verified location identification from the history of location reports comprises:

generating a trust feedback graph comprising nodes representing the first mobile device and the at least one reference device and edges between nodes representing by a trust feedback score for historically reported pairings between the mobile devices represented by the nodes interconnected by the edges; and

calculating the trust value from the trust feedback graph.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 7 , further comprising updating the trust feedback graph by, for each pairing of the first location report and a reference location report:

comparing the pairing information in the first location report with the pairing information in the reference location report;

increasing the trust feedback score of the edge between the node representing the first mobile device and the node representing the reference mobile device if the pairing information for the pairing between the first mobile device and the reference mobile device is consistent in the first location report and the reference location report;

decreasing the trust feedback score of the edge between the node representing the first mobile device and the node representing the reference mobile device if the pairing information for the pairing between the first mobile device and the reference mobile device is inconsistent in the first location report and the reference location report; and

calculating the trust value from the updated trust feedback graph.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 7 , wherein calculating the trust value from the trust feedback graph comprises calculating the trust value using the EigenTrust or PeerTrust algorithm.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 7 , further comprising granting the mobile device access to a service provided by the computer if the trust value at least meets a minimum value.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 5 , further comprising:

performing an additional verification of the location identification in the first location report received from the first mobile device by:

determining the actual point in time at which the first location report is received; retrieving the most recent historical first location report from the history;

determining a time difference between the actual point in time and a previous point in time in the history at which the most recent historical first location report was received;

determining a distance between the location identified in the location report and a previous location identified in the most recent historical first location report; and

verifying the location identification based on the determined time difference and the determined distance.

12. The computer-implemented method of claim 11 , comprising performing the additional verification of the location identification in the first location report received from the first mobile device in response to a trust value for the verified location identification calculated from the history of location reports being below a minimum threshold.

13. The computer-implemented method of claim 5 , further comprising adding the first location report of the mobile device and the reference location report from the at least one reference mobile device to the history.

14. A computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium having computer readable program instructions embodied therewith for, when executed on a computer system comprising a processor arrangement adapted to provide a location-restricted service, causing the processor arrangement to:

receive a request from a first mobile device for access to a location-restricted service provided by the computer system, including receiving a first location report from the first mobile device, the first location report including a location identification for the first mobile device and pairing information identifying mobile devices with which the first mobile device is paired;

select a pool of reference mobile devices independent of the pairing information in the location identification received from the first mobile device;

in response to receiving the first location report, identify at least one of the reference mobile devices, from the pool of reference mobile devices, in the vicinity of the identified location of the first mobile device;

request from the at least one reference mobile device a reference location report including further pairing information identifying mobile devices with which the reference mobile device is paired;

receive the reference location report from the at least one reference mobile device; and

evaluate the received reference location report to check whether the received reference location report verifies or does not verify the location identification for the first mobile device in the first location report received from the first mobile device, including

verify the location identification in the first location report received from the first mobile device by identifying the first mobile device in the further pairing information in the received at least one reference location report; and

when the location identification in the first location report is verified, granting the first mobile device access to the requested location-restricted service.

15. The computer program product of claim 14 , further comprising computer readable program instructions embodied with the computer readable storage medium for, when executed on the processor arrangement of the computer system adapted to provide a location-restricted service, causing the processor arrangement to:

maintain a history of location reports, the history including historical first location reports and historical reference location reports for referencing the historical first location reports; and

calculate a trust value for the verified location identification from the history of location reports.

16. The computer program product of claim 15 , further comprising computer readable program instructions embodied with the computer readable storage medium for, when executed on the processor arrangement of the computer system adapted to provide a location-restricted service, causing the processor arrangement to:

generate a trust feedback graph comprising nodes representing the first mobile device and the at least one reference device and edges between nodes representing by a trust feedback score for historically reported pairings between the mobile devices represented by the nodes interconnected by the edges;

update the trust feedback graph by, for each pairing of the first location report and a reference location report:

compare the pairing information in the first location report with the pairing information in the reference location report;

increase the trust feedback score of the edge between the node representing the first mobile device and the node representing the reference mobile device if the pairing information for the pairing between the first mobile device and the reference mobile device is consistent in the first location report and the reference location report;

decrease the trust feedback score of the edge between the node representing the first mobile device and the node representing the reference mobile device if the pairing information for the pairing between the first mobile device and the reference mobile device is inconsistent in the first location report and the reference location report; and

calculate the trust value from the updated trust feedback graph.

17. The computer program product of claim 15 , further comprising computer readable program instructions embodied with the computer readable storage medium for, when executed on the processor arrangement of the computer system adapted to provide a location-restricted service, causing the processor arrangement to:

perform an additional verification of the location identification in the first location report received from the first mobile device by:

determining the actual point in time at which the first location report is received;

retrieving the most recent historical first location report from the history;

determining a time difference between the actual point in time and a previous point in time in the history at which the most recent historical first location report was received;

determining a distance between the location identified in the location report and a previous location identified in the most recent historical first location report; and

verifying the location identification based on the determined time difference and the determined distance.

18. A computer system comprising a processor arrangement, a communication interface and a data storage device including the computer program product of claim 14 , wherein:

the processor arrangement is communicatively coupled to the data storage device and is adapted to execute the computer readable program instructions of the computer program product; and

the communication interface is communicatively coupled to the processor arrangement and is adapted to communicate with a plurality of mobile devices including the first mobile device and the at least one reference mobile device.

19. The computer system of claim 18 , wherein the computer system is adapted to provide a location-restricted service, and wherein the location identification received from the first mobile device forms part of a request by the first mobile device to access the location-restricted service, the computer system being further adapted to grant the first mobile device access to the location-restricted service upon successful verification the location of the first mobile device.

20. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the identifying at least one reference mobile device includes selecting the at least one reference mobile device independent of the mobile devices identified in the pairing information received from the first mobile device.