Patent Issued for Unsubscribe and delete automation (USPTO 11848902): Allstate Insurance Company

2024 JAN 08 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- A patent by the inventors Lu, Marvin (Chicago, IL, US), Parkinson, John S. (Lake Forest, IL, US), filed on June 3, 2022, was published online on December 19, 2023, according to news reporting originating from Alexandria, Virginia, by NewsRx correspondents.

Patent number 11848902 is assigned to Allstate Insurance Company (Northbrook, Illinois, United States).

The following quote was obtained by the news editors from the background information supplied by the inventors: “Protecting confidential information in today’s online environment is difficult due to the increased connectivity and the increased number of consumer accounts accessible via web enabled computing devices. Consumers today have a large number of online subscriptions and accounts and keeping track of all of them is difficult and time consuming. Many consumers have subscriptions and digital or web-based accounts that they have long forgotten about but those subscriptions and accounts may still be active, may contain personal information, and may be accessible online. It is important from a digital safety perspective that consumers be aware of all of their online accounts and be diligent in closing unused or no longer wanted subscriptions.

“For each of these unused or unwanted accounts or subscriptions, a consumer may continue to receive unwanted emails and/or other communications. However, for consumers, unsubscribing and/or deleting unused or no longer needed accounts and subscriptions can be difficult.

“Website owners provide privacy policies that may contain opt-out provisions that detail how to unsubscribe or delete an account, but finding such information is difficult and time consuming. Unsubscribing details may also be found in email list services or in marketing communications, but such unsubscribing details may be confusing and burdensome for consumers to implement. Therefore, there is a need for a simpler and more efficient approach to unsubscribing for consumers.”

In addition to the background information obtained for this patent, NewsRx journalists also obtained the inventors’ summary information for this patent: “In light of the foregoing background, the following presents a simplified summary of the present disclosure in order to provide a basic understanding of some aspects of the invention. This summary is not an extensive overview of the invention. It is not intended to identify key or critical elements of the invention or to delineate the scope of the invention. The following summary merely presents some concepts of the invention in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description provided below.

“Aspects of the disclosure address one or more of the issues mentioned above by disclosing methods, computer readable storage media, software, systems, and apparatuses for use by a consumer in order to discover and remove unwanted mailing list traffic and digital communication based relationships associated with a consumer’s discovered accounts and subscriptions. In an embodiment, for each identified account or subscription, an unsubscribe and deletion method may be determined and implemented for the consumer. Discovered accounts and subscriptions may be listed and displayed to the consumer along with recommendations and assistance for closing and purging any discovered unused or unwanted accounts and subscriptions, including any data associated with those accounts and subscriptions.

“In some aspects, the system may include at least one processor and a memory unit storing computer-executable instructions. The system may be configured to, in operation, determine the actual unsubscribe dialog or deletion criteria required for each requested action and execute the requested action using the appropriate method. The system may also be configured to, in operation, handle exceptions, report results, and transmit confirmations that the requests were successfully completed. The system may be configured to, in operation, create log records of the transactions.

“Of course, the methods and systems of the above-referenced embodiments may also include other additional elements, steps, computer-executable instructions, or computer-readable data structures. In this regard, other embodiments are disclosed and claimed herein as well. The details of these and other embodiments of the present invention are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the description below. Other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the description, drawings, and claims.”

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“1. A system comprising: one or more processors configured to: receive identification of an email account and corresponding login information for a user; access the email account using the corresponding login information; analyze individual emails to determine, based on contents of the individual emails, a plurality of user accounts with 3rd party entities; compile and store a list of the plurality of user accounts with respect to a data store associated with the user; for at least one of the user accounts, analyze information provided by a 3rd party providing at least one user account, to determine a process for unsubscribing from at least an aspect related to the at least one user account, including determining a series of one or more actions that are identified by the information as actions resulting in unsubscribing; store, in conjunction with the at least one account identified by the list, the determined series of one or more actions for unsubscribing from the at least the aspect related to the at least one account; receive an unsubscribe request from the user indicating that the user requests termination, achievable at least via unsubscribing, of the aspect related to the at least one user account; identify the at least one user account on the stored list; access the stored determined series of one or more actions for unsubscribing from the at least the aspect; execute the accessed series of one or more actions to complete unsubscription from the at least the aspect; determine that the accessed series of one or more actions was unsuccessful in completing unsubscription; responsive to the series of one or more actions being unsuccessful in completing unsubscription, repeat the analysis of the information and determination of a new series of one or more actions; and execute the new series of one or more actions to complete unsubscription.

“2. The system of claim 1, wherein the unsubscribing from the at least the aspect includes unsubscribing from the at least one account.

“3. The system of claim 2, wherein the series of one or more actions for unsubscribing from the at least one account requires credentials related to the at least one account, and wherein the one or more processors are further configured to request the credentials from the user responsive to the request from the user to unsubscribe from the at least one account.

“4. The system of claim 2, wherein the unsubscribing from the at least the aspect includes unsubscribing from emails from the 3^rd party providing the at least one account.

“5. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to: identify data elements required by the series of one or more actions to complete unsubscription; and transmit values, related to the user, for the identified data elements in conjunction with execution of the series of one or more actions.

“6. The system of claim 5, wherein the data elements are identified based on analysis of a parameter string included in a link provided by the at least one 3^rd party for unsubscription.

“7. The system of claim 5, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to present a user interface requesting input of at least one value for at least one of the data elements responsive to accessing the stored determined series of one or more actions, when the stored determined series of one or more actions requires the at least one value for the at least one of the data elements.

“8. A method comprising: analyzing individual emails of a user email account to determine, based on contents of the individual emails, a plurality of user accounts with 3rd party entities; compiling and store a list of the plurality of user accounts with respect to a data store associated with the user; for at least one of the user accounts, analyzing information provided by a 3rd party providing at least one user account, to determine a process for unsubscribing from at least an aspect related to the at least one user account, including determining a series of one or more actions that are identified by the information as actions resulting in unsubscribing; storing, in conjunction with the at least one account identified by the list, the determined series of one or more actions for unsubscribing from the at least the aspect related to the at least one account; receiving an unsubscribe request from the user indicating that the user requests termination, achievable at least via unsubscribing, of the aspect related to the at least one user account; identifying the at least one user account on the stored list; accessing the stored determined series of one or more actions for unsubscribing from the at least the aspect; identifying any data elements required by the series of one or more actions to complete unsubscription; executing the accessed series of one or more actions to complete unsubscription from the at least the aspect; transmitting values, related to the user, for the identified data elements in conjunction with execution of the series of one or more actions, when at least one data element is identified; determine that the accessed series of one or more actions was unsuccessful in completing unsubscription; responsive to the series of one or more actions being unsuccessful in completing unsubscription, repeat the analysis of the information and determination of a new series of one or more actions; and execute the new series of one or more actions to complete unsubscription.

“9. The method of claim 8, wherein the unsubscribing from the at least the aspect includes unsubscribing from the at least one account.

“10. The method of claim 9, wherein the series of one or more actions for unsubscribing from the at least one account requires credentials related to the at least one account, and wherein the method further comprises requesting the credentials from the user responsive to the request from the user to unsubscribe from the at least one account.

“11. The method of claim 9, wherein the unsubscribing from the at least the aspect includes unsubscribing from emails from the 3^rd party providing the at least one account.

“12. The method of claim 8, wherein the data elements are identified based on analysis of a parameter string included in a link provided by the at least one 3^rd party for unsubscription.

“13. The method of claim 8, further comprising presenting a user interface requesting input of at least one value for at least one of the data elements responsive to accessing the stored determined series of one or more actions, when at least one data element is identified.

“14. A non-transitory storage medium storing instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform a method comprising: analyzing individual emails of a user email account to determine, based on contents of the individual emails, a plurality of user accounts with 3rd party entities; compiling and store a list of the plurality of user accounts with respect to a data store associated with the user; for at least one of the user accounts, analyzing information provided by a 3rd party providing at least one user account, to determine a process for unsubscribing from at least an aspect related to the at least one user account, including determining a series of one or more actions that are identified by the information as actions resulting in unsubscribing; storing, in conjunction with the at least one account identified by the list, the determined series of one or more actions for unsubscribing from the at least the aspect related to the at least one account; receiving an unsubscribe request from the user indicating that the user requests termination, achievable at least via unsubscribing, of the aspect related to the at least one user account; identifying the at least one user account on the stored list; accessing the stored determined series of one or more actions for unsubscribing from the at least the aspect; identifying any data elements required by the series of one or more actions to complete unsubscription; presenting a user interface requesting input of at least one value for at least one of the data elements responsive to accessing the stored determined series of one or more actions, when at least one data element is identified; executing the accessed series of one or more actions to complete unsubscription from the at least the aspect; and transmitting values, related to the user, for the identified data elements in conjunction with execution of the series of one or more actions, when at least one data element is identified, including the at least one value having been received from the user via the interface; determine that the accessed series of one or more actions was unsuccessful in completing unsubscription; responsive to the series of one or more actions being unsuccessful in completing unsubscription, repeat the analysis of the information and determination of a new series of one or more actions; and execute the new series of one or more actions to complete unsubscription.

“15. The storage medium of claim 14, wherein the unsubscribing from the at least the aspect includes unsubscribing from the at least one account.

“16. The storage medium of claim 15, wherein the series of one or more actions for unsubscribing from the at least one account requires credentials related to the at least one account, and wherein the method further comprises requesting the credentials from the user responsive to the request from the user to unsubscribe from the at least one account.

“17. The storage medium of claim 15, wherein the unsubscribing from the at least the aspect includes unsubscribing from emails from the 3rd party providing the at least one account.”

URL and more information on this patent, see: Lu, Marvin. Unsubscribe and delete automation. U.S. Patent Number 11848902, filed June 3, 2022, and published online on December 19, 2023. Patent URL (for desktop use only): https://ppubs.uspto.gov/pubwebapp/external.html?q=(11848902)&db=USPAT&type=ids

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