Patent ID: 7917440

Claim:
A method for collecting metering data by a metering service from a client, the method comprising the steps of: sending to the client a metering trigger, said metering trigger including at least one of the group consisting of a metering certificate that is embedded therein and a link to the metering certificate, and wherein the client is a mobile device and the metering certificate includes a public key of a public-private key pair; receiving a metering challenge from the client, wherein the metering challenge includes metering data and is received directly at the metering service from the client using over-the-air communications; using a private key of the public-private key pair, decrypting the metering data included in the metering challenge received from the client wherein the metering data is encrypted by the client using the public key; and generating a metering response to prompt the client to reset at least a portion of a data store for the metering data contained in the metering challenge.