Patent Application
20100121881
The present invention relates generally to electronic device monitoring, and more particularly to a method of logging images transferred to and from an electronic device.
Cellular phones, personal digital assistants and, in some cases, even standalone digital cameras and other mobile devices are often equipped with the ability to transfer images and video from one device to another. Due to the proliferation of mobile devices with photo and video capability, sometimes combined with internet access, it has become increasingly difficult to control what content is accessed by a user of such a device. It is difficult, for example, for a parent to know what his/her child is viewing, or for a manager to know what his/her employees are viewing on company-owned devices.
Many schools have decided to ban such devices outright because inappropriate content cannot be controlled. However, such devices may be very useful when a parent needs to contact a child, or the child is an emergency situation. In other situations, it may even be desired for a child (or employee) to have the ability to send and receive images. Images of family, friends, or a place that the user of a mobile device is trying to find may be enjoyable or provide helpful information. Sometimes, a picture is simply more helpful than words
Thus, there is a need to provide some control over images on a mobile device. The extremes of the prior art, namely, allowing unfettered usage of imaging features of mobile devices or not allowing such usage at all, are often unacceptable.
Embodiments of the present invention comprise a method and device for logging images transferred and received via a mobile device. A network node receives images transferred to or from a mobile device. The node stores the received images on a network data storage device, and provides access to the images only to an authorized user. The stored images may be reduced quality or original versions of the received images. The storing may comprise saving images received at the network node within a sliding time window, such as saving only images which have been received within the last 30 minutes, 24 hours, or 1 week.
In one embodiment, a restriction command may be received from the authorized user in order to restrict communication between the mobile device and another mobile device based on the restriction command. In another embodiment, the restriction command may identify a stored image, and the mobile device that transferred the identified image may be restricted. Alternatively, the restriction command may identify a stored image and the mobile device that received the identified image may be restricted.
The authorized user may be a mobile telephone plan subscriber, and the mobile device may be a mobile telephone within the mobile telephone plan.
Embodiments of the present invention comprise a method and device for logging images transferred and received via a mobile device, such as a cellular phone, personal digital assistant, laptop, and the like. At a network node, images transferred to or from a mobile device are received and then stored on a network data storage device. Access to the images on the network data storage device is provided only to an authorized user. The stored images may be reduced quality or original versions of the received images. The images may be saved within a sliding window, such as a quantity window, i.e., the last 5, 10, 20, or 100 images which have been received, or a time window, such as the past 30 minutes, 24 hours, or 1 week. Based on the stored images, the authorized user (which may be a single user or group of users falling within a class having access to the images stored on the network data storage device) may restrict future communication between the mobile device and another mobile device which received or sent the images.
In embodiments of the invention, one of the mobile devices, such as mobile device 110, is logged. By logging the device, all images transferred to the device or sent from the device are farther sent to the network storage device 140. These images are provided to an authorized user, such as an owner of a phone plan associated with the mobile device or a parent or employer of a user of the mobile device 110. The log of mobile device 110 may include only those images which are sent or received by mobile device 110. While any mobile device may be logged, for purposes of this disclosure, mobile device 110 will be used as an example of a logged mobile device.
Access to images stored on the network storage device 140 is secured and provided only to an authorized user, such as an owner of a phone service plan. A mobile device, such as mobile device 110, may be within a mobile telephone plan, and the authorized user may be a mobile telephone plan subscriber. The term “authorized user,” again, may refer to a single individual or any individual within a group of people who have legitimate access to the secure images on the network storage device. In embodiments of the invention, the mobile device 110 may be a device associated with day-to-day usage by a person other than a person who pays for a network service plan for the device. A user of such a mobile device 110 may be excluded from being an authorized user.
The images (or versions thereof) are received at a network node for placement into the network storage device 140. The images may be sent to the network storage device 140 by any one of the devices used during transmission of the images. For example, a cellular provider may route a copy or version of the image 150 to the network storage device during transmission through the wireless network.
Referring again to
The network storage device 180 further comprises a processor 182 that controls its overall operation by executing computer program instructions which define such operation. The computer program instructions may be stored in the storage device 188 (e.g., magnetic disk, database) and loaded into memory 184 when execution of the computer program instructions is desired. It is noted that the storage 188 may represent one or more of the same or different types of storage devices. Thus, the operation of the network storage device 180 will be defined by computer program instructions stored in memory 184 and/or storage 188, and the network storage device 180 will be controlled by processor 182 executing the computer program instructions. The computer program instructions may be used by the network storage device 180 to perform the steps described herein (e.g., the steps shown or described with reference to
For example, while the authorized user is viewing stored images the user may select a picture for viewing and/or click on a button or text near the picture which is configured to carry out a function of blocking future communication from and/or to a device which sent/received the image. The authorized user may decide to restrict communication based on identifying a stored image transferred to the mobile device in step 562 or a stored image transferred from the mobile device in step 564. Finally, in step 570, communication is restricted between the mobile device and another device. If future communications are sent from or to a restricted device, then such communications are restricted, that is, not sent as anticipated. A message or image may instead be sent to the logged mobile device or the other mobile device indicating as such. For example, a text message may be sent to the mobile device 110 and optionally to the mobile device 120 indicating that, “Your communication has been restricted. Please contact your administrator for further information.” An image indicating that the communication has been restricted or blocked may be sent in place of the original image desired to be sent. In this manner, the authorized used is able to view images, send a restriction command, and restrict communication between a mobile device under his control and another mobile device based on the restriction command received from the authorized user.
In order to more clearly describe the invention, examples are provided herein. A mobile device associated with a telephone number 555-555-1111 might receive a series of images from a mobile device associated with a telephone number 555-555-2222. The '1111 device may be a phone operated by a family member or employee of an authorized user. Images to the '1111 device are logged. The authorized user, in this example, may be a party who pays for the mobile service plan. The image sent from the '2222 device to the '1111 device may be sent via a communication channel, such as the wireless or cellular network, and, at a network node of the cellular provider, in step 430, the image is received, and the image is copied to a network storage device in step 440 and logged. The authorized user, such as the person or entity paying for the mobile service plan can then access the log (see step 550). If, for example, he disapproves of the communication (i.e. sending or receiving) of an image, he may restrict communication based on the image (see step 560). This may be accomplished by sending a restriction command to a network node which receives the command and carries out the restriction of communication between the logged mobile device and another mobile device. The command may be sent via a web browser. Thus, all further communication from and to the '1111 device which involves the '2222 device may be blocked by the authorized user (see step 570). If the image was associated with an IP (internet protocol) address of the '2222 device instead of or in addition to the phone number, communication to or originating from the device based on the IP address could be blocked instead or in addition. It should also be understood that the communications which are blocked may be any one, or a plurality, of image transfers, data transfers, text messaging, and voice communications to and/or from a device.
