Privacy friendly communication by operation of cloaked/decloaked email
The disclosed tools include are tools to efficiently protect privacy for end users and others on the Internet when communicating with others. Specifically, tools disclosed include tools to enable an end user's device to communicate via email with others such as relying-parties such as merchants without revealing her information to the relying-party such as her email address, name or any other information she desires to keep confidential while still being able to have commercially useful transactions with the relying parties and others.
1. A processor-based ID cloaking system, comprising:
memory configured to store contents that are executable by processor electronics;
processor electronics configured to execute the contents in order to:
receive an email addressed to a cloaked end user address, wherein the email is sent from a relying party email address, and wherein the domain of the cloaked end user address and the domain associated to the processor-based cloaked ID system are the same domain;
identify an end user specified address as well as any URLs associated to the cloaked end user address based on an end user profile;
determine whether the end user profile contains a previous association between the relying party email address and a cloaked relying party email address, wherein the relying party email address has a different domain than the cloaked relying party email address;
in response to determining the end user profile does not contain a previous association between the relying party address and the cloaked relying party email address, generate a new cloaked relying party email address and associate the new cloaked relying party email address to the end user profile, the cloaked end user address and any of the said associated relying-party URLs, wherein the new cloaked relying party email address is generated with a domain different than the relying party address; and
send the email to the identified end user specified address, wherein the email is configured with a reply-to email address comprising the new cloaked relying party email address.
2. The ID cloaking system of claim 1 , wherein the new cloaked relying party email address has a domain that is the same as the cloaked end user address.
3. The ID cloaking system of claim 1 , further comprising instructions that are executable by the processor electronics to cause the processor electronics to determine if the email comprises a cloaked placeholder.
4. The ID cloaking system of claim 3 , further comprising instructions that are executable by the processor electronics to cause the processor electronics to replace the cloaked placeholder with end user specified information from the end user profile.
5. The ID cloaking system of claim 1 , wherein the user profile is further comprised of an end user first name.
6. The ID cloaking system of claim 5 , wherein the user profile was configured by the end user to associate the end user first name with a cloaked end user first name placeholder.
7. A non-transitory computer readable medium for a ID cloaking system having instructions stored thereon that are executable by processor electronics to:
receive an email addressed to a cloaked end user address, wherein the email is sent from a relying party email address, and wherein the domain of the cloaked end user address and the domain associated to the cloaked ID system are the same domain;
identify an end user specified address as well as any URLs associated to the cloaked end user address by an end user profile;
determine whether the end user profile contains a previous association between the relying party address and a cloaked relying party email address, wherein the relying party address has a different domain than the cloaked relying party email address;
where the end user profile does not contain a previous association between the relying party address and the cloaked relying party email address, then generate a new cloaked relying party email address and associate the new cloaked relying party email address to the end user profile, the cloaked end user address and any of the said associated relying-party URLs, wherein the new cloaked relying party email address is generated with a domain different than the relying party address; and
send the email to the identified end user specified address, wherein the email is configured with a reply-to email address comprising the new cloaked relying party email address.
8. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 7 , wherein the new cloaked relying party email address has a domain that is the same as the cloaked end user address.
9. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 7 , further comprising instructions that are executable by the processor electronics to cause the processor electronics to determine if the email comprises a cloaked placeholder.
10. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 9 , further comprising instructions that are executable by the processor electronics to cause the processor electronics to replace the cloaked placeholder with end user specified information from the end user profile.
11. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 7 , wherein the user profile is further comprised of an end user first name.
12. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 11 , wherein the user profile was configured by the end user to associate the end user first name with a cloaked end user first name placeholder.
13. A non-transitory computer readable medium for a ID cloaking system having instructions stored thereon that are executable by processor electronics to:
receive an email addressed to a cloaked end user address, wherein the email is sent from a relying party email address, and wherein the domain of the cloaked end user address and the domain associated to the cloaked ID system are the same domain;
identify an end user specified address associated to the cloaked end user address by an end user profile;
determine whether the end user profile contains a previous association between the relying party address and a cloaked relying party email address, wherein the relying party address has a different domain than the cloaked relying party email address;
where the end user profile does not contain a previous association between the relying party address and the cloaked relying party email address, then generate a new cloaked relying party email address and associate the new cloaked relying party email address to the end user profile, the cloaked end user address, wherein the new cloaked relying party email address is generated with a domain different than the relying party address; and
send the email to the identified end user specified address, wherein the email is configured with a reply-to email address comprising the new cloaked relying party email address.
14. The non-transitory computer readable medium 13 , wherein the new cloaked relying party email address has a domain that is the same as the cloaked end user address.
15. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 13 , further comprising instructions that are executable by the processor electronics to cause the processor electronics to determine if the email comprises a cloaked placeholder.
16. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15 , further comprising instructions that are executable by the processor electronics to cause the processor electronics to replace the cloaked placeholder with end user specified information from the end user profile.
17. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 13 , wherein the user profile is further comprised of an end user first name.
18. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 17 , wherein the user profile was configured by the end user to associate the end user first name with a cloaked end user first name placeholder.
19. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 13 , wherein the user profile is further comprised of at least one URL associated to the cloaked end user address.