Anonymous Fund Transfer via Social Network Handles
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Solution Overview
Problem
Social networking sites lack a seamless and anonymous method for users to request and transfer funds, as existing systems often require revealing personal information and do not facilitate secure, anonymous transactions.
Innovation Solution
A system and method that allows users to request and transfer funds using network handles, with a widget application that encrypts and obscures identities and amounts, utilizing payment processors to facilitate transactions without revealing personal information, enabling secure and anonymous fund transfers between users within and across social networking platforms.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If users reveal personal information to request and transfer funds, then transactions can be processed, but user anonymity is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a payment processor as an intermediary that handles fund transfers without requiring users to share personal information. The system uses network handles and encrypted communication channels as mediators between the requestor and grantor, allowing transactions to proceed while preserving anonymity. The payment processor acts as a trusted third party that verifies identities without exposing them to the transaction parties.
Solution Approach 2:
The system creates anonymized copies of user identities using network handles that represent users without revealing their real identities. These handle-based identifiers serve as substitutes for personal information, allowing the system to process transactions based on copied representations rather than actual personal data, thus maintaining anonymity while enabling fund transfers.
2Productivity
If existing payment systems are used for fund transfers, then transactions can be completed, but personal information must be revealed and anonymity is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The social networking site's payment processing system serves as an intermediary that simplifies the transaction process by handling all verification and communication behind the scenes. Users can request and transfer funds through simple interface actions without needing to disclose personal information or navigate complex payment system requirements, thus improving ease of operation while maintaining productivity.
Solution Approach 2:
The system enables users to autonomously request and transfer funds through automated processes that handle verification, communication, and transaction processing without requiring manual intervention or disclosure of personal information. The automated matching of requestors and grantors based on network handles allows users to complete transactions independently while the system manages the complexity of information protection.
3Loss of information
If network handles are used to mask identities, then user anonymity is preserved, but secure fund transfer becomes challenging
Solution Approach 1:
The payment processor and social networking site serve as trusted intermediaries that verify user identities and ensure secure fund transfers while working with anonymized network handles. The intermediary system maintains a mapping between handles and real identities that is protected and verified, allowing secure transactions to proceed despite the use of anonymized identifiers by the transaction parties.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements verification and confirmation mechanisms where the intermediary payment processor provides feedback to both requestor and grantor about transaction status, identity verification, and fund transfer completion. This feedback loop ensures that even though users interact through anonymized handles, the underlying secure verification processes are maintained and confirmed to all parties.
Data Source
AI summary
In example embodiments, a system and method provides receiving a funds request that contains an identifier to uniquely identify a first member of a first social network, an identifier to uniquely identify a second member of a second social network, and an amount of funds to be exchanged between the first and the second member. The information in the funds request is received via a user interface provided by the first social network that is customized to the first member. A funds authorization from the second member is received. An exchange of the amount of funds between an account held by the first member of the first social network and an account held by the second member of the second social network based on the receiving of the funds authorization is implemented. The first and the second social network are each a community of members that share a common interest.