Patent ID: 8566252
Filing Date: 2013-10-22
Classification: G06F,G06Q

Abstract:
1. A system for evaluating the trustworthiness of a target person by a user, the system comprising a database comprising a computer-readable representation of a network, said network representation comprising representations of a plurality of nodes and representations of a plurality of directed links, and representations of the connections of said nodes by said links, wherein each node in said plurality of nodes is associated with a person and each directed link in said plurality of links connects from a first node representing a first person to a second node representing a second person, said directed link being associated with a trusting relationship from said first person associated with said first node to said second person associated with said second node; and wherein said user is associated with at least one said first node in said plurality of nodes and said persons and their associations with nodes are represented in said database, wherein the existence of each link in the network is concealed from all persons except the person associated with the first node connected to that link; and a programmable processor operable to implement a computer program product, wherein said processer provides access to said database and said representation of said network, and identification in said network of a continuous path from said user to said target person, wherein said continuous path begins at a node in said network that is associated with said user and ends at a node in said network that is associated with said target person, said continuous path traversing links from their first node to their second node, said continuous path termed a trust path, thereby providing an indication of the trustworthiness of said target person.