Patent Issued for Self-modifying data containers for improved data security (USPTO 11816240): United Services Automobile Association

2023 NOV 01 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- From Alexandria, Virginia, NewsRx journalists report that a patent by the inventors Amann, Manfred (San Antonio, TX, US), Davison, Timothy Frank (San Antonio, TX, US), Maciolek, Michael J. (Boerne, TX, US), Moncrief Brown, Donnette L. (San Antonio, TX, US), Newman, Kori Rochelle (San Antonio, TX, US), Osterkamp, Bryan J. (New Braunfels, TX, US), Schroeder, Eric David (San Antonio, TX, US), Shipley, Brian Francisco (Plano, TX, US), Simpson, Robert Wiseman (Fair Oaks Ranch, TX, US), filed on November 24, 2020, was published online on November 14, 2023.

The patent’s assignee for patent number 11816240 is United Services Automobile Association (San Antonio, Texas, United States).

News editors obtained the following quote from the background information supplied by the inventors: “The rate at which information related to various financial transactions made by consumers is being captured and stored is increasing. This data may be maintained by merchants, banks, credit card companies, or other financial intermediaries. Concerns about how companies may use this consumer data, along with concerns about data being hacked, has led to an increased interest in data control and privacy. Many consumers would prefer that their financial transaction data not be stored for long periods of time by the companies with access to that data. However current methods of capturing and storing financial transaction data provide little control over how long data can be stored or otherwise kept private.

“There is a need in the art for a system and method that addresses the shortcomings discussed above.”

As a supplement to the background information on this patent, NewsRx correspondents also obtained the inventors’ summary information for this patent: “In one aspect, a self-modifying data container for improved data security associated with a financial transaction made by a consumer includes a data storage structure including transaction information about the financial transaction and a data manager. The data manager can read the transaction information and the data manager can delete at least some of the transaction information in response to a deletion trigger to keep the transaction information secure.

“In another aspect, a self-modifying data container for improved data security associated with a financial transaction made by a consumer includes a data storage structure including transaction information about the financial transaction and a data manager. The data manager can read the transaction information and the data manager can encrypt at least some of the transaction information in response to an encryption trigger to keep the transaction information secure.

“In another aspect, a method of creating a self-modifying data container for improved data security includes steps of receiving financial transaction information and generating a new self-modifying data container. The self-modifying data container includes a data storage structure and a data manager that can access the data storage structure and modify data in the data storage structure. The method also includes steps of populating one or more fields in the data storage structure using the received financial transaction information and setting at least one modification trigger. The modification trigger indicates the circumstances under which the data manager will modify data in the data storage structure in order to keep the financial transaction information secure.

“Other systems, methods, features, and advantages of the disclosure will be, or will become, apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art upon examination of the following figures and detailed description. It is intended that all such additional systems, methods, features, and advantages be included within this description and this summary, be within the scope of the disclosure, and be protected by the following claims.”

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“1. A method of authenticating data with a data container host comprising: generating the data at a point of sale system; capturing, by the data container host communicating with the point of sale system across a network, the data; generating, by the data container host, a self-modifying data container, the self-modifying data container including a data storage structure and a data manager stored as executable code within the self-modifying data container, wherein access to the data storage structure is controlled through the data manager; populating, by the data container host, one or more fields in the data storage structure with the data including authenticating information; setting, by the data container host, instructions in the data manager for a modification trigger, the instructions configured to cause the data manager running on a processor to check for the modification trigger, and upon encountering the modification trigger access the data storage structure and modify the data in the data storage structure, thereby securing the data; receiving, by the data container host from a processor across the network, a request for the authenticating information of the data; authenticating the data in the data storage structure by running the data manager on the data container host to access the data storage structure and the authenticating information, and providing, by the data container host to the processor across the network, the authenticating information of the data; encountering, by the data manager running on the data container host, the modification trigger upon completion of the authentication of the data in the data storage structure; accessing, using the data manager running on the data container host, the data storage structure in response to encountering the modification trigger; and deleting, using the data manager running on the data container host, at least a portion of the authenticating information in the data storage structure, thereby securing the portion of the authenticating information in response to encountering the modification trigger.

“2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the modification trigger is a deletion trigger, and wherein the data manager, running on the data container host, performs the deletion of the portion of the authenticating information in the data storage structure in response to detecting the deletion trigger.

“3. The method according to claim 1, wherein deleting, using the data manager running on the data container host, the portion of the authenticating information in the data storage structure comprises deleting a customer identification.

“4. The method according to claim 1, wherein deleting, using the data manager running on the data container host, the portion of the authenticating information in the data storage structure comprises deleting an address.

“5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the data manager, running on the data container host, encrypts a portion of the data different than the portion of the authenticating information deleted by the data manager in response to detecting the modification trigger.

“6. The method according to claim 1, further comprising transferring, by a data transfer module of the data manager, the data, excluding the portion of the authenticating information deleted by the data manager, to another system for long term storage.

“7. A method of authenticating data comprising: generating the data at a point of sale system; capturing, by a data container host communicating with the point of sale system across a network, the data; generating, by the data container host, a self-modifying data container, the self-modifying data container including a data storage structure and a data manager stored as executable code within the self-modifying data container, wherein access to the data storage structure is controlled through the data manager; populating, by the data container host, one or more fields in the data storage structure with the data; setting, by the data container host, instructions in the data manager for a modification trigger, the instructions configured to cause the data manager running on a processor to check for the modification trigger, and upon encountering the modification trigger access the data storage structure and modify the data in the data storage structure, thereby securing the data; communicating, by the data container host, the self-modifying data container to a processor across the network; and authenticating, by the data manager running on the processor across the network, the data in the data storage structure by running the data manager; encountering, by the data manager running on the processor across the network, the modification trigger upon completion of the authentication of the data in the data storage structure; accessing, by the data manager running on the processor across the network, the data storage structure in response to encountering the modification trigger; and deleting, in response to encountering the modification trigger and using the data manager running on the processor across the network, at least a portion of the data in the data storage structure, thereby securing the data.

“8. The method according to claim 7, wherein the modification trigger is a deletion trigger, and wherein the data manager, running on the processor across the network, performs the deletion of the at least the portion of the data.

“9. The method according to claim 7, wherein encountering, by the data manager running on the processor across the network, the modification trigger upon completion of the authentication of the data in the data storage structure comprises receiving, by the data manager running on the processor across the network, a successful authentication message from the processor across the network, wherein the successful authentication message is the modification trigger.

“10. The method according to claim 7, further comprising encrypting, by the data manager running on the processor across the network, a portion of the data different than the portion of the data deleted in response to encountering the modification trigger.

“11. The method according to claim 10, further comprising transferring, by a data transfer module of the data manager, the portion of the data encrypted by the data manager to another system for long term storage.

“12. The method according to claim 7, further comprising transferring, by a data transfer module of the data manager running on the processor across the network, the data, excluding the portion of the data deleted by the data manager, to another system for long term storage.

“13. The method according to claim 5, further comprising transferring, by a data transfer module of the data manager, the portion of the data encrypted by the data manager to another system for long term storage.”

For additional information on this patent, see: Amann, Manfred. Self-modifying data containers for improved data security. U.S. Patent Number 11816240, filed November 24, 2020, and published online on November 14, 2023. Patent URL (for desktop use only): https://ppubs.uspto.gov/pubwebapp/external.html?q=(11816240)&db=USPAT&type=ids

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