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Inventors: Robert H Nagel, et al

US patent application number: 20,070,121,863

US patent application date: May 31, 2007

SYNOPSIS OF THE INVENTION

This invention entails a system and method for ensuring communication security and anonymity of both incoming and outgoing telephone calls. A special association is established between one or more public telephone numbers (like those listed in publicly accessible directories) and one or more private telephone numbers (like unlisted numbers not accessible by anyone). Incoming calls are indiscernibly routed to a private number of the customer or account holder (owner), and outgoing calls are indiscernibly routed through a public number of the owner. The association between the owner’s public and private numbers is secure and verifiable. The owner controls both access to the system and configuration of its operational features, through user authentication. Such authentication may be achieved through various means (including passwords, changing codes, biometric identifiers, etc.) and ensures system security in contrast to “private telephone lines” which effectively are compromised as soon as the owner shares the private number with another party.

The system combines the concepts of call forwarding and of masking the identity of the calling party and still retains the privacy of the private number. The two calling parties share seamless “round-trip” telephone communication while preserving the anonymity of the owner of the private number. Without changing the private number, the owner in effect has a "disposable" telephone number in that the associated public number can be terminated at any time, and remaining minutes can be transferred to a new public number.