IP Library › Granted Patent US 11,232,229
Granted Patent B2
US 11,232,229 · App. 16/823,864 · Granted Jan 25, 2022

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Inventors: John S. Parkinson (Lake Forest, IL); Jessica Schapiro (Chicago, IL); Marvin Lu (Chicago, IL); Siddharth Daftary (Chicago, IL); Michael Sharp (Chicago, IL); Stephen Robert Newell (Belfast, GB); William P. Burns (Ballymena, IE); Jhanani Dhakshnamoorthy (Boothwyn, PA); Colin Hudson (Chicago, IL)
Assignee: InfoArmor, Inc.
G06F21/6245G06Q10/107G06Q50/265G06Q40/025
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 11,232,229
App. No.
16/823,864
Granted
Jan 25, 2022
Kind
B2
Abstract

Methods, computer-readable media, software, and apparatuses may assist a consumer in deleting personal information held by a data broker. Entities holding the consumer's personal information may be discovered and automated actions for purging or deleting the consumer's personal information may be determined. The methods, computer-readable media, software, and apparatuses may assist the consumer in updating privacy settings associated with accounts at various entities.

Claims (45)

1. A method comprising:

identifying, by a computing device, one or more entities that have stored personal information associated with a consumer, wherein at least one of the one or more entities comprises a data broker and wherein the identifying the one or more entities that have stored the personal information comprises querying one or more data brokers using an identity of the consumer to determine, based on a response to the query, whether the data broker has stored the personal information related to the identity included in the query;

outputting, for display to the consumer, a list of the one or more entities;

determining, for each of the one or more entities, a corresponding data removal action;

receiving, from the consumer, a user input indicative of a command to perform a data removal action corresponding to a first entity of the one or more entities, wherein the data removal action corresponding to the first entity comprises an action causing deletion of personal information associated with the consumer that has been previously stored by the first entity; and

based on the user input, sending a message to the first entity, wherein the message comprises a request to delete the personal information associated with the consumer.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the one or more entities comprises a data broker, and wherein the identifying the one or more entities that have stored the personal information comprises determining, based on a pre-configuration, that the data broker has stored the personal information.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the sending the message to the first entity comprises sending an HTTP request to the first entity.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining, for a plurality of items of email correspondence, a likelihood that each item of email correspondence represents an account or subscription of the consumer; and

based on the determined likelihood that each item of email correspondence represents an account or subscription of the consumer, generating a list of accounts and subscriptions associated with the consumer, wherein the identifying the one or more entities that have stored the personal information comprises determining entities associated with the accounts and subscriptions.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more entities comprises at least two entities, the method further comprising:

determining, for each of the at least two entities, a privacy settings update action;

receiving, from the consumer, a user input indicative of a command to perform a privacy settings update action corresponding to a second entity of the at least two entities; and

sending, to the second entity, a request to update privacy settings associated with the consumer.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the request to update the privacy settings comprises a data sharing agreement, wherein the data sharing agreement indicates a restriction on sharing the personal information associated with the consumer, and wherein the sending the request comprises sending an email message with the data sharing agreement.

7. The method of claim 5 , wherein the sending the request comprises sending one or more HTTP requests.

8. A method comprising:

identifying, by a computing device, a plurality of data brokers that have stored personal information associated with a consumer, by at least querying the one or more data brokers using an identity of the consumer to determine, based on a response to the query, whether the data broker has stored the personal information related to the identity included in the query;

outputting, for display to the consumer, a listing of the plurality of data brokers;

determining, for each of the plurality of data brokers, a corresponding data removal action;

receiving, from the consumer, a user input indicative of a command to perform a data removal action corresponding to a first data broker of the plurality of data brokers, wherein the data removal action corresponding to the first data broker comprises an action causing deletion of personal information associated with the consumer that has been previously stored by the first data broker; and

sending, to the first data broker, a message comprising a request to delete the personal information associated with the consumer.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the identifying the plurality of data brokers that have stored the personal information comprises determining, based on a pre-configuration, that the plurality of data brokers have stored the personal information.

10. The method of claim 8 , wherein the sending the message to the first data broker comprises sending an HTTP request to the first data broker.

11. The method of claim 8 , wherein at least one data broker of the plurality of data brokers comprises a credit reporting bureau or a people-search company.

12. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:

receiving, from the first data broker, a response indicative of a result of the request; and outputting, for display, the result of the request.

13. A method comprising:

determining, by a computing device and for a plurality of items of email correspondence, a likelihood that each item of email correspondence represents an account or subscription of a consumer; and

based on the determined likelihood that each item of email correspondence represents an account or subscription of the consumer, generating a list of accounts and subscriptions associated with the consumer;

based on the list of accounts and subscriptions, identifying one or more entities that have stored personal information associated with the consumer;

outputting, for display to the consumer, a list of the one or more entities;

determining a staleness of at least one account or subscription based on comparative analysis of a first correspondence frequency within a first time period representing a predefined period of recent correspondence compared to a second correspondence frequency within a longer term second time period representing a predefined period of historic correspondence, wherein whether the at least one account or subscription is stale is determined based on a decrease in frequency within the first time period relative to the second time period being above a predefined threshold;

recommending removal of the at least one account or subscription responsive to determining that the at least one account or subscription is stale;

determining, for at least one of the one or more entities with which the at least one stale account or subscription exists, a corresponding data removal action, wherein a data removal action corresponding to a first entity of the one or more entities comprises an action causing deletion of personal information associated with the consumer that has been previously stored by the first entity:

determining, for each of the at least one entities, a privacy settings update action; receiving, from the consumer, a user input indicative of a command to perform a privacy settings update action corresponding to the first entity of the at least one entities; and

based on the user input, sending a message to the first entity, wherein the message comprises a request to update privacy settings associated with the consumer.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the request to update the privacy settings associated with the consumer comprises a data sharing agreement, wherein the data sharing agreement indicates a restriction on sharing the personal information associated with the consumer, and wherein the sending the message to the first entity comprises sending an email message with the data sharing agreement to the first entity.

15. The method of claim 13 , wherein the sending the message to the first entity comprises sending one or more HTTP requests.

16. The method of claim 13 , wherein the first entity comprises a data broker, the method further comprising:

receiving, from the consumer, a user input indicative of a command to perform a data removal action corresponding to the data broker; and

sending, to the data broker, a message comprising a request to delete personal information associated with the consumer.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the sending, to the data broker, the message comprises sending an HTTP request to the data broker.

18. The method of claim 16 , wherein the data broker comprises a credit reporting bureau or a people-search company.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Dec 14, 2021
From: PARKINSON, JOHN S.; SCHAPIRO, JESSICA; DAFTARY, SIDDHARTH; SHARP, MICHAEL; HUDSON, COLIN; NEWELL, STEPHEN ROBERT; BURNS, WILLIAM P.; DHAKSHNAMOORTHY, JHANANI; LU, MARVIN
To: ALLSTATE INSURANCE COMPANY; INFOARMOR, INC.; ALLSTATE NORTHERN IRELAND LIMITED
Reel/Frame 058513/0734 →
Continuity (3)
Continuation In Part 16535998 · Aug 8, 2019
Continuation In Part 16359489 · Mar 20, 2019
Related Publication 20200302087A1 · Sep 24, 2020
Cited By (1)
US 12,626,008