Patent Publication Number: US-2007124226-A1

Title: Method for Verifying Data in a Dating Service, Dating-Service Database including Verified Member Data, and Method for Prioritizing Search Results Including Verified Data, and Methods for Verifying Data

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
      Not Applicable  
     STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT  
      Not Applicable  
     THE NAMES OF PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENT  
      Not Applicable  
     INCORPORATION-BY-REFERENCE OF MATERIAL SUBMITTED ON A COMPACT DISC  
      Not Applicable  
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      1. Field of the Invention  
      The invention relates to dating services and, in particular, to methods for verifying a member&#39;s wealth.  
      2. Description of the Related Art  
      From simplistic beginnings like a neighborhood matchmakers, dating services have evolved with technology like computers, the Internet, and webcams into sophisticated online databases and online communities. The technology has allowed dating services to aggregate larger number of members in their database and allows members to quickly sort through the database with sophisticated search tools to find more compatible potential couples.  
      Another quality of the Internet is its anonymity. Users on the Internet can participate in online communities and are not tied to their true personas. For example, a user can pretend to be a different age or pretend to have a different career than their real life. While this anonymity indulges that user&#39;s imagination, it also frustrates people who are seeking matches who truly posses those qualities. The problem of discerning truth in member profiles is often confounded by being online. In-person, there are many ways that we check each other: voice, cross-examining questions, etc. However, on the Internet, we often have to trust the truth as a person presents him or herself.  
      While the escapism offered by the Internet is interesting to the person who is lying, it can often lead to disappointment in the person to whom the user is lying. This problem is especially a problem in online dating. For example, a member of a dating service presents himself as a forty year old doctor who is six feet tall. Another member reads the profile and becomes interested. The two arrange to meet in person. At the date, the second user realizes that the first user is actually an unemployed sixteen year old boy. The second user will obviously be disappointed. When the lies told by the first user are more subtle, the second user may even be fooled into a deeper scam by the first person. Accordingly, a need exists for an online dating service that contains member profiles that hold true information.  
      In addition to having true information, a need exists to provide members of a dating service with higher quality members. “Higher quality” is very subjective, some people value wealth, others looks, and some careers. Regardless of what criteria are being valued, it is useful to provide such criteria within a database. However, screening member profiles to those values has little worth if the information in the member profiles is falsified. Therefore, there is a need to provide an online database that is searchable for truthful data.  
      Another problem is that members who actually have the values (i.e. criteria) that are being sought are often frustrated by unverified databases that are filled with people with falsified information. When the member database becomes full of falsified profiles, truth-telling members become frustrated because potential matches are being misdirected by members with fraudulent data. This corrupts the whole database and process because members feel there is little incentive to tell the truth and members searching have little reliance that the search results that they finding are truthful.  
      Published U.S. Patent Application No. US 2006/0080121 to Chiang teaches a system that verifies a user&#39;s income. Chiang teaches to contact a third party for verification. Chiang does not teach contacting CPA&#39;s, requesting bank statements, or tax returns. Chiang does not teach how to apply its verification system to a dating service wherein the members have a verified threshold amount of wealth.  
      Published U.S. Patent Publication No. US 2004/0128148 to Austin et al. teaches an online dating system wherein information provided by members is verified. The information includes income information by verifying tax 1040 forms. The dating system does not envision a system that sets a threshold income for its members. The system does not include verification by an accountant or account statements.  
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide a dating service, in particular an online dating service, with a database of verified member data, which overcomes the above-mentioned disadvantages of the heretofore-known devices and methods of this general type.  
      It is a further object of the invention to provide an online dating service that has members who are verified to be of a higher quality.  
      In its broadest form, the invention encompasses an online dating service made of a searchable database of member profiles wherein at least some of the data has been verified by corroboration that is more than the member&#39;s statement itself. Generally, the more objective the corroboration the better it is. At the same time, it is a further object of the invention for the dating service not to become overly burdened by the verification process.  
      With the foregoing and other objects in view there is provided, in accordance with the invention, a method for verifying wealth of members of a dating service. The method includes a subscribing and a submitting step. In the first step, a user subscribes by creating a member profile. In the member profiles, the users provide information about themselves. The member profile can also include information about what type of person the member is seeking. Usually the member profile includes biographical information like age, gender, education, interests, height, weight, and a photograph.  
      In the next step, at least one piece of information in the profile is verified with third party information. The information is usually in the form of third party corroboration. The corroboration might be a writing, a paper, a government document, sworn statement, or declaration that is submitted to the dating service. The corroboration can be submitted by any conventional means: i.e. email, mail, facsimile, or even telephonically.  
      It is a further object of the invention to provide a dating service with a wealth threshold. That is, to be a member or to be a premier member, the user must meet a wealth threshold. The dating service sets the wealth threshold. Wealth can be measured quantitatively in many ways. The invention calls for the member to first state that their wealth exceeds the threshold. Then the user submits third-party evidence such as a bank statement, tax filing, or a statement from a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) verifying the member&#39;s statement.  
      Wealth is a vague quality and can be measured in many ways. Financial wealth is often quantified by annual income, net worth, and savings. By using a common measurement, many members have access to the information and the dating service can verify the data more easily. The form of corroboration for wealth could be a bank statement showing a given amount, an income-tax filing showing a minimum annual income, or an accountant&#39;s statement made in their professional capacity as a CPA. Examples of tax returns that may be used include a Form 1040, a Form 1099, and a Form W-2.  
      A further object of the invention is to provide a method for verification, in particular wealth verification, that is not so difficult that it prevents users from verifying their information. Because most wealthy people work with a CPA, they can use a CPA to corroborate their wealth statement. However, because such statements are not traditional, it may be inconvenient, slow, and even expensive to have a CPA make the statement. To facilitate, the dating service, when prompted, may generate a form for a CPA to sign. The form can include information provided by the member. The user then simply has to print the statement, have the CPA sign it, and return the statement. Alternatively, the user can submit contact information of the CPA to the dating service and, in turn, the dating service can transmit the statement for signature by using the contact information directly to the user by mail, facsimile, or email, and have the CPA sign it directly, and return it to the dating service. To further facilitate the transaction, the dating service can generate a cover letter from the member to accompany the letter for the CPA&#39;s signature so that the CPA does not need to waste time seeking the member/client&#39;s approval for signature.  
      Another form of information that can be verified in a member profile of an online dating service is the profession of a member. The member profile includes a field to store a member&#39;s profession. When creating or updating their profile, the member enters their profile. Once entered, the user may choose to verify their profession. Verifying their profession allows others searching the database to find profiles that have been verified. Even if the profession is not verified, the dating service still may list members with verified professions before search results with unverified profiles. To verify their profile, the member submits professional material that includes the member&#39;s name. Professional material can be a letterhead or business card with the member&#39;s name and profession. Professional material might also be a membership card or state license. To be effective the professional material should include the member&#39;s name and profession. The member can then correlate the professional material with the name to the member profile by providing a copy of government-issued identification such as a driver&#39;s license or passport to the dating service. Once the dating service correlates the member&#39;s profession and name to an identification, the profession is verified in the database.  
      Probably the most commonly falsified part of a member profile is the photograph. The member posts a photograph that is someone else. This can reach the extremes of someone posting the photograph of someone much younger or even the opposite sex. The invention provides a method for the member verifying that the photograph in the member profile belongs to the member.  
      To verify the photo of a member profile, the first step is creating a member profile for the given member in the dating service database. The member profile includes a field for storing at least one picture of the member. For electronic, online dating services, the member uploads their digitized photograph file (i.e. jpeg, gif, etc.) to the online database.  
      The next step of picture verification is for the member to submit a copy of a piece of identification that includes a photograph. Preferably, the identification is government issued, like a driver&#39;s license or a passport. For an online database, the user would scan their identification and then upload it to the online dating service.  
      To complete the verification, the photograph submitted is matched to the photograph on the identification. While many face matching techniques exist, the simplest for of matching would be to have an employee of the dating service matching the photograph to the identification.  
      When searching the database of the online dating service, a user can limit the search to member profiles that have verified photographs. To reward users who have verified their pictures, matches with verified pictures can be listed before member profiles that have pictures that are not verified.  
      It is a further object of the invention to provide a dating service that includes a searchable database of member profiles that can store if a member has been verified to meet a given criteria (i.e. a verified wealth threshold, a verified profession, and/or a verified photograph). In its preferred form, the dating service and database are hosted on a computer. The computer is connected to or includes a web server that connects the database to members over a computer network. The computer network is preferably an IP protocol network such as the Internet. A profile that has an indicator that the member has been verified as having met a criteria is storable in each user profile. The verification methods are detailed elsewhere in this application. The member profiles forming the dating base can include, in combination or without, a verified wealth, a verified profession of the associated member, and a verified picture.  
      The invention of the instant application also encompasses a method displaying search results of the member database that gives priority to member profiles that include verified information. A plurality of member profiles is placed in the database. The member profiles are formed with at least one searchable field. The data being searched for is a profile criterion. The member profiles are filled with criteria by the members. A member who wants to search the database for possible matches then enters at least one criterion. Search results of member profiles that match the at least one criterion are displayed. Member profiles that have verified criteria or criterion are displayed before matching profiles that are not verified. The criteria being searched does not necessarily need to be the verified criteria to give the results precedence. For example, a user might be search for men who are six feet tall. The member profiles of men who are six feet tall are displayed. However, the matching member profiles with a verified criterion (e.g. verified wealth, verified profession, or verified picture) are listed first. By listing member profiles that are verified before other profiles, members are given incentives to have their member profiles verified. In addition, users who are searching will not waste time viewing unverified profiles.  
      Other features which are considered as characteristic for the invention are set forth in the appended claims.  
      Although the invention is illustrated and described herein as embodied in a method for verifying data in a dating service and a dating-service database including verified member data, it is nevertheless not intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention and within the scope and range of equivalents of the claims.  
      The construction and method of operation of the invention, however, together with additional objects and advantages thereof will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING  
       FIG. 1  is a flowchart of a method for verifying wealth of members of a dating service.  
       FIG. 2  is a flowchart of a method for creating a member profile in a dating service.  
       FIG. 3  is a flowchart of a method for verifying personal information in a member profile in a dating service.  
       FIG. 4  is a schematic view of a computer network connecting users to an online dating service.  
       FIG. 5  is a screenshot of a user profile in an online dating database. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
      Referring now to the figures of the drawing in detail and first, particularly, to  FIG. 1  thereof, there is seen a flowchart depicting a method for verifying personal information in member profiles within an online database of an online dating service.  
      The method shown in the flowchart in  FIG. 1  is executed in a computer application that is run by a web server  401 , which is shown in  FIG. 4 . The web server  401  manipulates, searches, uses, changes, and creates data (i.e. member profiles  500 ) in a connected electronic computerized database  402 . The database  402  stores member profiles  500 , as shown in  FIG. 5 , of members of an online dating service.  
       FIG. 5  shows a typical member profile  500 . The member profile is a data record made of a plurality of searchable fields that hold biographical data about the respective member. Each member profile  500  includes a username  501 , which is unique within the database  402 , i.e. a prime key. Other prime keys are possible. The gender  502 , age  503 , sexual preference  505 , body type  506 , height  507 , relationship type (i.e. online flirting  508 , dating  509 , just experimenting  510 , travel partner  511 , and marriage  512 ), location  513 , and zip code  514 . A text field called “About me”  525  allows the members to enter text and describe themselves. A text field called “Ideal Person”  516  allows the members to enter text and describe what qualities they seek in others. A check spelling button  519  is included to check the spelling of the text with the ideal-person field  516  and the about-me field  525  are also included in the member profile  500 . The member  1  associated with the profile  500  can save the changes to the profile by selecting the save button  517  or not make the changes by selecting the cancel button  518 . Lastly, navigation buttons for online browsing are included: my-home button  529 , browse button  530 , and sign-out button  531 .  
      A wealth verification indicator  528  indicates if the member&#39;s wealth meets a threshold set by the online dating service and that the wealth has been verified with a statement such as a declaration or affidavit by a Certified Public Accountant, a bank statement, or a signed income tax return. The wealth verification method is detailed below.  
      A profession field  504  stores the member&#39;s profession. A profession verification indicator  527  shows if the profession listed in the profession field  504  has been verified or if the profession listed is unverified. The method for profession verification is detailed below.  
      A photograph  522  can be uploaded to the database  402 . A photograph  522  that has been identified (i.e. “pic verified”) as the user by having a third party compare the user&#39;s real name (which is stored but not displayed publicly) and a government-issued photo identification such as a driver&#39;s license or passport to confirm that the photograph  522  belongs to the member. A photograph  522  can be promoted to be a primary photograph  521  of the profile  500  by selecting the primary photograph button  524 . A photograph  522  can be deleted from the profile  500  by selecting the remove photograph button  523 .  
       FIG. 1  depicts a method for searching a database  402  of member profiles  500  in an online database  402  of an online dating service.  FIG. 4  depicts a simple embodiment of a computer network. In this preferred embodiment, the user  404  operates a personal computer  403  with a web browser (not shown) to browse the Internet  405  (i.e. worldwide web) to reach a web server  401  hosting the database  400 ; see step  600 . In step  601 , the dating service asks if the user  404  is an existing member. If the user  404  is not, the user  404  is referred to the create profile subroutine  700 . If the user  404  has a member profile  500 , in step  602 , the web server  401  checks if the member profile  500  of the user is verified. If the member profile  500  is unverified, the web server  401  queries the user  404  if the user  404  wants to verify his or her member profile  500 . If the user  404  chooses to verify the profile  500 , the user  404  is referred to the verification subroutine  800 .  
      In step  603 , messages sent to the user  404  are displayed. In step  604 , the user  404  can choose to read a given message. In step  617 , if chosen to be read, the message is displayed to the user  404 . In step  605 , the user  404  can choose to add the sender to the user&#39;s match list. In step  606 , when the user  404  chooses to add a user to the user&#39;s match list, the relationship between the user&#39;s member profile  500  and the selected member&#39;s profile  500  is stored in the database  402 . In step  607 , the user  404  can choose to send a reply message to the user. In step  608 , the user  404  enters the message on the personal computer  403  and, in step  609 , the message is sent from the personal computer  43  via the Internet  405  to the web server  401  and stored in the database  402 .  
      In step  610 , the user  404  is asked if the user  404  wants to search the database  402 . If the user  404  chooses to search the database  402 , the user  402  enters criteria in step  611 . Examples of criteria are gender  502 , age  503 , sexual preference  505 , body type  506 , height  507 , relationship type, location  513 , zip code  514 , strings of text in the about-me field  525 , and a string of text in the ideal person field  516 . General database search principles are applicable such as fuzzy logic, ranges of inputs, connectors (i.e. and, or, not, exactly, etc.), wildcards, and ranking of results are included to provide sophisticating search capabilities. In addition, the user  404  can request to show only member profiles  500  with a picture verification  520 , a job verification  527 , and/or a wealth verification  528 . In step  612 , the database  402  is searched for member profiles  500  with matching criteria. In step  613 , the member profiles  500  that match the criteria are displayed on the personal computer  403  of the user  404 . In step  614 , the system asks if the user  404  is interested in the user profile being displayed. If the user  404  is interested, in step  615 , the user associated with the member profile  500  is notified that the user  404  is interested in meeting them; a message can be added long with the member profile  500  of the user  404 .  
      In step  616 , the user is asked if the user  404  wants to search more. If yes, the user  404  is returned to step  613 , and the next matching results are displayed. If the user  404  chooses not to search further, the process ends. The user might choose to enter a new search and move to step  611  or to read messages in step  604 , or verify their account through subroutine  800 .  
       FIG. 2  depicts the create profile subroutine  700 . In step  701 , the user  404  can add their wealth to their profile  500 . If chosen, in step  702 , the user  404  inputs their wealth. Because wealth can be measured in many ways, income, net worth, assets, the dating service  1  can provide choices for the user to categorize the type of wealth and the amount. For example, “Annual income of at least $100,000” or “Net worth of $1 million” or “Savings of $1 million” can be chosen.  
      In step  703 , the user  404  is asked if the user wants to include their profession in their user profile  500 . In step  704 , the user inputs their profession. The input can be text data or be a drop box selection from a pre-propagated list of professions, for example, doctor, lawyer, accountant, banker, stockbroker, computer programmer, or patent examiner.  
      In step  705 , the web server  401  queries the user  404  if the user wants to include a photograph in the member profile  500 . If the user answers yes, then the web server  401  uploads a photograph from the user  402  in step  706 . After the photograph has uploaded or if the user  402  chooses not to include a photograph, the web server  401  advances to step  707 .  
      In step  707 , the web server  401  queries the user  404  if the user  404  wants to include additional data to the user&#39;s member profile. The additional data can include username  501 , gender  502 , age  503 , profession  504 , sexual preference  505 , body type  506 , height  507 , online flirting  508 , dating  509 , just experimenting  510 , travel partner  511 , marriage  512 , location  513 , zip code  514 , about me  525 , and ideal person  516 . After the additional data has been entered or if the user  404  chooses not to add data, the create profile subroutine  700  ends.  
      Once the user has a profile (either already existing or recently created, i.e. create profile subroutine  700 ), the web server  401  asks the user  404  if the user wants to verify the member profile  500 . If the user  404  elects to verify the member profile  500 , the web server  404  executes the verify subroutine  800 .  
       FIG. 3  shows a flowchart of the verify subroutine  800 . In step  801 , the web server  401  queries the user  402  to verify the wealth input in step  702 . If the user  404  chooses to verify the wealth, the user  404  is asked in step  802  if the user  404  wants to verify the user&#39;s wealth by submitting an income statement. If the user  404  wants to submit an income statement, in step  803 , the user uploads a scanned image of a signed tax return verifying the wealth by showing an amount of income. If the user  404  does not choose to submit an income statement in step  802 , the user can choose to submit a bank statement in step  804 . If the user  404 , chooses to submit a bank statement, the user uploads a scanned image of a bank statement showing a balance to prove the wealth in step  805 .  
      In step  806 , the user  404  is asked to verify the user&#39;s wealth by verifying it with an accountant. In step  807 , the user is asked if they want to verify the user&#39;s wealth by sending an email to the user&#39;s accountant  407 . If the user  404  chooses to use email, then in step  808  an email message is sent to the user&#39;s accountant  407 . The information about the user  404  and the accountant  407  are propagated in a prewritten form email. The email includes a statement that the accountant  404  is making a sworn declaration as a certified public accountant that the user  404  has the stated wealth. In step  809 , the certified public accountant executes the statement to verify the wealth and returns the letter to the web server  401  via email.  
      If electronic email is not selected in step  807 , the user  404  is asked if the user will verify the user&#39;s wealth with a letter  410  from an accountant in step  810 . In step  811 , the user  404  inputs information about the user  404  and the accountant  407 , in particular the user&#39;s and accountant&#39;s name and address. From this information, a form letter  410  is generated. In step  812 , the user  404  prints the letter  410 . In step  813 , the user  404  delivers the letter  410  to the accountant  407 . In step  814 , the accountant  407  signs the letter  410  to confirm the wealth of the user  404 . In step  815 , the accountant returns the signed letter  410  to the online dating service  1 . The online dating service  1  enters a wealth verification  528  in the user&#39;s profile  500  if the statement verifies that the user  404  meets the wealth threshold. The online dating service  1  may need to re-contact the user  404  or accountant  407  to complete the verification.  
      If the user  404  chose in step  810  not to have a letter  410  created for the client, then, in step  816 , the user  404  is asked if the service  1  should contact an accountant. If the user  404  answers no, then the verify wealth subroutine is ended. If the user  404  answers yes, then the user is asked to provide accountant contact information in step  817 . Accountant contact information can include the accountant&#39;s address, telephone number, facsimile number, and email address. In step  818 , the dating service  1  contacts the accountant, for example, by telephone, facsimile, mail, or e-mail and provided with a statement of the user&#39;s wealth. The statement can be in the form of a stated minimum for the dating service  1 . For example, the statement might say, “I confirm that I am a certified public accountant and that I confirm that the user made at least $x last year.” In step  819 , the accountant is asked to confirm the user&#39;s wealth by verifying their status as a certified public accountant and signing the statement as a certified public accountant.  
      After the wealth is verified or if the user chooses not verify the user&#39;s wealth, the user is asked if the user wants to verify the user&#39;s profession in step  820 . If the user chooses to verify their profession, in step  821 , the user submits professional material. The material can be professional letterhead, a state sanctioned (i.e. a state bar association or medical license) certification, or other material showing the profession of the user. Typically the materially is submitted by scanning it and submitting it electronically, faxing it to the dating service  1 , or mailing a copy to the dating service  1 . In step  822 , the user includes a government identification that matches the material submitted in step  821 . In step  823 , the dating service  1  matches the professional material submitted in step  821  to the identification submitted in step  822 . Upon successful matching, the member profile  500  has a job verification  527  added to the member profile  500 .  
      In step  824 , the user is asked if the user wants to verify the user&#39;s picture. If the user chooses to verify the user&#39;s picture, then the user submits a photograph in step  825 . In step  826 , the user submits identification with a photograph. Preferably, the identification is state sanctioned: i.e. a driver&#39;s license or passport. In step  827 , the dating service  1  verifies the picture submitted in step  825  by matching it to the photograph in the photo id submitted in step  826 .  
      If the user chooses not to verify the user&#39;s picture in step  825 , the verification subroutine  800  is ended.  
      The database  402  of the dating service  1  can be searched and the results are prioritized if the results contain verified data; i.e. a wealth verification  528 , a profession verification  527 , and/or a picture verification  520 . The database  402  includes fields that store biographical data about the respective members. A user, preferably a member, searches the database  402  by entering a criterion. Search results include member profiles  500  that match the criterion. Member profiles  500  that include verified biographical data (i.e. a wealth verification  528 , a profession verification  527 , and picture photograph  520 ) are given precedent over matching member profiles  500  that do not include verified biographical data. The search criterion can be for biographical data other than the wealth verification and the results are still given precedent when the member profiles  500  include verified biographical data.