Personal area network

Abstract

An entity may store various levels of sensitive and personal data in a secure computing environment. The entity may create permission rules which allow the data to be shared or not shared depending on the circumstances and situation. As an entity such as a human moves through life, the entity may be in touch with numerous electronic devices that act like sensors. The entity may share a token which may allow a sensor or operator of the sensor to access various levels of the sensitive data stored in the secure computing environment.

1 . A method of controlling access to a central computing system having data about a person comprising:
 receiving, from a sensory device, attribute data that differentiates the person from another person, the attribute data received at the central computing system via a computer network;   verifying that the attribute data satisfies permission rules created by the person to permit additional information to be communicated;   generating, at the central computer in response to the attribute data being verified, a token, the token comprising permission for the sensory device to obtain the additional information related to the person; and   providing the token from the central computer via the computer network to the sensory device.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising analyzing the attribute data for fraudulent characteristics. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the additional information is payment system data. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , further comprising enabling a transaction for value using the payment system data. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising detecting the attribute data by sensing physical attributes associated with the person in a physical environment at the sensory device, the sensory device associated with a sensor owner who is separate from the person. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the attribute data comprises at least one attribute selected from the group comprising a mobile computing device related data, a smart material, a face, a hand, jewelry, an iris scan, and a heart signal. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the permission rules are network specific. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the permission rules are set according to an owner of the sensor. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , further comprising setting, via the permission rules, a monetary value minimum, wherein a token for the additional information is provided responsive to the owner of the sensor paying the monetary value minimum. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising communicating a message from the person to the central computing system via the sensors. 
     
     
         11 . A system comprising:
 a central computing system that stores personal information about an entity and a profile assigning a corresponding level of protection of personal information for a sensor owner; and   a sensor associated with a sensor owner, the sensor determining information about an entity via attribute data received at the sensor, wherein the sensor sends the information about the entity to the central computing system, the sensor further adapted to receive a token from the central computing system containing personal information released by the central computing system according to the profile and the sensor owner.   
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the sensor protects the information about the entity prior to sending the information about the entity to the central computing system. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the profile includes a fee due to the entity upon release of the information about the entity to the sensor. 
     
     
         14 . A method of controlling access to personal data, the method comprising:
 sensing attributes of an entity at a sensor;   sending the attributes of the entity and information about the sensor to a central computing system;   receiving from the central computing system an inbound token containing permission to access additional data about the entity;   accessing, using the inbound token, a database of personal information of the entity, an access level for personal information of the entity in the database being predetermined by the entity based on the information about the sensor; and   receiving personal information about the entity from the database at the sensor according to the access level.   
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the information about the sensor includes an owner of the sensor. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , further comprising populating the database with the personal information about the entity, each item of personal information about the entity having a value and a permission level. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , further comprising setting the permission level to access each item of personal information about the entity. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein setting the permission level to access each item of personal information about the entity comprises setting the permission level to access each item of personal information about the entity according to an owner of the sensor. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the personal information about the entity includes payment data. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein sending the attributes of the entity and information about the sensor to the central computing system comprises generating a outbound token that includes the attributes of the entity and the information about the sensor and sending the outbound token to the central computing system.