Blockchain to Secure Attorney-Inmate Privacy for Prison Calls

meshDETECT® is pleased to announce that it has been granted a fifth wireless blockchain patent from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for U.S. Patent 11,689,658 entitled “Systems and Methods For Blockchain Wireless Services In a Controlled Environment.” This is our eleventh patent granted overall.

The claims in our latest blockchain patent are directed toward:

Leveraging the blockchain to ensure and prove that a privileged voice or video call from an inmate in a prison is not recorded.

Inmate calls are typically recorded and filed into archives that law enforcement agencies and prison officials can later access in the event a person is believed to be engaged in witness tampering or other forms of harassment.

However, calls from detainees in jail to their lawyers are not supposed to be recorded and are confidential under attorney-client privilege.

An Widespread Problem

There a have been multiple instances in jails and prisons across the country where this privilege has not been honored. In fact, the state of Maine has recently enacted a law protecting attorney-client privilege in jail calls.

Listening to the recordings of these call was widespread practice in Maine. Nearly 1,000 of supposedly confidential phone calls between defendants and their lawyers were eavesdropped on in a one-year period between June 2019 and May 2020, in at least four county jails.

In some cases, intercepted calls were turned over to prosecutors, which defense lawyers said gave the prosecutors improper insight into the defendants’ legal strategies during the pretrial phases of their cases, when plea bargaining most often takes place.

“The act of recording inhibits people from having a free exchange of information, but then turning that over to the people that are engaging in the prosecution really destroys the ability to have a meaningful assistance of counsel”

Other Claims in the Patent

Another set of claims in the patent enable streaming payments during a voice, video or usage session by an inmate device, continuously creating and broadcasting transactions via the blockchain at predetermined intervals.

A third set claims a method of proving ownership of and granting access to inmate devices, such as media tablets.

Our previous four blockchain patents can be found at US10,694,032, US10,855,838, US11,140,263 and US11,425,244.

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Brian

Managing Partner at meshIP, LLC

Brian Byrne is the founder and Managing Partner of Dallas based meshIP, a technology services firm offering cloud computing strategies and services. He is an accomplished executive with senior management experience in all facets of the technology, telecom, cloud computing, and SaaS industries. He has proven success in developing, financing and executing strategic plans as well as launching new ventures. His background includes a record of significant achievement in international business development and his credentials include a MBA in Marketing and Management Strategy from the J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University, a MS from the School of Computer Science at DePaul University, and a BBA in Finance from the University of Notre Dame.

He is also the inventor of the patented meshDETECT, Secure Prison Cell Phone Solutions.

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