Recipient Control System for Email Distribution Validation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing systems fail to effectively prevent electronic communications from being sent to unintended or conflicting recipients, leading to potential misdirection of sensitive information, and lack a method to ensure all intended recipients are included in the distribution list.
Innovation Solution
A system that monitors and controls electronic communications by identifying conflicting or missing recipients based on parameters such as email addresses, phone numbers, and contact information, preventing sending to unintended recipients and ensuring inclusion of all intended recipients, with options for senders to override or correct issues.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a recipient is blocked in the sender's electronic communication program, then electronic communications cannot be sent to that recipient, but this prevents all communications including necessary ones in certain instances
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts blocking rules based on the communication context. Instead of static blocking, the system evaluates each communication instance against configured rules and sender authorization levels, allowing dynamic override of blocks when business necessity requires it while maintaining prevention against unintended recipients.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the parameters of recipient restriction from binary (blocked/not blocked) to multi-state (blocked with override authority, blocked with approval required, conditionally blocked). This allows nuanced control where the same recipient can be restricted under normal circumstances but accessible when specific conditions are met or authorized persons initiate communication.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If electronic communication is sent to a wrong recipient, then sensitive information may be misdirected, but existing systems lack comprehensive control to detect and prevent this
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary validation of recipient lists against configured rules before allowing communication to be sent. It proactively identifies potential conflicts by comparing intended recipients against blocked lists, conflicting recipient pairs, and domain restrictions, preventing misdirection before it occurs rather than reacting after the fact.
Solution Approach 2:
The system introduces an intermediary validation layer between the sender and recipient that automatically checks communication requests against configured rules. This intermediary component analyzes recipient validity, detects conflicts, and either approves or blocks communications, reducing the complexity burden on the sender while maintaining comprehensive control.
3Reliability
If the sender forgets to include an intended recipient, then it would be impossible to correct such a mistake, but adding comprehensive checks increases system complexity
Solution Approach 1:
The system provides feedback to senders about the status of their recipient lists by comparing against configured rules and expected recipient patterns. When a communication is blocked due to missing recipients or rule violations, the system notifies the sender with specific information about what prevented delivery, enabling correction and resending while maintaining reliability.
4Reliability
If notice is included in electronic communication requesting recipient to delete and/or return the message, then unintended recipients may be requested to cooperate, but not all unintended recipients do so
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary prevention by blocking communications to unintended recipients before they can receive them, eliminating the need for post-delivery recovery efforts. By catching errors in the recipient list validation stage, the system makes unnecessary the cumbersome process of requesting deletions or returns from unintended recipients.
Data Source
AI summary
A system and method for ensuring an electronic communication sent by a user to one or more recipients is not sent to one or more inappropriate recipients. The system and method controls, monitors, detects and prevents sending of electronic communications to an unintended recipient or recipients. The system and method also controls, monitors, detects and ensures electronic communications are sent to all intended recipients. Based on parameters that identify conditions for an inappropriate recipient, the system and method compares each recipient of an electronic communication with the parameters and stops the sending if an inappropriate recipient exists. A notification is then provided identifying each inappropriate recipient and the parameters that were triggered. Mechanism to override the stopping of the electronic communication may be provided.