Patent Application
20180295229
As technology and web access becomes more pervasive and accessible to younger users, it can sometimes affect child safety and well-being. For example, smart phones and other devices can expose children to content unapproved by parents. Moreover, the historical problem of physical bullying in the schoolyard is increasingly being eclipsed by social and physical threats, vulgarity, and similar problems perpetrated by the cyber bully. Impressive new electronic devices and social media platforms can unfortunately amplify the harmful actions of the cyber bully. Cyberbullying can include tormenting, threatening, harassing, humiliating, embarrassing or otherwise targeting an individual using information or communication devices. It can be particularly pervasive among juveniles.
Example embodiments described herein have several features, no single one of which is indispensable or solely responsible for their desirable attributes. Without limiting the scope of the claims, some of the advantageous features will now be summarized. Methods and systems are disclosed for controlling and monitoring aspects of user systems, which may include mobile electronic devices.
In some embodiments, a system and apparatus for allowing parents to view and track smart phone activities of their children can include one or more child software modules. The module can be installed on each child's smart phone. The module can access and extract data from or about more than one of the smart phone's other software applications, including at least two of the following: a texting application, a social media application, an image application that facilitates transmission or reception of images, and a web browser application. The module can further send the extracted data to an analysis server. Moreover, the system can include an analysis server that can identify potentially harmful language, images, and websites by comparing the extracted data to existing databases of harmful words, harmful images or image types, harmful websites, and harmful applications. Further, the system can include a parent portal. The parent portal can receive results from the analysis server. In some embodiments, the parent portion can display the results organized by child. The parent portal can also provide both generalized smart phone usage data for each child and visual warnings when harmful results have been found by the analysis server, along with the specific underlying data that triggered the warning. Furthermore, the parent portal can provide an interface for receiving input from a parent. The input can include selections of which child's data to view and/or selections of which types and how much of the data and analysis results to view for each child.
A system and apparatus for allowing parents to view and track smart phone activities of their children can also include the following features: each child software module can be configured to access and extract data sufficient to allow the analysis server to report which new applications are downloaded to each child's smart phone, and that information can be automatically recorded in a computer memory and displayed promptly through the parent portal. A system and apparatus for allowing parents to view and track smart phone activities of their children can also include the following features: each child software module can be configured to access and extract data sufficient to allow the analysis server to report each of the following: which websites were visited using each child's smart phone; and content and timing of each child's posts to social networks. That information can be automatically recorded in a computer memory and displayed promptly through the parent portal.
A system and apparatus for allowing parents to view and track smart phone activities of their children can also include the following features: each child software module can be further configured to access and extract data sufficient to allow the analysis server to report each of the following: the location of the smart phone at periodic intervals throughout the day; and usage of the smart phone that occurs outside of geographic constraints that can be set through the parent portal. That location and usage information can be automatically recorded in a computer memory and displayed promptly through the parent portal. A system and apparatus for allowing parents to view and track smart phone activities of their children can also include the following features: each child software module can be further configured to access and extract data sufficient to allow the analysis server to report usage of the smart phone that occurs during curfew periods, and that information can be automatically recorded in a computer memory and displayed promptly through the parent portal.
A system and apparatus for allowing parents to view and track smart phone activities of their children can also include the following features: for each child, the parent portal can be configured to display the following information on the same daily feed screen: identities of people with whom that child communicates most often, including a visual indication ranking those people by frequency or amount of communication; and a daily feed of the child's activities, organized to be sortable chronologically. The child's activities can comprise: any smart phone applications downloaded; content of any SMS text messages sent or received; identity of any websites visited; content of any social network posts created, viewed, or sent; and a visual warning incorporated into the daily feed. The visual warning can include one or more (or each) of the following: cursing or bullying terms; questionable website visits; and breaking curfew. The system can include the following features: for each child, the parent portal can be further configured to display the following information on the same current applications screen: a list of all applications currently installed on that child's phone, a visual warning identifying applications that are identified as potentially harmful based on information in the analysis server, and a description of the functions of each of the applications in the list. The system can also include the following features: for each child, the parent portal can be configured to display the following information on the same usage screen: a color chart indicating which applications were used by the child that day, and how much time was spent using those applications. A system and apparatus for allowing parents to view and track smart phone activities of their children can also include the following features: for each child, the parent portal can be configured to display the following: text messages sent and received, with curse words and bullying terms highlighted; a list of most commonly used curse words and bullying terms; and an interface allowing a user of the parent portal to control if text conversations should be flagged automatically, and how many curse words or bullying terms should be allowed before a flag is automatically applied.
A system and apparatus for allowing parents to view and track smart phone activities of their children can also include the following features: for each child, the parent portal can be configured to display the following web access information and controls: a whitelist mode that triggers warnings if the child visits any website domain that is not listed as specifically allowed; or a blacklist mode that triggers warnings for only website domains that that are flagged by a user of the parent portal or by the existing database of harmful websites accessible from the analysis server. A system and apparatus for allowing parents to view and track smart phone activities of their children can also include an embedded map feature visible in the parent portal that indicates where each child has traveled during the day and provides a warning if the child leaves a given geographical radius.
A system and apparatus for allowing parents to view and track smart phone activities of their children can also include a curfew feature comprising: a control interface in the parent portal configured to allow a user of the parent portal to select restricted times that a child's smart phone may not be used; and an active restriction feature in the child software module configured to completely disable the child smart phone during the restricted times, except for emergency phone calls.
A system and apparatus for allowing parents to view and track smart phone activities of their children can also include the following features: the parent portal can be further configured provide an interface for receiving input from a parent, the input comprising selections of which types of harmful material should be identified, and what level of scrutiny to apply in determining harmful material.
A system and apparatus for allowing parents to view and track smart phone activities of their children can also include the following features: a computer that periodically analyzes the selections from many parents regarding types of harmful material and level of scrutiny, analyzes those selections statistically, and incorporates the statistical results in setting default settings and recommendations for future users.
A system and apparatus for allowing parents to view and track smart phone activities of their children can also include an analysis server configured to automatically identify patterns of harmful content for which helpful works of authorship have previously been created and stored in an electronic library, and provide immediate access to those works of authorship to parents by transmitting an electronic copy thereof or a link thereto to the parent portal for display adjacent to a warning based on harmful content that underlies those patterns of harmful content.
A computing device can comprise: a communications module; a location determining module; a memory device comprising a mobile safety module stored thereon as computer-executable instructions; and a hardware processor configured to implement the mobile safety module by executing the computer-executable instructions. Implementation can occur by at least accomplishing the following: retrieve computing device data from the computing device; send computing device data to a control system; and receive a command from the control system based in part on analysis of the sent computing device data. Computing device data can comprise at least one of the following: receiving incoming messages using the communications module of the computing device; retrieving outgoing messages sent using the communications module of the computing device; and determining a location of the computing device using the location determining module. Computing can comprise one or more of the following: activating the location determining module; disabling the location determining module; disabling the communications module; activating the communications module; and selectively deactivating one or more features of the computing device for a predetermined time period.
A system for monitoring one or more computing devices can comprise: a memory device comprising a controller module stored thereon as computer-executable instructions; a hardware processor configured to implement the controller module by executing the computer-executable instructions. These can be executed to at least: receive communications data from one or more controlled computing devices; analyze received communications data; and transmit notification data to one or more controlling computing devices based on the received communications data.
A system for monitoring one or more computing devices can comprise: a memory device comprising a controller module stored thereon as computer-executable instructions; and a hardware processor configured to implement the controller module by executing the computer-executable instructions. This implementation can at least: receive location data from one or more controlled computing devices; analyze received location data; and transmit notification data to one or more controlling computing devices based on the received communications data.
A computing device can comprise: a communications module; a memory device comprising a mobile safety module stored thereon as computer-executable instructions; and a hardware processor configured to implement the mobile safety module by executing the computer-executable instructions. Implementation can at least: select notification settings; receive notification data based on the selected notification settings; and send command data to control an operation of a controlled computing device.
In some embodiments, a computing system can access one or more databases in substantially real-time in response to input from a parent provided in an interactive user interface in order to determine information related to a user system and provide the determined information to the parent in the interactive user interface. The computing system can include a network interface coupled to a data network for receiving and transmitting one or more packet flows, a computer processor, and a computer readable storage medium storing program instructions configured for execution by the computer processor in order to cause the computing system to generate user interface data for rendering the interactive user interface on a computing device, the interactive user interface including an indication of a first controlled device associated with a first child of the parent, wherein the indication of the first controlled device is selectable by the parent in order to initiate analysis of usage pattern of the first controlled device and provide results of the analysis to the parent in substantially real-time. The programmed instructions can further include transmit the user interface data to the computing device. In some embodiments, the programmed instructions can include receiving an identification of a selection by the parent of a second controlled device associated with a second child of the parent in the interactive user interface. The programmed instructions can also include accessing a database storing analysis data for the second controlled device associated with the second child of the parent. Further, the programmed instructions can include updating the user interface data such that the interactive user interface includes indications of at least a subset of determined high frequency contacts. The program instructions can include transmitting the updated user interface data to the computing device.
Embodiments disclosed herein are described below with reference to the drawings. The following drawings and the associated descriptions are provided to illustrate embodiments of the present disclosure and do not limit the scope of the claims.
Although certain preferred embodiments and examples are disclosed below, inventive subject matter extends beyond the, for example, specifically disclosed embodiments to other alternative embodiments and/or uses and to modifications and equivalents thereof. Thus, the scope of any claims appended hereto is not limited by any of the particular embodiments described below. For example, in any method or process disclosed herein, the acts or operations of the method or process may be performed in any suitable sequence and are not necessarily limited to any particular disclosed sequence. Various operations may be described as multiple discrete operations in turn, in a manner that may be helpful in understanding certain embodiments; however, the order of description should not be construed to imply that these operations are order dependent. Additionally, the structures, systems, and/or devices described herein may be embodied as integrated components or as separate components. For purposes of comparing various embodiments, certain aspects and advantages of these embodiments are described. Not necessarily all such aspects or advantages are achieved by any particular embodiment. Thus, for example, various embodiments may be carried out in a manner that achieves or optimizes one advantage or group of advantages as taught herein without necessarily achieving other aspects or advantages as may also be taught or suggested herein.
Details regarding several illustrative embodiments for implementing the systems and methods described herein are described below with reference to the figures. At times, features of certain embodiments are described below in accordance with that which will be understood or appreciated by a person of ordinary skill in the art to which the system and method described herein pertain.
The system and method described herein can advantageously be implemented using computer software, hardware, firmware, or any combination of software, hardware, and firmware. In some embodiments, the system is implemented as a number of software modules that comprise computer executable code for performing the functions described herein. In some embodiments, the computer-executable code is executed on one or more general purpose or specialized computers. However, any module that can be implemented using software to be executed on a general purpose or specialized computer can also be implemented using a different combination of hardware, software, or firmware. For example, such a module can be implemented completely in hardware using a combination of integrated circuits. Alternatively or additionally, such a module can be implemented completely or partially using specialized computers designed to perform the particular functions described herein rather than by general purpose computers. Similarly, a number of databases are described herein. Any two or more databases can be combined into one database and that any one database can be divided into multiple databases. Multiple distributed computing devices can be substituted for any one computing device illustrated herein. In such distributed embodiments, the functions of the one computing device are distributed such that some functions are performed on each of the distributed computing devices.
The foregoing and other variations understood by a person of ordinary skill in the art can be made to the embodiments described herein without departing from the inventions disclosed herein. With the understanding therefore, that the described embodiments are illustrative and that the invention is not limited to the described embodiments, certain embodiments are described below with reference to the drawings.
More children now than ever before have access to mobile computing devices (often smart phones), especially at an early age. Accordingly, phone safety is becoming increasingly more important for parents as they want to monitor and control their children's activity on these devices. In addition, children also need protection from cyberbullying. Many states have enacted cyberbullying laws. Cyberbullying is generally defined as bullying that takes place using electronic technology. Electronic technology can include devices and equipment such as cell phones, computers, and tablets as well as communication tools including social media sites, text messages, chat services, and websites. Phone safety can also include reducing or preventing use of a phone while driving.
This disclosure describes embodiments of safety systems that can protect vulnerable mobile device users, in particular children. Safety systems can assist parents in monitoring and controlling their children's mobile devices, including, for example, the content stored on them or accessed by them, messages received and transmitted by them, etc. Parents can track location of the their children through mobile devices and set up virtual location “fences” as described more in detail below. Safety systems can mine data in text messages (or other communications), filter, and send reports to parents. In some embodiments, a report may be sent to a law enforcement agency or other services, depending on the nature of the messages. Safety systems can also analyze non-written communications, including pictures and videos.
The features of the systems and methods described herein can also be implemented for mobile safety of groups other than children. For example, employers or caregivers may want to monitor or control mobile devices of their employees or patients.
Web safety systems can include the following components that can work together or independently. First, an analysis engine that uses filters and search logic. This can comprise a web based crawler and back-end logic designed to continuously or periodically search, filter, or “crawl” social network accounts and flag conversations with illicit content (for example, undesirable content as may be defined or determined by a user). With respect to
Second, a system can include a mobile application with various social monitoring and safety related features such as GPS/geolocation-based monitoring (for example, monitoring a child's location for safety purposes), mobile web filtering/blocking, parental notification (for example, alerts regarding keywords, new application installation, application usage, etc.), and SMS/Text message monitoring or blocking, call blocking, and/or phone lockout (for example, inhibition of functionality while driving). In the context of
Third, a website interface (for example, an administration portal, user community, etc.) to allow users (for example, parents) to review reports and details of protected individual's (for example, their children's) activities, subscribe or contribute to services such as crowd-sourced website black lists or white lists, and/or modify various parameters of the monitoring software. In the context of
Fourth, back-end data hardware and software that can store, process, use, index, recall, and send (for example, for display) the information for use by the supporting systems for the functions listed above. In the context of
The described systems can incorporate and expand on the technical information and teachings in U.S. Pat. No. 8,380,176; its entire disclosure is incorporated by reference herein for all that it contains and is made part of this specification for all purposes.
User system 130 is illustrated as a single item for convenience but represents one or more user systems 130. In general, the user systems 130 can include any type of computing device capable of executing one or more applications and/or accessing network resources. For example, the user systems 130 can be one or more desktops, laptops, netbooks, tablet computers, smartphones, PDAs (personal digital assistants), servers, smartwatches, computerized eyewear, smart augmented-reality wear, e-book readers, video game platforms, television set-top boxes (or simply a television with computing capability), a kiosk, combinations of the same, or the like. The user systems 130 can include software and/or hardware 132 for accessing the safety system 110, such as a browser or other client software (including an “app”). In some embodiments, some or all of the modules of the safety system 110 can be installed as application software on the user system 130.
The safety system 110 can control and/or monitor user systems 130 via one or more modules of the user system 130. In a first example, the user systems 130 can include a communication module (not shown) having an antenna for receiving and sending communications data. The user system control module 118 of the safety system 110 can block access to or disable the communications module. Accordingly, the user system control module 118 can prevent user systems 130 from transmitting or receiving communications.
In addition to using a communications module of a user system 130, the user system control module 118 can also control the user system 130 through various other technical channels. For example, even though the control module 118 may monitor a communication module (e.g., as radio frequency transmissions are prepared or transferred to or from an antenna within the user system 130), the control module 118 may use a separate channel to exert control over the system 130. Thus, as a result of monitored communications, a user interface may be controlled, locked, blocked, etc. Thus, passive monitoring and active control can be relatively independent as a technical matter, but the two functions can be related through logic or programming within the safety system 110. This can allow greater flexibility in effectuating control and control can be asserted through multiple channels simultaneously or in a contingency arrangement. Thus, if a mobile phone user is able to defeat the efforts of a control module 118 to control a communication module of the user system 130, the control module can revert to a mode that instead controls an interface of the system 130, thereby achieving the same ultimate goal through a different technical channel. This control redundancy can make the safety system 110 more robust because it can defeat efforts to circumvent its controls. That is, if a child attempts to avoid parental controls in one channel, another channel may allow the parental controls to nevertheless prevail. Moreover, some operating systems may be more difficult to interface with. Accordingly, by allowing a safety system 110 to work through multiple channels to control user systems 130, one or more of those channels may be more feasible to implement as the safety system 110 is configured to work with a more closely-guarded underlying operating system. Monitoring and control directed by a user system control module 118 can occur at one or more of the root level, a middle level, or a superficial level of a user system 130. In a second example of how a safety system 110 can control and/or monitor user systems 130, the user system control module 118 can intercept or otherwise access and analyze image or video feeds from or to the camera module of the user systems 130. For example, the analysis module 112 of the safety system 110 can intercept and analyze live capture of images or a video feed and determine whether it is appropriate for storage in the memory of the user system 130 or for transmission. Based on the determination, the user system control module 118 can block storage or transmission of the images or video feed. Thus, it can prevent, inhibit, deter, or monitor the taking or receiving inappropriate pictures.
In a third example of how a safety system 110 can control and/or monitor user systems 130, the user system control module 118 can, in some circumstances, turn on the camera module of the user system 110. This may be useful to identify the location of the user system 110 or determine if the child is in danger. The safety system 110 can use a microphone of the user system 130 to receive an audio signal and further determine safety of the child based on parsing the audio. The safety system 110 can monitor for certain words (like “help”) or sounds (like “crying” or “screaming”). In some instances, the safety system 110 can use the communications module of the user system 130 to send alerts (for example, to parents or authorities) based on analyzed image, video, or audio. The safety system 110 can use the speaker of the user system 130 to output an alarm in an event of danger. In a fourth example of how a safety system 110 can control and/or monitor user systems 130, the user system control module 118 can receive information from a GPS module and/or an accelerometer module of the user system 130. Based on the received information, the user system control module 118 can identify the location and/or calculate speed of the user system 130. In some embodiments, the analysis module 112 can supplement with accelerometer data when the GPS data is not available to determine motion of the user system 130. In some embodiments, speed, acceleration, and/or relative location data can be collected, analyzed and/or used using the information in U.S. Pat. No. 8,380,176; its entire disclosure is incorporated by reference herein for all that it contains and is made part of this specification. Further, the speed may be monitored with respect to other conditions for accuracy. For example, the safety system 110 can measure heart rate of a user and track speed of the user device concurrently to avoid false positives such as when the user is exercising or walking. The safety system 110 can also access accelerometer data from the user system 130 to determine that a person is running instead of driving.
The third and fourth examples provided above are examples of how a safety system 110 can control and/or monitor user systems 130. These demonstrate how a mobile device can become a valuable tool to gather and potentially transmitting information, acting as like an airliner's “black box,” a homing beacon, a child tracking device, and/or as a distress signal in various situations. In some modes, software on a mobile phone can allow a child, for example, to activate a distress signal that will record and/or transmit location information, sounds, pictures, etc. without alerting a would-be kidnapper to the transmissions. To save battery, some embodiments may transmit such emergency information in periodic spurts, for short amounts of time, to enable a longer emergency operation mode. Such an emergency mode can be activated readily, or it can require a password or other verification to avoid improper or inadvertent uses. Thus, the systems described herein can deter or assist in resolving not only cyber-bullying, but also help remediate other more drastic and immediate physical dangers such as kidnapping. In order to more effectively monitor and/or control aspects of the user system 130, one or more software portions of the safety system 110 can be installed locally on the user system 130. For example, it may be inefficient to monitor radio transmissions, image or video feeds, or location information remotely if the user system 130 is a mobile device. Thus, the safety system can comprise an application that accomplishes many monitoring and control functions locally, while still accepting input and control from a separate user system. Thus, a parent may be able to log in to a user system control module 118 or account management module 120 and configure settings for the safety system 110, but those settings can be implemented through software or other modules that are locally present on a child's mobile device, which can be a user system 130. The safety system 110 can facilitate safe communication (e.g., through encryption) between the locally-installed software and the web-accessible account management module 110 (which can act as a parental settings/monitoring portal). Thus, a parent may be able to select and input user parameters 140, to decide levels of scrutiny and filtering that should be applied to a child's device (which can be a user system 130).
In some embodiments, the safety system 110 can be integrated with the third party tools through a plug-in or an API (application programming interface). The third party tools may come pre-installed with a plug-in to the safety system 110. In other embodiments, a plugin to the safety system 110 may be installed on to a third party tool. For example, a third party tool can include text/SMS client, an email client, a web browser, a social networking client (for example Facebook, Twitter, etc.), an image capture client, etc.
The safety system 110 can be implemented in computer hardware and/or software. The safety system 110 can execute on one or more computing devices, such as one or more physical server computers. In implementations where the safety system 110 is implemented on multiple servers, these servers can be co-located or can be geographically separate (such as in separate data centers). In addition, the safety system 110 can be implemented in one or more virtual machines that execute on a physical server or group of servers. Further, the safety system 110 can be hosted in a cloud computing environment, such as in the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Elastic Computer Cloud (EC2) or the Microsoft® Windows® Azure Platform.
The user systems 130 can remotely access some or all of the safety system 110 on these servers through the network 102. The user systems 130 can include thick or thin client software that can access the safety system 110 on the one or more servers through the network 102. The network 102 may be a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), such as the Internet, combinations of the same, or the like. For example, the network 102 can include any combination of associated computer hardware, switches, etc. (for example, an organization's private intranet, the public Internet, and/or a combination of the same). In some embodiments, the user software on the user system 130 can be a browser software or other application software. The user system 130 can access the safety system 110 through the browser software. In certain embodiments, some or all of the safety system 110's functionality can be implemented on the user systems 130.
A safety system plugin 132 can be part of a user system 130. This plugin 132 can periodically communicate through a network 102 with a safety system 110 using, for example, a communications module of a user system 130. This arrangement can allow for a safety system 110 to offload intensive processing to a server rather than a user system 130 if that system 130 is a smart phone, for example. Thus, if any filtering algorithms, image analysis, etc. would tend to bog down a mobile processor or make the safety system 110 less transparent or more intrusive to operation of a user system 130, this can be mitigated by instead feeding raw data to a server or a home computer that is also part of or accessible by the safety system 110.
As described above, the safety system 110, which may include one or more modules, can control and/or monitor the user systems 130. In some embodiments, the safety system 110 can monitor, filter, and/or block communications.
A. Communications Monitoring, Filtering, Blocking, and Alerting
Any process descriptions, elements, or blocks in the flow diagrams described herein and/or depicted in the attached figures should be understood as potentially representing modules, segments, or portions of code which include one or more executable instructions for implementing specific logical functions or steps in the process. Alternate implementations are included within the scope of the embodiments described herein in which elements or functions may be deleted, executed out of order from that shown or discussed, including substantially concurrently or in reverse order, depending on the functionality involved, as would be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art.
The process 200 (some or all of which can be cycled and repeated in parallel or serially) begins at block 202 when the communications module of the user system 130 receives or is in the process of sending a communication. The communication may include, without limitation, a text/SMS message, a chat message, an audio message, a video message, a multi-media message (MMS), an e-mail, etc. The user systems controls module 118 can intercept the communications. The communications can be intercepted using the following hardware and technical protocols, for example. In some embodiments, the safety system 110 can capture packets received at the communications module of the user system 130. The safety system 110 can detect whether these packets include messages, for example, Whatsapp message, SnapChat messages, Facebook messages, etc. The intercepted messages can be stored in a data store 140 and analyzed as described herein.
These communications can then be analyzed by the analysis module 112 at step 204. Some or all of this analysis can occur either onboard a user system 130, on a server accessible through the network 102, and/or within a safety system 110 that may be installed on a personal computer of a parent for example. The analysis module 112 can review the content and source of the communications and determine, for example, whether the communications contain content that should be blocked or filtered, as indicated at step 206. This analysis can use external or internal sources (e.g., a dynamic dictionary of regional terminology, dictionaries of urban slang, a database maintained by a system administrator 108, one or more databases updatable by a community of users, specific language or country resources, etc.) against which to compare this content. For example, the communication may contain illicit content such as profanity or inappropriate images. An analysis process can include comparison of words and word groups to identify not only explicit language but also aggressive language, explicit and implicit threats, etc. Analysis can also review frequency (harassing or distracting rapidity of test messages, for example) to determine if a perpetrator is hounding a child with frequent messages or transmissions. Analysis can review metadata for attachments to determine if they are named in a manner that indicates danger or indicates provenance from or association with pornographic websites for example. Communications can also be analyzed to identify moods, such as neutral, or happy or sad or depressing. Mood analysis can be a function of keyword search and/or machine learning. Certain words such as “kill” or “depress” or “sad” can be used to identify moods. The safety system 110 can generate alerts based on the identified mood of the messages (or social media communications) sent or received by the users. Accordingly, the safety system 110 can identify and trigger alerts for depression or suicide. Alerts may be received via postcard notifications on iOS or Android devices.
In an example, intercepted communications can be analyzed—and a safety system 110 can perform SMS filtering and searching to achieve the views shown in
The user system control module 118 can accordingly block or filter the intercepted communications (or take another alternative or additional action such as alerting a user) at step 208 based on the determination from the analysis module 112. Blocking can include any one of the following operations: not storing the communication in the user system's memory, preventing the communications module from transmitting the communications, not showing the intercepted communications in the user interface of the user system, deleting, responding with a message that indicates the message was not received and the future messages will also be blocked, re-routing the message to another destination (such as a parent portal or school administrator), responding with an automatically-generated kind and conciliatory message, automatically responding with a reference to reporting, potential legal action, etc. Alerting a user can include passively recording events or items so that a user can look them up later, or it can include actively sending a notification message to a user. Filtering can include removing some or all content of the communication. In some embodiments, filtering can include substituting some content of the communication such as words (for example substituting the word “shucks” for the word “crap”). Certain images may also be blocked, redacted, censored and/or substituted. Filtering can include completely deleting harmful or bullying messages from a user system 130, and/or filtering can include re-routing those messages to a parent that may access the system through a user interface module 116.
In some embodiments, communications may be blocked or filtered depending on the sender or recipient. Certain senders or recipients may be on a block list. The block list may be created by users (for example, parents) through an administrative portal through an account management module, for example. The block list may also be automatically created based on number of communications, frequency of communications, or information received from a third party system. For example, a system can include a web browser or an add-on to a web browser that includes its own blocking, alerting, and/or filtering functionality. Such functionality can be accomplished through socket or port monitoring, proxy filtering or diversion, etc. Block lists can also be created and updated centrally by a system administrator 108, for example. Block lists can be maintained for various categories, allowing a user to subscribe to filtering or blocking of a category of objectionable sites or material, while allowing other material that may be objectionable to some, but not that particular user. A multi-level hierarchy of blocking sensitivity can be created to allow a more trusted user to have access to some information (e.g., medical information that may be blocked for younger users due to anatomical references.) All examples of blocking or filtering provided herein can additionally or alternatively comprise sending an alert or notification.
As shown at 210, an alert can be transmitted relating to an intercepted communication. The alert can take one or more forms, and can depend on the result of the analysis 204. In some examples, the alert results in an objectionable word, phrase, or image appearing in a feed viewable by a parent and associated with the child, along with the sender of that word or image. In some cases, a parent can view all communications with his or her child, along with a breakdown of the people communicating with their child and the relative frequencies of those communications.
A safety system can be used to “trust but verify” (in the case where blocking or filtering may be turned off in favor of active alerts or passive logging). In certain embodiments, an alert relating to the intercepted communications can additionally or alternatively be transmitted to parents or a third party system. The safety system can also store intercepted communications in a user data repository 140. Parents can review all intercepted communications from the user data repository 140 using an administrative portal user interface described more in detail below.
Because an analysis and/or filter can be applied at various physical locations—a child's device, a server, a parent's device, etc.—raw data and/or alerts can be sent directly from a child's smart phone to a parent device, they can be sent from a server to a parent device, and/or they can be sent within a parent's device. Timing of alerts is advantageously rapid. Real-time alerts can be helpful to identify harmful behavior rapidly and aid a timely response. Real-time can refer to various relatively short delay periods, including a few seconds, one or a few minutes, one or a few hours, same-day alerts, etc. Factors that affect a delay before an alert (although that delay may not be inconsistent with real-time delivery) can include: internet connection speeds and availability, cell phone provider service, available processor speed for analysis algorithms and technical protocols, and various application-specific factors.
In an example, various aspects of a child's device can be monitored and alerts or notifications can be provided to a parent. The general alert process can be accomplished using the following technical protocols. For example, alerts can be processed through a push protocol. The safety system 110 can analyze the monitored content and make a determination to push messages to the parents device. In some embodiments, the messages may be pushed according to a priority determination. For example, certain alerts relating to a child leaving a particular geofence may be pushed right away. Other alerts including child's usage of offensive words may be sent in an email report or shown on a dashboard when the parent logs into the system. Accordingly, the safety system 110 can determine priority levels of alerts and push them accordingly.
B. Application Monitoring, Filtering, Blocking, and Alerting
Similar to communications filtering, parents may also want to filter content from various software applications on the user systems 130, such as web browser clients, social networking clients, SMS, MMS, etc. The techniques, protocols, principles, and approaches described elsewhere in this application with respect to analyzing, filtering and blocking functionality can also apply here. In addition to restrictions on viewing content, the user systems 130 may be blocked from sending messages or posting content in some applications. For example, parents may want to be alerted to various activities, or to prohibit their kids from posting pictures with alcohol or drugs on social networking sites. Parents may also want to be alerted or to prevent cyberbullying via social networking sites. Accordingly, the safety system 110 can crawl through social networking or other accounts of individuals to be protected (for example, children). This may be done by configuring a safety system plugin 132 to track and automatically store the account names and passwords when children enter them for these websites or other software applications. The safety system 110 can also work as a plug-in for these applications. The safety system 110 can review the content and determine any content to block or flag for review via the administration portal or user interface module 116. In some embodiments, application monitoring, filtering and blocking may also be implemented as described herein with respect to Apps Agent.
In some embodiments, the safety system 130 can alert a user and/or prohibit, inhibit, or block downloading and installation of certain applications. The safety system 130 can assess applications to be blocked using an application block list that may be defined by parents or dynamically maintained by a system administrator 108 or a third party system 104, and be accessible to the safety system 110, which can access and copy such a block list or comparison database periodically. The safety system 130, a system administrator 108, or others can dynamically maintain the app block list based on crowd-sourcing, allowing users of the system to give feedback about what applications should or should not be included, or discriminating between various levels of protection in a refined hierarchy of block lists. The safety system 130 can use selections, reviews and/or ratings from a plurality of users to dynamically maintain the app block list. In some embodiments, the safety system 130 can automatically send an alert or prepare a report when new applications are installed on a user system. The reports may be sent daily. Parents may also see these reports of the user system 130 on an administrative portal. The report may include the application name, the description of the application, the date and time of installation, and application rating/reviews. In some embodiments, the safety system 110 can remove an application from the user system 130 based on an input. For example, parents can remotely via the administrative portal select removal of a particular application from their child's phone.
Functionality related to application filtering and blocking can be controlled from and/or reviewed using the interactive views illustrated in
C. Website Monitoring, Filtering, Blocking, and Alerting
The safety system can also block content from certain websites by filtering or substitution. Some websites may be completely prohibited. Some approaches to filtering, blocking, and alerts can include creation, storage, and updating of one or more black lists or white lists. These lists can comprise a look-up table that lists names, URLs, or other identifying indicia of the sites, sources, or content that will trigger the relevant action. For example, a black list of undesirable websites can be downloaded or accessible automatically by an application for a mobile device. Black lists can be dynamically maintained by a user-community and various objectionable materials can be classified using a code system (for example, “po” for pornography, “pr” for profanity, “nu” for nudity, “vi” for violence, “dr” for drugs, etc.) Existing rating systems can be employed or expanded (for example, motion picture or electronic gaming ratings can be used). Content can also be assigned a relative severity on a numeric scale, for example. Users can rate content and an average can be used to automatically include or not include certain content or websites in a black or white list. Users can then determine their desired level of sensitivity and subscribe to one or more sets of black lists or white lists. Black lists can also include graphic images, for example of gang symbols, genitalia, other body parts, etc., and these can be used as reference libraries against which to compare unlisted content with graphical algorithms. These concepts relating to user interaction, black lists, white lists, etc. can apply to blocking, filtering, and alerts with respect to both applications and web pages, and message content. In some embodiments, website monitoring may also be implemented as described herein with respect to WWW Agent.
In some embodiments, the monitoring, blocking, filtering, and/or alert functions described herein can be used to combat inefficient behavior by students and/or employees on the job. Thus, the system can not only improve safety but it can deter time-wasting activities and improve productivity.
In addition to analysis of web pages visited, URLs employed, applications run (remotely or locally), and messages sent or received, the system can scan stored files (such as website bookmarks, stored favorites, etc.) in order to generate alerts or other blocking or filtering activity. Some embodiments can allow removal of undesirable bookmarks, websites, etc. The system can employ key-logging, spy-bots, ad-ware techniques, etc. (techniques pioneered by more subversive enterprises) in the service of the greater causes of improving safety, avoiding or recording evidence of illicit activities, cyber bullying, etc.
Functionality related to website or browser alerting, filtering and blocking can be controlled from, organized by, and/or reviewed using the interactive interface illustrated in
D. Safety System Plugin/Mobile Application
E. Time Restrictions/Curfew Blocking
In some instances, the safety system 110 can enable parents to institute electronic curfew or grounding rules. Parents may want to ensure that their children cannot access certain features of the user system 130 during a particular time of the day. Parents may not want their children to text after 9 PM or they may not want children to access any applications on a phone after 10 PM on a school night. In some embodiments, the safety system 110 can allow selective applications based on curfew settings. The selected applications can be customized by parents. For example, parents can allow certain educations apps during curfew time period. In some embodiments, curfews may depend on the location of the user systems 130. For example, schools may require all phones belonging to students to implement a curfew restriction on school property. The safety system 110 can identify that the user system 130 is within the property bounds of a school and automatically activate classroom curfew restrictions. Accordingly, the safety system 110 can customize the user system 110 based on locations and/or curfew settings. The safety system 110 can accordingly block access to applications and certain features of the user system 130 based on the curfew or grounding settings. Parents may enter these settings via one of the user interfaces described below. While the examples in this disclosure relate to children, these features may also be used by employers to control aspect of employee's phone usage during work time. Employers may want to disable access to web browsing or social networking links from user systems 130 during work hours. The safety system 110 can block these applications during a set time period or set locations. Employees may be able to access these application when they are away from work site. Similar functionality is also useful in a school setting. For example, an authorized and responsible school administrator may be able to oversee children's activities or limit use of smart phones.
Useful interfaces that can allow a parent to set curfew settings are included herewith as
In an example, a safety system 110 can help establish time or curfew restrictions on a user system 130 using the technical protocols described herein. For example, the safety system 110 can selectively choose which applications to enable in curfew mode.
F. Anti-Tampering
The safety system 110 can also track any attempts at tampering or disabling features of the safety system 110. Children or employees may try to remove the safety system 110 from the user system 130. The safety system 110 can attempt to block removal or disabling of its features. For example, the safety system 110 can be designed to send ping messages that may be encrypted over a network to verify that the safety system 110 is still active on the user system 130. Anti-tampering functionality can also be achieved using redundant and/or parallel control techniques. For example, a user system control module 118 may control one or more of the following portions of a user system 130, for example: a central processor, a communication module, a display, a memory, etc. In some embodiments, anti-tampering may also be implemented as described herein with respect to Apps Agent and/or Device Status Agent.
The safety system 110 can integrate or use other third party systems for analytics. For example, the safety system 110 can integrate Google Analytics to monitor usage of the mobile applications and website on a user system 130. The safety system 110 can store the usage stats and send a report via the account management module 120.
The safety system 110 can intercept data being transferred to and/or from the camera on the phone. During video chatting (FaceTime, Skype, etc.), the system can perform image recognition and block any indecent content in real time or with a small or large time delay. The safety system 110 can also prevent storage of certain types of pictures or drawings in the memory of the device. For example, the system can prevent the phone from storing any naked, violent, suggestive, inappropriate, or pornographic pictures taken via the phone's camera or received via external communications (for example text or data messaging applications like SnapChat, WhatsApp, etc.).
Objectionable content can be identified using an algorithm that looks for certain colors (flesh tones, etc.). Objectionable content can also be identified algorithmically by searching for or recognizing anatomical features in proportion or relation to others. For example, facial recognition technology can be employed to identify a human face in a given image. If a face is present, the image can then be reviewed to determine the orientation of a human body associated with that face by following common colors (for example, flesh tones) that may represent a neck. Orientation can also be determined by relative positions of features in the face; a body will generally be positioned in the same general direction from the eyes that a mouth and chin are positioned, for example. This analysis can allow the algorithm to scan the area where a related human body is generally expected to be found, thus avoiding wasting computational and processing resources. A scan can review images to identify erotic, suggestive, or otherwise inappropriate imagery by searching for contours, colors, lines, and/or shading that may be typically associated with images of breasts, genetalia, gluteal regions, typical clothing that may be associated with only partial or otherwise suggestive coverage thereof, hands forming gang or other crude or inappropriate gestures, etc. Images to be blocked, filtered, flagged, or analyzed can also be identified by metadata associated therewith, for example data indicating provenance from a known pornographic web site, an “xxx” indication, a title relating to sex acts, a name of a known pornographic actor or actress, a word associated with erotic industries, etc.
In an example, a safety system 110 can perform image analysis to assist with child safety and well-being on a user system 130 using the technical protocols described herein.
Parents may want to track the location of their children or demarcate a physical area on a map where their children should be or not be for a particular time. As an example, parents may drop off their child at a location such as a friend's house, a mall, or a movie theater. While dropping off a child, parents may select that location and choose a radius outside which a child should not stray. Parents may select the location via the administration module of the safety system 110. Selection may include checking the current location on a map. Accordingly, parents can create a geofence using the safety system 110. When the child leaves the area designated by the parent, the safety system 110 can send an alert to the parents. The safety system 110 can also block certain features of the child's user system inside (for example, disable Facebook inside of school geofence) or outside (for example, texting outside of school during school time) of the selected geofenced area. Thus, parents may use the safety system 110 to monitor the location of the child with the child's user system 130.
Parents can pre-designate location and/or time of where their children should be during the day. For example, parents can set their children's school location. The phone safety system can then track the location of the child and send an alert to the parent when the child makes it to the designated location. An alert can also be sent when the child is moving outside of the designated radius. Thus, if a child leaves the school zone during school time, an alert may be sent to the parents. A history of phone location can also be tracked and recorded for later reference and pattern recognition. In some embodiments, location monitoring may also be implemented as described herein with respect to Location Agent.
Tracking a moving phone can enable measurement of its speed. The safety system 110 can track location using the GPS module and accordingly calculate an average speed of the user system 130 based on measured locations at certain time intervals. Other methods can also be used to measure the speed of a moving phone, such as, accelerometer or triangulation. The safety system 110 can then inhibit some of the functionalities of the phone, for example, based on the detected speed. For example, if the phone is moving beyond a threshold speed, the phone safety system can block incoming text messages, e-mails, multi-media messages, phone calls, etc. The safety system can also alert parents if their children are driving over the speed limit by automatically identifying the speed limit (for example, based on the location of the user system 130 over time, based on GPS or local cell-tower triangulation, based on independent accelerometer techniques, etc.). Such systems can incorporate and expand on the technical information and teachings in U.S. Pat. No. 8,380,176; its entire disclosure is incorporated by reference herein for all that it contains and is made part of this specification.
Speed tracking may also be used to prevent, deter, or help deal more effectively with abduction. The safety system 110 can use various inputs, including video, audio, and speed to identify a possible abduction scenarios and send alerts to parents and authorities. As an example, the safety system 110 can use variety of parameters to weight and determine an abduction score. Parameters can include screaming or crying sounds, asking for help, unusual geographic location (not in the usual area the person is supposed to be), speed of the user system, or no phone usage for a certain period of time.
As described above, parents can select parameters using the account management module 120 and/or the user interface module 116 of the safety system 110. In some embodiment, parents can directly select the settings from the child's phone. In some embodiments, parents can make the changes remotely (to the child's phone) via one or more user interfaces discussed in more detail below.
A parent community portal (e.g., accessible through the user interface module 116 or otherwise through a network 102) can increase the effectiveness of the safety system 110 by enabling parents to share information with the community. For example, parents can rate (positive/negative) software applications (“apps”), websites, etc. and those ratings can be shared with other parents or users. The safety system 110 can look up the ratings and automatically decide whether to allow a child to access a particular application, or it can report the community rating (along with voting percentages, detailed feedback, comments, etc.) to the parent for a final decision. Parent portal user interfaces can show blocked messages and pictures to the parents and receive their input, which can be used to adapt the system in blocking/reporting future messages and pictures. The account management module 120 can learn parenting style and automatically implement changes based on parent's selection of what is and is not appropriate, or a parent can actively select a level of protection or define their own style using controls provided through a user interface module 116 or an account management module 120, for example. Such controls can include drop-down menus listing available profiles, available blocking databases, available community standards resources, etc. The portal can also use collected data from some or all parents or other users and perform statistical analysis to increase effectiveness of the application. Using appropriate permissions and safeguards (for example, removal of specific personal identifiers), some implementations can allow parents to see other parents' phone preferences for their children as a way to learning options and acceptable community standards in certain cultures and communities. In some embodiments, the safety system 110 can enable parent to search community information from their user systems 130. For example, the safety system 110 can provide a search functionality to look-up apps of concerns and/or safety ratings.
As described above, the phone safety system can send alerts to the parents, employers, users, etc. Parents can decide if an alert is a false positive and the system can adapt based on parents' ratings. For example, some parents might be fine with their child using the word ‘stupid’, while other parents may not. Accordingly, technical solutions include allowing a user to blacklist or whitelist their own terminology using a visual interface, dropdown menu, color scheme, machine learning, etc. The safety system 110 can store multiple categories of offensive words. Categories may include firearms, sexual innuendos, etc. The safety system 110 can also use context to prevent false positives by analyzing surrounding words and mood. For example, pattern may be recognized showing that a parent tending to be more strict regarding some words is also more likely to be more strict with regard to other words. User community data can be analyzed in order to save a parent time in designating all objectionable words and instead implementing a predicted level of tolerance based on an initial set of responses to an interactive survey or other settings. Also, in some cases there might be language/cultural misunderstanding. As described above, the safety system 110 can learn parents' responses to the alerts.
Integration with existing public systems and institutions can be beneficial and more easily achieved when an automated system such as those described herein are deployed. For example, suspicious text and messages indicating cyberbullying may automatically be sent to a police or a school server for further investigation. A parent can be automatically queried prior to such notifications to authorities, or notified simultaneously.
Systems and methods described herein can accomplish automatically what even tech-savvy parents can't. Thus, no matter how attentive, a highly technical parent likely does not have time to scan logs or user transmissions (both content and timing) coming to and from their child's device(s). Children may be sending more than 100 text messages a day and in addition may be posting on different platforms and network. Moreover, writing a script to perform such tasks may be beyond the skills of even tech savvy parents, especially when dangerous applications are constantly being created and distributed. Children maybe likely to delete messages before parents are able to review them. The safety system 110 can include one or more modules described above that can retrieve and analyze messages (including texts and data messages) before a child has an opportunity to delete the messages from their computing devices. For example, in some embodiments, the safety system 110 can retrieve messages from memory of the phone in real time or in substantial real time with respect to messages sent and/or received. Thus, even if a child is using applications like SnapChat, the safety system 110 can retrieve sent and or received messages before they are deleted from the phone. In some embodiments, a system can periodically or continuously record screenshots or screen-capture video during the time that a problem website or application is being used on a user system 130. This recording function can be used as an alternative or additional measure if the website or application is not blocked or removed, for example. This function can also be used to gather evidence against a cyber-bully or other perpetrator who attempts to destroy evidence or mask harmful activities using electronic means.
In an example, a safety system 110 can perform image capture and frequent logging of screenshots to assist with child safety and well-being on a user system 130 using the technical protocols described herein.
Thus, the systems described herein can protect the lives and well-being of children. Monitoring of devices (for example, Android, iOS, or other devices that are examples of user systems 130) can be accomplished remotely by parents using tablets, laptops or home computers (which can provide a parent access to the safety system 110). The systems described herein pay attention to children's behavior on their smartphones, and tablets so users can be a parent, even in their world—that is, even when fast-evolving modern technology and social systems are being used by children on a constantly evolving basis. These systems can provide simple, real-time notifications that brings vulgar, derogatory and suspicious online behavior to a user's attention so parents have the opportunity to react when it matters. These systems can provide alerts to potential cyberbullying—which can be purely electronic, or a precursor or adjunct to physical bullying. These systems give parents the opportunity to open a sensitive and timely dialogue with children child about the challenges they may be facing. The systems described herein can do what caring parents can't, due to technological impediments and time constraints. Thus, the described systems empower users with awareness by monitoring children's smartphone and tablet activity including internet, social media, and texting, so parents can teach and assist their children, for example.
An example system can protect one or more devices (e.g., a user system 130) using a monitor dashboard (e.g., a user interface module 116 and/or an account management module 120) and notifications. Systems and methods such as those presented herein can allow parents (or any users, but generalized users can be referred to as “parents” herein) to protect multiple devices (e.g., user systems 130) such as tablets and phones. Parents can customize the alerts and other information they wish to receive about their child's social communications and behavior. Thus, a single responsible user can have a device or web interface that tracks information sent by or received by one or more other devices (e.g., user systems 130) that are used by those over whom the responsible user has parental or other authority for safety and well-being.
To accomplish these goals of safety and well-being, a responsible user can have access to a “monitor dashboard,” which is an example of a user interface module 116 and/or an account management module as illustrated with respect to the safety system 110 of
Organization of information in a dashboard view can be highly effective in making a monitoring application effective. A dashboard can allow at least some portion of various data resources to be visible at the same time, but allow a single interactive view from which more details can be accessed for any of those data resources. The portion viewable in the dashboard view can provide decision-making information that helps a user assess whether the additional details should be accessed. For example, a dashboard can include information about how many “alerts” have occurred since the last time details were viewed. Additional disclosure on these and related topics are provided herein with respect to many of the figures. It can be helpful to organize notifications and content according to which child's device is the source of a notification.
It can also be helpful to organize notifications according to perceived priority or threat level. Default presumed threat levels can be established in the system. In some cases, a parent/user may establish their own hierarchy of priorities for notifications. Higher threats or more urgent priorities can be listed or displayed more prominently, and/or they can lead to more drastic notifications. For example, a threat of physical harm may cause a monitor dashboard to proactively send a text or other message to a parent's phone, using the audio aspect of a ringing phone to alert a parent to imminent danger for a child. To take another example, receipt of a crude or otherwise inappropriate image, or receipt of anything at all from a designated threat source, can give rise to visual, tactile, haptic, audio, or other feedback, either through or facilitated by a monitor dashboard. Notifications can be provided as real-time alerts, giving parents the opportunity to become aware of cyberbullying and inappropriate behavior, in a timely manner.
A monitor dashboard (e.g., a user interface module 116) can depend on information fed to it from sources that continuously or periodically monitor and access content on a child's device. This can be accomplished through software that is installed on a child's device (e.g., a safety system plugin 132) or otherwise has access to—for example, through a cellular network or data-provider's servers—information coming to and leaving from a child's device. That software (or a server accessible therefrom via a network 102) can automatically translate these communications and parse or otherwise analyze them to identify what portions of these communications involve actual content sent to or from a child. Such parsing can increase efficiency when transmitted data volume is high by ignoring some aspects of headers or other technical trappings and focusing instead on substantive content (for example, the actual text of an SMS, the actual images attached to an e-mail or delivered through a snap-chat type platform, etc.) Monitoring software can be periodically updated to support monitoring of applications deemed to be new threat sources. Thus, periodic updating and interaction with a remote server can be very helpful to improve effectiveness of such monitoring software.
Beneficial features of a system can include one or more of the following features: (1) a dashboard such as that discussed above. This can be a real-time dashboard that parents can use to stay informed on the mobile phone and tablet usage habits of their children. “Real time” can indicate that updates or notifications can occur on a time scale that is relatively rapid with respect to some other underlying time scale, it can refer to virtually instantaneous updates, or it can refer to updates that occur within seconds or minutes. (2) Ability to monitor applications, or “apps.” Thus, a parent can be notified of installed apps on a child's phone or tablet. To assist users who may not be familiar with the latest applications, detailed descriptions can be provided of the leading applications on a child's phone and why a parent should or should not be concerned. (3) Ability to monitor text messages, for example those provided through a short message service (“SMS”). Thus, a parent may have the ability to view all the SMS messages sent and received by their child's device, with the ability to receive notifications when words of concern are used. Parents can also be notified when flagged contacts (that is, contacts of a child that have previously been identified as a potential problem or threat source) send something to the child (for example, an SMS message). (4) Ability to monitor browsing or other usage of the world-wide web (“WWW,” or “web”). Parents can receive alerts when flagged URLs such as porn and other inappropriate websites are accessed from a child's device. (5) Ability to monitor social media. A parent may be able to view photos uploaded to a child's Social Media accounts in one convenient location, and receive alerts when content (for example, words, music, or images) of concern are used on social networks. (6) Location Tracking. Parents can view current and past locations of their child's device, and create areas (geo-fences) where the child cannot use their phone (i.e. school) or the parent will be notified. Geo-fencing features can provide exceptions for emergencies. Such exceptions can be accomplished through a permission system involving a parent's remote decision through a dashboard, for example. Another example is an ability to telephone a parent notwithstanding a geo-fence blocking all other calls from a particular location. (7) Curfew. Parents can establish time restrictions on when the child can use their mobile devices. For example, if the child tries to use the device during restricted times, the parent can be notified immediately. Exceptions for emergencies can also be implemented here. (8) Notifications. All notifications or alerts can be set to real time, hourly, daily, or weekly summary reports. Notifications can be accompanied by icons or particular colors indicating a level of priority or urgency. They can also include icons indicating that the source of a notification is a software program such as those with one or more functions described herein.
In addition to the figures included herewith and described herein, reference is made to U.S. design patent application No. 29/509,071, which provides additional interface views, examples of how information can be viewed, and views of controls allowing users to interact with a computer through a user interface. The entire disclosure of this design application is incorporated by reference herein for all that it contains and is made part of this specification.
In an example, a safety system 110 can identify and report on device status (e.g., installation of a safety application or plugin, GPS status, data connection, and/or whether a user system 130 is powered on) using the technical protocols described herein. In one embodiment, the safety system 110 can call on operating system modules such as content providers (for Android OS) to access device status. In some embodiments, device status monitoring may also be implemented as described herein with respect to Device Status Agent.
Messages with filtered words can be highlighted (e.g., using a different text or background color such as red) or otherwise identified or distinguished in order to draw the attention of a user. A “filtered word” can be a word that appears in a black list or a block list, and can be a vulgarity or epithet, for example. Thus, “filtering” can refer to searching for forbidden or problem words, or it can refer to allowing some words to pass while blocking others. This selection can also reveal further selectable controls specific to various potential SMS interlocutors with whom a child may converse through texts, as shown in the sidebar listing names. Various SMS senders can be listed (as shown at 1612 with the example list of names: Jacob, Sophia, Mason, Emma, Ethan, and Isabella). At 1616, search results may be shown (this may be accomplished on the fly as search terms are entered without a user needing to refresh a page). Clicking on the hyperlinked text “go to conversation” can display a message in context in the center of the window. Other views related to SMS filtering that may provide similar functionality to that described with respect to
In some embodiments, the safety system 110 need not be installed on the user system 130 of the parents. Instead, the safety system 110 can send notifications 2402 via SMS or data messaging to any e-mail or other account. Parents may be monitoring more than one of their children. Thus, the notification 2402 can include the identity of the child concerning the alert. In some embodiments, the notification 2402 can also include a full quotation or an excerpt of the content at issue. The content at issue can be a text message, a multimedia message, a URL, etc. For messages, the notification may also identify the sender or the recipient of the message. The safety system 110 can determine the threat level of the content to the child before interrupting the parent's user system. As shown in
Parenting is not easy. Parents are often at a loss to identify and resolve some of the issues that they encounter with their children. The safety system 110 includes technical solutions to assist parents on at least two aspects of parenting—identification of a problem and presenting solutions (or at least identifying resources for learning and finding help leading to potential solutions). For example, parents might find through the safety system 110 that their children are being bullied or harassed, or that they might be considering drinking or trying drugs. This can represent identification of a problem, and it can occur through parental access to the texts, images, applications, or websites to which a child is exposed.
Technical features of the described system can allow better and faster access to relevant background information on the topics raised by the monitoring and notification features of the described system. For example, automatic keyword searching or automatic alerts based on use of any of the particular features described above can give rise to content suggestions—for example, links to relevant blog posts, support tickets, or forum discussions. Such automatic alerts can sort by relevance, date (putting most recent first), by user rating (putting those most used or most highly approved or most-viewed first), etc. As discussed above, the safety system 110 can determine certain keywords or identify content from the images. For example, the safety system 110 can determine words such as “drink” in messages: “Man, that was a close call at the checkpoint; Told you shouldn't drink and drive.” Other examples are provided in
The mobile safety monitor 110 can suggest content—for example, relevant articles from social scientists, therapists, medical professionals or others—based on the keyword and image detection. Content may not be unique to a user community for the systems and features described here, and can also be drawn from larger web searches or syndications services. Content can be marked as unique to the user community or as drawn from other sources, and may include links to sources so users can assess credibility. Content can be sorted by reaction or preference from a user community, such that content giving rise to more comments, longer reading times, more forwards, etc. can be featured, de-emphasized, or removed, depending on the type of feedback involved.
The safety system 110 can store in the data repository 150 written and audio-visual materials such as articles, books, podcasts, or videos. The data repository 150 can also store links to professionals who may be able to assist parents in identifying solutions. The safety system 110 can suggest content and/or provide access to professionals based on identification of one or more issues discussed above. As an example, besides the notification of the “drink” message, the safety system 110 can include links to articles dealing with alcohol and teenagers. The safety system 110 can also include link to one or more professionals that parents can directly interact with via text, audio, and/or visual communications. Accordingly, the safety system 110 can connect parents with the resources they need to help their children.
The safety system 110 can also analyze a child's usage pattern of their user system to determine community content. For example, the safety system 110 can collect data on messaging use, application use, social networking use, picture capturing usage by the child, etc. Based on this gathered data, the safety system 110 can determine whether a particular behavior with respect to using a computing device is deviating from the norm. Accordingly, the safety system 110 can suggest to the parents, via one of the user interfaces shown herein, community content that can assist parents. Further, the safety system 110 can be used to implement the solutions identified in the content directly such as setting certain restrictions or curfew on the use of one or more computing devices. Based in part on the drinking and driving text, for example, the safety system 110 can provide parents with an option to disable user system 130 while the child is driving (that is when the user system 130 is moving at a speed over a threshold). The safety system 110 can also automatically provide other restriction settings as described below with respect to
In an example, a safety system 110 can analyze a child's usage pattern of their user system to determine content recommendations, using one or more of the following technical protocols. For example, the safety system 110 can automatically implement or recommend curfew protocols based on child's usage patterns. For example, if the child is using their phone while in school or driving, the safety system 110 can automatically block the texting functionality of the phone. Further, the safety system 110 can receive input from parents through a survey or questionnaire to automatically recommend phone usage settings for their children.
Further to the description provided herein with respect to
In
In an example, a safety system 110 can provide a single application software download that can function in either child mode or parent mode, depending on a selection in a process as indicated in FIGURES, 3C, 31 and 32, using one or more of the following technical protocols.
In some embodiments, the safety system 110 can track location data received from the user system of the child over time and identify patterns. For example, the safety system 110 can automatically send an alert when the location of the child's user system has deviated from the norm (for example, more than 100 yards, 500 yards, 1 mile, 5 miles, 25 miles, etc. away from the school during the time when the child should be in school, more than a threshold distance (e.g., 500 yards, 5 miles, 20 miles, etc.) away from home any time of the day). The safety system 110 can also determine if the child has visited a new location or is visiting a particular location with high frequency. The safety system 110 can store locations and location history in data repository 140. Accordingly, parents can use the user interface 3300 to determine where their child's device was at a particular day and time by using the time bar 3306.
The length of time spent in a geographical location can also be tracked. If a child stays at a friend's house much longer than expected, an alert can be generated. Thus, the calendar and mapping features described herein can be combined to create a hybrid between the geofence features and the curfew or other scheduling features. Thus, a child's smart phone can include software that automatically notifies a parent through a parent portal when a child deviates slightly or drastically from a planned schedule. Dangerous or unwanted neighborhoods can be identified geographically and parents alerted when a child ventures within a given distance of such locations. The system can track or otherwise receive data from other interactive applications that provide updates relating to neighborhoods that may become more or less dangerous over time, and incorporate this data into automatic or suggested alert functions.
Location information can also be integrated with other functionality of the system. For example, certain applications may be allowed in some locations, and not in others. Thus, a full curfew-based lock-down of the phone may not occur while Billy is attending his piano lesson at (Miss Jones' house at the corner of first and elm, for example), but certain restrictions may apply, disabling all installed gaming applications but not the phone, camera, and recording functions, for example. Thus, the system can be used to help improve the chances that a child will not only be in the right place at the right time, but also will not be engaged in unwanted activities for that place and time. Although the calendar feature illustrated in
In some embodiments, the safety system 110 inhibits all of the functionalities of the user system 130 when curfew mode is activated. In some embodiments, the safety system 110 can permit voice calls to a preselected group of individuals including emergency numbers using link 3632 in curfew mode. The safety system 110 can prevent bypassing the curfew screen 3630 by using authentication processes described above. In some embodiments, the safety system 110 can block features of the user system by accessing the boot module of the operating system running on the user system 130. The safety system 110 may also generate notifications when a user (for example child) attempts to bypass the curfew screen 3630. The safety system 110 can transmit the notifications to parent's user system 130.
In some embodiments, the safety system 110 can automatically enable curfew mode when the child is driving. The safety system 110 can determine the speed at which the user system 130 is moving and enable curfew mode when the speed exceeds a threshold. The threshold can be 25 mph.
The timeline 3701 of
The safety system 110 can also generate a location status 3742 of the child and include it in the dashboard interface 3700. For instance, the dashboard interface 3700 can include a map with a location status 3742 of the child's user system. In some embodiment, parents may use the safety system 110 to activate the GPS module in the child's user system remotely to get a better location of the child's user system. The safety system 110 can monitor a status of the child's user system 130, including status of communications module of the device 130, as indicated in the device status portion 3750 of the dashboard interface 3700. The communications module of the device can include data connection, GPS, or NFC. The safety system 110 can poll the device 130 for status of its modules. In some embodiments, a module of the safety system 110 resident on the child's user system 130 (e.g., a plugin 132) can monitor the status of the user system 130 by polling the operating system of the user system 130 or by directly accessing particular hardware or software modules of the user system 130. The safety system 110 can include the status 3750 of the child's user system in the dashboard user interface 3700.
The dashboard user interface 3700 generated by the safety system 110 can also include a photos summary 3760 related to a child. As discussed above, the safety system can mine a child's user system for photos taken, sent or received via the child's user system 130. In some embodiments, the safety system 110 can intercept the photos and/or videos taken from the memory of the user system 130 before they are deleted by applications like Snapchat or by users of the user system. The safety system 110 can also mine through social networking data repositories to retrieve pictures and/or videos related to the child. The safety system 110 can use image recognition or use a child's password to obtain the photos and videos from the child's account. In some embodiments, the corresponding comments relating to the images are also retrieved by the safety system 110. Selecting the photos summary 3760 can change a view focusing on the photos that may be similar to
The dashboard user interface 3700 generated by the safety system 110 can include a contacts summary bar 3720 that can illustrate a group of people who communicate with a user of a user system 130. For instance, the safety system 110 can monitor communications from the user system 130 and via social networking platforms as discussed herein. Based on the monitoring, the safety system 110 can determine a group of people that a child communicates with most frequently using various modes of communications. The safety system 110 can display this group of people with high communication frequency in the contacts summary bar 3720 as illustrated in
Parents can also navigate between monitoring multiple children. For example, the safety system 110 can store monitored data for each of the children using respective computer devices in data repository 140. Based on the stored data, the safety system 110 can generate the dashboard user interface 3700. In some embodiments, the safety system 110 can distinguish notifications based on children. For example, parents can select a link 3702 corresponding to a first child or links 3706 and 3710 for second and third children, respectively, to access monitored data for each child. In some embodiments, the safety system 110 can indicate new notifications 3708 by superimposing numbers on icons representing particular children as illustrated in
Parents can share information from a dashboard view (or any of the disclosed views) with each other. For example, a screen shot from the parent portal can be automatically e-mailed to a spouse or saved for later reference or proof. When time, place, and activity tracking functions are combined as discussed herein, each child can have a single status indicator showing how the child's current location and activities (for example, phone usage) may or may not currently comply with a comprehensive schedule created by the parent or child, for example. Periods of non-compliance can be tracked and recorded. Children can compete with each other to achieve higher levels of schedule compliance and be rewarded with later curfews or other differences in allowed phone usage. The disclosed systems can automatically arrange and administer such beneficial competition because it tracks usage, timing, and location, as well as controls smart-phone lock-out and other curfew options. Thus, obedience and other desired behavior can be incentivized automatically using the system.
The safety system 110 can also include a sidebar 3770 to access other user interfaces generated by the safety system 110 as discussed with respect to
In some embodiments, the safety system 110 may modify the contact summary bar 4410 included in the SMS activity interface 4600. For example, the safety system 110 may organize and sort contacts in the bar 4410 based solely on SMS instead of other modes of communications discussed above with respect to
In some embodiments, the safety system 110 can enable parents to define their own custom rules 4708 for filtering messages. For instance, parents can select certain words (for example “drunk”) or terms and connectors (“drunk” near “driving”). The safety system 110 can use these custom rules to filter messages. The safety system 110 can also track word usages and include a listing of most used words in a list 4710 as illustrated. The safety system 110 can employ image recognition or optical character recognition to prevent contacts from using picture in messages to avoid bypassing filters.
The safety system 110 can enable parents to track location of children over time using a timeline search control 4942 shown in
As discussed herein, the safety system 110 can apply curfew settings automatically based on locations, places, or geofences. For example, entry into a safe zone or getting out of curfew time may automatically reactivate some of the functionality of the user system 130.
Account settings interactive screens, such as
The tabs 5103 can include, for example, an “account info” tab, a “profile” tab, a “notifications” tab, and a “devices” tab. The devices screen 5100 can be accessed by selecting the device tab, and this screen can include an existing device box 5102 showing details of devices already added (and allowing for their removal), as well as administrative tools to register additional controller user systems 130 (e.g., user systems 130 used by parents) with the safety system 110. The safety system 110 can add a registered controller user system 130 as one of the devices to send notifications to regarding child user systems 130 using the add device control 5104. For example, both parents can receive updates from children's user system 130 once their devices are registered with the safety system. Subscription plan information can be included at 5112, a devices installed and remaining dialogue 5120 can be provided, and an “upgrade” button 5124 can allow a user to increase the number of registered devices.
When Billy's identifier 5214 is selected from an account management screen (e.g., the screen shown in
Setting up a child device can be initiated on that child's mobile device as illustrated in
A number of computing systems have been described throughout this disclosure. The descriptions of these systems are not intended to limit the teachings or applicability of this disclosure. For example, the user systems and described herein can generally include any computing device(s), such as desktops, laptops, video game platforms, television set-top boxes, televisions (for example, internet TVs), computerized appliances, and wireless mobile devices (for example smart phones, PDAs, tablets, or the like), to name a few. Further, it is possible for the user systems described herein to be different types of devices, to include different applications, or to otherwise be configured differently. In addition, the user systems described herein can include any type of operating system (“OS”). For example, the mobile computing systems described herein can implement an Android™ OS, a Windows® OS, a Mac® OS, a Linux or Unix-based OS, or the like.
In some embodiments, the safety system 110 described above may operate with mobile computing systems using Android OS. As discussed above, the Android OS may provide software libraries to access and/or control the mobile systems. For example, the safety system 110 can include an Apps Agent, which may use one or more of Android's classes for at least one of the following operations: retrieve a list of installed apps, retrieve a list of uninstalled apps, and track usage of currently installed apps. The Apps Agent may use one or more of the following classes: AppsAgentService, AppsIconService, AppsInstall Service, App sUninstall Service, AppsUsageService, AppsUsageSyncService, ProtectedActivity, AppModel, PackageIntentReceiver, or AppsLoader. The Apps Agent can run at specific intervals based on a Frequency Agent Service. The App Agent can check for the history of apps installation from Android's Package Manager and then check it against the currently synced apps from the server, if it is not synced then, the App Agent may then check if the app is currently installed to classify it as installed or uninstalled. If an app is already synced to the server, the Apps agent may check for the difference (in time) of the app's launch until it closed.
The safety system 110 can also include a Curfew Agent, which may use one or more of Android's classes for at least one of the following operations: retrieve current date/time, and lock phone. The Curfew Agent may use one or more of the following classes: CurfewAgentService, ProtectedActivity, Curfew, CurfewManager, or StaticCurfewManager. The Curfew Agent can retrieve current date and time. The Curfew Agent can runs at specific intervals based on Frequency Agent Service. The Curfew Agent can retrieve a list of preidentified curfew time from the server and then check it against the current date and time of the device. If the current date and time retrieved from the server matches the device's current date and time, the Curfew Agent can lock the device and set the lock's password the current websafety account logged into the device.
The safety system 110 can also include a Device Status Agent, which may use one or more of Android's classes for at least one of the following operations: retrieve device's power state, retrieve device's connection type (WiFi or cellular) and status, retrieve device's GPS status, and retrieve installation state of the safety system on the mobile device. The Device Status Agent may use one or more of the following classes: DeviceStatusAgentService, ProtectedActivity, BootCompleteReceiver, NetworkChangeReceiver, or ShutDownReceiver.
The safety system 110 can also include a Location Agent, which may use one or more of Android's classes for at least retrieving device's geographical location. The Location Agent can runs at specific intervals based on Frequency Agent Service. The Location Agent can checks for the current device's location if a location provider is available (GPS or Mobile). If a location provider is available, it can then sends the device's current location to the server. The Location Agent may use one or more of the following classes: FuseLocationAgentService, LocationAgentService, ProtectedActivity, and GPSLocationChangeReciever.
The safety system 110 can also include an SMS agent, which may use one or more of Android's classes for at least retrieving device's SMS threads and messages. The SMS agent can runs at specific intervals based on Frequency Agent Service. In one embodiment, the SMS agent can checks for unsynced message threads from the last 6 hours. If the message thread is not synced yet, it may flag it as unsyned and sends the thread details (message thread id, messages, thread sender, and thread receiver) to the server. Otherwise, if a thread is already synced, the SMS Agent may then check if there are new messages within the thread and sync it to the server per thread accordingly. The SMS Agent may use an SMSAgentService class.
The safety system 110 can also include a WWW Agent, which may use one or more of Android's classes for at least retrieving device's browsing history. The WWW Agent can runs at specific intervals based on Frequency Agent Service. The WWW Agent can retrieves the device's browsing history since the last query and send it to the server. The WWW Agent may use one or more of the following classes: WWWAgentService or Bookmark.
The safety system 110 can also include a Frequency Agent Service, which may use one or more Android's classes for at least retrieving the frequency of services server synchronization rate. For instance, the Frequency Agent Service can retrieve parent set update frequency from the dashboard. The Frequency Agent Service can use UpdateFrequencyAgentService.
Further, the processing of the various components of the illustrated systems can be distributed across multiple machines, networks, and other computing resources. In addition, two or more components of a system can be combined into fewer components. For example, the various systems illustrated can be distributed across multiple computing systems, or combined into a single computing system. Further, various components of the illustrated systems can be implemented in one or more virtual machines, rather than in dedicated computer hardware systems. Likewise, the data repositories shown can represent physical and/or logical data storage, including, for example, storage area networks or other distributed storage systems. Moreover, in some embodiments the connections between the components shown represent possible paths of data flow, rather than actual connections between hardware. While some examples of possible connections are shown, any of the subset of the components shown can communicate with any other subset of components in various implementations.
Depending on the embodiment, certain acts, events, or functions of any of the algorithms, methods, or processes described herein can be performed in a different sequence, can be added, merged, or left out altogether (for example, not all described acts or events are necessary for the practice of the algorithms). Moreover, in certain embodiments, acts or events can be performed concurrently, for example, through multi-threaded processing, interrupt processing, or multiple processors or processor cores or on other parallel architectures, rather than sequentially.
Each of the various illustrated systems may be implemented as a computing system that is programmed or configured to perform the various functions described herein. The computing system may include multiple distinct computers or computing devices (for example, physical servers, workstations, storage arrays, etc.) that communicate and interoperate over a network to perform the described functions. Each such computing device typically includes a processor (or multiple processors) that executes program instructions or modules stored in a memory or other non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. The various functions disclosed herein may be embodied in such program instructions, although some or all of the disclosed functions may alternatively be implemented in application-specific circuitry (for example, ASICs or FPGAs) of the computer system. Where the computing system includes multiple computing devices, these devices may, but need not, be co-located. The results of the disclosed methods and tasks may be persistently stored by transforming physical storage devices, such as solid state memory chips and/or magnetic disks, into a different state. Each process described may be implemented by one or more computing devices, such as one or more physical servers programmed with associated server code.
Embodiments of the disclosed systems and methods may be used and/or implemented with local and/or remote devices, components, and/or modules. The term “remote” may include devices, components, and/or modules not stored locally, for example, not accessible via a local bus. Thus, a remote device may include a device which is physically located in the same room and connected via a device such as a switch or a local area network. In other situations, a remote device may also be located in a separate geographic area, such as, for example, in a different location, building, city, country, and so forth.
Methods and processes described herein may be embodied in, and partially or fully automated via, software code modules executed by one or more general and/or special purpose physical computing systems. The word “module” refers to logic embodied in hardware and/or firmware, or to a collection of software instructions, possibly having entry and exit points, written in a programming language, such as, for example, C or C++. A software module may be compiled and linked into an executable program, installed in a dynamically linked library, or may be written in an interpreted programming language such as, for example, BASIC, Perl, or Python. It will be appreciated that software modules may be callable from other modules or from themselves, and/or may be invoked in response to detected events or interrupts. Software instructions may be embedded in firmware, such as an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM). It will be further appreciated that hardware modules may be comprised of connected logic units, such as gates and flip-flops, and/or may be comprised of programmable units, such as programmable gate arrays, application specific integrated circuits, and/or processors. The modules described herein are preferably implemented as software modules, but may be represented in hardware and/or firmware. Moreover, although in some embodiments a module may be separately compiled, in other embodiments a module may represent a subset of instructions of a separately compiled program, and may not have an interface available to other logical program units.
In certain embodiments, code modules may be implemented and/or stored in any type of computer-readable medium or other computer storage device (for example, hard disks, RAM, ROM, flash memory, etc.). Computer-readable media include non-transitory computer-readable media such as magnetic storage, optical storage (for example, CD-ROMs or DVDs), semiconductor storage, etc. In some systems, data (and/or metadata) input to the system, data generated by the system, and/or data used by the system can be stored in any type of computer data repository, such as a relational database and/or flat file system. Any of the systems, methods, and processes described herein may include an interface configured to permit interaction with other systems, components, programs, and so forth.
Although sometimes described by partitioning functionality of the overall system into modules for ease of explanation, it is to be understood, that one or more modules may operate as a single unit. Conversely, a single module may comprise one or more subcomponents that are distributed throughout one or more locations. Further, the communication between the modules may occur in a variety of ways, such as hardware implementations (for example, over a network, serial interface, parallel interface, or internal bus), software implementations (for example, database, DDE, passing variables), firmware implementations, a combination of hardware and software, etc.
Conditional language used herein, such as, among others, “can,” “might,” “may,” “for example,” and the like, unless specifically stated otherwise, or otherwise understood within the context as used, is generally intended to convey that certain embodiments include, while other embodiments do not include, certain features, elements and/or states. Thus, such conditional language is not generally intended to imply that features, elements and/or states are in any way required for one or more embodiments or that one or more embodiments necessarily include logic for deciding, with or without author input or prompting, whether these features, elements and/or states are included or are to be performed in any particular embodiment. The terms “comprising,” “including,” “having,” and the like are synonymous and are used inclusively, in an open-ended fashion, and do not exclude additional elements, features, acts, operations, and so forth. Also, the term “or” is used in its inclusive sense (and not in its exclusive sense) so that when used, for example, to connect a list of elements, the term “or” means one, some, or all of the elements in the list. In addition, the articles “a” and “an” are to be construed to mean “one or more” or “at least one” unless specified otherwise.
Conjunctive language such as the phrase “at least one of X, Y and Z,” unless specifically stated otherwise, is otherwise understood with the context as used in general to convey that an item, term, etc. may be either X, Y or Z. Thus, such conjunctive language is not generally intended to imply that certain embodiments require at least one of X, at least one of Y and at least one of Z to each be present.
While the above detailed description has shown, described, and pointed out novel features as applied to various embodiments, it will be understood that various omissions, substitutions, and changes in the form and details of the devices or algorithms illustrated can be made without departing from the spirit of the disclosure. Thus, nothing in the foregoing description is intended to imply that any particular feature, characteristic, step, module, or block is necessary or indispensable. As will be recognized, the processes described herein can be embodied within a form that does not provide all of the features and benefits set forth herein, as some features can be used or practiced separately from others. The scope of protection is defined by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description.
Reference throughout this specification to “some embodiments” or “an embodiment” means that a particular feature, structure or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least some embodiments. Thus, appearances of the phrases “in some embodiments” or “in an embodiment” in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment and may refer to one or more of the same or different embodiments. Furthermore, the particular features, structures or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner, as would be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art from this disclosure, in one or more embodiments.
As used in this application, the terms “comprising,” “including,” “having,” and the like are synonymous and are used inclusively, in an open-ended fashion, and do not exclude additional elements, features, acts, operations, and so forth. Also, the term “or” is used in its inclusive sense (and not in its exclusive sense) so that when used, for example, to connect a list of elements, the term “or” means one, some, or all of the elements in the list.
Similarly, it should be appreciated that in the above description of embodiments, various features are sometimes grouped together in a single embodiment, figure, or description thereof for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure and aiding in the understanding of one or more of the various inventive aspects. This method of disclosure, however, is not to be interpreted as reflecting an intention that any claim require more features than are expressly recited in that claim. Rather, inventive aspects lie in a combination of fewer than all features of any single foregoing disclosed embodiment. Accordingly, no feature or group of features is necessary or indispensable to each embodiment.
A number of applications, publications, and external documents may be incorporated by reference herein. Any conflict or contradiction between a statement in the body text of this specification and a statement in any of the incorporated documents is to be resolved in favor of the statement in the body text.
Although described in the illustrative context of certain preferred embodiments and examples, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the disclosure extends beyond the specifically described embodiments to other alternative embodiments and/or uses and obvious modifications and equivalents. Thus, it is intended that the scope of the claims which follow should not be limited by the particular embodiments described above.
Any and all applications for which a foreign or domestic priority claim is identified in the Application Data Sheet as filed with the present application are hereby incorporated by reference under 37 CFR 1.57. In particular, the present application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 15/339,687, filed Oct. 31, 2016, which is a division of U.S. application Ser. No. 14/576,065, filed Dec. 18, 2014, and claims priority benefit under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) to: U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/918,607, filed Dec. 19, 2013; to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/019,828, filed Jul. 1, 2014; and to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/058,599, filed Oct. 1, 2014; each titled “DEVICES AND METHODS FOR IMPROVING WEB SAFETY AND DETERRENCE OF CYBERBULLYING.” The entire disclosure of each of the above items—including each appendix thereof, such as U.S. design patent application No. 29/504,071, filed Oct. 1, 2014, which is included as an appendix to the provisional application filed on that same date—is hereby made part of this specification as if set forth fully herein and incorporated by reference for all purposes, for all that they contain.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61918607 | Dec 2013 | US | |
| 62019828 | Jul 2014 | US | |
| 62058599 | Oct 2014 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 14576065 | Dec 2014 | US |
| Child | 15339687 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 15339687 | Oct 2016 | US |
| Child | 15804335 | US |
