Granted Patent B2

US 12,541,758 · App. 18/063,284 · Granted Feb 3, 2026

Inventors: Drummond Reed (Seattle, WA); Brent Zundel (American Fork, UT); Martin Mesršmíd (Prague, CZ); Allan Thomson (Pleasanton, CA)

Assignee: Avast Software s.r.o.

G06Q20/3825G06Q20/3821G06Q20/401G06Q2220/00

Abstract

Claims (70)

1 . A method for transacting over a network to initiate a use of a network-enabled service, the method comprising:

receiving by a third agent from a second agent executed by a computing device a request via the network to initiate the use of the network-enabled service;

transmitting by the third agent to the second agent a request for at least one data point that supports verification of an entity to initiate the use of the network-enabled service;

receiving by the third agent from the second agent at least one requirement for fulfilling the at least one data point, the at least one requirement comprising a first transaction policy, the first transaction policy received by the second agent from a fourth agent;

transmitting by the third agent to the second agent a digitally signed transaction comprising a digital signature;

receiving by a first agent the digitally signed transaction from the second agent;

cryptographically verifying by the first agent the digitally signed transaction;

receiving by the first agent the first transaction policy from the second agent;

receiving by the third agent from the second agent a first cryptographically verifiable proof comprising the at least one data point;

receiving by the first agent from a fifth agent based on the first transaction policy a first transaction proof;

transmitting by the first agent to a sixth agent the first transaction proof;

receiving by the first agent from the sixth agent a first unlock signature for the first cryptographically verifiable proof;

transmitting by the first agent the first unlock signature to the fifth agent;

receiving by the third agent from the fifth agent the first unlock signature;

cryptographically unlocking by the third agent the first cryptographically verifiable proof using the first unlock signature; and

enabling by the third agent the use of the network-enabled service responsive to the unlocking of the first cryptographically verifiable proof by the third agent.

2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising updating by the first agent a ledger based on the digitally signed transaction received from the second agent.

3 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

transmitting by the second agent a first credential request to the fourth agent responsive to the request for the at least one data point from the third agent;

receiving by the second agent a first cryptographically verifiable credential from the fourth agent;

generating by the second agent a cryptographically verifiable presentation comprising the first cryptographically verifiable proof based on the first cryptographically verifiable credential; and

transmitting by the second agent to the third agent the cryptographically verifiable presentation comprising the first cryptographically verifiable proof.

4 . The method of claim 3 , further comprising:

receiving by the second agent from the fourth agent a request for entity-identifying information;

acquiring by the second agent from a user the entity-identifying information; and

transmitting by the second agent to the fourth agent the entity-identifying information.

5 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the entity-identifying information comprises at least one of a driver license, business license, passport, or social security card.

6 . The method of claim 3 , wherein the first unlock signature is for the first cryptographically verifiable credential, the method further comprising:

receiving by the fifth agent from the third agent the digitally signed transaction, the first transaction policy, and the first cryptographically verifiable proof; and

transmitting by the fifth agent to the third agent the first unlock signature.

7 . The method of claim 6 , further comprising updating by the fifth agent a ledger based on the digitally signed transaction, the first transaction policy, and the first cryptographically verifiable proof.

8 . The method of claim 3 , wherein the first cryptographically verifiable proof comprises the first cryptographically verifiable credential.

9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one data point comprises at least one of a first name, last name, date of birth, credit card number, social security number, or passport number.

10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one requirement further comprises at least one of a price or a service level agreement.

11 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the entity comprises at least one of a user of the second agent or an organization associated with the user of the second agent.

12 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the first transaction proof is a cryptographically verifiable payment proof.

13 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

cryptographically verifying by the first agent the digital signature; and

receiving by the first agent from the fifth agent the first transaction proof further based on the cryptographically verifying by the first agent the digital signature.

14 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

deidentifying by the first agent a source of the first transaction proof; and

transmitting by the first agent the deidentified first transaction proof to the sixth agent.

15 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one data point comprises a plurality of data points comprising at a least a first data point and at least a second data point, the method further comprising:

transmitting by the second agent a first credential request to the fourth agent responsive to the request for the at least one data point from the third agent;

transmitting by the second agent a second credential request to a seventh agent responsive to the request for the at least one data point from the third agent;

receiving by the second agent a first cryptographically verifiable credential from the fourth agent;

receiving by the second agent from the seventh agent a second transaction policy;

receiving by the second agent from the seventh agent a second cryptographically verifiable credential;

transmitting by the second agent to the third agent the second transaction policy;

receiving by the first agent from the second agent the second transaction policy;

transmitting by the second agent to the third agent the first cryptographically verifiable proof comprising the at least the first data point based on the first cryptographically verifiable credential; and

transmitting by the second agent to the third agent a second cryptographically verifiable proof comprising the at least the second data point based on the second cryptographically verifiable credential.

16 . The method of claim 15 , further comprising:

deidentifying by the first agent a source of the first transaction proof;

transmitting by the first agent the deidentified first transaction proof to the sixth agent;

receiving by the first agent a second transaction proof based on the second transaction policy from the fifth agent;

deidentifying by the first agent a source of the second transaction proof; and

transmitting by the first agent the deidentified second transaction proof to an eighth agent.

17 . The method of claim 15 , further comprising:

generating by the second agent a cryptographically verifiable presentation comprising the first cryptographically verifiable proof based on the first cryptographically verifiable credential and the second cryptographically verifiable proof based on the second cryptographically verifiable credential; and

transmitting by the second agent to the third agent the cryptographically verifiable presentation comprising the first cryptographically verifiable proof and the second cryptographically verifiable proof.

18 . The method of claim 15 , further comprising:

receiving by the second agent from the fourth agent a request for first entity-identifying information;

receiving by the second agent from the seventh agent a request for second entity-identifying information;

acquiring by the second agent from a user the first entity-identifying information and the second entity-identifying information;

transmitting by the second agent to the fourth agent the first entity-identifying information to transact for the first cryptographically verifiable credential; and

transmitting by the second agent to the seventh agent the second entity-identifying information to transact for the second cryptographically verifiable credential.

19 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the first unlock signature is for the first cryptographically verifiable credential, the method further comprising:

receiving by the first agent from an eighth agent a second unlock signature for the second cryptographically verifiable credential; and

transmitting by the first agent the second unlock signature for the second cryptographically verifiable credential to the fifth agent.

Assignments (3)

Continuity (1)

References Cited (73)