Access-Controlled Communication Screening for Valid Delivery

Resolve Bottlenecks,
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions

Solution Overview

Problem

Existing mechanisms for preventing spam communications, such as unsolicited emails, phone calls, and text messages, are largely ineffective at identifying potentially unwanted communications while allowing valid communications to persist, leading to bandwidth wastage and a poor user experience.

Innovation Solution

Implementing an access control list that requires communicators to be on a registry of trusted devices or entities, with unverified communications being redirected to a registration process or tagged with an unverified status flag, and using CAPTCHA verification to authenticate entities.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Object-affected harmful factors

If existing spam blocking mechanisms are implemented, then some spam communications are filtered, but valid communications are also blocked and bandwidth is wasted

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvespam communicationsVSAvoidvalid communications delivery

Core Design Contradiction:

Object-affected harmful factorsVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary verification by requiring senders to register with an access control list before communications are allowed. This advance registration and verification process ensures that only authenticated entities can send communications, preventing both spam and false blocking of valid communications.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The patent introduces an intermediary access control list and registration system between the sender and recipient. This intermediary verifies sender credentials and manages the allow/deny decisions, separating the filtering function from both sender and recipient while improving accuracy in distinguishing spam from valid communications.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Device complexity

If traditional spam filters are used, then processing is simplified, but identification accuracy of unwanted communications remains low

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvefiltering mechanismVSAvoidspam identification accuracy

Core Design Contradiction:

Device complexityVSMeasurement precision

Solution Approach 1:

The patent replaces traditional mechanical keyword-based filtering with an electronic access control list system that uses digital credentials, certificates, and cryptographic verification. This substitution enables more precise identification of spam while maintaining manageable system complexity through standardized digital verification protocols.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #28Mechanics substitution (Replace mechanical system)

Data Source

PatentUS12423403B1Preventing spam communications

Publication Date: 2025.09.23 UNITED SERVICES AUTOMOBILE ASSOCIATION (USAA)

AI summary

Aspects of the present disclosure are directed to systems and methods for preventing spam communications. Implementations can implement an access control list that a communicator (e.g., a user device sending a text message, making a phone call, etc.) must be on in order to complete the communication with a recipient. If they are not on the access control list, the communicator can be prevented from sending the communication to the recipient, redirected to a registration process, or the communication can be tagged with an unverified status flag. In some implementations, the access control list can include a recipient's contacts, contacts of the recipient's contacts, authenticated entities (e.g., users and/or companies), previously verified entities, etc. In some implementations, a recipient can give out a temporary extension that a communicator can enter to complete communications with the recipient for a certain amount of time or for a certain number of uses.