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Fake Check-In Entries Posted on Behalf of Social Network Users

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1. colleagues etc as well as to entities e g businesses organizations clubs etc 0034 Mobile computing devices such as smart phones and the like can be utilized to check in to an entity such as a business or organization When a user checks into an entity a check in entry is received at the software application such as at the social network provider s Web site When a user checks into an entity the software application posts the check in on the user s social network page and also at the entities social network page However as explained herein a fake check in event such as a check in at an entity outside of the user s geographic local area causes the user s check in entries to be cached rather than immediately posted to the user s social network page and the entity s social network page When the user returns to their local area or otherwise triggers a local check in event the cached entries are posted to the user s social network page as well as to the entity s social network page While the user is away fake check in entries are posted by the social network software application with these fake check in entries being visible to other users of the social network provider These fake check in entries are posted while the user is out of town in order to obfuscate other users of social network provider 300 from knowing that the user is away from home and thus vulnerable to having the user s home
2. tion is a local check in event that indicates that the user has returned to the user s geographic local area and clearing the flag in response to receiving the second manual selection 26 The information handling system of claim 15 wherein at least one of the processors perform additional actions com prising receiving a check in request from the user wherein the check in request corresponds to an entity determining that the entity is physically located outside of a geographic local area that corresponds to the user and triggering the fake check in event in response to the deter mination 27 The information handling system of claim 15 wherein at least one of the processors perform additional actions com prising receiving a check in request from the user wherein the check in request corresponds to an entity recording a timestamp corresponding to the received check in request determining that an amount of time has elapsed since the timestamp was recorded wherein the amount of time exceeds a threshold and triggering the fake check in event in response to the deter mination 28 The information handling system of claim 15 wherein the software application is a social network application and wherein the information handling system further comprises US 2012 0297368 Al receiving at the social network application a current check in entry from the user currently checking into an entity at a physical location
3. receiving one or more check in entries from the user while the user is physically outside of a geographic local area that corresponds to the user and caching the received check in entries in a cache area 18 The information handling system of claim 17 wherein at least one of the processors perform additional actions com prising receiving a local check in event at the software application corresponding to the user of the software application wherein the local check in event indicates that the user has returned to the geographic local area that corre sponds to the user and in response to receiving the local check in event posting the cached check in entries wherein the posted check in entries are visible by the other users of the software application 19 The information handling system of claim 18 wherein at least one of the processors perform additional actions com prising removing the set of fake check in entries in response to receiving the local check in event wherein the removed set of fake check in entries are no longer visible to the other users of the software application 20 The information handling system of claim 15 wherein the software application is a social network application and wherein the fake check in entries are used to obfuscate the other users of the social network application as to an out of town status of the user while the user is physically outside of geographic local area that corresponds to th
4. retrieving at the social network application a private pro file corresponding to the user wherein the private profile is inaccessible from the other users of the social network application retrieving from the private profile a geographic local area corresponding to the user retrieving a geographic identity of the entity s physical location comparing the user s geographic local area with the enti ty s geographic identity determining based on the comparison whether the entity s geographic identity is within the user s geographic local area in response to the determination being that the entity s geographic identity is outside of the user s geographic local area triggering the fake check in event setting an internal flag that indicates that the user is outside of the user s geographic local area while the internal flag is set caching the current check in entry and one or more subsequent check in entries in a cache so that the check in entries are not visible to the other users of the social network application and identifying the set of fake check in entries from a non volatile storage area accessible from the social net work application in response to the determination being that the entity s geographic identity is within the user s geographic local area checking the internal flag in response to the internal flag being set to indicate that the user is outside of the user s geograph
5. whereupon at step 540 the social network provider s appli cation software automatically senses when the user has returned to the user s geographic local area e g when a check in entry is received from the user at an entity that is within the user s geographic local area etc On the other hand if manual fake check in initiation is being used then decision 535 branches to the branch labeled manual where upon at step 545 the user notifies the social network provider that the user has returned to the user s geographic local area At step 550 the user performs check in at various entities that are within the user s geographic local area These local check ins continue until the user once again travels outside of the user s geographic local area at which point processing loops back to step 505 and the process described above is repeated 0043 Fake check in initiation processing that is per formed by the social network provider commences at 560 whereupon at step 565 the social network provider either receives events from both the user and the system These events can include fake check in events that are triggered manually by the user or automatically triggered events initi ated from the check in subsystem of the social network appli cation system 300 A decision is made as to whether fake check ins manual or automatic have been initiated for the user decision 570 If fake check ins have been initiated then
6. a last check in event was received from the user 3 The method of claim 1 further comprising receiving one or more check in entries from the user while the user is physically outside of a geographic local area that corresponds to the user and caching the received check in entries in a cache area 4 The method of claim 3 further comprising receiving a local check in event at the software application corresponding to the user of the software application wherein the local check in event indicates that the user is within the geographic local area that corresponds to the user and in response to receiving the local check in event posting the cached check in entries wherein the posted check in entries are visible by the other users of the software application 5 The method of claim 4 further comprising removing the set of fake check in entries in response to receiving the local check in event wherein the removed set of fake check in entries are no longer visible to the other users of the software application 6 The method of claim 1 wherein the software application is a social network application and wherein the fake check in entries are used to obfuscate the other users of the social network application as to an out of town status of the user while the user is physically outside of geographic local area that corresponds to the user 7 The method of claim 1 wherein the set of fake check ins are each flagged as fake check in
7. decision 570 branches to the yes branch whereupon at predefined process 575 the social network provider s fake check in process is executed for the user see FIG 7 and corresponding text for processing details On the other hand if fake check ins have not been initiated then decision 570 branches to the no branch which loops back to step 565 to get the next notification from either the social network pro vider system 300 or from the user 0044 After fake check ins have been initiated and pre defined process 575 has been executed a decision is made as to whether fake check ins have been terminated either manu ally or automatically for the user decision 580 If fake check in processing has not been terminated e g the user is still out of town etc then decision 580 branches to the yes branch which loops back to continue fake check in process ing using predefined process 575 This looping continues until fake check ins have been terminated at which point decision 580 branches to the yes branch whereupon at predefined process 585 fake check in reversal processing is executed see FIG 8 and corresponding text for processing details After fake check in reversal process 585 has been performed processing loops back to step 565 to receive the next manual or automatic notification 0045 The social network provider s high level check in process is shown commencing at 590 whereupon at step 592
8. icol ama P Fake check ins stopped gt amp manually or autimaticallyt snb User relums ia user s focal ana Ka Secial Network Provider icheck in high kwali tots Manuel or automate fake check in initiation ae Manual anataja Receive check in from user kutani User notifies social ritu provider that user as retumed io Handie Check in See Figure Bi BGS Ee S cwnebvork provider suombtiuhy senses when taser hen famed docete o6 ERE NNNM d Timestamp last endry a 85 T User perform chicck4ne af ae Next f 1 pd S Checkin lcaliona within users Mex checkin or me md Fi G 5 mama lt WI eae Pad Patent Application Publication Soska Network Provider Check in Handler eu Receive check request user at a location gia Ratiove user s privale profile eve profite of husinessierg ihatis aublect of checkin Retr Compare incation of husinessim ic user s local area Rog SA ARa ra Business EARN user s oodd aren YA Sed pum yu x TRUE Es 7 Fakes check ins initiated user is ODERT ad f p Adbomatically sense Ahn user niout et town AN Away FALSE S 885 kaa y Yan Event to stap fake check rns sen Fig 5 quum No Nov 22 2012 Sheet 6 of 8 US 2012 0297368 A1 Fake hackins
9. in social network data store 305 in a private area such as a user profile area that is not accessible by other users of the social network provider In addition fake check in options as offered by the social network provider are prepared and transmitted back to the user as Web page 435 0038 At step 440 the user receives and displays the fake check in options dialog e g a Web page etc that was transmitted from the social network provider At step 445 the user selects whether manual or automatic fake check in ini tiation is preferred by the user Manual fake check in is a process whereby the user informs the social network provider when the user is traveling outside of the user s geographic local area so that fake check in processing will be initiated for the user by the social network provider Automatic fake check in is a process whereby the social network provider analyzes the user s check in entries and automatically ini tiates the fake check in processing when the social network provider senses that the user is outside of the user s geo graphic local area e g when a check in entry is received from the user at an entity that is outside the user s geographic local area etc At step 448 the user selects a time threshold to use to initiate an automatic fake check in event For example if the user selects two days in step 448 then if a check in entry is not received from the user within two days the system automatical
10. a an and the are intended to include the plural forms as well unless the context clearly indicates otherwise It will be further understood that the terms comprises and or comprising when used in this specification specify the presence of stated features integers steps operations ele ments and or components but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features integers steps operations elements components and or groups thereof 0016 The corresponding structures materials acts and equivalents of all means or step plus function elements in the claims below are intended to include any structure material or act for performing the function in combination with other claimed elements as specifically claimed The description of the present invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description but is not intended to be exhaus tive or limited to the invention in the form disclosed Many modifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention The embodiment was chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the inven tion and the practical application and to enable others of US 2012 0297368 Al ordinary skill in the art to understand the invention for various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated 0017 As
11. and or property burglarized and or stolen while the user is away Other users may be members of one or more different social network audiences In another embodiment a fake check in event is received when a certain time period elapses after the user s last check in event For example if the user checks into a business entity such as a gym but is injured and taken to a hospital so that an extended period of time elapses e g a day etc since the user s last check in entry then the system will automatically initiate fake check ins to obfuscate the fact that the user is indisposed e g at the hospital etc and is not athome Audience 350 are associated directly with user 310 such as by being linked to the user through an online friendship or linking process that verifies that the user wishes to allow members of audience 350 with access to user 310 s social network data 0035 By utilizing network facilities such as the Internet users can check in at entities in various geographic locations throughout the world In this manner entities can be physi cally within a geographic local area that corresponds to a particular user e g user 310 and can also be physically outside of the geographic local area that corresponds to the user For example if the user s geographic local area e g home is in Raleigh N C then entities in geographic prox imity Raleigh would be deemed within the user s geographic local area When a us
12. appears as though the user is still in the Raleigh area When the user returns from the trip and is back in the Raleigh area the cached check in entries are posted to the user s social network page as well as to the out of town entities pages e g the Austin area gym etc where the user actually checked in while on the trip to Austin In addition in one embodiment once the user returns home the fake check in entries that were posted while the user was out of town are removed from both the user s social network page as well as from the local area entity pages e g from the Raleigh area gym etc 0037 FIG 4is a flowchart showing registration steps used by a user to set up fake check ins at a social media provider User processing commences at 400 whereupon at step 405 the user registers with the social network Web site software application for a fake check in service that is offered by the social network provider In addition the user provides a geo graphic local area e g town name zip or postal code GPS coordinates etc that correspond to the user Registration request 410 is transmitted via a computer network such as the Internet after which it is received by the social network provider Social network provider s processing commences at 420 whereupon at step 425 the social network provider receives the fake check in request that was prepared and sent by theuser At step 430 the fake check in registration is saved
13. device 146 which provides for wireless personal area networks PANs USB Controller 140 also provides USB connectivity to other miscellaneous USB connected devices 142 such as a mouse removable nonvola tile storage device 145 modems network cards ISDN con nectors fax printers USB hubs and many other types of USB connected devices While removable nonvolatile stor age device 145 is shown as a USB connected device remov able nonvolatile storage device 145 could be connected using a different interface such as a Firewire interface etcetera 0029 Wireless Local Area Network LAN device 175 connects to Southbridge 135 via the PCI or PCI Express bus 172 LAN device 175 typically implements one of the IEEE 802 11 standards of over the air modulation techniques that all use the same protocol to wireless communicate between information handling system 100 and another computer sys tem or device Optical storage device 190 connects to South bridge 135 using Serial ATA SATA bus 188 Serial ATA adapters and devices communicate over a high speed serial link The Serial ATA bus also connects Southbridge 135 to other forms of storage devices such as hard disk drives Audio circuitry 160 such as a sound card connects to South bridge 135 via bus 158 Audio circuitry 160 also provides functionality such as audio line in and optical digital audio in port 162 optical digital output and headphone jack 164 inter nal speakers 166 and inter
14. implements capa bilities that operate at slower speeds than the capabilities provided by the Northbridge Southbridge 135 typically pro vides various busses used to connect various components These busses include for example PCI and PCI Express busses an ISA bus a System Management Bus SMBus or SMB and or a Low Pin Count LPC bus The LPC bus often connects low bandwidth devices such as boot ROM 196 and legacy I O devices using a super I O chip The legacy 1 0 devices 198 can include for example serial and parallel ports keyboard mouse and or a floppy disk controller The LPC bus also connects Southbridge 135 to Trusted Platform Module TPM 195 Other components often included in Southbridge 135 include a Direct Memory Access DMA controller a Programmable Interrupt Controller PIC and a storage device controller which connects Southbridge 135 to nonvolatile storage device 185 such as a hard disk drive using bus 184 0028 ExpressCard 155 is a slot that connects hot plug gable devices to the information handling system Express Card 155 supports both PCI Express and USB connectivity as it connects to Southbridge 135 using both the Universal Serial Bus USB the PCI Express bus Southbridge 135 includes USB Controller 140 that provides USB connectivity to devices that connect to the USB These devices include web cam camera 150 infrared IR receiver 148 keyboard and trackpad 144 and Bluetooth
15. local area that corre sponds to the user in response to receiving the local check in event reading each of the fake check in entries from the fake check ins data store matching each of the read fake check in entries with fake check in entries previously posted to one or more social network pages and removing each of the matched fake check in entries from the social network pages 11 The method of claim 1 further comprising receiving a first manual selection at the software applica tion from the user wherein the first manual selection is the fake check in event in response to the reception of the first manual selection setting a flag indicating that the user is physically out side ofa geographic local area corresponding to the user while the flag is set receiving one or more check in entries from the user and caching the received check in entries in a cache area receiving a second manual selection at the software appli cation from the user wherein the second manual selec tion is a local check in event that indicates that the user has returned to the user s geographic local area and clearing the flag in response to receiving the second manual selection 12 The method of claim 1 further comprising receiving a check in request from the user wherein the check in request corresponds to an entity determining that the entity is physically located outside of a geographic local area that corresponds to the user and triggering t
16. of the processors perform additional actions com prising recording each of the periodically posted individual fake check in entries in a fake check ins data store receiving a local check in event at the software application corresponding to the user of the software application wherein the local check in event indicates that the user has returned to the geographic local area that corre sponds to the user in response to receiving the local check in event reading each of the fake check in entries from the fake check ins data store matching each of the read fake check in entries with fake check in entries previously posted to one or more social network pages and removing each of the matched fake check in entries from the social network pages 25 The information handling system of claim 15 wherein at least one of the processors perform additional actions com prising receiving a first manual selection at the software applica tion from the user wherein the first manual selection is the fake check in event in response to the reception of the first manual selection setting a flag indicating that the user is physically out side ofa geographic local area corresponding to the user while the flag is set receiving one or more check in entries from the user and caching the received check in entries in a cache area receiving a second manual selection at the software appli cation from the user wherein the second manual selec
17. out of town In one embodiment the indicator that the user is out of town is set manually by the user using a control provided by the application In this embodiment the second indicator indicating that the user has returned home can also be set manually In another embodiment the indicator that the user is out of town is set by receiving a check in entry from the user at an entity such as a business or organization that is outside of the user s geographic local area In this embodi ment the second indicator that indicates that the user has returned home can be set by the user checking into an entity that is within the user s geographic local area 0005 The foregoing is a summary and thus contains by necessity simplifications generalizations and omissions of detail consequently those skilled in the art will appreciate that the summary is illustrative only and is not intended to be in any way limiting Other aspects inventive features and Nov 22 2012 advantages of the present invention as defined solely by the claims will become apparent in the non limiting detailed description set forth below BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS 0006 The present invention may be better understood and its numerous objects features and advantages made apparent to those skilled in the art by referencing the accompanying drawings wherein 0007 FIG 1 is a block diagram of a data processing sys tem in which
18. time of US 2012 0297368 Al day and day of week that corresponds to the posted individual fake check in entries 38 The computer program product of claim 37 further comprising recording each of the periodically posted individual fake check in entries in a fake check ins data store receiving a local check in event at the software application corresponding to the user of the software application wherein the local check in event indicates that the user has returned to the geographic local area that corre sponds to the user in response to receiving the local check in event reading each of the fake check in entries from the fake check ins data store matching each of the read fake check in entries with fake check in entries previously posted to one or more social network pages and removing each of the matched fake check in entries from the social network pages 39 The computer program product of claim 29 further comprising receiving a first manual selection at the software applica tion from the user wherein the first manual selection is the fake check in event in response to the reception of the first manual selection setting a flag indicating that the user is physically out side ofa geographic local area corresponding to the user while the flag is set receiving one or more check in entries from the user and caching the received check in entries in a cache area receiving a second manual selection at the software appli catio
19. will be appreciated by one skilled in the art aspects of the present invention may be embodied as a system method or computer program product Accordingly aspects of the present invention may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment an entirely software embodiment in cluding firmware resident software micro code etc or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects that may all generally be referred to herein as a circuit mod ule or system Furthermore aspects of the present inven tion may take the form of a computer program product embodied in one or more computer readable medium s hav ing computer readable program code embodied thereon 0018 Any combination of one or more computer readable medium s may be utilized The computer readable medium may be a computer readable signal medium or a computer readable storage medium A computer readable storage medium may be for example but not limited to an elec tronic magnetic optical electromagnetic infrared or semi conductor system apparatus or device or any suitable com bination of the foregoing More specific examples a non exhaustive list of the computer readable storage medium would include the following an electrical connection having one or more wires a portable computer diskette a hard disk a random access memory RAM a read only memory ROM an erasable programmable read only memory EPROM or Flash memory an optical fibe
20. 88 AAA AAA AAA PU Esorass Diane D rd AAA AAA AAA AAA AAA AAA AAA AA E amp ewe nS HI HT gr VV ITI VT ae Des ies i 198 _ OO S 182 Patent Application Publication Nov 22 2012 Sheet 2 of 8 US 2012 0297368 A1 Stor age Devi Personal Computer insert rs Fi 220 ME eg LAN WLAN d PSTK Wir HESS a Nonvolatis Data Stare EE i hieman i Handling System i SS 3 aa eee ee etn icnvolutiie Data Store Nonvulatile Gaa Store a feg hard drive databace ate amp 285 MW FIG 2 Patent Application Publication Nov 22 2012 Sheet 3 of 8 US 2012 0297368 A1 Suda Network Audience frat views Local Business profile Soda Network Audience slowed Song Nowak Puglieree that views Quiet Toen Business profile S AX Fake check ns prevent malevolent members of Sadali Network sudienne ma from inoaing when User Auawa Boda Network Provider 308 Social Nakei Dota Local Outotl Toemn Business Organization beth respect io User Business Onianiza i FIG 3 Patent Application Publication Nov 22 2012 Sheet 4 of 8 US 2012 0297368 A1 User l p Social Network Provider ano Fake Check in Registration ef fagister for fake chuck ls service pravidac by social network site and provides user s inca ama h iag Raleigh area ek a Receive user fake check i
21. as United States a2 Patent Application Publication o Pub No US 2012 0297368 A1 US 20120297368A1 Bingell et al 43 Pub Date Nov 22 2012 54 FAKE CHECK IN ENTRIES POSTED ON 52 WS Ole sense wane RED PR a 717 126 BEHALF OF SOCIAL NETWORK USERS 75 Inventors Nicholas Dayl Bingell Raleigh NC US Erich Paul Hoppe Raleigh 57 ABSTRACT NC US Andrew Ivory Wake An approach is provided in a fake check in event is received Forest NC US David Michael ata software application corresponding to a user of the soft Stecher Durham NC US ware application Fake check ins are initiated on behalf of the user in response to the fake check in event The software 73 Assignee International Business Machines application posts a set of fake check in entries on behalf of the Corporation Armonk NY US user while the user is away The posted fake check ins are visible by other users of the software application and are used 21 Appl No 13 112 150 to obfuscate others that the user is out of town In one embodiment check in entries that are received from the user Q2 Filed May 20 2011 after fake check ins have been initiated are cached In this mE 2 embodiment a local check in event is received when the user Publication Classification is within the user s geographical local area and the cached 51 Int Cl check in entries are posted so that they are now visible by the G06F 9 44 2006 01 other users of the software appl
22. e entity s social network page 695 A decision is made as to whether there are more cached check in entries that need to be processed decision 880 If there are more cached check in entries to process then decision 880 branches to the yes branch which loops back to select the next check in entry that was cached in user s check in cache 680 and the selected entry is posted to the user s and the entity s social network pages as described above This loop ing continues until there are no more cached check in entries to process at which point decision 880 branches to the no branch and processing ends at 895 0054 While particular embodiments of the present disclo sure have been shown and described it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that based upon the teachings herein that changes and modifications may be made without depart ing from this disclosure and its broader aspects Therefore the appended claims are to encompass within their scope all such changes and modifications as are within the true spirit and scope of this disclosure Furthermore it is to be under stood that the disclosure is solely defined by the appended claims It will be understood by those with skill in the art that if a specific number of an introduced claim element is intended such intent will be explicitly recited in the claim and in the absence of such recitation no such limitation is present For non limiting example as an aid to u
23. e user 21 The information handling system of claim 15 wherein the set of fake check ins are each flagged as fake check in entries by the software application and wherein the flags of the fake check ins are not visible by the other users of the software application 22 The information handling system of claim 15 wherein at least one of the processors perform additional actions com prising selecting the set of fake check in entries from a plurality of previous actual check in entries corresponding to the user wherein each of the plurality of previous actual check in entries were check ins to one or more entities that are physically within geographic local area corre sponding to the user 23 The information handling system of claim 22 wherein at least one of the processors perform additional actions com prising identifying the set of fake check in entries from a nonvola tile storage area accessible from the social network application generating a time of day and a day of week corresponding to each of the set of fake check in entries wherein the generated time of day and day of week are based on a check in history corresponding to the user and periodically posting individual fake check in entries from the set of fake check in entries based upon the time of Nov 22 2012 day and day of week that corresponds to the posted individual fake check in entries 24 The information handling system of claim 23 wherein at least one
24. en initiated indicating that the user is out of town decision 640 If fake check ins have been initiated then decision 640 branches to the yes branch whereupon a decision is made as to whether the user has requested to automatically sense when the user is within or outside of the user s geographic local area AND if the away flag is FALSE decision 645 If both conditions are true the user has requested automatic sensing ofthe user s in town out of town status and the and the check in per formed by the user is to a local entity then decision 645 branches to the yes branch whereupon at step 650 an event is sent to the social network provider see FIG 5 step 565 to stop or terminate fake check in processing On the other hand if either the user has requested manual initiation of fake check in processing OR the user is still outside of the user s geographic local area then decision 645 branches to the no branch bypassing step 650 0048 Returning to decision 640 if fake check in process ing has not been initiated then decision 640 branches to the no branch whereupon a decision is made as to whether the user has requested to automatically sense when the user is within or outside of the user s geographic local area AND if the away flag is TRUE decision 660 If both conditions are true the user has requested automatic sensing of the user s in town out of town status and the check in performed by the u
25. entries by the software application and wherein the flags of the fake check ins are not visible by the other users of the software application 8 The method of claim 1 further comprising selecting the set of fake check in entries from a plurality of previous actual check in entries corresponding to the user wherein each of the plurality of previous actual check in entries were check ins to one or more entities that are physically within geographic local area corre sponding to the user 9 The method of claim 8 further comprising identifying the set of fake check in entries from a nonvola tile storage area accessible from the social network application generating a time of day and a day of week corresponding to each of the set of fake check in entries wherein the generated time of day and day of week are based on a check in history corresponding to the user and US 2012 0297368 Al periodically posting individual fake check in entries from the set of fake check in entries based upon the time of day and day of week that corresponds to the posted individual fake check in entries 10 The method of claim 9 further comprising recording each of the periodically posted individual fake check in entries in a fake check ins data store receiving a local check in event at the software application corresponding to the user of the software application wherein the local check in event indicates that the user has returned to the geographic
26. er checks in at a Raleigh area entity such as a gym located in Raleigh then a check in entry is posted on the user s social network page as well as the local entities social network page e g local entity 320 This check in entry is visible by other users that are members of audience 350 e g friends of user 310 as well by other users that are members of audience 360 e g customers employ ees supporters etc of the Raleigh area gym 0036 When user 310 travels out of town away from the Raleigh area then the actual check in entries received from the user are cached rather than posted and fake check in entries are posted to obfuscate the fact that the user is out of town For example if the user travels to Austin Tex and Nov 22 2012 checks in at an Austin area gym then social network provider 300 would receive the check in entry corresponding to the Austin area gym Instead of posting the check in entry at the user s social network page and the out of town social net work page e g social network page 330 the system caches the received check in entry and waits until the user has returned home to Raleigh before posting the check in entries In addition malevolent users of the social network provider may otherwise realize that the user is not checking into local Raleigh area entities where the user typically fre quents Fake check in entries are posted at local entities e g the Raleigh area gym etc so that it
27. f claim 29 wherein the software application is a social network application and wherein the fake check in entries are used to obfuscate the other users of the social network application as to an out of town status of the user while the user is physically outside of geographic local area that corresponds to the user 35 The computer program product of claim 29 wherein the set of fake check ins are each flagged as fake check in entries by the software application and wherein the flags of the fake check ins are not visible by the other users of the software application 36 The computer program product of claim 29 further comprising selecting the set of fake check in entries from a plurality of previous actual check in entries corresponding to the user wherein each of the plurality of previous actual check in entries were check ins to one or more entities that are physically within geographic local area corre sponding to the user 37 The computer program product of claim 36 further comprising identifying the set of fake check in entries from a nonvola tile storage area accessible from the social network application generating a time of day and a day of week corresponding to each of the set of fake check in entries wherein the generated time of day and day of week are based on a check in history corresponding to the user and periodically posting individual fake check in entries from the set of fake check in entries based upon the
28. g commences at 500 whereupon at step 505 the user is traveling outside of the user s geographic local area A decision is made as to whether manual or automatic fake check in initiation is being used decision 510 If automatic fake check in initiation is being used then decision 510 branches to the branch labeled automatic whereupon at step 515 the social network provider s application software automatically senses when the user is outside of the user s geographic local area e g when a check in entry is received from the user at an entity that is outside of the user s geo graphic local area etc On the other hand if manual fake check in initiation is being used then decision 510 branches to the branch labeled manual whereupon at step 520 the user notifies the social network provider that the user is trav eling outside of the user s geographic local area 0042 At step 525 the user performs check in actions at entities that are outside the user s geographic local area These check in actions result in check in entries being trans mitted to the social network provider At some point indi Nov 22 2012 cated by step 530 the user returns home to the user s geo graphic local area A decision is made as to whether manual or automatic fake check in initiation is being used decision 535 If automatic fake check in initiation is being used then decision 535 branches to the branch labeled automatic
29. he fake check in event in response to the deter mination 13 The method of claim 1 further comprising receiving a check in request from the user wherein the check in request corresponds to an entity recording a timestamp corresponding to the received check in request determining that an amount of time has elapsed since the timestamp was recorded wherein the amount of time exceeds a threshold and triggering the fake check in event in response to the deter mination 14 The method of claim 1 wherein the software applica tion is a social network application and wherein the method further comprises receiving at the social network application a current check in entry from the user currently checking into an entity at a physical location retrieving at the social network application a private pro file corresponding to the user wherein the private profile is inaccessible from the other users of the social network application Nov 22 2012 retrieving from the private profile a geographic local area corresponding to the user retrieving a geographic identity of the entity s physical location comparing the user s geographic local area with the enti ty s geographic identity determining based on the comparison whether the entity s geographic identity is within the user s geographic local area in response to the determination being that the entity s geographic identity is outside of the user s geographic l
30. ic local area sending a local check in event to the social network application clearing the internal flag to indicate that the user is no longer outside the user s geographic local area retrieving the cached check in entries from the cache posting the retrieved cached check in entries wherein the posted check in entries are visible by the other users of the software application and posting the current check in entry wherein the posted current check in entry is visible by the other users of the social network application and in response to the internal flag being set to indicate that the user is within the user s geographic local area posting the current check in entry wherein the posted current check in entry is visible by the other users of the social network application 29 A computer program product stored in a computer readable storage medium comprising computer program code that when executed by an information handling system causes the information handling system to perform actions comprising receiving a fake check in event at a software application the fake check in event corresponding to a user of the software application and initiating fake check ins on behalf of the user in response to receiving the fake check in event wherein the fake check ins further comprise Nov 22 2012 posting by the software application a set of fake check in entries on behalf of the user wherein the posted fake check in entr
31. ication information Handling System yo 8 3 Systarn Memory 126 Provasear interface Bus i Hadova MM i Onuy internae TOI Erue ane YA HD o i iinteriace Patent Application Publication Nov 22 2012 Sheet 1 of 8 US 2012 0297368 A1 information Handling System 4 ANA d F j d us po i Sy ystem Memory 5 N E i 1 momo x 190 TIZ o Processor Interface Bus Many North Bridge Memory kana 1i d Cras aphios UA Robe T Conor j 128 i AAA TA KOPE UREA KUA AMAA ARR AMA AA AR ARMAR AR AR AR AR aa Memory KAA e PPP REP PPP PAR P PAPA ew vui N Nw a NN UNI att ANSEHEN IE HENTAI ARAS ASIN SARANNO TIS cet LIBE Soran Device p 145 i i i i i i H i H i i USB tot i 5 H i i i i i H i H EE EY VIG mee Du Bus ttti US Eel B Devin Devices d e Keyboard and Trackned pe puer v EX Qe YRS E TL XY YIR Reie Ya To A80 p Bletoth v i ExpressCard d m gum Baz Wireless Hm o j uia insin EN and oplics glist Lp jadi in port HE interfere sever ever ew ew ew NN Ug ero ve Ad Audis e iui iy M wr Ma i de eed acra t eve m Mid D H i Mu TS SOI n i zi 2 d iieri dia jack di s i Disk Controller NS 1 Serial ATA bus s v 1
32. ies are visible by other users of the software application 30 The computer program product of claim 29 wherein the fake check in event is selected from a group consisting of an out of town check in by the user an initiation request received at the software application from the user and an elapsed period of time since a last check in event was received from the user 31 The computer program product of claim 29 further comprising receiving one or more check in entries from the user while the user is physically outside of a geographic local area that corresponds to the user and caching the received check in entries in a cache area 32 The computer program product of claim 31 further comprising receiving a local check in event at the software application corresponding to the user of the software application wherein the local check in event indicates that the user has returned to the geographic local area that corre sponds to the user and in response to receiving the local check in event posting the cached check in entries wherein the posted check in entries are visible by the other users of the software application 33 The computer program product of claim 32 further comprising removing the set of fake check in entries in response to receiving the local check in event wherein the removed set of fake check in entries are no longer visible to the other users of the software application 34 The computer program product o
33. in the posted current check in entry is visible by the other users of the social network application 15 An information handling system comprising one or more processors a memory coupled to at least one of the processors a nonvolatile storage device accessible by at least one of the processors a network interface that connects the information handling system to a network a set of computer program instructions stored in the memory and executed by at least one of the processors in order to perform actions of receiving a fake check in event at a software application the fake check in event corresponding to a user of the software application and initiating fake check ins on behalf of the user in response to receiving the fake check in event wherein the fake check ins further comprise posting by the software application a set of fake check in entries on behalf of the user wherein the posted fake check in entries are visible by other users of the software application US 2012 0297368 Al 16 The information handling system of claim 15 wherein the fake check in event is selected from a group consisting of an out of town check in by the user an initiation request received at the software application from the user and an elapsed period of time since a last check in event was received from the user 17 The information handling system of claim 15 wherein at least one of the processors perform additional actions com prising
34. intaied io user s and No busi iness sgal Ya Queue actual checkin Vs oubciiown KABI without pasting to Ton Social nine queror business H T TE j 1 social network page Network Automaticady sense when ve infout of ioan ANC way v TRUET EH FIG 6 ee No Send Evari ts sori fake checkdns ise Fig S 00S vi Patent Application Publication Nov 22 2012 Sheet 7 of 8 US 2012 0297368 A1 Seda Network Provider Fake Cher king FIG 7 Check users fake checkein configuration setlings TOS Use rica week YA selected list No Ye es aa wa wanan Retrieve tardo miral businesses fom ses Retrieve businesses day ofosk mes from user s Helreve quer pm businesses day eom times fram use X gherkins history th take cedens typical week to pue for fole eh aski nS Fake check ins st initated 7s ina local check ins recofvmd Yas Retiews frstinaxt i VTOD hom queue HS Network Faki Checkins F Post fake check in io user s and business b add page Social Network Page i Record fake check in for future reversal WA Patent Application Publication Nov 22 2012 Sheet 8 of 8 US 2012 0297368 A1 UY rat T a eS ve Social Network Provider Fake Chack4n Reversal Bod Fake Sheccins Select rstimext fake checkin that was posted to user and business pages BAG MUS LL Pe
35. ives and or nonvolatile memory Some of the information handling sys tems shown in FIG 2 depicts separate nonvolatile data stores server 260 utilizes nonvolatile data store 265 mainframe computer 270 utilizes nonvolatile data store 275 and infor mation handling system 280 utilizes nonvolatile data store 285 The nonvolatile data store can be a component that is external to the various information handling systems or can be internal to one of the information handling systems In addition removable nonvolatile storage device 145 can be shared among two or more information handling systems using various techniques such as connecting the removable nonvolatile storage device 145 to a USB port or other con nector of the information handling systems 0033 FIG 3 is a diagram showing various social media participants and how fake check ins are used to prevent malevolent members of the social media community from knowing when a particular user is out of town Social network provider 300 provides facilities such as a Web site that uses a computer network e g computer network 200 shown in FIG 2 that allows users to communicate often informally with one another Users include individual users of social US 2012 0297368 Al network provider 300 such as user 310 that access social networking data stored by the social network provider in social network data store 305 Social network data can pertain to individual users e g friends
36. k provider check in processing con tinues to loop back to receive further check in entries from the user and continues to process the check in entries using pre defined process 596 0047 FIG 6 is a flowchart showing the steps used at the social media provider to handle check ins received from users Check in processing commences at 600 whereupon at step 605 a check in entry request is received from the user ata physical entity location e g a gym a grocery store etc At step 610 the user s private profile that is not accessible by other users of the social network provider is retrieved and at step 615 a business profile corresponding to the entity at which the user checked in is retrieved Using data found in the profiles the location ofthe entity is compared with the user s geographic local area at step 620 A decision is made as to whether the entity is within the user s geographic local area decision 625 If the entity is within the user s geographic local area then decision 625 branches to the yes branch whereupon an away flag is set to FALSE indicating that the user is not outside of the user s geographic local area On the other hand if the entity is outside of the user s geographic local area then decision 625 branches to the no branch whereupon the away flag is set to TRUE indicating that the user is outside ofthe user s geographic local area A decision is made as to whether fake check ins have be
37. lag to indicate that the user is no longer outside the user s geographic local area retrieving the cached check in entries from the cache posting the retrieved cached check in entries wherein the posted check in entries are visible by the other users of the software application and posting the current check in entry wherein the posted current check in entry is visible by the other users of the social network application and in response to the internal flag being set to indicate that the user is within the user s geographic local area posting the current check in entry wherein the posted current check in entry is visible by the other users of the social network application
38. ly triggers a fake check in event so that fake check ins are posted on behalf of the user to obfuscate the fact that the user is indisposed or otherwise away and unable to perform check in entries e g at the hospital with US 2012 0297368 Al out network access etc At step 450 the user optionally selects a preferred fake check in option that is used by the social network provider in selecting the fake check in entries For example the user can select a typical week of actual check ins from the user s history that will be used as fake check in entries when the user is out of town Alternatively the user can manually select the fake check in entries e g entity name time of day day of week etc that the user wants to use for the user s fake check in entries If the user does not provide a typical week or select the fake check in entries then the social network provider can utilize an algorithm where appropriate entities are selected e g based on the user s past check in history etc along with appropriate days of the week and time of day when the fake check in entries will be posted 0039 A decision is made as to whether the user selected to use a typical week of check in entries from the user s history decision 460 If the user opted to use a typical week then decision 460 branches to the yes branch whereupon at step 465 the user selects a previous week of check in entries to use as fake check in e
39. n registration request 425 Receive and display fake chackin options dialog from provider Save registeation MEDRE Hake check in options dalog and ritum io user User selects manual or automatic fake checkin initiation User selects time threshold for auto taka checkin event A48 User selects fake chackin aptians user picks fypival week lo use qudd fnr fake checking Network Dota ger selected fake check ins User sudects to use aigon Use kiazi week age Ya User selected User selncts 4 Yes jpneious week of checking to use User selects System uses picis algorithm in select ood es fake chao ekine sa ABO Receive user fake checkin options and save Options 4806 M Patent Application Publication Nov 22 2012 Sheet 5 of 8 US 2012 0297368 A1 Social Nekeak Provider flake check in inde SED User traveling o romale beai pudo of focal ae ordoss nol cheek in for extended pend Receive menue user f Uc ications and automated events from system MA Fake check ins initiated S manually ar automatically Manual or automatic fake check in inflation j EH Manual 7 Automatic User notes socii network provider that uer i QUY SYSTEM Fake Checkdns ies Figure 7 KIU un atamaii senses wien user ie outside
40. n from the user wherein the second manual selec tion is a local check in event that indicates that the user has returned to the user s geographic local area and clearing the flag in response to receiving the second manual selection 40 The computer program product of claim 29 further comprising receiving a check in request from the user wherein the check in request corresponds to an entity determining that the entity is physically located outside of a geographic local area that corresponds to the user and triggering the fake check in event in response to the deter mination 41 The computer program product of claim 29 further comprising receiving a check in request from the user wherein the check in request corresponds to an entity recording a timestamp corresponding to the received check in request determining that an amount of time has elapsed since the timestamp was recorded wherein the amount of time exceeds a threshold and triggering the fake check in event in response to the deter mination Nov 22 2012 42 The computer program product of claim 29 wherein the software application is a social network application and wherein the computer program product further comprises receiving at the social network application a current check in entry from the user currently checking into an entity at a physical location retrieving at the social network application a private pro file corresponding to the user wherein
41. nal microphone 168 Ethernet con troller 170 connects to Southbridge 135 using a bus such as the PCI or PCI Express bus Ethernet controller 170 connects information handling system 100 to a computer network such as a Local Area Network LAN the Internet and other public and private computer networks 0030 While FIG 1 shows one information handling sys tem an information handling system may take many forms For example an information handling system may take the Nov 22 2012 form of a desktop server portable laptop notebook or other form factor computer or data processing system In addition an information handling system may take other form factors such as a personal digital assistant PDA a gaming device ATM machine a portable telephone device a communication device or other devices that include a processor and memory 0031 The Trusted Platform Module TPM 195 shown in FIG 1 and described herein to provide security functions is but one example of a hardware security module HSM Therefore the TPM described and claimed herein includes any type of HSM including but not limited to hardware security devices that conform to the Trusted Computing Groups TCG standard and entitled Trusted Platform Mod ule TPM Specification Version 1 2 The TPM is a hardware security subsystem that may be incorporated into any number of information handling systems such as those outlined in FIG 2 0032 FIG 2 provide
42. nderstand ing the following appended claims contain usage of the intro ductory phrases at least one and one or more to introduce claim elements However the use of such phrases should not be construed to imply that the introduction of a claim element by the indefinite articles a or an limits any particular claim containing such introduced claim element to inventions containing only one such element even when the same claim includes the introductory phrases one or more or at least Nov 22 2012 69 one and indefinite articles such as a or an the same holds true for the use in the claims of definite articles 1 A method implemented by an information handling sys tem comprising receiving a fake check in event at a software application the fake check in event corresponding to a user of the software application and initiating fake check ins on behalf of the user in response to receiving the fake check in event wherein the fake check ins further comprise posting by the software application a set of fake check in entries on behalf of the user wherein the posted fake check in entries are visible by other users of the software application 2 The method of claim 1 wherein the fake check in event is selected from a group consisting of an out of town check in by the user an initiation request received at the software application from the user and an elapsed period of time since
43. ntries copying the entity approximate check in time and check in day of the week On the other hand if the user did not opt to use a typical week then decision 460 branches to the no branch whereupon a deci sion is made as to whether the user opted to manually select the fake check in entries to use decision 470 If the user opted to manually select the fake check in entries then deci sion 470 branches to the yes branch whereupon at step 475 the user manually selects the fake check in entries the enti ties approximate check in times and check in days of the week to use as fake check in entries On the other hand if the user did not select either a typical week or manual fake check in entries then decision 470 branches to the no branch whereupon at step 480 the social network application will use an algorithm to randomly select fake check in entries that are used based on the user s past check in history 0040 At step 485 the user s fake check in options are transmitted to the social network application via the computer network as options transmittal 490 At step 495 the social network application receives the user s fake check in options and saves the options in a private area included in social network data store 305 0041 FIG 5 is a flowchart showing steps between a user and the social media provider to notify when the user is out of town and the transmission and reception of check ins Processin
44. ocal area triggering the fake check in event setting an internal flag that indicates that the user is outside of the user s geographic local area while the internal flag is set caching the current check in entry and one or more subsequent check in entries in a cache so that the check in entries are not visible to the other users of the social network application and identifying the set of fake check in entries from a non volatile storage area accessible from the social net work application in response to the determination being that the entity s geographic identity is within the user s geographic local area checking the internal flag in response to the internal flag being set to indicate that the user is outside of the user s geographic local area sending a local check in event to the social network application clearing the internal flag to indicate that the user is no longer outside the user s geographic local area retrieving the cached check in entries from the cache posting the retrieved cached check in entries wherein the posted check in entries are visible by the other users of the software application and posting the current check in entry wherein the posted current check in entry is visible by the other users of the social network application and in response to the internal flag being set to indicate that the user is within the user s geographic local area posting the current check in entry where
45. or the like and conventional procedural pro gramming languages such as the C programming language or similar programming languages The program code may execute entirely on the user s computer partly on the user s computer as a stand alone software package partly on the user s computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer or server In the latter scenario the remote computer may be connected to the user s computer through any type of network including a local area network Nov 22 2012 LAN ora wide area network WAN or the connection may be made to an external computer for example through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider 0022 Aspects of the present invention are described below with reference to flowchart illustrations and or block diagrams of methods apparatus systems and computer pro gram products according to embodiments ofthe invention It will be understood that each block of the flowchart illustra tions and or block diagrams and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and or block diagrams can be implemented by computer program instructions These com puter program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer special purpose computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine such that the instructions which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data pro cessing appa
46. oupled with modern travel technologies allows users to check in at businesses in various geographic areas such as different places in a country or throughout the world BRIEF SUMMARY 0003 An approach is provided in a fake check in event is received at a software application corresponding to a user of the software application Fake check ins are initiated on behalf ofthe user in response to the fake check in event The software application posts a set of fake check in entries on behalf of the user while the user is away The posted fake check ins are visible by other users of the software applica tion and are used to obfuscate others that the user is out of town In one embodiment check in entries that are received from the user after fake check ins have been initiated are cached In this embodiment a local check in event is received when the user is within the user s geographical local area and the cached check in entries are posted so that they are now visible by the other users of the software application 0004 In a further embodiment the set of fake check ins that were posted while the user was away are removed when the user returns so that they are no longer visible to other users of the application Additionally the fake check ins that are posted are in one embodiment gathered from the user s prior check in history and are posted at appropriate times and days of the week in order to more fully obfuscate others that the user is
47. r a portable com pact disc read only memory CD ROM an optical storage device a magnetic storage device or any suitable combina tion of the foregoing In the context of this document a computer readable storage medium may be any tangible medium that can contain or store a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system apparatus or device 0019 A computer readable signal medium may include a propagated data signal with computer readable program code embodied therein for example in baseband or as part of a carrier wave Such a propagated signal may take any of a variety of forms including but not limited to electro mag netic optical or any suitable combination thereof A com puter readable signal medium may be any computer readable medium that is not a computer readable storage medium and that can communicate propagate or transport a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system apparatus or device 0020 Program code embodied on a computer readable medium may be transmitted using any appropriate medium including but not limited to wireless wireline optical fiber cable RF etc or any suitable combination of the foregoing 0021 Computer program code for carrying out operations for aspects of the present invention may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages includ ing an object oriented programming language such as Java Smalltalk C
48. ranches to the no branch and fake check in processing ends at 795 0052 FIG 8 is a flowchart showing the steps taken at the social media provider to reverse the effects of fake check ins when the user is no longer out of town The social network provider s fake check in reversal process commences at 800 whereupon at step 810 the first recorded fake check in that was recorded in fake check ins data store 785 is selected At step 820 the selected fake check in is removed deleted from the user s social network page 690 and at step 830 the selected fake check in is removed deleted from the entity s social network page 695 A decision is made as to whether there are more fake check in entries stored in fake check ins data store 785 that need to be reversed decision 840 If there are more fake check in entries to reverse then decision 840 branches to the yes branch whereupon processing loops back to select and process the next fake check in entry from fake check ins data store 785 This looping continues until there are no more fake check in entries that need to be reversed at which point decision 840 branches to the no branch for further reversal processing 0053 At step 850 the first check in to an out of town entity that was cached in user s check in cache 680 is selected At step 860 the selected entry is posted to the user s social network page 690 At step 870 the selected entry is also posted to th
49. ratus create means for implementing the func tions acts specified in the flowchart and or block diagram block or blocks 0023 These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer readable medium that can direct a com puter other programmable data processing apparatus or other devices to function in a particular manner such that the instructions stored in the computer readable medium produce anarticle of manufacture including instructions which imple ment the function act specified in the flowchart and or block diagram block or blocks 0024 The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer other programmable data processing apparatus or other devices to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer other programmable apparatus or other devices to produce a computer imple mented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide pro cesses for implementing the functions acts specified in the flowchart and or block diagram block or blocks 0025 The following detailed description will generally follow the summary of the invention as set forth above further explaining and expanding the definitions of the vari ous aspects and embodiments of the invention as necessary To this end this detailed description first sets forth a comput ing environment in FIG 1 that is suitable to implement the software and or hardware techniq
50. s an extension of the information handling system environment shown in FIG 1 to illustrate that the methods described herein can be performed on a wide variety of information handling systems that operate in a networked environment Types of information handling sys tems range from small handheld devices such as handheld computer mobile telephone 210 to large mainframe systems such as mainframe computer 270 Examples of handheld computer 210 include personal digital assistants PDAs per sonal entertainment devices such as MP3 players portable televisions and compact disc players Other examples of information handling systems include pen or tablet com puter 220 laptop or notebook computer 230 workstation 240 personal computer system 250 and server 260 Other types of information handling systems that are not individu ally shown in FIG 2 are represented by information handling system 280 As shown the various information handling sys tems can be networked together using computer network 200 Types of computer network that can be used to interconnect the various information handling systems include Local Area Networks LANs Wireless Local Area Networks WLANs the Internet the Public Switched Telephone Network PSTN other wireless networks and any other network topology that can be used to interconnect the information handling systems Many of the information handling systems include nonvolatile data stores such as hard dr
51. ser is to an out oftown entity then decision 660 branches to Nov 22 2012 the yes branch whereupon at step 665 an event 1s sent to the social network provider see FIG 5 step 565 to start or initiate fake check in processing On the other hand if either the user has requested manual initiation of fake check in processing OR the user is within of the user s geographic local area then decision 660 branches to the no branch bypassing step 665 0049 A decision is made as to whether fake check ins are currently being used for the user decision 670 If fake check ins are currently being used for the user then decision 670 branches to the yes branch whereupon at step 675 the actual check in to the out of town entity is queued to user s check in cache 680 instead of posting the check in to either the user s social network page or to the entity s social network page On the other hand if fake check ins are not currently being used for the user then decision 670 branches to the no branch whereupon at step 685 the actual check in entries are posted to both the user s social network page 690 as well as to the entity s social network page 695 0050 FIG 7 is a flowchart showing the steps used at the social media provider to perform fake check ins on behalf of a user that is out of town The social network provider s fake check in processing commences at 700 whereupon at step 705 the social network pro
52. te Eny Social Network Pages Locali Sus Remove aefectad lake checkin from DURRESI social nelwark page uU Er ny More fake checkeins to reverse gt ge Select frst qiaued whi adus checkin ja user was cada E Add selected queued actuslchedcin tg out o own business somal naheark page usinesses Soria Network gus icutob town gm More queued actual check ins to apply E E i FIG 8 US 2012 0297368 Al FAKE CHECK IN ENTRIES POSTED ON BEHALF OF SOCIAL NETWORK USERS BACKGROUND 0001 The present invention relates to an approach that provides virtual location check in entries at a social network provider using both fake check in entries and caching of check in entries while the user is out of town 0002 Many social media sites allow users to post their physical location that appears in various pages on the social media site such as the user s page and the page corresponding to a business or organization at which the user checked in Users choose to check into a business for a variety of reasons These reasons include keeping the user s social media friends apprised of their whereabouts increasing the chance of meeting friends at a particular business and sup porting various business by indicating that the user has visited the business Modern computer networking such as using the Internet c
53. the methods described herein can be imple mented 0008 FIG 2 provides an extension of the information handling system environment shown in FIG 1 to illustrate thatthe methods described herein can be performed on a wide variety of information handling systems which operate in a networked environment 0009 FIG 3 is a diagram showing various social media participants and how fake check ins are used to prevent malevolent members of the social media community from knowing when a particular user is out of town 0010 FIG 4is a flowchart showing registration steps used by a user to set up fake check ins at a social media provider 0011 FIG 5 is a flowchart showing steps between a user and the social media provider to notify when the user is out of town and the transmission and reception of check ins 0012 FIG 6 is a flowchart showing the steps used at the social media provider to handle check ins received from users 0013 FIG 7 is a flowchart showing the steps used at the social media provider to perform fake check ins on behalf of a user that is out of town and 0014 FIG 8 is a flowchart showing the steps taken at the social media provider to reverse the effects of fake check ins when the user is no longer out of town DETAILED DESCRIPTION 0015 The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention As used herein the singular forms
54. the private profile is inaccessible from the other users of the social network application retrieving from the private profile a geographic local area corresponding to the user retrieving a geographic identity of the entity s physical location comparing the user s geographic local area with the enti ty s geographic identity determining based on the comparison whether the entity s geographic identity is within the user s geographic local area in response to the determination being that the entity s geographic identity is outside of the user s geographic local area triggering the fake check in event setting an internal flag that indicates that the user is outside of the user s geographic local area while the internal flag is set caching the current check in entry and one or more subsequent check in entries in a cache so that the check in entries are not visible to the other users of the social network application and identifying the set of fake check in entries from a non volatile storage area accessible from the social net work application in response to the determination being that the entity s geographic identity is within the user s geographic local area checking the internal flag in response to the internal flag being set to indicate that the user is outside of the user s geographic local area sending a local check in event to the social network application clearing the internal f
55. the social network provider receives check in entries from the user at various entities both within and outside of the user s geographic local area Predefined process 594 handles the various check in entries see FIG 6 and corresponding text for processing details In one embodiment the system can initiate an automatic fake check in event when a given time period e g atime threshold set by the user etc elapses after the user s last check in was received In this embodiment at step 596 the latest last check in entry received from the user is timestamped A decision is made as to whether the user s US 2012 0297368 Al next check in request arrives before the time threshold expires decision 598 If the next check in is received from the user then decision 598 branches to next check in branch which loops back to process the latest check in as described above and resets the timestamp On the other hand if the amount of time since the last check in was received by the user exceeds the threshold then decision 598 branches to the threshold exceeded branch which triggers the fake check in event and initiates fake check in processing on behalf of the user For example the user could set the thresh old to be two days so that if a new check in entry is not received from the user in a two day period then the system will automatically initiate the fake check in processing as described herein 0046 Social networ
56. to fake check ins queue 750 Fake check ins queue 750 includes fields for the day of the week the time of day and the entity name or identifier At step 760 the fake check ins process sleeps until the first day of the week and time of day occurs as listed in fake check in queue 750 When the first day of week and time of day occurs then a decision is made as to whether fake check in processing is still being per formed for the user decision 765 If fake check in process ing is still being performed the user has not returned home yet then decision 765 branches to the yes branch where upon at step 770 the entry corresponding to the day of week and time of day is retrieved from fake check ins queue 750 At step 775 the retrieved fake check in entry is posted to the user s social network page 690 as well as to the entity s social network page 695 At step 780 the fake check in is recorded in fake check in data store 785 where fake check in data store 785 is an internal data store that is inaccessible from users of US 2012 0297368 Al the social network provider Processing then loops back to step 760 whereupon processing sleeps until the next day of week and time of day in the fake check ins queue is reached When the next day of week and time of day is reached the processing as described above is performed Fake check in entries continue to be posted until fake check in processing is terminated at which point decision 765 b
57. ues associated with the invention networked environment is illustrated in FIG 2 as an extension of the basic computing environment to empha size that modern computing techniques can be performed across multiple discrete devices 0026 FIG 1 illustrates information handling system 100 which is a simplified example of a computer system capable of performing the computing operations described herein Information handling system 100 includes one or more pro cessors 110 coupled to processor interface bus 112 Processor interface bus 112 connects processors 110 to Northbridge 115 which is also known as the Memory Controller Hub MCH Northbridge 115 connects to system memory 120 and provides a means for processor s 110 to access the system memory Graphics controller 125 also connects to Northbridge 115 In one embodiment PCI Express bus 118 connects Northbridge 115 to graphics controller 125 Graph ics controller 125 connects to display device 130 such as a computer monitor 0027 Northbridge 115 and Southbridge 135 connect to each other using bus 119 In one embodiment the bus is a Direct Media Interface DMI bus that transfers data at high US 2012 0297368 Al speeds in each direction between Northbridge 115 and South bridge 135 In another embodiment a Peripheral Component Interconnect PCI bus connects the Northbridge and the Southbridge Southbridge 135 also known as the I O Con troller Hub ICH is a chip that generally
58. vider retrieves the user s fake check in configuration settings A decision is made as to whether the user has opted to use a typical week of actual check in entries as fake check in entries decision 710 If a typical week is being used then decision 710 branches to the yes branch whereupon at step 715 the entities businesses organizations etc from the user s selected week are retrieved along with the time of day and day of week to use for the fake check in entries On the other hand if the user did not opt to use a typical week of check in entries then decision 710 branches to the no branch whereupon a decision is made as to whether the user has opted to use a user selected set of fake check in entries decision 720 Ifthe user has opted to use a user selected set of fake check in entries then decision 720 branches to the yes branch whereupon at step 725 the user selected entity names are retrieved along with the time of day and day of week to use for the fake check in entries On the other hand if neither a typical week or a user selected list was chosen by the user then decision 720 branches to the no branch whereupon at step 730 the social network pro vider automatically retrieves random local entity check in entries along with the time of day and day of week from the user s history of past actual check in entries to local entities 0051 At step 740 the list of fake check in entries is queued

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