Mobile customs declaration system and method

Abstract

Mobile collection and vetting of user supplied information is described. The systems, techniques, devices, methods, and approaches described herein can be used to obtain, validate, and vet information, such as customs information, in a mobile environment. In embodiments, methods comprise receiving information input via a mobile device. The information is encapsulated by an intermediate to escort the information through a firewall to the database. In response to vetting the information to determine if it meets one or more criteria, the method involves creating a record associated with a unique identifier, information that bio-identifies a user, or an indication of a determination that results from the vetting. In this embodiment, the method includes generating an electronic receipt for communication to the mobile device, the electronic receipt including the unique identifier.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method comprising:
 receiving by a database information input via a mobile device, the information being encapsulated by an intermediate to escort the information through a firewall to the database;   responsive to vetting the information to determine if it meets one or more criteria, creating a record associated with a unique identifier, information that bio-identifies the user, or an indication of a determination that results from the vetting; and   generating an electronic receipt for communication to the mobile device, the electronic receipt including the unique identifier.   
     
     
         2 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the electronic receipt further comprises information that bio-identifies the user and at least another portion of the information. 
     
     
         3 . The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising communicating to the intermediate the electronic receipt for reception by the mobile device. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , further comprising receiving a query for the indication based at least partially on the unique identifier. 
     
     
         5 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein information comprises one or more of customs information associated with the user, customs information associated with a person in the user's travel party, or information that is useable to bio-identify at least one of the user or a person in the user's travel party. 
     
     
         6 . The method according to  claim 5 , wherein the electronic receipt comprises the unique identifier, an image of the user, and the user's name. 
     
     
         7 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the method implements public key infrastructure (PKI) for communication of the electronic receipt. 
     
     
         8 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the unique identifier comprises a machine readable identifier that is usable to query the database for the indication for output on a display included in the mobile device. 
     
     
         9 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein vetting is not performed until a vehicle identified in the information is determined to have physically reached a territory to which the user has traveled. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , further comprising performing a determination by querying a manifest to make the determination that the vehicle physically reached the territory. 
     
     
         11 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein information is formatted in extensible markup language (XML). 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the information comprises information associated with one or more people included in the user's travel party. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the record includes a unique device identifier associated with the mobile device. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the unique device identifier is a subscriber identification module (SIM) card serial number. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising operating a man-trap device that is configured to permit the user to exit a customs area based on one or more of the information that bio-identifies the user or the unique identifier that comprises a machine readable identifier. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the receiving is restricted to a predetermined time before a vehicle is expected to physically reach a territory to which the user has traveled, the time being defined in a manifest associated with the database. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the record further comprises one or more of an identifier associated with a computing system implemented by the intermediary to convey the information, an identifier of the mobile device, a session identifier, or a combination thereof. 
     
     
         18 . One or more tangible computer-readable storage media embodying computer-readable instructions which are executable by a mobile device to:
 collect information based on user input or information available to the mobile device;   obtain bio-identifiable information associated with the information, the combination of the information and the bio-identifiable information being formed into customs information suitable for communication to an intermediate that is web-enabled;   generate for output on a display include in the mobile device one or more of an electronic receipt, a unique identifier of a record at least temporarily maintained in a database by an authorization authority, bio-identifiable information, a name included in the information, or at least a portion of the customs information responsive to receipt of the electronic receipt generated by the authorization authority and communicated to the mobile device via the intermediate.   
     
     
         19 . The one or more computer-readable storage media of  claim 18 , wherein the bio-identifiable information comprises one or more of an image of a user identified in the customs information, an image of a person in the user's travel party, or a fingerprint of the user. 
     
     
         20 . The one or more computer-readable storage media of  claim 18 , wherein collection of information comprises collection of user input that provides the information, collection of information from an application enabled on the mobile device, or information obtained from a web-enabled third party provider. 
     
     
         21 . The one or more computer-readable storage media of  claim 18 , wherein the instructions are further configured to encrypt the customs information for communication to the intermediate. 
     
     
         22 . The one or more computer-readable storage media of  claim 18 , wherein the custom information is provided in extensible mark-up language (XML) in one or more related data packets. 
     
     
         23 . The one or more computer-readable storage media of  claim 18 , wherein the instructions are configured to output a machine readable code, the image of the user, and the user's name in human readable form. 
     
     
         24 . The one or more computer-readable storage media of  claim 18 , wherein the instructions are further configured to generate an output directing the user to a particular physical location in a facility to which the user arrived. 
     
     
         25 . The one or more computer-readable storage media of  claim 18 , wherein the output displayed on the display included in the mobile device is useable to exit a facility to which the user has arrived via a non-human operated man-trap device. 
     
     
         26 . The one or more computer-readable storage media of  claim 18 , wherein the instructions are further configured to generate an output for display on a display included in the mobile device an identifier of one or more pieces of luggage associated with the user or a person in the user's travel party. 
     
     
         27 . One or more tangible computer-readable storage media embodying computer-readable instructions which are executable by a computer system to:
 obtain information from a packet configured to allow the packet to pass through a firewall, the packet including the information that would otherwise be blocked if not included in the packet;   vet the information to determine if at least a portion of the information matches information in a manifest maintained in memory associated with the computing system;   generate a record in memory associated with the computing system, the record including a unique identifier and at least a portion of the information includes an image of a person associated with the information and an indication of the vetting determination; and   communicate a machine readable indication of the determination with an image contained in the information to an intermediate for communication to a mobile device from which the information was obtained.