Abstract:
Methods and apparatus are provided for verifying the age of an online user. The age and identity of at least one primary user is verified and the primary user provides an age of at least one secondary user. Content requests from the secondary user to access content from at least one online content provider are granted if the primary user has authorized the secondary user to access the content. A content provider delivers content by receiving an identifier and a content request from a secondary user to access content; redirecting the secondary user to a third party age verification server; receiving an indication from the third party age verification server that the secondary user has been authorized by a primary user to access the content; and granting the content request if the primary user has authorized the secondary user to access the content.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    The present application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/032,753, filed Feb. 29, 2008, incorporated by reference herein. 
     
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    The present invention relates to techniques for anonymous age verification, activity management, and activity monitoring of internet users within a family. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0003]    There are an ever-increasing number of children using the internet. As this number increases, no does the need to provide a safer Internet environment for children. Many web sites contain content that children should have little, if any, access. In addition, many web sites gather personal information, for marketing purposes, from the children visiting their site. In terms of outright access to adult oriented sites, visitors are typically required to select a button that indicates that they are of legal age to view the content. This is easily defeated, since there is no “face-to-face” transaction and children can press any button on the screen without age verification by the web site. Some sites may require credit card entry but this has been met with resistance from credit card companies since the card of a parent can get into the hands of children. 
         [0004]    Legislation and guidelines have been implemented to govern, to some extent, children&#39;s internet experience, including COPPA (Children&#39;s Online Privacy Protection Act) and ESRB (Entertainment Software Rating Board). In terms of soliciting information from children, web sites that are COPPA/ESRB-compliant will request that children under the age of 13 provide the email address of their parents so that the web site may contact the parent via email prior to collecting the information from the child. Again, this is easily defeated by the child by indicating that he or she is older than 13 or by providing a counterfeit email address for their parent. Further, if a valid email address is used for the parent, then the parent can get emails from various web sites in a very disconnected manner, making it hard to manage and monitor their children&#39;s activities, especially across multiple web sites and over time. 
         [0005]    A third difficulty in safeguarding the Internet environment for minors is the need for web sites to maintain information about the activities of a particular child at their web site. In addition, some individual web sites have attempted to provide age verification of a child by physically contacting the parent, such as a telephone call to the parent. 
         [0006]    A need exists for a parental consent system (PCS) that addresses all of these challenges by offering a substantially more robust mechanism for a web site to accurately identify a child&#39;s age, by providing parents a single point of management of their children&#39;s activities at participating web sites, and by providing web sites with a mechanism for simplified compliance with applicable regulations and guidelines, as well as a consistent and reliable means of determining the activities that a child is allowed to engage in. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0007]    Generally, methods and apparatus are provided for enhanced age verification and activity management of Internet users. An aspect of the invention provides a mechanism and a process for adults or other authorized individuals to electronically perform a one-time establishment of their age and identity and to further establish, in an anonymous manner, the age(s) of their children. Adults will establish individual age verification accounts (the Primary Account) for themselves and for each one of their children (the Secondary Accounts), if applicable. PCS-compliant sites would require visitors to enter their PCS account name and password before being allowed to enter the web sites or, more typically, before being allowed to perform certain activities at the web sites. The account name and password are gathered and verified by the PCS system which then returns an age indication of the user back to the requesting web site along with parameters that define their allowed activities. 
         [0008]    An embodiment of the present invention includes an electronic interface between the PCS and a person who is legally considered to be an adult (or another authorized individual) and wishes to establish or register a PCS Primary Account. Based on currently accepted identity verification techniques, this interface may also require the involvement of a PCS Verifier. A PCS Verifier is generally a trained individual that is physically present at the time of the PCS Primary and Secondary Account creation. The role of the PCS Verifier would be to confirm the identity of the legal adult and initiate the creation of a PCS Primary Account. In one implementation, approved PCS Verifiers are established by PCS prior to being allowed to verify adults with the PCS system. The actual information used by the PCS Verifier to establish the identity of the legal adult may vary and would be a function of the available and acceptable technologies. Examples of information would include a driver&#39;s license or other photo ID card, proof of address in multiple forms, an in-person credit card transaction, verbal and confirmable queries (for example, at Town Hall using existing information). 
         [0009]    The need of PCS Verifier involvement would require that Primary and Secondary Account creation occurs at locations established for this activity (such as schools, town halls, libraries, police departments, YMCAs and retail outlets). Physical or “face to face” interaction between the parent and the PCS Verifier is dependent on acceptable age verification technologies. Other possible PCS Verifiers could include school systems that already have prior applicable data regarding children and their parents. In such a scenario, the school would initially establish the Primary and Secondary accounts for the parent and children upon appropriate consent of the parent. Once the accounts are established, the parent can take ownership of the accounts to enable and maintain the accounts. Additional possible PCS Verifiers could include: 1) registration at retail outlets involving the activation of a PCS card (similar to a phone card) with a credit card and photo ID; or 2) banks that would provide a PCS on-line service to already known and verified customers that participate in electronic bunking—such access would be provided through the bank&#39;s on-line interface. Again, these are examples that are based upon possible and acceptable age verification techniques 
         [0010]    Another embodiment of the present invention is a method of allowing the account creator, after establishing the Primary Account and the ages of the children, to modify the Primary and Secondary Accounts (children&#39;s accounts) associated with the Primary Account. The Secondary Accounts contain, for example, date-of-birth, account name, password, and allowed activities for the people under the Primary Account. The date of birth on any account typically cannot be changed. 
         [0011]    A further embodiment of the present invention is a means of electronically storing and processing account information. This embodiment allows monitoring and maintenance of the Secondary Accounts by the Primary Account holder and allows secure queries by participating web sites to determine the date of birth and allowed activities of PCS account holders. 
         [0012]    Among other benefits, the present invention provides a more reliable means of establishing the age of a person using the Internet and, in the case of children, doing so anonymously and with the direct involvement of the parent, legal guardian or another authorized individual. The PCS accounts provide a single point for the parents to define and monitor activities and provide a single point for web sites to determine the age of visitors that use their PCS username and password. In this manner, the centralized nature of the PCS provides protection across a plurality of web sites. In addition, the PCS provides a convenient and flexible mechanism for a parent to easily tailor the privileges and activity constraints for a child based on the current age and maturity of the child. 
         [0013]    Also, this system will reduce the possibility of fraud by requiring such things as a credit/debit card, a current or prior physical presence transaction, or a positive ID, to complete the registration. The disclosed system further reduces the possibility of fraud by gathering information about the point of account creation, such as PCS Verifier ID and a date/time tag for the activity. The information about the point of account creation may identify, for example, an account creation site that is allowing the creation of an inordinate number of PCS accounts. Additionally, the location (e.g., country or state) of the account could be available to allow web sites to enforce country-specific age limits on certain web activities. The PCS system can also provide the ability for the primary account holder to specify the resident country of each secondary account under that primary account. Providing a single and consistent interface for web sites to gather allowable info/motion about their visitors will simplify the verification of their ESRB/COPA compliance. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
         [0014]    The foregoing and other features and advantages of the present invention will be more fully understood from the following detailed description of illustrative embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which: 
           [0015]      FIG. 1  is a block diagram of a Parental Consent System in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0016]      FIG. 2  is a flow diagram representing the creation of a PCS Primary Account in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0017]      FIG. 3  is a flow diagram representing the activation of a PCS Primary Account in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0018]      FIG. 4  is a flow diagram illustrating the creation and management of a PCS Secondary Account in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0019]      FIG. 5  is a flow diagram representing the queries into a PCS account from visited web sites in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0020]      FIG. 6  is a flow diagram representing the registration of a web site as a PCS-compliant web site. 
           [0021]      FIG. 7  illustrates a Primary Account and associated Secondary Accounts, as well as the relationship between the Secondary Accounts and any site-specific browsing permissions established for the Secondary Account by the Primary Account holder. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0022]    Detailed embodiments of the present invention are disclosed herein, however, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the invention, which may be embodied in various forms. Therefore, specific functional or structural details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a basis for the claims and as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the present invention in virtually any appropriately detailed embodiment. 
         [0023]      FIG. 1  is a block diagram of an exemplary Parental Consent System  100  in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in  FIG. 1 , a Parent  105  interacts with an optional PCS Verifier  110  who in turn, is interfacing with an Account Creation Interface  115 . The Parent  105  provides necessary identifying information for creating a Primary Account  120  to the PCS Verifier  110  who enters the identifying information via the Account Creation Interface  115 . The received Primary Account  120  information is validated by the PCS Verifier  110  via the Account Authentication and Management Process  125 . The Account Authentication and Management Process  125  also provides data encryption functionality to encrypt any accounts stored in an Account/User database  135 . The Account Authentication and Management Process  125  communicates with the Account/User database  135  to retrieve or store account information. 
         [0024]    After establishing the Primary Account  120 , the Parent  105  provides the date of birth information of each child  155  to the PCS Verifier  110 . This data is also entered via the Account Creation Interface  115  to establish Secondary Accounts  145  and is processed similarly to the Primary Accounts  120 . The Primary Account  120  and associated Secondary Accounts  145  are discussed further below in conjunction with  FIG. 7 . An Account Management and Monitoring Interface  150  additionally provides ongoing access to information for Primary Accounts  120  and Secondary Accounts  145  by the Parent  105 . The Account Management and Monitoring Interface  150  also utilizes the Account Authentication and Management Process  125  to access, encrypt, and update data that is stored in the Account/User database  135 . 
         [0025]    While using the World Wide Web, a PCS user (typically a child with a Secondary Account  145 ) utilizes the Parental Consent System  100  by first accessing a PCS-enabled Web Site  170 . A PCS-enabled Web Site  170  will redirect the user&#39;s web browser to an Age Verification Interface  175  when the website determines that the child is entering a protected area of the site. The Age Verification Interface  175  will access a Web-Site Database  180  to display a login prompt using an appearance established by each PCS-enabled web-site  170 . The Age Verification Interface  175  will prompt the user for an account name and password. The Age Verification Interface  175  will access the Account/User Database  135  via the Account Authentication and Management Process  125  to retrieve the date of birth of the user. The Age Verification Interface  175  will also retrieve the allowed activities that have been established by the parent  105 , either default activities or activities specific to the requesting web-site. The Age Verification Interface  175  will return control to the requesting PCS-enabled Web Site  170  along with the age and allowed activities of the user. 
         [0026]    In order for a web-site to be PCS-compliant, the web site generally must register with the Parental Consent System  100  and establish a functional interface with the Parental Consent System  100 , such as a Compliant Web Site Interface  190 . Information specific to the web site is stored in the Web-Site Database  180 . 
         [0027]      FIG. 2  is a flow diagram representing the exemplary creation of a Primary Account  120  in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The exemplary process begins by an adult selecting and utilizing a participating PCS Verifier  110  to confirm their age and identity during step  210 . In the exemplary embodiment, a face-to-face example of a PCS Verifier  110  is employed during step  220 . Other types of age and identity verification that are deemed to be appropriate may also be employed, as would be apparent to a person of ordinary skill in the art. Establishing an account with the face-to-face method requires that the PCS Verifier  110  has a PC with a web connection to access the account creation interface  110  that allows the creation of Primary Accounts  120 . The Parental Consent System  100  will electronically store an initial and temporary Primary Account  120  during step  230 . Once the temporary Primary Account  120  has been established, the parent  105  specifies the ages of the children that are to have Secondary Accounts  145  during step  240 . This also takes place through the PCS Verifier  110  and is stored during step  250 . The newly-registered adult will be given a name for the Primary Account  120  during step  260  to later sign on and create a permanent Primary Account  120 . The initial Primary Account  120  can have an expiration date for security reasons. It is again noted that there could be other types of age verifying techniques and supporting technologies and processing other than the example discussed herein. 
         [0028]      FIG. 3  is a flow diagram representing the exemplary activation of a Primary Account  120  in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. This occurs after Account Creation ( FIG. 2 ) and typically without the presence of the PCS Verifier  110 . After creating an initial Primary Account  120 , the adult signs into PCS during step  310  with the initial account name. Once signed in, the adult is required to create the permanent Primary Account  120  with a new account name and password during steps  320  and  330 , respectively. The entered information for the Primary Account  120  is stored during step  340 . 
         [0029]      FIG. 4  is a flow diagram illustrating the exemplary creation and management of a Secondary Account  145  in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. After establishing the permanent Primary Account  120  and the ages of the children associated with the account, the holder of the Primary Account  120  may then create other Secondary Accounts  145  that will be associated for each child. These Secondary Accounts  145  are electronically associated with the Primary Account  120 . For each Secondary Account  145 , the parent  105  will create a unique account name and password—the date of birth generally cannot be changed. All user account information is stored electronically in Parental Consent System  100 . Parents  105  can establish default access parameters for each user under their account. Parents  105  can choose to let their children access compliant sites using these defaults or Parents  105  can request to be notified via email or via the PCS website when a child has requested access to protected areas of a PCS-enabled Web Site  170 . A parent  105  may then choose to visit the requesting web site and then use the Parental Consent System  100  to specify the information that can be provided to that site as well as the allowed level of access to that site. 
         [0030]    As shown in  FIG. 4 , the Parent  105  initially signs on during step  410  to the Primary Account  120 . Thereafter, the Parent  105  creates user accounts for one or more children during step  420 . The parent  105  enters the allowed web site interactions for the child during step  430  and optionally enters appropriate COPPA/ESRB personal information during step  440 . The parent can review any notifications or queries sent by any PCS-compliant site  170  during step  450 , and can review and specify activities of the child during step  460 . 
         [0031]      FIG. 5  is a flow diagram representing exemplary queries into an account from visited web sites in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Generally, the exemplary method anonymously confirms a user&#39;s age to a PCS-enabled Web Site  170 . First, a user visits a PCS-enabled web site  170 . When the child visits a protected area of the PCS-enabled website  170 , the website will determine it is necessary to verify the user&#39;s age. The PCS-enabled Web Site  170  will redirect the user to the PCS web site, where the user will enter his/her username and password. The Parental Consent System  100  will retrieve the age of the user from the Account/User Database  135  and return it, and control back to the PCS-enabled Web Site  170 . The PCS-enabled Web Site  170  will then use the age information to control what the user is able to do at that site. 
         [0032]    As shown in  FIG. 5 , the user initially accesses the PCS-enabled website  170  during step  510 . Thereafter, the PCS sign in is requested during step  520 . The user is redirected to the Parental Consent System  100  during step  530 . A test is performed during step  540  to determine if the sign-in was verified. If the sign-in is verified, a further test is performed during step  550  to determine if the Parent  105  has granted access for this user for this site. If the parent  105  has granted access, the age, access level, and COPPA/ESRB information is sent to the requesting web site during step  560 . 
         [0033]    If the sign-in is not verified during step  540 , the appropriate status is returned to the requesting web site during step  570 . If the parent has not granted access during step  550 , the parent is notified of the request during step  580  and program control proceeds to step  570 . 
         [0034]      FIG. 6  is a flow diagram representing the exemplary registration of a web site as a PCS-enabled Web Site  170 . Generally, the exemplary method allows PCS-enabled web sites  170  to establish their operation related to Parental Consent System  100 . PCS-enabled web sites  170  use the PCS web site to provide information to parents  105  such as the level of PCS compliance, an overview of the web site, how child information would be used if received from the Parental Consent System  100 , compliance with COPPA/ESRB, etc. PCS-enabled web sites  170  will also be able to provide information to the Parental Consent System  100  that describes the user interface a child would see to sign in to the Parental Consent System  100 . 
         [0035]    As shown in  FIG. 6 , a registration number is initially provided to the web site by administrators during step  610 . Thereafter, the web master  185  can sign in using the registration number during step  620 . The web master  185  then specifies, during step  630 , available access levels, PCS parameters, and links to information about the site including COPPA/ESRB compliance. Finally, the web master  185  provides web user interface graphics for children to use when signing in to the site during step  640 . 
         [0036]      FIG. 7  illustrates a Primary Account  120  and associated Secondary Accounts  145 , as well as the relationship between the Secondary Accounts  145  and any site-specific browsing permissions established for the Secondary Account  145  by the holder of the Primary Account  120 . As shown in  FIG. 7 , an exemplary Primary Account  120  is created, for example, by a Parent  105  with one or more Secondary Accounts  145 - 1  through  145 -N. The Secondary Accounts  145 - 1  through  145 -N may be associated, for example, with the children of the parent  105 . The exemplary Primary Account  120  typically has an associated Username, Password, and Additional Identifying Information. As further shown in  FIG. 7 , the exemplary Secondary Account  145  typically has an associated Child Username, Child Password, Child Date-of-Birth and any Default Browsing Permissions. In addition, the exemplary Secondary Account  145  may have Site-Specific Permissions established by the Primary Account  120  holder for one or more sites  710 - 1  through  710 -N. 
         [0037]    While the invention has been described with reference to illustrative embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various other changes, omissions and/or additions may be made and substantial equivalents may be substituted for elements thereof without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. In addition, many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation or material to the teachings of the invention without departing from the scope thereof. Therefore, it is intended that the invention not be limited to the particular embodiment disclosed for carrying out this invention, but that the invention will include all embodiments falling within the scope of the appended claims. Moreover, unless specifically stated any use of the terms first, second, etc. do not denote any order or importance, but rather the terms first, second, etc. are used to distinguish one element from another. 
         [0038]    While a number of the figures herein show an exemplary sequence of steps, it is also an embodiment of the present invention that the sequence may be varied. Various permutations of the algorithm are contemplated as alternate embodiments of the invention. While exemplary embodiments of the present invention have been described with respect to processing steps in a software program, as would be apparent to one skilled in the art, various functions may be implemented in the digital domain as processing steps in a software program, in hardware by circuit elements or state machines, or in combination of both software and hardware. Such software may be employed in, for example, a digital signal processor, micro-controller, or general-purpose computer. Such hardware and software may be embodied within circuits implemented within an integrated circuit. 
         [0039]    Thus, the functions of the present invention can be embodied in the form of methods and apparatuses for practicing those methods. One or more aspects of the present invention can be embodied in the form of program code, for example, whether stored in a storage medium, loaded into and/or executed by a machine, or transmitted over some transmission medium, wherein, when the program code is loaded into and executed by a machine, such as a computer, the machine becomes an apparatus for practicing the invention. When implemented on a general-purpose processor, the program code segments combine with the processor to provide a device that operates analogously to specific logic circuits. The invention can also be implemented in one or more of an integrated circuit, a digital signal processor, a microprocessor, and a micro-controller. 
         [0040]    System and Article of Manufacture Details 
         [0041]    As is known in the art, the methods and apparatus discussed herein may be distributed as an article of manufacture that itself comprises a computer readable medium having computer readable code means embodied thereon. The computer readable program code means is operable, in conjunction with a computer system, to carry out all or some of the steps to perform the methods or create the apparatuses discussed herein. The computer readable medium may be a recordable medium (e.g., floppy disks, hard drives, compact disks, memory cards, semiconductor devices, chips, application specific integrated circuits (ASICs)) or may be a transmission medium (e.g., a network comprising fiber-optics, the world-wide web, cables, or a wireless channel using time-division multiple access, code-division multiple access, or other radio-frequency channel). Any medium known or developed that can store information suitable for use with a computer system may be used. The computer-readable code means is any mechanism for allowing a computer to read instructions and data, such as magnetic variations on a magnetic media or height variations on the surface of a compact disk. 
         [0042]    The computer systems and servers described herein each contain a memory that will configure associated processors to implement the methods, steps, and functions disclosed herein. The memories could be distributed or local and the processors could be distributed or singular. The memories could be implemented as an electrical, magnetic or optical memory, or any combination of these or other types of storage devices. Moreover, the term “memory” should be construed broadly enough to encompass any information able to be read from or written to an address in the addressable space accessed by an associated processor. With this definition, information on a network is still within a memory because the associated processor can retrieve the information from the network. 
         [0043]    It is to be understood that the embodiments and variations shown and described herein are merely illustrative of the principles of this invention and that various modifications may be implemented by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention.