Patent Application
20230319059
The present disclosure generally relates to determining trusted contacts in a secure messaging platform and more particularly to viewing user presence in an end-to-end encrypted communication platform.
Conventionally, people can communicate electronically via dedicated messaging platforms and social media platforms with electronic communication features. A growing trend is for these platforms to facilitate end-to-end encryption on electronic communications they handle. End-to-end encryption helps in protecting privacy and confidential information; however, challenges remain with respect to closing all potential gaps in privacy protection.
The subject disclosure provides for systems and methods for determining trusted contacts in a secure messaging platform. A user is allowed to control their “Online” presence on an end-to-end encrypted messaging platform so that viewing it is not limited to users in their address book. For example, the user's “Online” presence may be set to be visible to other users that they (1) have communicated via secure message but (2) are not in the user's address book, all while maintaining enhanced privacy and deniability.
One aspect of the present disclosure relates to a method for determining trusted contacts in a secure messaging platform. The method may include generating, by a first user, a message to a second user. The message may include a secure token. The method may include sending the message from the first user to the second user. The second user and the first user may be new to each other. The method may include determining that the second user received the message from the first user. The method may include querying, by the second user, an online presence of the first user. The method may include receiving the secure token of the message from the second user. The method may include, in response to receiving the secure token, verifying the online presence of the first user based on the secure token. The method may include sending information regarding the online presence of the first user to the second user.
Another aspect of the present disclosure relates to a system configured for determining trusted contacts in a secure messaging platform. The system may include one or more hardware processors configured by machine-readable instructions. The processor(s) may be configured to generate, by a first user, a message to a second user. The message may include a secure token. An address book of the first user may not include the second user and vice versa. The secure token may be generated based on a server secret. The processor(s) may be configured to send the message from the first user to the second user. The second user and the first user may be new to each other. The processor(s) may be configured to determine that the second user received the message from the first user. The processor(s) may be configured to query, by the second user, an online presence of the first user. The processor(s) may be configured to receive the secure token of the message from the second user. The processor(s) may be configured to, in response to receiving the secure token, verify the online presence of the first user based on the secure token. The processor(s) may be configured to send information regarding the online presence of the first user to the second user. The processor(s) may be configured to allow the second user to view the online presence of the first user.
Yet another aspect of the present disclosure relates to a non-transient computer-readable storage medium having instructions embodied thereon, the instructions being executable by one or more processors to perform a method for determining trusted contacts in a secure messaging platform. The method may include generating, by a first user, a message to a second user. The message may include a secure token. An address book of the first user may not include the second user and vice versa. The secure token may be generated based on a server secret. The server secret may periodically expire and be re-generated. The method may include sending the message from the first user to the second user. The second user and the first user may be new to each other. The method may include determining that the second user received the message from the first user. The method may include querying, by the second user, an online presence of the first user. The method may include receiving the secure token of the message from the second user. The method may include storing the secure token by the second user. The method may include, in response to receiving the secure token, verifying the online presence of the first user based on the secure token. The method may include sending information regarding the online presence of the first user to the second user. The method may include allowing the second user to view the online presence of the first user.
Still another aspect of the present disclosure relates to a system configured for determining trusted contacts in a secure messaging platform. The system may include means for generating, by a first user, a message to a second user. The message may include a secure token. The system may include means for sending the message from the first user to the second user. The second user and the first user may be new to each other. The system may include means for determining that the second user received the message from the first user. The system may include means for querying, by the second user, an online presence of the first user. The system may include means for receiving the secure token of the message from the second user. The system may include means for, in response to receiving the secure token, verifying the online presence of the first user based on the secure token. The system may include means for sending information regarding the online presence of the first user to the second user.
To easily identify the discussion of any particular element or act, the most significant digit or digits in a reference number refer to the figure number in which that element is first introduced.
In one or more implementations, not all of the depicted components in each figure may be required, and one or more implementations may include additional components not shown in a figure. Variations in the arrangement and type of the components may be made without departing from the scope of the subject disclosure. Additional components, different components, or fewer components may be utilized within the scope of the subject disclosure.
In the following detailed description, numerous specific details are set forth to provide a full understanding of the present disclosure. It will be apparent, however, to one ordinarily skilled in the art, that the embodiments of the present disclosure may be practiced without some of these specific details. In other instances, well-known structures and techniques have not been shown in detail so as not to obscure the disclosure.
In existing technologies, any user of an end-to-end encrypted messaging platform may be able to view “Online” presence of any other user provided they have the other user's phone number. There may be no way for a user to limit the audience for their “Online” presence through privacy settings. For example, a user may not limit their “Online” presence to be visible to users that the user has exchanged messages with or contacts in the user's address book. Many users communicate with other users that are not in their address book. Knowing those users' “Online” presence may be important to facilitate many conversations. Furthermore, in regions with poor connectivity, users may rely on “Online” presence or “LastSeen” indicators when messaging to save bandwidth and/or data usage.
The subject disclosure provides for systems and methods for determining trusted contacts in a secure messaging platform. A user is allowed to control their “Online” presence on an end-to-end encrypted messaging platform so that viewing it is not limited to users in their address book. For example, the user's “Online” presence may be set to be visible to other users that they (1) have communicated via secure message but (2) are not in the user's address book, all while maintaining enhanced privacy and deniability.
Implementations described herein address the aforementioned shortcomings and other shortcomings by providing knowledge of all users of an end-to-end encrypted messaging platform that a given user has exchanged a message with while respecting potential privacy issues. For example, when a first user sends a message to a second user, a cryptographic proof may be generated by a server and sent to the second user's client device for storage. The cryptographic proof may only be generated if the first user's “Online” or “LastSeen” privacy setting is set to “Everyone” and the second user is not in the first user's address book. Given that the server has no record of whether the cryptographic proof has been sent to the second user's client device, the server may send the cryptographic proof every time the first user sends a message to the second user.
For all “Online/LastSeen” subscriptions, the second user's client device may supply the cryptographic proof to the server. The server may compute the cryptographic proof every time by combining the first and second users' phone numbers with a secret HMAC key that is only known to the server and comparing the result with the cryptographic proof supplied by the second user. If there is a match or the second user is in the first user's address book, then “Online/LastSeen” subscription may be served.
Exemplary implementations may make online presence more private. Conventionally, users may have no control over the visibility of their online presence, and anyone can see (and scrape) whether the user behind a phone number is currently online on a secure messaging platform. Websites like chatwatch.net have built a business model around allowing you to spy on other people, see when they go to bed, when they get up, who they might be talking to, and they do all of this through scraping online presence from the secure messaging platform. Exemplary implementations may give users control over who can see their online presence status. Some platforms may include improved default privacy settings from “Everybody can see when I'm online” to “Only people I've messaged can see when I'm online.” Exemplary implementations may provide infrastructure needed for a new privacy option “People I've messaged” that can be applied to privacy settings.
As shown in
A server (e.g., server 104 and/or server 204) may generate and store a global server secret to be used for the HMAC computations. The secret may be stored via a keychain service. The server may periodically re-generate this secret and delete old ones after a time window. In some implementations, the time window may be determined based on whether TCTokens generated with this key could still be valid. In some implementations, the TCTokens may be generated irrespective of whether Bob is in Alice's address book or not. The TCTokens may be generated for one-on-one conversations, but not for group chats.
When receiving a presence subscription from Bob for Alice, the server 204 may check whether Bob is in Alice's address book and whether a potentially supplied TCToken is valid. The server 204 may only allow the subscription if one of those is true. If the subscription is not allowed, the server may answer the presence request with “unavailable last_seen=deny.”
Bob's device may read a TCToken from incoming messages and store it next to the message channel secrets it needs to encrypt/decrypt communication with Alice. If the incoming TCToken is different from a previously stored TCToken, the previously stored TCToken may be deleted. When querying Alice's online presence, Bob's device may send the TCToken for Alice back to the server. Bob does not know what Alice's privacy settings are, so Bob may always include a TCToken in presence subscriptions.
In some implementations, when Bob queries Alice's online presence, the server 206 may check Alice's privacy setting and only report her as online if the privacy check passes. If the privacy check doesn't pass, Bob may not get notified about this.
The disclosed system(s) address a problem in traditional determining trusted contacts in a secure messaging platform techniques tied to computer technology, namely, the technical problem of revealing a user's “Online” presence to other users that are not in a user's address book. The disclosed system solves this technical problem by providing a solution also rooted in computer technology, namely, by providing for viewing user presence in an end-to-end encrypted communication platform. The disclosed subject technology further provides improvements to the functioning of the computer itself because it improves processing and efficiency in determining trusted contacts in a secure messaging platform.
Computing platform(s) 402 may be configured by machine-readable instructions 406. Machine-readable instructions 406 may include one or more instruction modules. The instruction modules may include computer program modules. The instruction modules may include one or more of message generating module 408, message sending module 410, user determination module 412, presence querying module 414, token receiving module 416, presence verification module 418, information sending module 420, message receiving module 422, presence allowing module 424, user adding module 426, token storing module 428, and/or other instruction modules.
Message generating module 408 may be configured to generate, by a first user, a message to a second user. In some implementations, the secure messaging platform may be an end-to-end encrypted messaging platform. The message may include a secure token. The secure token may be generated based on a server secret. The server secret may include a cryptographic key known only to a server of the secure messaging platform. In some implementations, the server secret periodically may expire and is re-generated. In some implementations, vice versa. In some implementations, the server secret expiring may include becoming useless or nonexistent. In some implementations, the server secret re-generating may include generating the server secret anew.
The secure token may include a trusted contact token. The secure token may include a hash-based message authentication code (HMAC). The HMAC may use a shared secret rather than using digital signatures with asymmetric cryptography. The HMAC may be configured to delegate a key exchange to the first user and the second user through the secure messaging platform prior to communication. A cryptographic hash function may be used to determine the HMAC. The cryptographic hash function may include one or both of SHA-2 or SHA-3. The secure token may be added to a stanza of the message sent by the first user to the second user.
Message sending module 410 may be configured to send the message from the first user to the second user. The second user and the first user may be new to each other. The second user and the first user being new to each other may include the second user and the first user lacking prior communications via the secure messaging platform.
User determination module 412 may be configured to determine that the second user received the message from the first user. Receiving the message by the second user may include receiving the message at a client device of the second user.
Presence querying module 414 may be configured to query, by the second user, an online presence of the first user. Querying, by the second user, the online presence of the first user may include sending an online presence subscription request from the second user to a server of the secure messaging platform.
Token receiving module 416 may be configured to receive the secure token of the message from the second user. Receiving the secure token of the message from the second user may include receiving the secure token as part of the online presence subscription request from the second user.
Presence verification module 418 may be configured to, in response to receiving the secure token, verify the online presence of the first user based on the secure token. Verifying the online presence of the first user based on the secure token may include generating a new secure token and comparing the secure token with the new secure token. In response to the secure token matching the new secure token, a verification of the online presence of the first user may be provided. Verifying the online presence of the first user may be further based on whether the second user is in an address book of the first user.
Information sending module 420 may be configured to send information regarding the online presence of the first user to the second user. The information regarding the online presence of the first user may include providing an indication to a client device of the second user of whether the first user is currently online.
Message receiving module 422 may be configured to receive the message by the second user.
Presence allowing module 424 may be configured to allow the second user to view the online presence of the first user. Allowing the second user to view the online presence of the first may include providing an indication to the second user via the secure messaging platform as to whether the first user is online with respect to the secure messaging platform. By way of non-limiting example, the first user being online with respect to the secure messaging platform may include one or more of being logged into the secure messaging platform, the secure messaging platform being open on a client device of the first user, and/or the first user actively using the secure messaging platform.
User adding module 426 may be configured to add the second user to an address book of the first user. An address book of the first user may not include the second user. An address book of the first user may include a collection of contact information associated with contacts of the first user. An address book of the second user may include a collection of contact information associated with contacts of the first user. The contact information may include phone numbers of other users.
Token storing module 428 may be configured to store the secure token by the second user. Storing the secure token by the second user may include storing the secure token at a client device of the second user.
In some implementations, computing platform(s) 402, remote platform(s) 404, and/or external resources 430 may be operatively linked via one or more electronic communication links. For example, such electronic communication links may be established, at least in part, via a network such as the Internet and/or other networks. It will be appreciated that this is not intended to be limiting, and that the scope of this disclosure includes implementations in which computing platform(s) 402, remote platform(s) 404, and/or external resources 430 may be operatively linked via some other communication media.
A given remote platform 404 may include one or more processors configured to execute computer program modules. The computer program modules may be configured to enable an expert or user associated with the given remote platform 404 to interface with system 400 and/or external resources 430, and/or provide other functionality attributed herein to remote platform(s) 404. By way of non-limiting example, a given remote platform 404 and/or a given computing platform 402 may include one or more of a server, a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a handheld computer, a tablet computing platform, a NetBook, a Smartphone, a gaming console, and/or other computing platforms.
External resources 430 may include sources of information outside of system 400, external entities participating with system 400, and/or other resources. In some implementations, some or all of the functionality attributed herein to external resources 430 may be provided by resources included in system 400.
Computing platform(s) 402 may include electronic storage 432, one or more processors 434, and/or other components. Computing platform(s) 402 may include communication lines, or ports to enable the exchange of information with a network and/or other computing platforms. Illustration of computing platform(s) 402 in
Electronic storage 432 may comprise non-transitory storage media that electronically stores information. The electronic storage media of electronic storage 432 may include one or both of system storage that is provided integrally (i.e., substantially non-removable) with computing platform(s) 402 and/or removable storage that is removably connectable to computing platform(s) 402 via, for example, a port (e.g., a USB port, a firewire port, etc.) or a drive (e.g., a disk drive, etc.). Electronic storage 432 may include one or more of optically readable storage media (e.g., optical disks, etc.), magnetically readable storage media (e.g., magnetic tape, magnetic hard drive, floppy drive, etc.), electrical charge-based storage media (e.g., EEPROM, RAM, etc.), solid-state storage media (e.g., flash drive, etc.), and/or other electronically readable storage media. Electronic storage 432 may include one or more virtual storage resources (e.g., cloud storage, a virtual private network, and/or other virtual storage resources). Electronic storage 432 may store software algorithms, information determined by processor(s) 434, information received from computing platform(s) 402, information received from remote platform(s) 404, and/or other information that enables computing platform(s) 402 to function as described herein.
Processor(s) 434 may be configured to provide information processing capabilities in computing platform(s) 402. As such, processor(s) 434 may include one or more of a digital processor, an analog processor, a digital circuit designed to process information, an analog circuit designed to process information, a state machine, and/or other mechanisms for electronically processing information. Although processor(s) 434 is shown in
It should be appreciated that although modules 408, 410, 412, 414, 416, 418, 420, 422, 424, 426, and/or 428 are illustrated in
In particular embodiments, one or more objects (e.g., content or other types of objects) of a computing system may be associated with one or more privacy settings. The one or more objects may be stored on or otherwise associated with any suitable computing system or application, such as, for example, a social-networking system, a client system, a third-party system, a social-networking application, a messaging application, a photo-sharing application, or any other suitable computing system or application. Although the examples discussed herein are in the context of an online social network, these privacy settings may be applied to any other suitable computing system. Privacy settings (or “access settings”) for an object may be stored in any suitable manner, such as, for example, in association with the object, in an index on an authorization server, in another suitable manner, or any suitable combination thereof. A privacy setting for an object may specify how the object (or particular information associated with the object) can be accessed, stored, or otherwise used (e.g., viewed, shared, modified, copied, executed, surfaced, or identified) within the online social network. When privacy settings for an object allow a particular user or other entity to access that object, the object may be described as being “visible” with respect to that user or other entity. As an example and not by way of limitation, a user of the online social network may specify privacy settings for a user-profile page that identify a set of users that may access work-experience information on the user-profile page, thus excluding other users from accessing that information.
In particular embodiments, privacy settings for an object may specify a “blocked list” of users or other entities that should not be allowed to access certain information associated with the object. In particular embodiments, the blocked list may include third-party entities. The blocked list may specify one or more users or entities for which an object is not visible. As an example and not by way of limitation, a user may specify a set of users who may not access photo albums associated with the user, thus excluding those users from accessing the photo albums (while also possibly allowing certain users not within the specified set of users to access the photo albums). In particular embodiments, privacy settings may be associated with particular social-graph elements. Privacy settings of a social-graph element, such as a node or an edge, may specify how the social-graph element, information associated with the social-graph element, or objects associated with the social-graph element can be accessed using the online social network. As an example and not by way of limitation, a particular concept node corresponding to a particular photo may have a privacy setting specifying that the photo may be accessed only by users tagged in the photo and friends of the users tagged in the photo. In particular embodiments, privacy settings may allow users to opt in to or opt out of having their content, information, or actions stored/logged by the social-networking system or shared with other systems (e.g., a third-party system). Although this disclosure describes using particular privacy settings in a particular manner, this disclosure contemplates using any suitable privacy settings in any suitable manner.
In particular embodiments, privacy settings may be based on one or more nodes or edges of a social graph. A privacy setting may be specified for one or more edges or edge-types of the social graph, or with respect to one or more nodes, or node-types of the social graph. The privacy settings applied to a particular edge connecting two nodes may control whether the relationship between the two entities corresponding to the nodes is visible to other users of the online social network. Similarly, the privacy settings applied to a particular node may control whether the user or concept corresponding to the node is visible to other users of the online social network. As an example and not by way of limitation, a first user may share an object to the social-networking system. The object may be associated with a concept node connected to a user node of the first user by an edge. The first user may specify privacy settings that apply to a particular edge connecting to the concept node of the object, or may specify privacy settings that apply to all edges connecting to the concept node. As another example and not by way of limitation, the first user may share a set of objects of a particular object-type (e.g., a set of images). The first user may specify privacy settings with respect to all objects associated with the first user of that particular object-type as having a particular privacy setting (e.g., specifying that all images posted by the first user are visible only to friends of the first user and/or users tagged in the images).
In particular embodiments, the social-networking system may present a “privacy wizard” (e.g., within a webpage, a module, one or more dialog boxes, or any other suitable interface) to the first user to assist the first user in specifying one or more privacy settings. The privacy wizard may display instructions, suitable privacy-related information, current privacy settings, one or more input fields for accepting one or more inputs from the first user specifying a change or confirmation of privacy settings, or any suitable combination thereof. In particular embodiments, the social-networking system may offer a “dashboard” functionality to the first user that may display, to the first user, current privacy settings of the first user. The dashboard functionality may be displayed to the first user at any appropriate time (e.g., following an input from the first user summoning the dashboard functionality, following the occurrence of a particular event or trigger action). The dashboard functionality may allow the first user to modify one or more of the first user's current privacy settings at any time, in any suitable manner (e.g., redirecting the first user to the privacy wizard).
Privacy settings associated with an object may specify any suitable granularity of permitted access or denial of access. As an example and not by way of limitation, access or denial of access may be specified for particular users (e.g., only me, my roommates, my boss), users within a particular degree-of-separation (e.g., friends, friends-of-friends), user groups (e.g., the gaming club, my family), user networks (e.g., employees of particular employers, students or alumni of particular university), all users (“public”), no users (“private”), users of third-party systems, particular applications (e.g., third-party applications, external websites), other suitable entities, or any suitable combination thereof. Although this disclosure describes particular granularities of permitted access or denial of access, this disclosure contemplates any suitable granularities of permitted access or denial of access.
In particular embodiments, one or more servers may be authorization/privacy servers for enforcing privacy settings. In response to a request from a user (or other entity) for a particular object stored in a data store, the social-networking system may send a request to the data store for the object. The request may identify the user associated with the request and the object may be sent only to the user (or a client system of the user) if the authorization server determines that the user is authorized to access the object based on the privacy settings associated with the object. If the requesting user is not authorized to access the object, the authorization server may prevent the requested object from being retrieved from the data store or may prevent the requested object from being sent to the user. In the search-query context, an object may be provided as a search result only if the querying user is authorized to access the object, e.g., if the privacy settings for the object allow it to be surfaced to, discovered by, or otherwise visible to the querying user. In particular embodiments, an object may represent content that is visible to a user through a newsfeed of the user. As an example and not by way of limitation, one or more objects may be visible to a user's “Trending” page. In particular embodiments, an object may correspond to a particular user. The object may be content associated with the particular user, or may be the particular user's account or information stored on the social-networking system, or other computing system. As an example and not by way of limitation, a first user may view one or more second users of an online social network through a “People You May Know” function of the online social network, or by viewing a list of friends of the first user. As an example and not by way of limitation, a first user may specify that they do not wish to see objects associated with a particular second user in their newsfeed or friends list. If the privacy settings for the object do not allow it to be surfaced to, discovered by, or visible to the user, the object may be excluded from the search results. Although this disclosure describes enforcing privacy settings in a particular manner, this disclosure contemplates enforcing privacy settings in any suitable manner.
In particular embodiments, different objects of the same type associated with a user may have different privacy settings. Different types of objects associated with a user may have different types of privacy settings. As an example and not by way of limitation, a first user may specify that the first user's status updates are public, but any images shared by the first user are visible only to the first user's friends on the online social network. As another example and not by way of limitation, a user may specify different privacy settings for different types of entities, such as individual users, friends-of-friends, followers, user groups, or corporate entities. As another example and not by way of limitation, a first user may specify a group of users that may view videos posted by the first user, while keeping the videos from being visible to the first user's employer. In particular embodiments, different privacy settings may be provided for different user groups or user demographics. As an example and not by way of limitation, a first user may specify that other users who attend the same university as the first user may view the first user's pictures, but that other users who are family members of the first user may not view those same pictures.
In particular embodiments, the social-networking system may provide one or more default privacy settings for each object of a particular object-type. A privacy setting for an object that is set to a default may be changed by a user associated with that object. As an example and not by way of limitation, all images posted by a first user may have a default privacy setting of being visible only to friends of the first user and, for a particular image, the first user may change the privacy setting for the image to be visible to friends and friends-of-friends.
In particular embodiments, privacy settings may allow a first user to specify (e.g., by opting out, by not opting in) whether the social-networking system may receive, collect, log, or store particular objects or information associated with the user for any purpose. In particular embodiments, privacy settings may allow the first user to specify whether particular applications or processes may access, store, or use particular objects or information associated with the user. The privacy settings may allow the first user to opt in or opt out of having objects or information accessed, stored, or used by specific applications or processes. The social-networking system may access such information in order to provide a particular function or service to the first user, without the social-networking system having access to that information for any other purposes. Before accessing, storing, or using such objects or information, the social-networking system may prompt the user to provide privacy settings specifying which applications or processes, if any, may access, store, or use the object or information prior to allowing any such action. As an example and not by way of limitation, a first user may transmit a message to a second user via an application related to the online social network (e.g., a messaging app), and may specify privacy settings that such messages should not be stored by the social-networking system.
In particular embodiments, a user may specify whether particular types of objects or information associated with the first user may be accessed, stored, or used by the social-networking system. As an example and not by way of limitation, the first user may specify that images sent by the first user through the social-networking system may not be stored by the social-networking system. As another example and not by way of limitation, a first user may specify that messages sent from the first user to a particular second user may not be stored by the social-networking system. As yet another example and not by way of limitation, a first user may specify that all objects sent via a particular application may be saved by the social-networking system.
In particular embodiments, privacy settings may allow a first user to specify whether particular objects or information associated with the first user may be accessed from particular client systems or third-party systems. The privacy settings may allow the first user to opt in or opt out of having objects or information accessed from a particular device (e.g., the phone book on a user's smart phone), from a particular application (e.g., a messaging app), or from a particular system (e.g., an email server). The social-networking system may provide default privacy settings with respect to each device, system, or application, and/or the first user may be prompted to specify a particular privacy setting for each context. As an example and not by way of limitation, the first user may utilize a location-services feature of the social-networking system to provide recommendations for restaurants or other places in proximity to the user. The first user's default privacy settings may specify that the social-networking system may use location information provided from a client device of the first user to provide the location-based services, but that the social-networking system may not store the location information of the first user or provide it to any third-party system. The first user may then update the privacy settings to allow location information to be used by a third-party image-sharing application in order to geo-tag photos.
In particular embodiments, privacy settings may allow a user to specify one or more geographic locations from which objects can be accessed. Access or denial of access to the objects may depend on the geographic location of a user who is attempting to access the objects. As an example and not by way of limitation, a user may share an object and specify that only users in the same city may access or view the object. As another example and not by way of limitation, a first user may share an object and specify that the object is visible to second users only while the first user is in a particular location. If the first user leaves the particular location, the object may no longer be visible to the second users. As another example and not by way of limitation, a first user may specify that an object is visible only to second users within a threshold distance from the first user. If the first user subsequently changes location, the original second users with access to the object may lose access, while a new group of second users may gain access as they come within the threshold distance of the first user.
In particular embodiments, changes to privacy settings may take effect retroactively, affecting the visibility of objects and content shared prior to the change. As an example and not by way of limitation, a first user may share a first image and specify that the first image is to be public to all other users. At a later time, the first user may specify that any images shared by the first user should be made visible only to a first user group. The social-networking system may determine that this privacy setting also applies to the first image and make the first image visible only to the first user group. In particular embodiments, the change in privacy settings may take effect only going forward. Continuing the example above, if the first user changes privacy settings and then shares a second image, the second image may be visible only to the first user group, but the first image may remain visible to all users. In particular embodiments, in response to a user action to change a privacy setting, the social-networking system may further prompt the user to indicate whether the user wants to apply the changes to the privacy setting retroactively. In particular embodiments, a user change to privacy settings may be a one-off change specific to one object. In particular embodiments, a user change to privacy may be a global change for all objects associated with the user.
In particular embodiments, the social-networking system may determine that a first user may want to change one or more privacy settings in response to a trigger action associated with the first user. The trigger action may be any suitable action on the online social network. As an example and not by way of limitation, a trigger action may be a change in the relationship between a first and second user of the online social network (e.g., “un-friending” a user, changing the relationship status between the users). In particular embodiments, upon determining that a trigger action has occurred, the social-networking system may prompt the first user to change the privacy settings regarding the visibility of objects associated with the first user. The prompt may redirect the first user to a workflow process for editing privacy settings with respect to one or more entities associated with the trigger action. The privacy settings associated with the first user may be changed only in response to an explicit input from the first user, and may not be changed without the approval of the first user. As an example and not by way of limitation, the workflow process may include providing the first user with the current privacy settings with respect to the second user or to a group of users (e.g., un-tagging the first user or second user from particular objects, changing the visibility of particular objects with respect to the second user or group of users), and receiving an indication from the first user to change the privacy settings based on any of the methods described herein, or to keep the existing privacy settings.
In particular embodiments, a user may need to provide verification of a privacy setting before allowing the user to perform particular actions on the online social network, or to provide verification before changing a particular privacy setting. When performing particular actions or changing a particular privacy setting, a prompt may be presented to the user to remind the user of his or her current privacy settings and to ask the user to verify the privacy settings with respect to the particular action. Furthermore, a user may need to provide confirmation, double-confirmation, authentication, or other suitable types of verification before proceeding with the particular action, and the action may not be complete until such verification is provided. As an example and not by way of limitation, a user's default privacy settings may indicate that a person's relationship status is visible to all users (i.e., “public”). However, if the user changes his or her relationship status, the social-networking system may determine that such action may be sensitive and may prompt the user to confirm that his or her relationship status should remain public before proceeding. As another example and not by way of limitation, a user's privacy settings may specify that the user's posts are visible only to friends of the user. However, if the user changes the privacy setting for his or her posts to being public, the social-networking system may prompt the user with a reminder of the user's current privacy settings of posts being visible only to friends, and a warning that this change will make all of the user's past posts visible to the public. The user may then be required to provide a second verification, input authentication credentials, or provide other types of verification before proceeding with the change in privacy settings. In particular embodiments, a user may need to provide verification of a privacy setting on a periodic basis. A prompt or reminder may be periodically sent to the user based either on time elapsed or a number of user actions. As an example and not by way of limitation, the social-networking system may send a reminder to the user to confirm his or her privacy settings every six months or after every ten photo posts. In particular embodiments, privacy settings may also allow users to control access to the objects or information on a per-request basis. As an example and not by way of limitation, the social-networking system may notify the user whenever a third-party system attempts to access information associated with the user, and require the user to provide verification that access should be allowed before proceeding.
The techniques described herein may be implemented as method(s) that are performed by physical computing device(s); as one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media storing instructions which, when executed by computing device(s), cause performance of the method(s); or, as physical computing device(s) that are specially configured with a combination of hardware and software that causes performance of the method(s).
At step 502, the process 500 may include generating, by a first user, a message to a second user. The message may include a secure token. At step 504, the process 500 may include sending the message from the first user to the second user. The second user and the first user may be new to each other. At step 506, the process 500 may include determining that the second user received the message from the first user. At step 508, the process 500 may include querying, by the second user, an online presence of the first user. At step 510, the process 500 may include receiving the secure token of the message from the second user. At step 512, the process 500 may include in response to receiving the secure token, verifying the online presence of the first user based on the secure token, through presence verification module 418. At step 514, the process 500 may include sending information regarding the online presence of the first user to the second user.
For example, as described above in relation to
According to an aspect, the secure token is generated based on a server secret.
According to an aspect, the server secret periodically expires and is re-generated.
According to an aspect, an address book of the first user does not include the second user, and vice-versa.
According to an aspect, the process 500 further includes receiving the message by the second user.
According to an aspect, the process 500 further includes allowing the second user to view the online presence of the first user.
According to an aspect, the process 500 further includes adding the second user to an address book of the first user.
According to an aspect, the process 500 further includes storing the secure token by the second user.
According to an aspect, the secure messaging platform is an end-to-end encrypted messaging platform.
According to an aspect, the secure token includes a trusted contact token (TCToken).
According to an aspect, the secure token includes a hash-based message authentication code (HMAC).
Computer system 600 (e.g., server and/or client) includes a bus 608 or other communication mechanism for communicating information, and a processor 602 coupled with bus 608 for processing information. By way of example, the computer system 600 may be implemented with one or more processors 602. Processor 602 may be a general-purpose microprocessor, a microcontroller, a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), a Programmable Logic Device (PLD), a controller, a state machine, gated logic, discrete hardware components, or any other suitable entity that can perform calculations or other manipulations of information.
Computer system 600 can include, in addition to hardware, code that creates an execution environment for the computer program in question, e.g., code that constitutes processor firmware, a protocol stack, a database management system, an operating system, or a combination of one or more of them stored in an included memory 604, such as a Random Access Memory (RAM), a flash memory, a Read-Only Memory (ROM), a Programmable Read-Only Memory (PROM), an Erasable PROM (EPROM), registers, a hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, a DVD, or any other suitable storage device, coupled to bus 608 for storing information and instructions to be executed by processor 602. The processor 602 and the memory 604 can be supplemented by, or incorporated in, special purpose logic circuitry.
The instructions may be stored in the memory 604 and implemented in one or more computer program products, i.e., one or more modules of computer program instructions encoded on a computer-readable medium for execution by, or to control the operation of, the computer system 600, and according to any method well-known to those of skill in the art, including, but not limited to, computer languages such as data-oriented languages (e.g., SQL, dBase), system languages (e.g., C, Objective-C, C++, Assembly), architectural languages (e.g., Java, .NET), and application languages (e.g., PHP, Ruby, Perl, Python). Instructions may also be implemented in computer languages such as array languages, aspect-oriented languages, assembly languages, authoring languages, command line interface languages, compiled languages, concurrent languages, curly-bracket languages, dataflow languages, data-structured languages, declarative languages, esoteric languages, extension languages, fourth-generation languages, functional languages, interactive mode languages, interpreted languages, iterative languages, list-based languages, little languages, logic-based languages, machine languages, macro languages, metaprogramming languages, multiparadigm languages, numerical analysis, non-English-based languages, object-oriented class-based languages, object-oriented prototype-based languages, off-side rule languages, procedural languages, reflective languages, rule-based languages, scripting languages, stack-based languages, synchronous languages, syntax handling languages, visual languages, wirth languages, and xml-based languages. Memory 604 may also be used for storing temporary variable or other intermediate information during execution of instructions to be executed by processor 602.
A computer program as discussed herein does not necessarily correspond to a file in a file system. A program can be stored in a portion of a file that holds other programs or data (e.g., one or more scripts stored in a markup language document), in a single file dedicated to the program in question, or in multiple coordinated files (e.g., files that store one or more modules, subprograms, or portions of code). A computer program can be deployed to be executed on one computer or on multiple computers that are located at one site or distributed across multiple sites and interconnected by a communication network. The processes and logic flows described in this specification can be performed by one or more programmable processors executing one or more computer programs to perform functions by operating on input data and generating output.
Computer system 600 further includes a data storage device 606 such as a magnetic disk or optical disk, coupled to bus 608 for storing information and instructions. Computer system 600 may be coupled via input/output module 610 to various devices. The input/output module 610 can be any input/output module. Exemplary input/output modules 610 include data ports such as USB ports. The input/output module 610 is configured to connect to a communications module 612. Exemplary communications modules 612 include networking interface cards, such as Ethernet cards and modems. In certain aspects, the input/output module 610 is configured to connect to a plurality of devices, such as an input device 614 and/or an output device 616. Exemplary input devices 614 include a keyboard and a pointing device, e.g., a mouse or a trackball, by which a user can provide input to the computer system 600. Other kinds of input devices 614 can be used to provide for interaction with a user as well, such as a tactile input device, visual input device, audio input device, or brain-computer interface device. For example, feedback provided to the user can be any form of sensory feedback, e.g., visual feedback, auditory feedback, or tactile feedback, and input from the user can be received in any form, including acoustic, speech, tactile, or brain wave input. Exemplary output devices 616 include display devices such as an LCD (liquid crystal display) monitor, for displaying information to the user.
According to one aspect of the present disclosure, the above-described gaming systems can be implemented using a computer system 600 in response to processor 602 executing one or more sequences of one or more instructions contained in memory 604. Such instructions may be read into memory 604 from another machine-readable medium, such as data storage device 606. Execution of the sequences of instructions contained in the main memory 604 causes processor 602 to perform the process steps described herein. One or more processors in a multi-processing arrangement may also be employed to execute the sequences of instructions contained in memory 604. In alternative aspects, hard-wired circuitry may be used in place of or in combination with software instructions to implement various aspects of the present disclosure. Thus, aspects of the present disclosure are not limited to any specific combination of hardware circuitry and software.
Various aspects of the subject matter described in this specification can be implemented in a computing system that includes a back end component, e.g., such as a data server, or that includes a middleware component, e.g., an application server, or that includes a front end component, e.g., a client computer having a graphical user interface or a Web browser through which a user can interact with an implementation of the subject matter described in this specification, or any combination of one or more such back end, middleware, or front end components. The components of the system can be interconnected by any form or medium of digital data communication, e.g., a communication network. The communication network can include, for example, any one or more of a LAN, a WAN, the Internet, and the like. Further, the communication network can include, but is not limited to, for example, any one or more of the following network topologies, including a bus network, a star network, a ring network, a mesh network, a star-bus network, tree or hierarchical network, or the like. The communications modules can be, for example, modems or Ethernet cards.
Computer system 600 can include clients and servers. A client and server are generally remote from each other and typically interact through a communication network. The relationship of client and server arises by virtue of computer programs running on the respective computers and having a client-server relationship to each other. Computer system 600 can be, for example, and without limitation, a desktop computer, laptop computer, or tablet computer. Computer system 600 can also be embedded in another device, for example, and without limitation, a mobile telephone, a PDA, a mobile audio player, a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver, a video game console, and/or a television set top box.
The term “machine-readable storage medium” or “computer-readable medium” as used herein refers to any medium or media that participates in providing instructions to processor 602 for execution. Such a medium may take many forms, including, but not limited to, non-volatile media, volatile media, and transmission media. Non-volatile media include, for example, optical or magnetic disks, such as data storage device 606. Volatile media include dynamic memory, such as memory 604. Transmission media include coaxial cables, copper wire, and fiber optics, including the wires that comprise bus 608. Common forms of machine-readable media include, for example, floppy disk, a flexible disk, hard disk, magnetic tape, any other magnetic medium, a CD-ROM, DVD, any other optical medium, punch cards, paper tape, any other physical medium with patterns of holes, a RAM, a PROM, an EPROM, a FLASH EPROM, any other memory chip or cartridge, or any other medium from which a computer can read. The machine-readable storage medium can be a machine-readable storage device, a machine-readable storage substrate, a memory device, a composition of matter effecting a machine-readable propagated signal, or a combination of one or more of them.
As the user computing system 600 reads game data and provides a game, information may be read from the game data and stored in a memory device, such as the memory 604. Additionally, data from the memory 604 servers accessed via a network the bus 608, or the data storage 606 may be read and loaded into the memory 604. Although data is described as being found in the memory 604, it will be understood that data does not have to be stored in the memory 604 and may be stored in other memory accessible to the processor 602 or distributed among several media, such as the data storage 606.
As used herein, the phrase “at least one of” preceding a series of items, with the terms “and” or “or” to separate any of the items, modifies the list as a whole, rather than each member of the list (i.e., each item). The phrase “at least one of” does not require selection of at least one item; rather, the phrase allows a meaning that includes at least one of any one of the items, and/or at least one of any combination of the items, and/or at least one of each of the items. By way of example, the phrases “at least one of A, B, and C” or “at least one of A, B, or C” each refer to only A, only B, or only C; any combination of A, B, and C; and/or at least one of each of A, B, and C.
To the extent that the terms “include,” “have,” or the like is used in the description or the claims, such term is intended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the term “comprise” as “comprise” is interpreted when employed as a transitional word in a claim. The word “exemplary” is used herein to mean “serving as an example, instance, or illustration.” Any embodiment described herein as “exemplary” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments.
A reference to an element in the singular is not intended to mean “one and only one” unless specifically stated, but rather “one or more.” All structural and functional equivalents to the elements of the various configurations described throughout this disclosure that are known or later come to be known to those of ordinary skill in the art are expressly incorporated herein by reference and intended to be encompassed by the subject technology. Moreover, nothing disclosed herein is intended to be dedicated to the public regardless of whether such disclosure is explicitly recited in the above description.
While this specification contains many specifics, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of what may be claimed, but rather as descriptions of particular implementations of the subject matter. Certain features that are described in this specification in the context of separate embodiments can also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, various features that are described in the context of a single embodiment can also be implemented in multiple embodiments separately or in any suitable subcombination. Moreover, although features may be described above as acting in certain combinations and even initially claimed as such, one or more features from a claimed combination can in some cases be excised from the combination, and the claimed combination may be directed to a subcombination or variation of a subcombination.
The subject matter of this specification has been described in terms of particular aspects, but other aspects can be implemented and are within the scope of the following claims. For example, while operations are depicted in the drawings in a particular order, this should not be understood as requiring that such operations be performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, or that all illustrated operations be performed to achieve desirable results. The actions recited in the claims can be performed in a different order and still achieve desirable results. As one example, the processes depicted in the accompanying figures do not necessarily require the particular order shown, or sequential order, to achieve desirable results. In certain circumstances, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. Moreover, the separation of various system components in the aspects described above should not be understood as requiring such separation in all aspects, and it should be understood that the described program components and systems can generally be integrated together in a single software product or packaged into multiple software products. Other variations are within the scope of the following claims.
