Transparent Session Transfer in Instant Messaging
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Solution Overview
Problem
Instant messaging services lack the ability to transfer a communication session from one user to another without the knowledge of the original users, which can lead to anonymity issues and potential malicious activities, such as victimization, as there is no mechanism to verify user identities or escalate conversations seamlessly to authorities or customer service representatives.
Innovation Solution
A protocol is developed to transfer a communication session between two users to a third party, where the third user assumes the identity of one of the original users, allowing for seamless continuation of the conversation while retaining the session history, without the original users being aware of the transfer, facilitated through a network service that manages user identities and session states.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If instant messaging services use user handles for identifying users, then user anonymity is maintained and ease of operation is improved, but user identity verification is lost and reliability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a session transfer mechanism where a third party (transferee) can assume the identity of one of the original users. The network service acts as an intermediary to facilitate this transfer, allowing authorities or customer service representatives to take control of communication sessions without requiring direct identity verification from the original users. This maintains the handle-based anonymity system while enabling reliable identity assumption by authorized third parties.
2Device complexity
If instant messaging services maintain temporal communication sessions, then communication privacy is preserved and device complexity is reduced, but communication continuity is lost and adaptability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a dynamic session transfer mechanism that allows communication sessions to be transferred from original users to third parties during runtime. The session state is maintained and transferred transparently, enabling the system to adapt from static temporal sessions to dynamic transferable sessions. This allows authorities or customer service representatives to assume control of ongoing sessions without requiring system reconfiguration or increased device complexity.
3Ease of operation
If instant messaging services allow user anonymity, then ease of operation is improved and device complexity is reduced, but user safety deteriorates and harmful factors increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent enables preliminary action by allowing authorities or customer service representatives to assume control of communication sessions before harmful activities can escalate. The session transfer mechanism allows proactive intervention by third parties who can monitor and control suspicious communications. This maintains the anonymity benefits for normal users while providing a safety mechanism for problematic situations through authorized session takeover.
Data Source
AI summary
A first user at a first computing device communicates with a second user at a second computing device. Both devices communicate in real-time via a network service such as in instant messaging service. The network service upon request of the one of the users can transfer the real-time communication session between the first user and the second user to a third user. The third user adopts the identity of the transferring user for the course of the communication session. This would be useful to transfer a communication session regarding an illegal subject to a law enforcement agency.