1. A system on a computer based network for secure transfer of a customer’s funds to a merchant or financial institution, comprising:
a secure financial proxy account such as an online wallet, established for the purpose of holding unused dormant customer funds until activated and allocated by means of a pre-registered personal handheld device;
a personal handheld device of the customer;
a registration protocol for the personal handheld device;
a mobile application installed on the personal handheld device;
a unique device identification number for the personal handheld device;
a unique application identification number for the mobile application installed on that device;
a unique merchant identification number for the merchant or financial institution generated by the system upon their first registering on the system;
an activation and allocation protocol for identifying the account’s registered handheld device, its mobile application and its owner for requesting that the account and funds be active and allocated for a particular desired transaction with a specific merchant or financial institution using the unique merchant identification number in a specified amount for a specific configurable amount of time;
a transactional and authentication server which stores and authenticates data sent from the customer’s personal handheld device sent over a telecommunications network;
a session-specific log in code generated by the transactional and authentication server for the customer’s personal handheld device and the mobile application installed on the personal handheld device when the customer logs in to the system which is stored both on the mobile application and on the transactional and authentication server for the purpose of authentication of the customer’s subsequent log-in to the system under the customer’s account;
a unique customer and device specific, merchant specific, time-sensitive, single-use encrypted digital transactional alphanumeric inactive token generated by the transactional and authentication server and sent to the handheld device, which is specific to the handheld device, it’s application and the specified merchant identifier information for consummating the particular transaction with the specific merchant or financial institution;
and a graphical image generated on the personal handheld device, which expresses the unique customer and device specific, time-sensitive, single-use encrypted digital transactional alphanumeric inactive token upon receipt from the transactional and authentication server, appended to the unique device identification number for the personal handheld device and the unique application identification number for its installed mobile application, the image to be scanned by the merchant or financial institution to consummate the transaction;
wherein the unique merchant identification number, the unique device identification number and the unique application identification number are all stored on the transactional and authentication server for customer account authentication and fund activation.
2. The system of claim 1, further comprising:
a point of sale token scanner device to scan the graphically image expressing the unique customer and device specific, merchant specific, time-sensitive, single-use encrypted digital transactional alphanumeric inactive token appended to the unique device identification number for the personal handheld device and the unique application identification number for its installed mobile application; and
a linked proprietary merchant application used to parse out and validate the information from the unique customer and device specific, merchant specific, time-sensitive, single-use encrypted digital transactional alphanumeric inactive token appended to the unique device identification number for the personal handheld device and the unique application identification number and append this parsed information with specific merchant or financial institution information using the system generated unique merchant identification number, for validation of the combined token and identifier information at the transactional and authentication server.
3. The system of claim 1, where the personal handheld device is a telecommunication device with access to a telecommunication data network.
4. The system of claim 3, where the personal handheld device is a smartphone.
5. The system of claim 3, where the personal handheld device is a tablet device.
6. The system of claim 1, further comprising:
a front facing camera on the personal handheld device to take various industry-standardized facial measurements; and
a biometric validation application component which combines the facial measurements into the session-specific log in code for further security.
7. The system of claim 1, wherein the specific handheld device of the customer, and another telecommunication handheld or stationary device of the merchant or financial institution are enabled to communicate the graphical image using a near-field communication, Bluetooth, infrared, light transmission protocols, audible frequency, sms, mms, wi-fi or other suitable synchronizing protocol over a telecommunications network.
8. The system of claim 1, wherein:
the registration protocol for the personal handheld device comprises:
generating on the transactional and authentication server public and private encryption keys specific to the customer and the mobile device application; and
sending the public and private encryption keys to the personal handheld device and its mobile application; and
the activation protocol further comprises:
encryption by means of the mobile application the unique device identification number for the personal handheld device, the unique application identification number for the mobile application, as well as the session-specific log in code with the customer’s assigned public key;
decryption of the unique device identification number for the personal handheld device, the unique application identification number for the mobile application, the session-specific log in code, as well as the desired transaction by the transactional and authentication server using the customer’s assigned private key;
permanently hashing the results of the decryption by means of a one-way hash function;
and comparison of these decrypted hashed results to the stored data on the transactional and authentication server for the specific customer’s account; and
the unique customer and device specific, merchant specific, time-sensitive, single-use encrypted digital transactional alphanumeric inactive token is encrypted by the transactional and authentication server using the customer’s assigned public key, is sent over a secure telecommunication network to the personal handheld device, and is decrypted at the device using the user and device specific private key located on the mobile application.
9. A method for secure transfer of customer’s funds, to a merchant or financial institution, comprising the steps of:
establishing an online account for a customer to hold dormant, unused funds for the customer;
linking the online account to a transactional and authentication server wherein an application resides to effectuate transfer of secure funds;
registering the customer’s personal handheld device onto the server via an appropriate protocol;
generating a unique device identification number for the customer’s personal handheld device and a unique application identification number for the mobile application installed on that device;
generating a unique merchant identification number for the merchant or financial institution by the system upon their first registering on the system;
logging in by the customer onto the system;
generating a session-specific log in code by the transactional and authentication server for the customer’s personal handheld device and the mobile application installed on the personal handheld device after the customer logs in to the system;
storing of the session-specific log in code both on the mobile application and on the transactional and authentication server under the customer’s account, for the purpose of authentication of the customer’s subsequent log-in to the system;
verification of the consumer by means of the session-specific log in code generated by the transactional and authentication server for the consumer’s personal handheld device and the mobile application installed on the personal handheld device generated on the customer’s previous log in to the system which is;
identifying the account’s registered personal handheld device and its associated customer for requesting the account and funds to be made active and allocated for a particular transaction with the specific merchant or financial institution;
activating and allocating funds in the online account for the customer via an appropriate protocol for the particular transaction with the specific merchant or financial institution in a specified amount for a specific configurable amount of time;
generating a unique user and device specific, time-sensitive, single-use encrypted digital transactional alphanumeric inactive token by the transactional and authentication server using the unique device identification number for the customer’s personal handheld device, the unique application identification number for the mobile application installed on that device, and the unique merchant identification number for the merchant or financial institution, for the purpose of consummating the particular transaction with the specific merchant or financial institution;
transmitting the unique user and device specific, time-sensitive, single-use encrypted digital transactional alphanumeric inactive token by an ssl or tls or other secure protocol over a telecommunications network from the transactional and authentication server to the specific handheld device;
appending on the handheld device the unique customer and device specific, time-sensitive, single-use encrypted digital transactional alphanumeric inactive token received from the transactional and authentication server, with the unique device identification number for the personal handheld device and the unique application identification number for its installed mobile application;
generating on the personal handheld device a graphical image, to express the unique customer and device specific, time-sensitive, single-use encrypted digital transactional alphanumeric inactive token received from the transactional and authentication server, appended with the unique device identification number for the personal handheld device and the unique application identification number for its installed mobile application, the image to be scanned by the merchant or financial institution to consummate the transaction;
verifying the unique user and device specific, time-sensitive, single-use encrypted digital transactional alphanumeric inactive token, the unique device identification number for the customer’s personal handheld device, the unique application identification number for the mobile application installed on that device, and the unique merchant identification number for the merchant or financial institution, by means of an appropriate secure transactional encryption and decryption algorithm on the transactional and authentication server.
10. The method of claim 9, further comprising the steps of:
scanning the graphical image expressing the unique customer and device specific, merchant specific, time-sensitive, single-use encrypted digital transactional alphanumeric inactive token appended to the unique device identification number for the personal handheld device and the unique application identification number for its installed mobile application by means of a point of sale token scanner at the specific merchant or financial institution;
parsing out and validating the unique customer and device specific, merchant specific, time-sensitive, single-use encrypted digital transactional alphanumeric inactive token, the unique device identification number for the personal handheld device, and the unique application identification number, by means of a linked proprietary merchant application;
combining the results generated in the parsing step information with specific merchant or financial institution information in the form of the system’s unique merchant identification number, for validation of the combined token and identifier information at the transactional and authentication server, also by means of the linked proprietary merchant application;
transmitting the combined results of the unique user and device specific, time-sensitive, single-use encrypted digital transactional alphanumeric inactive token appended to the unique device identification number for the personal handheld device, the unique application identification number of its mobile application, and the unique merchant identification number, from the merchant or financial institution via a telecommunications network to the transactional and authentication server; and
identifying and validating the unique user and device specific, time-sensitive, single-use encrypted digital transactional alphanumeric inactive token appended to the unique device identification number for the personal handheld device, the unique application identification number of its mobile application, and the unique merchant identification number by the transactional and authentication server to consummate the customer’s particular transaction with the merchant or financial institution.
11. The method of claim 9, further comprising the steps of:
taking various industry-standardized facial measurements by means of a front facing camera of the smart phone;
combining the facial measurements into the session-specific log in code for further security by means of a biometric validation application;
storing the results of the combination step in the users account;
passing the results of the combination step to the transactional and authentication server over the telecommunications network; and
utilizing the results of the combination step to biometrically validate and authenticate the user for a desired transaction.
12. The method of claim 9, wherein the personal handheld device is a telecommunication device with access to a telecommunication data network.
13. The method of claim 12, wherein the personal handheld device is a smartphone.
14. The method of claim 12, wherein the personal handheld device is a tablet device.
15. The method of claim 9, wherein the specific handheld device of the user, and another handheld or stationary device of the merchant or financial institution are enabled to communicate the graphical image using a near-field communication, Bluetooth, infrared, light transmission protocols, sms, mms, wi-fi or other suitable synchronizing protocol over a telecommunications network.
16. The method of claim 9, further comprising the steps of:
generating and assigning the customer with public and private encryption keys specific to the customer and the mobile device application;
encrypting by means of the mobile application on the handheld device the unique device identification number for the personal handheld device, the unique application identification number for the mobile application, the session-specific log in code, as well as the desired transaction by the transactional and authentication server using the customer’s assigned private key prior to appending to the unique customer and device specific, time-sensitive, single-use encrypted digital transactional alphanumeric inactive token;
encrypting the unique customer and device specific, time-sensitive, single-use encrypted digital transactional alphanumeric inactive token by the transactional and authentication server using the customer’s assigned public key prior to the transmission step;
decrypting the unique device identification number for the personal handheld device, the unique application identification number for the mobile application, the session-specific log in code, as well as the desired transaction by the transactional and authentication server using the customer’s assigned private key prior to the verifying step on the transactional and authentication server;
decrypting after the transmission step the unique customer and device specific, time-sensitive, single-use encrypted digital transactional alphanumeric inactive token by the mobile application at the device using the user and device specific private key;
applying a one-way encryption hash function by the transactional and authentication server to the decryption results; and
comparing this information to the stored data on the transactional and authentication server in order to authenticate the specific customer’s account.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A method comprising the steps of:
identifying an email recipient during the composition of a first email message;
searching a local data store for personal information relating to the email recipient, the searching yielding a search result; and
automatically sending a request for personal information to the email recipient wherein the content of the request is based, at least in part, upon the search result.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein the search result comprises an indication that there is no information regarding the email recipient in the local data store.
3. The method of claim 1 wherein the search result comprises an indication of specific items of information regarding the email recipient, and wherein the request for personal information comprises a request for one or more of specific items.
4. The method of claim 3 wherein indication of specific items is an indication of a photo.
5. The method of claim 1 wherein the request for personal information is sent as part of the first email message.
6. The method of claim 1 wherein the request for personal information is sent as part of an electronic communication not including the first email message.
7. The method of claim 1 wherein the local data store is associated with an application program for personal information management.
8. A method comprising the steps of:
identifying a recipient during the composition of a first electronic communication;
searching a local data store for information about the recipient, the searching yielding a search result; and
sending a request for information to the recipient wherein the content of the request is based, at least in part, upon the search result.
9. The method of claim 8 wherein the request for information is sent as part of the first electronic communication.
10. The method of claim 9, wherein the first electronic communication is an email.
11. The method of claim 8 wherein the local data store comprises PIM information.
12. The method of claim 8 wherein the local data store is associated with an application program for personal information management.
13. The method of claim 8 wherein the search result comprises an indication of specific items of information regarding the email recipient, such specific items being absent from the local data store, and wherein the request for personal information comprises a request for one or more of specific items.
14. A method comprising the steps of:
receiving a first email addressed to a recipient;
identifying a sender of the first email;
examining a local data store to determine if there is an indication regarding the transfer of personal information between parties to the first email, the indication pre-existing the receipt of the first email; and
if there is an indication, then automatically engaging in a transfer of personal information.
15. The method of claim 14 wherein the step of automatically engaging in a transfer of personal information comprises sending personal information regarding the first email recipient to the first email sender.
16. The method of claim 14 wherein the step of automatically engaging in a transfer of personal information comprises automatically sending a second email to the first email sender, the second email requesting personal information from the sender.
17. The method of claim 14 wherein the step of automatically engaging in a transfer of personal information comprises extracting personal information of the sender from the first email and adding the personal information of the sender to a local data store.
18. The method of claim 14 wherein the step of examining a local data store comprises determining whether personal information is expected from the first email sender.
19. The method of claim 14 wherein the step of examining a local data store comprises determining whether personal information is desired from the first email sender.
20. The method of claim 14 wherein the indication comprises a list.
21. A method comprising the steps of
receiving a first electronic communication sent by a sender and addressed to a recipient;
parsing the first electronic communication to determine an indication regarding items of the sender’s personal information, such items indicated in a manner to accommodate the parsing;
extracting one or more of the indicated items; and
storing one or more of the indicated items in a local data store.
22. The method of claim 21 wherein the communication is an email.