Managed dissemination of location data

Abstract

A location provider manages dissemination of location data of a user to one or more third-party services, so that the user can take advantage of services offered by the third parties, without the associated burden of continuously granting or denying requests by the third party services to obtain location data of the user. A third-party service can obtain location information of a user from the location provider. Users may control circumstances in which the location provider is to share location data of the user with the one or more third-party services.

1 .- 20 . (canceled) 
     
     
         21 . A method comprising:
 determining whether an application has permission to obtain location data of a first user device based at least in part on whether the application is granted visibility of location data of a second user device, respective users of the first user device and the second user devices being socially connected; and   granting the permission to the application to obtain at least one portion of the location data of the first user device at least in part in response to determining that the application is granted the visibility of the location data of the second user device.   
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 21 , further comprising receiving an instruction from a user of the first user device to grant permissions to one or more applications based on implicit instructions prior to granting the permission to the application to obtain the at least one portion of the location data of the first user device. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 21 , further comprising receiving an authorization from a user of the first user device to grant the permission to the application to obtain the at least one portion of the location data of the first user device. 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 23 , wherein the authorization specifies that the application is one or more of: given permission to obtain the at least one portion of the location data of the first user device at one or more specified times, given permission to obtain the at least one portion of the location data of the first user device at one or more specified locations, given permission to obtain the at least one portion of the location data of the first user device at a predetermined level of accuracy, prohibited from obtaining the at least one portion of the location data of the first user device at one or more other specified times, or prohibited from obtaining the at least one portion of the location data of the first user device at one or more other specified locations. 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the respective users of the first user device and the second user device comprise different users. 
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 21 , further comprising:
 comparing a location of the first user device with one or more triggering events; and   sending a notification of occurrence of a first event of the one or more triggering event to the application in response to determining that the location of the first user device satisfies a condition of the first event.   
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 26 , wherein the at least one portion of the location data of the first user device comprises a current location of the first user device, or a proximity of the first user device to another user device or a specific location. 
     
     
         28 . One or more computer storage media storing executable instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform acts comprising:
 determining whether an application has permission to obtain location data of a first user device based at least in part on whether the application is granted visibility of location data of a second user device, respective users of the first user device and the second user devices being socially connected; and   granting the permission to the application to obtain at least one portion of the location data of the first user device at least in part in response to determining that the application is granted the visibility of the location data of the second user device.   
     
     
         29 . The one or more computer storage media of  claim 28 , the acts further comprising receiving an instruction from a user of the first user device to grant permissions to one or more applications based on implicit instructions prior to granting the permission to the application to obtain the at least one portion of the location data of the first user device. 
     
     
         30 . The one or more computer storage media of  claim 28 , the acts further comprising receiving an authorization from a user of the first user device to grant the permission to the application to obtain the at least one portion of the location data of the first user device. 
     
     
         31 . The one or more computer-readable media of  claim 30 , wherein the authorization specifies that the application is one or more of: given permission to obtain the at least one portion of the location data of the first user device at one or more specified times, given permission to obtain the at least one portion of the location data of the first user device at one or more specified locations, given permission to obtain the at least one portion of the location data of the first user device at a predetermined level of accuracy, prohibited from obtaining the at least one portion of the location data of the first user device at one or more other specified times, or prohibited from obtaining the at least one portion of the location data of the first user device at one or more other specified locations. 
     
     
         32 . The one or more computer storage media of  claim 28 , wherein the respective users of the first user device and the second user device comprise different users. 
     
     
         33 . The one or more computer storage media of  claim 28 , the acts further comprising:
 comparing a location of the first user device with one or more triggering events; and   sending a notification of occurrence of a first event of the one or more triggering event to the application in response to determining that the location of the first user device satisfies a condition of the first event.   
     
     
         34 . The one or more computer storage media of  claim 33 , wherein the at least one portion of the location data of the first user device comprises a current location of the first user device, or a proximity of the first user device to another user device or a specific location. 
     
     
         35 . A system comprising:
 one or more processors;   memory storing executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform acts comprising:   determining whether an application has permission to obtain location data of a first user device based at least in part on whether the application is granted visibility of location data of a second user device, respective users of the first user device and the second user devices being socially connected; and   granting the permission to the application to obtain at least one portion of the location data of the first user device at least in part in response to determining that the application is granted the visibility of the location data of the second user device.   
     
     
         36 . The system of  claim 35 , the acts further comprising receiving an instruction from a user of the first user device to grant permissions to one or more applications based on implicit instructions prior to granting the permission to the application to obtain the at least one portion of the location data of the first user device. 
     
     
         37 . The system of  claim 35 , the acts further comprising receiving an authorization from a user of the first user device to grant the permission to the application to obtain the at least one portion of the location data of the first user device. 
     
     
         38 . The system of  claim 37 , wherein the authorization specifies that the application is one or more of: given permission to obtain the at least one portion of the location data of the first user device at one or more specified times, given permission to obtain the at least one portion of the location data of the first user device at one or more specified locations, given permission to obtain the at least one portion of the location data of the first user device at a predetermined level of accuracy, prohibited from obtaining the at least one portion of the location data of the first user device at one or more other specified times, or prohibited from obtaining the at least one portion of the location data of the first user device at one or more other specified locations. 
     
     
         39 . The system of  claim 35 , the acts further comprising:
 comparing a location of the first user device with one or more triggering events; and   sending a notification of occurrence of a first event of the one or more triggering event to the application in response to determining that the location of the first user device satisfies a condition of the first event.   
     
     
         40 . The system of  claim 39 , wherein the at least one portion of the location data of the first user device comprises a current location of the first user device, or a proximity of the first user device to another user device or a specific location.