Often when installing a computer software application on a computing device, such as on a so-called “smartphone” or other portable computing device, the user of the device is asked to indicate their consent to permit the computer software application being installed to access their personal information, such as their contact data or their location data, via such devices. However, many privacy directives and laws dictate that data relating to a person, such as personally identifiable information (PII), may be used only for approved purposes, and may only be stored and used for as long as is necessary with respect to the purpose to which the person consented.
In one aspect of the invention a method is provided for controlling computer-based access to data, the method including receiving from a computer software application a request specifying a computer user, a type of data associated with an entity, and an intended purpose for the type of data associated with the entity, accessing, responsive to receiving the request, a consent record indicating an association between the specified entity, the specified type of data associated with the entity, and the computer software application, and granting the request if the consent record includes an indication of consent in association with a specified purpose for the type of data associated with the entity, and if the specified purpose matches the intended purpose.
In other aspects of the invention systems and computer program products embodying the invention are provided.
Aspects of the invention will be understood and appreciated more fully from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the appended drawings in which:
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A consent record manager 108 is configured to maintain the above information received from entity 102 in a consent record 110 associating entity 102 with the specified type(s) of data associated with entity 102, computer software application 106, the specified purpose(s) for which computer software application 106 wishes to act upon the specified type(s) of data, and the indication of consent by entity 102 for computer software application 106 to act upon the specified type(s) of data for the specified purpose(s). Consent record manager 108 is configured to maintain consent record 110 in a data store of such consent records 112.
A request monitor 114 is configured to receive from computer software application 106 a request specifying entity 102, one or more types of data associated with entity 102, and one or more intended purposes for acting upon the specified type(s) of data associated with entity 102. Continuing with the previous example, request monitor 114 receives a request from computer software application 106 on computing device 104, the request specifying the user of computing device 104, requesting access to the calendar event information and contact information of the user, and indicating an intended purpose of sending a reminder to the user's contacts that are associated with the user's calendar events.
A consent manager 116 is configured to react to receipt of the above request by request monitor 114 by searching consent records 112 for a consent record indicating an association between entity 102, the type(s) of data associated with entity 102, and computer software application 106, all as specified in the request from computer software application 106. If such a consent record is found, such as consent record 110, consent manager 116 accesses consent record 110 and grants the request if consent record 110 includes an indication of consent in association with one or more specified purpose(s) for the type(s) of data associated with entity 102, and if the specified purpose(s) matches the intended purpose(s) as specified in the request received from computer software application 106.
In one embodiment where the request is a request to store data that have been gathered by computer software application 106, consent manager 116 grants the request by instructing a data manager 118 to store the gathered data in a data store 120, preferably together with the identities of entity 102 and computer software application 106, the purpose(s) specified by computer software application 106 regarding the data, and the indication of consent by entity 102 for computer software application 106 to act upon the data for the specified purpose(s). Before allowing the data to be stored for this request, as well as for such requests to store data that are received on an ongoing basis, consent manager 116 checks for an applicable consent record 110 with a corresponding indication of consent as described above, and/or checks the request itself for the corresponding indication of consent. Where the indication of consent by entity 102 or the purpose(s) specified by computer software application 106 regarding the data being gathered indicates the duration for which the data is to be stored and available for the specified purpose(s), data manager 118 preferably deletes the data from data store 120 at the end of the specified period.
In one embodiment where the request is a request to receive data, consent manager 116 grants the request by instructing a data manager 118 to provide the requested data to computer software application 106, such as from a data store 120 where data associated with entity 102 are stored after having been gathered in accordance with conventional techniques.
In one embodiment, computer software application 106 possesses one or more purpose certificates 122 corresponding to one or more predefined purposes for which computer software application 106 is certified in accordance with conventional techniques, such as where computer software application 106 receives purpose certificates 122 from a purpose certificate manager 124. In this embodiment, when computer software application 106 issues a request as described above to act upon one or more type(s) of data associated with entity 102 for one or more intended purposes, computer software application 106 provides, as part of the request, the purpose certificate 122 that corresponds to the intended purpose(s). Consent manager 116, in addition to processing the request as described above, is configured to validate purpose certificate 122 in accordance with conventional techniques, such as by sending purpose certificate 122 to purpose certificate manager 124 for validation thereat, or by requesting a copy of the valid purpose certificates of computer software application 106 from purpose certificate manager 124 for comparison with purpose certificate 122. In this embodiment, consent manager 116 grants the request based on consent record 110 as described above, provided that purpose certificate 122 is valid for the intended purpose(s).
In one embodiment, consent record 110 includes one or more consent directives stipulated by entity 102, where consent manager 116 grants the request based on consent record 110 as described above, but does so in accordance with the consent directive(s) included in consent record 110. In one example of this, a consent directive indicates that some or all of the requested data be obfuscated in a particular manner before being provided to computer software application 106.
In one embodiment, consent record 110 includes one or more consent conditions stipulated by entity 102, where consent manager 116 grants the request based on consent record 110 as described above, but does so provided that the request meets the consent condition(s), where consent manager 116 is configured to determine whether the request meets the consent condition(s). Some examples of such consent conditions include: that the request be granted only at certain times of the day; that the request be granted only when the computing device that hosts computer software application 106 is located at a predefined location; and that the request be granted only if entity 102 is a member of a particular organization or group or has a predefined role.
Any of the elements shown in
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When a new item of data 304 is identified by data monitor 302, data monitor 302 identifies any computer software applications 306 that previously subscribed to receive the item of data 304 for one or more specified purposes, where such subscription and purpose information and the identity of the subscribers are preferably maintained in a subscription data store 312. Data monitor 302 checks for a corresponding indication of consent by entity 308 for the specified purpose in consent records 310 or in the item of data 304. For each subscribing computer software application 306, if such an indication of consent is found, and optionally if the subscribing computer software application 306 possesses a valid purpose certificate 314 corresponding to the specified purpose as described hereinabove with reference to
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It is to be appreciated that the term “processor” as used herein is intended to include any processing device, such as, for example, one that includes a CPU (central processing unit) and/or other processing circuitry. It is also to be understood that the term “processor” may refer to more than one processing device and that various elements associated with a processing device may be shared by other processing devices.
The term “memory” as used herein is intended to include memory associated with a processor or CPU, such as, for example, RAM, ROM, a fixed memory device (e.g., hard drive), a removable memory device (e.g., diskette), flash memory, etc. Such memory may be considered a computer readable storage medium.
In addition, the phrase “input/output devices” or “I/O devices” as used herein is intended to include, for example, one or more input devices (e.g., keyboard, mouse, scanner, etc.) for entering data to the processing unit, and/or one or more output devices (e.g., speaker, display, printer, etc.) for presenting results associated with the processing unit.
The descriptions of the various embodiments of the invention have been presented for purposes of illustration, but are not intended to be exhaustive or limited to the embodiments disclosed. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the described embodiments. The terminology used herein was chosen to best explain the principles of the embodiments, the practical application or technical improvement over technologies found in the marketplace, or to enable others of ordinary skill in the art to understand the embodiments disclosed herein.
Embodiments of the invention may include a system, a method, and/or a computer program product. The computer program product may include a computer readable storage medium (or media) having computer readable program instructions thereon for causing a processor to carry out aspects of the invention.
The computer readable storage medium can be a tangible device that can retain and store instructions for use by an instruction execution device. The computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but is not limited to, an electronic storage device, a magnetic storage device, an optical storage device, an electromagnetic storage device, a semiconductor storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. A non-exhaustive list of more specific examples of the computer readable storage medium includes the following: a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), a static random access memory (SRAM), a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), a digital versatile disk (DVD), a memory stick, a floppy disk, a mechanically encoded device such as punch-cards or raised structures in a groove having instructions recorded thereon, and any suitable combination of the foregoing. A computer readable storage medium, as used herein, is not to be construed as being transitory signals per se, such as radio waves or other freely propagating electromagnetic waves, electromagnetic waves propagating through a waveguide or other transmission media (e.g., light pulses passing through a fiber-optic cable), or electrical signals transmitted through a wire.
Computer readable program instructions described herein can be downloaded to respective computing/processing devices from a computer readable storage medium or to an external computer or external storage device via a network, for example, the Internet, a local area network, a wide area network and/or a wireless network. The network may comprise copper transmission cables, optical transmission fibers, wireless transmission, routers, firewalls, switches, gateway computers and/or edge servers. A network adapter card or network interface in each computing/processing device receives computer readable program instructions from the network and forwards the computer readable program instructions for storage in a computer readable storage medium within the respective computing/processing device.
Computer readable program instructions for carrying out operations of the invention may be assembler instructions, instruction-set-architecture (ISA) instructions, machine instructions, machine dependent instructions, microcode, firmware instructions, state-setting data, or either source code or object code written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including an object oriented programming language such as Java, Smalltalk, C++ or the like, and conventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C” programming language or similar programming languages. The computer readable program instructions may execute entirely on the user's computer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through any type of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider). In some embodiments, electronic circuitry including, for example, programmable logic circuitry, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA), or programmable logic arrays (PLA) may execute the computer readable program instructions by utilizing state information of the computer readable program instructions to personalize the electronic circuitry, in order to perform aspects of the invention.
Aspects of the invention are described herein with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of the invention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer readable program instructions.
These computer readable program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks. These computer readable program instructions may also be stored in a computer readable storage medium that can direct a computer, a programmable data processing apparatus, and/or other devices to function in a particular manner, such that the computer readable storage medium having instructions stored therein comprises an article of manufacture including instructions which implement aspects of the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
The computer readable program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other device to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer, other programmable apparatus or other device to produce a computer implemented process, such that the instructions which execute on the computer, other programmable apparatus, or other device implement the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
The flowchart and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate the architecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementations of systems, methods, and computer program products according to various embodiments of the invention. In this regard, each block in the flowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portion of instructions, which comprises one or more executable instructions for implementing the specified logical function(s). In some alternative implementations, the functions noted in the block may occur out of the order noted in the figures. For example, two blocks shown in succession may, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implemented by special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specified functions or acts or carry out combinations of special purpose hardware and computer instructions.