Abstract:
A method for synchronizing a user&#39;s e-mail addresses in two locations and validating the synchronized e-mail address is provided, wherein the two locations can be an authentication proxy and an integrated authorized site of the authentication proxy, or they can be the authentication proxy and a partner site of the authentication proxy. Also disclosed are several methods for maintaining the synchronized status and confirmed status when the user changes his e-mail address from either of the two locations.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    1. Technical Field  
           [0002]    The invention relates generally to online authentication technology. More particularly, the invention relates to a system and method for synchronizing user contact information between an authentication proxy and an authorized site.  
           [0003]    2. Description of the Prior Art  
           [0004]    The explosive growth of the Internet is changing the ways in which we communicate, conduct business, and pursue entertainment. A few years ago, electronic commerce (E-commerce) was just an interesting concept. Today, not only are consumers buying an enormous volume of goods or services over the Internet, but the business-to-business E-commerce has taken off as well.  
           [0005]    The basic cell of E-commerce is an electronic transaction, which requires a buyer or user to fill out one or more electronic forms on screen and click a button, such as “send”, “buy”, or “submit”. To complete such an electronic transaction, a user must go through an authentication process. In other words, the user must provide the seller or service provider with some information such as personal identification, contact information, or even financial information. The authentication process may take from several seconds to hours. Because each seller or service provider maintains its own authentication server and database, millions of sellers and service providers might share thousands of millions of consumers or users. Some of the consumers or users might be required to go through the same or similar authentication process repetitively if they have transactions with many sellers or service providers. This repetitive authentication not only wastes consumers&#39; precious time, but also burdens the sellers or service providers because they have to expand their databases to keep detailed authentication information for a growing number of users. This situation brings forth a technical need to create a universal, unified single-logon infrastructure wherein a specific user may be authenticated once for all and wherein the authentication result is widely recognized by a large number of sellers or service providers.  
           [0006]    As of the current state of art, the user has to perform a substantially similar registration step at each online merchant or service provider site. Consequently, the user might have to create and memorize many ID&#39;s and passwords, and may have provided contact information such as an e-mail address.  
           [0007]    E-mail is the most prevalent method for contacting someone on the Internet. The e-mail address identifies a user&#39;s electronic mailbox. Most online merchants or service providers requires a user to provide an e-mail address as contact information. Some sellers or service providers confirm the e-mail address by sending e-mail to the e-mail address and requiring the user to reply to the e-mail address. Over a period of time, e-mail addresses become invalid as a specific user changes their e-mail address and neglects to update their information at the online merchant or service provider site.  
           [0008]    As a universal, unified single-logon infrastructure becomes prevalent, the e-mail addresses that sellers or service providers have gathered could be different for a specific user. It is likely that some of the different e-mail addresses are invalid.  
           [0009]    What is desired is a method for selecting a valid e-mail address or the most desirable e-mail address and synchronizing the e-mail address between the authentication proxy and an integrated authorized site.  
         SUMMARY OF INVENTION  
         [0010]    The invention discloses a method for synchronizing a user&#39;s e-mail addresses in two locations and validating the synchronized e-mail address. The two locations can be an authentication proxy and an integrated authorized site of the authentication proxy, or they can be the authentication proxy and a partner site of the authentication proxy. The invention also discloses several methods for maintaining the synchronized status and confirmed status when the user changes his e-mail address from either of the two locations.  
           [0011]    In one preferred embodiment of the invention, a method for synchronizing and validating user contact information stored in two locations is provided. The method comprises the steps of: authenticating the user when the user signs in to an authentication proxy; synchronizing the user contact information between a first location and a second location; and validating the synchronized user contact information.  
           [0012]    In another equally preferred embodiment of the invention, it is disclosed herein a method for synchronizing a first e-mail address of a user in an authentication proxy and a second e-mail address of the user in an integrated authorized site of the authentication proxy. The method comprises the steps of: checking the first e-mail address and the second e-mail address; and if said first e-mail address is blank and said second e-mail address is set, copying said second e-mail address and a confirm status of said second e-mail address to said authentication proxy site.  
           [0013]    In another equally preferred embodiment, the invention provides a method for confirming e-mail address change of a user from an old e-mail address to a new e-mail address in an authentication proxy and an integrated authorized site of said authentication proxy. The method comprises the steps of: sending a request confirmation e-mail message to said new e-mail address containing a confirm interface and sending a request cancellation e-mail message to said old e-mail address containing a cancellation interface; marking said user e-mail address change pending; and starting a response timer which is typically 72 hours.  
           [0014]    In another equally preferred embodiment, the invention provides a method for validating an e-mail address of a user in authentication proxy. The method comprises the steps of: the user signing on to the authentication proxy; checking a confirm status of the e-mail address; and providing a graphical interface to the user when the confirm status of the e-mail address is unconfirmed; wherein the graphical interface comprises an e-mail not confirmed message, and a list of options comprises confirm later option, requesting new confirm e-mail option and specifying new e-mail address option.  
           [0015]    In another equally preferred embodiment, the invention provides a method for registering a user of an authentication proxy to a partner site of the authentication proxy while keeping profile of the user synchronized. The method comprises the steps of: the user registering at the partner site; the user changing profile fields other than e-mail address; and synchronizing the new profile data with the authentication proxy.  
           [0016]    In another equally preferred embodiment, the invention provides a method for changing profile of a user in an authentication proxy while keeping e-mail address of the user confirmed. The method comprises the steps of: the user editing the profile; checking whether a confirm status of the e-mail address is change pending; validating of new profile data when the user submits the new profile data; and confirming profile change after new profile data are submitted.  
           [0017]    In another equally preferred embodiment, the invention provides a method for synchronizing all profile data of a user from a partner site of an authentication proxy to the authentication proxy. The method comprises the steps of: the user submitting the profile data at the partner site to the authentication proxy; the user changing profile fields other than e-mail address; and synchronizing the first profile data with the authentication proxy.  
           [0018]    In another equally preferred embodiment, the invention provides a method for synchronizing individual field of profile data of a user from a partner site of an authentication proxy to the authentication proxy. The method comprises the steps of: the user submitting an individual field change of the profile data at the partner site to the authentication proxy; the user changing a field in the first profile data other than e-mail address; and synchronizing the first profile data with the authentication proxy.  
           [0019]    The invention is also applicable to other user contact information such as a phone number associated with a mobile device such as a two-way pager or a phone browser. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0020]    [0020]FIG. 1 is a flow diagram illustrating a method  100  for synchronizing and validating user contact information stored in two locations;  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 2 is a flow diagram illustrating a method  200  for synchronizing a first e-mail address of a user in an authentication proxy and a second e-mail address of the user in an integrated authorized site of the authentication proxy;  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 3A is a flow diagram illustrating details of step  208  in method  200  in one typical embodiment;  
         [0023]    [0023]FIG. 3B is a flow diagram illustrating additional processing  310  of step  208  in method  200  in another typical embodiment;  
         [0024]    [0024]FIG. 3C is a flow diagram illustrating additional processing  320  of step  208  in method  200  in another typical embodiment;  
         [0025]    [0025]FIG. 4 is a flow diagram illustrating a method  400  for confirming e-mail address change of a user from an old e-mail address to a new e-mail address in an authentication proxy and an integrated authorized site of said authentication proxy;  
         [0026]    [0026]FIG. 5A is a flow diagram illustrating a method  500  for validating an e-mail address of a user in authentication proxy;  
         [0027]    [0027]FIG. 5B is a flow diagram illustrating additional processing  510  of method  500  in another typical embodiment;  
         [0028]    [0028]FIG. 5C is a flow diagram illustrating additional processing  520  of method  500  in another typical embodiment;  
         [0029]    [0029]FIG. 6A is a flow diagram illustrating a method  600  for registering a user of an authentication proxy to a partner site of the authentication proxy while keeping profile of the user synchronized;  
         [0030]    [0030]FIG. 6B is a flow diagram illustrating additional processing  620  of step  607  in method  600  in another typical embodiment;  
         [0031]    [0031]FIG. 7 is a flow diagram illustrating a method  700  for changing profile of a user in an authentication proxy while keeping e-mail address of the user confirmed;  
         [0032]    [0032]FIG. 8A is a flow diagram illustrating additional processing  810  of step  703  in method  800  in another typical embodiment;  
         [0033]    [0033]FIG. 8B is a flow diagram illustrating additional processing  820  of step  704  in method  800  in another typical embodiment;  
         [0034]    [0034]FIG. 9A is a flow diagram illustrating a method  900  for synchronizing all profile data of a user from a partner site of an authentication proxy to the authentication proxy;  
         [0035]    [0035]FIG. 9B is a flow diagram illustrating additional processing  910  of method  900  in another typical embodiment;  
         [0036]    [0036]FIG. 10A is a flow diagram illustrating a method  1000  for synchronizing individual field of profile data of a user from a partner site of an authentication proxy to the authentication proxy; and  
         [0037]    [0037]FIG. 10B is a flow diagram illustrating additional processing  1010  of method  1000  in another typical embodiment. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0038]    In one preferred embodiment of the invention, e-mail addresses are stored in the integrated authorized site and authentication proxy for one user ID. The e-mail addresses can be same or different. The e-mail address in the integrated authorized site can be confirmed or unconfirmed, and the e-mail address in the authentication proxy can also be confirmed or unconfirmed. When the e-mail address is changed in the integrated authorized site, a process for confirming the change will start.  
         [0039]    [0039]FIG. 1 is a flow diagram illustrating a method  100  for synchronizing and validating user contact information stored in two locations. The method comprises the following steps: authenticating the user when the user signs in to an authentication proxy  101 ; synchronizing the user contact information between a first location and a second location  102 ; and validating the synchronized user contact information  103 .  
         [0040]    [0040]FIG. 2 is a flow diagram illustrating a method  200  for synchronizing a first e-mail address of a user in an authentication proxy and a second e-mail address of the user in an integrated authorized site of the authentication proxy. The e-mail1 and e-mail2 in the diagram refer to the e-mail addresses in the authentication proxy and in the integrated authorized site respectively.  
         [0041]    The method  200  comprises the following steps: checking the first e-mail address and the second e-mail address  201 ; if said first e-mail address is blank and said second e-mail address is set, copying said second e-mail address and a confirm status of said second e-mail address to said authentication proxy site  202 .  
         [0042]    If said first e-mail address is set but said second e-mail address is blank, copying said first e-mail address to said integrated authorized site  203 ; and confirming e-mail address change to said first e-mail address  204 . The details of step  204  are illustrated in FIG. 4 below.  
         [0043]    If said first e-mail address is blank and said second e-mail address is blank, keeping said first e-mail address blank and said confirm status of said first e-mail address NULL  205 .  
         [0044]    If the first e-mail address is set and the second e-mail address is set, checking whether the first e-mail address is the same as the second e-mail address  206 ; if the first e-mail address is the same as the second e-mail address, copying said confirm status of said second e-mail address to said authentication proxy  207 .  
         [0045]    If the first e-mail address is not the same as the second e-mail address, asking the user to choose among the first e-mail address and the second e-mail address, or specify a synchronized e-mail address  208 .  
         [0046]    [0046]FIG. 3A is a flow diagram illustrating details of step  208  in method  200  in one typical embodiment. The step  208  comprises the following sub-steps: providing a graphical interface for the user to choose among the first e-mail address and the second e-mail address, or specify the synchronized e-mail address  301 ; the user selecting the second e-mail address  302 ; and copying the second e-mail address to the authentication proxy  303 .  
         [0047]    [0047]FIG. 3B is a flow diagram illustrating additional processing  310  of step  208  in method  200  in another typical embodiment. The additional processing  310  comprises the following steps: the user selecting the first e-mail address  311 ; copying the first e-mail address to the authorized site  312 ; confirming e-mail address change from said second e-mail address to said first e-mail address  313 ; and displaying an e-mail change message to the user  314 . The details of step  313  are illustrated in FIG. 4 below.  
         [0048]    [0048]FIG. 3C is a flow diagram illustrating additional processing  320  of step  208  in method  200  in another typical embodiment. The additional processing  320  comprises the following steps: the user specifying a third new e-mail address for authentication proxy  321 ; copying the third new e-mail address to the authorized site  322 ; confirming e-mail address change from said second e-mail address to said third new e-mail address  323 ; and displaying an e-mail change message to the user  324 . The details of step  323  are illustrated in FIG. 4 below.  
         [0049]    [0049]FIG. 4 is a flow diagram illustrating a method  400  for confirming e-mail address change of a user from an old e-mail address to a new e-mail address in an authentication proxy and an integrated authorized site of said authentication proxy. The method  400  comprises the following steps: sending a request confirmation e-mail message to said new e-mail address containing a confirm interface and sending a request cancellation e-mail message to said old e-mail address containing a cancellation interface  401 ; marking said user e-mail address change pending  402 ; starting a response timer which is typically 72 hours  403 .  
         [0050]    The method  400  further comprises the following steps: the user performing a confirm action through the confirm interface before the response timer expires  404 ; sending change confirmation e-mail message to said new e-mail address  405 ; and save said new e-mail address to said authentication proxy and said integrated authorized site and marking said confirm status of said new e-mail address confirmed in said authentication proxy and said integrated authorized site  406 .  
         [0051]    The method  400  further comprises the following steps: said user performing a cancel action through said cancel interface before said response timer expires  407 ; sending change cancellation e-mail message to said old e-mail address  408 ; and keep said old e-mail address and a confirmed status of said old e-mail address in said authentication proxy and said integrated authorized site  409 .  
         [0052]    [0052]FIG. 5A is a flow diagram illustrating a method  500  for validating an e-mail address of a user in authentication proxy. The method  500  comprises the following steps: the user signing on to the authentication proxy  501 ; checking a confirm status of the e-mail address  502 ; and providing a graphical interface to the user when the confirm status of the e-mail address is unconfirmed  503 , wherein the graphical interface comprising: an e-mail not confirmed message; and a list of options comprising: confirm later option, requesting new confirm e-mail option and specifying new e-mail address option; the user selecting the confirm later option  504 ; and directing the user to a first page after sign on  505 .  
         [0053]    [0053]FIG. 5B is a flow diagram illustrating additional processing  510  of method  500  in another typical embodiment. The additional processing  510  comprises the following steps: the user selects the requesting new confirm e-mail option  511 ; sending the new e-mail to the e-mail address containing a confirm interface  512 ; displaying a message to the user that the new e-mail containing the confirm interface has been sent to the e-mail address  513 ; said user performing a confirm action through said confirm interface  514 ; marking said confirm status of said e-mail address confirmed in said authentication proxy and said integrated authorized site  515 ; and sending e-mail message to said e-mail address to acknowledge confirmation  516 .  
         [0054]    [0054]FIG. 5C is a flow diagram illustrating additional processing  520  of method  500  in another typical embodiment. The additional processing  520  comprises the following steps: the user specifying the a new e-mail address for authentication proxy  521 ; copying the new e-mail address to an integrated authorized site of the authentication proxy  522 ; confirming e-mail address change to said new e-mail address  523 ; and displaying an e-mail change message to the user  524 . The details of step  523  are illustrated in FIG. 4.  
         [0055]    [0055]FIG. 6A is a flow diagram illustrating a method  600  for registering a user of an authentication proxy to a partner site of the authentication proxy while keeping profile of the user synchronized. The method  600  comprises the following steps: the user registering at the partner site  601 ; the user changing profile fields other than e-mail address  602 ; and synchronizing the new profile data with the authentication proxy  603 .  
         [0056]    The method  600  further comprises the following steps: the user entering a new e-mail address while a confirm status of the e-mail address is change pending  604 ; and displaying a message to the user that the new e-mail address will be sent to partner site but not to the authentication proxy  605 .  
         [0057]    The method  600  further comprises the following steps: the user entering a blank e-mail address while the confirm status of the e-mail address is not change pending  606 ; and dealing with blank e-mail input by the authentication proxy  607 .  
         [0058]    The method  600  further comprises the following steps: the user entering a new e-mail address which is not blank when the confirm status of the e-mail address in the authentication proxy is not NULL  608 ; and displaying e-mail change message to the user  609 .  
         [0059]    The method  600  further comprises the following steps: the user entering a new e-mail address which is not blank when the confirm status of the e-mail address in the authentication proxy is NULL  610 ; and copying the new e-mail address to the authentication proxy and keeping a confirm status of the new e-mail address NULL  611 .  
         [0060]    [0060]FIG. 6B is a flow diagram illustrating additional processing  620  of step  607  in method  600  in another typical embodiment. The additional processing  620  comprises the following steps: displaying an e-mail address required message to the user and asking the user to reenter if an e-mail address is required by the partner site  621 ; checking if synchronization of e-mail address is required when e-mail address is not required by partner site  622 ; and if synchronization is required, displaying a message to the user that no e-mail address is sent to partner site and the e-mail address in the authentication proxy remains  623 .  
         [0061]    [0061]FIG. 7 is a flow diagram illustrating a method  700  for changing profile of a user in an authentication proxy while keeping e-mail address of the user confirmed. The method  700  comprises the following steps: user editing the profile  701 ; checking whether a confirm status of the e-mail address is change pending  702 ; validating of new profile data when the user submits the new profile data  703 ; and confirming profile change after new profile data are submitted  704 .  
         [0062]    The method  700  further comprises the following steps: the user attempting to change e-mail address when the confirm status of the e-mail address is change pending  705 ; and displaying a message to the user that the e-mail address cannot be changed  706 .  
         [0063]    [0063]FIG. 8A is a flow diagram illustrating additional processing  810  of step  703  in method  800  in another typical embodiment. The additional processing  810  comprises the following steps: displaying an e-mail address required message to the user and asking the user to reenter if the user enters a blank e-mail address  811 .  4   
         [0064]    The additional processing  810  further comprises the following steps: displaying an invalid data message if any information other than e-mail address of the new profile data is invalid  812 .  
         [0065]    The additional processing  810  further comprises the following steps: displaying a submission error message if submission of the new profile data is not successful  813 .  
         [0066]    [0066]FIG. 8B is a flow diagram illustrating additional processing  820  of step  704  in method  800  in another typical embodiment. The additional processing  820  comprises the following steps: displaying a nothing changed message if no information of the new profile data is changed  821 .  
         [0067]    The additional processing  820  further comprises the following steps: displaying a profile data saved message if any information other than e-mail address of the new profile data is changed  822 .  
         [0068]    The additional processing  820  further comprises the following steps: if said confirm status of said e-mail address is NULL and a new e-mail address is entered, saving said new e-mail address to authentication proxy  823 ; keeping said confirm status NULL  824 .  
         [0069]    The additional processing  820  further comprises the following steps: displaying an e-mail change message to the user when no other information of the new profile data is changed  825 .  
         [0070]    The additional processing  820  further comprises the following steps: and displaying an e-mail change and profile saved message to the user when other information of the new profile data is changed  826 .  
         [0071]    [0071]FIG. 9A is a flow diagram illustrating a method  900  for synchronizing all profile data of a user from a partner site of an authentication proxy to the authentication proxy. The method  900  comprises the following steps: the user submitting the profile data at the partner site to the authentication proxy  901 ; the user changing profile fields other than e-mail address  902 ; and synchronizing the first profile data with the authentication proxy  903 .  
         [0072]    [0072]FIG. 9B is a flow diagram illustrating additional processing  910  of method  900  in another typical embodiment. The additional processing  910  comprises the following steps: the user entering a new e-mail address while the confirm status of the e-mail address is change pending  911 ; and displaying a message to the user that the new e-mail address will be sent to partner site but not to the authentication proxy  912 .  
         [0073]    The additional processing  910  further comprises the following steps: the user entering a blank e-mail address while a confirm status of the e-mail address is not change pending  913 ; and displaying a message to the user that no e-mail address is sent to partner site and the e-mail address in the authentication proxy remains  914 .  
         [0074]    The additional processing  910  further comprises the following steps: the user entering a new e-mail address which is not blank when the confirm status of the e-mail address in the authentication proxy is not NULL  915 ; and displaying an e-mail change message to the user  916 .  
         [0075]    The additional processing  910  further comprises the following steps: the user entering a new e-mail address which is not blank when the confirm status of the e-mail address in the authentication proxy is NULL  917 ; and copying the new e-mail address to the authentication proxy and keeping a confirm status of said new e-mail address NULL  918 .  
         [0076]    [0076]FIG. 10A is a flow diagram illustrating a method  1000  for synchronizing individual field of profile data of a user from a partner site of an authentication proxy to the authentication proxy. The method  1000  comprises the following steps: the user an individual field change of the profile data at the partner site to the authentication proxy  1001 ; the user changing a field in the first profile data other than e-mail address  1002 ; and synchronizing the first profile data with the authentication proxy  1003 .  
         [0077]    [0077]FIG. 10B is a flow diagram illustrating additional processing  1010  of method  1000  in another typical embodiment. The additional processing  1010  comprises the following steps: the user entering a new e-mail address while the confirm status of the e-mail address is change pending  1011 ; displaying a message to the user that the new e-mail address will be sent to partner site but not to the authentication proxy  1012 ; and forcing the e-mail address back to the e-mail address in authentication proxy  1013 .  
         [0078]    The additional processing  1010  further comprises the following steps: the user entering a blank e-mail address while a confirm status of the e-mail address is not change pending  1014 ; and displaying a message to the user that no e-mail address is sent to partner site and the e-mail address in the authentication proxy remains  1015 .  
         [0079]    The additional processing  1010  further comprises the following steps: the user entering a new e-mail address which is not blank when the confirm status of the e-mail address in the authentication proxy is not NULL  1016 ; and displaying an e-mail change message to the user  1017 .  
         [0080]    The additional processing  1010  further comprises the following steps: the user entering a new e-mail address which is not blank when the confirm status of the e-mail address in the authentication proxy is NULL  1018 ; and copying the new e-mail address to the authentication proxy and keeping a confirm status of said new e-mail address NULL  1019 .  
         [0081]    Although the invention is described herein with reference to the preferred embodiment, one skilled in the art will readily appreciate that other applications may be substituted for those set forth herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.  
         [0082]    Accordingly, the invention should only be limited by the claims included below.