Patent ID: RE44374

Claim:
A method comprising: receiving, by an apparatus, a request from a user device to subscribe to a conference as an anonymous participant; in response to the request, assigning, by an the apparatus, an anonymous participant identifier to the user device, and ; sending, from the apparatus to the user device, a message comprising a plurality of anonymous participant identifiers including the anonymous participant identifier assigned to the user device, wherein the message further comprises a flag set to “true” along with the anonymous participant identifier, wherein the flag is configured to indicate to the user device that the anonymous participant identifier is assigned to the user device, wherein the user device is configured to identify, based on the flag, which of the plurality of anonymous participant identifiers is its own the anonymous participant identifier of the user device , wherein the anonymous participant identifier of the user device is for use while the user device is known to other participants in the conference, wherein the other participants receive the plurality of anonymous participant identifiers without the flag set to “true” for the anonymous participant identifier of the user device.