Patent ID: 8078578

Claim:
A system for sharing location information comprising: a database comprising a plurality of presence profiles, each presence profile maintaining, for an associated network user, one or more network device identifiers and, for each network device identifier, a current presence status indicating network availability, and current time-zone information based on geographic location; and a controller operable to: receive presence information indicating a specific network device identifier, substantially real-time presence status, and substantially real-time time-zone information; determine a matching one of the presence profiles having a network device identifier matching the specific network device identifier; update the current presence status and the current time-zone information for the specific network device identifier in the matching one of the presence profiles using the substantially real-time presence status and the substantially real-time time-zone information; mask the current time-zone information for the specific network device identifier by shifting the current time-zone information for the specific network device identifier in the matching one of the presence profiles by an amount determined using a shifting algorithm; generate a presence update indicating the specific network device identifier, the current presence status, and the shifted time-zone information from the matching one of the presence profiles; identify a subscriber address for receiving the presence update; and transmit the presence update to the subscriber address.