Method and system for enforcing online identity consent polices

• US 20040044628A1
• Filed: 01/15/2003
• Published: 03/04/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 08/27/2002
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Mutha, Nayna, Jones, Brian, Mathew, Ashvin J., Radu, Costel, Vetrivel, Puhazholi
• Application Number:
  US10/346,264
• Publication Number:
  US 20040044628A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/51
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9535 Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/31 User authentication
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/6218 to a system of files or objects, e.g. local or distributed file system or database
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0823 using certificates cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication involving certificates H04L9/3263
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/20 for managing network security; network security policies in general filtering policies H04L63/0227

Abstract

A method, system, and computer-readable medium are provided for enforcing online identities consent policies. The consent policy is enforced by creating and approving corresponding associations between an online identity manager and a managed online identity. The online identity manager has authority to consent to a task requested on behalf of the managed online identity. An application module implements a consent policy. A consent policy engine evaluates a consent policy to determine if the consent policy applies to user profile information for an online identity. An association service creates and approves an association between a manager online identity and a managed online identity based on the consent policy. The association service creates and approves an association by proposing an association, obtaining validation data for the proposed association, determining if the association validation data meets requirements of the consent policy and, if so, approving the proposed association.

Claims

1. A computer system for enforcing consent policies on online identities comprising:

(a) an application module for identifying online identities covered by consent policies (“

managed online identities”

) and enforcing said consent policies on said managed online identities by;

(1) interrogating a consent policy engine to determine;

(i) if an identified entity is a managed online identity; and

(ii) if an identified online entity is a managed online entity, the consent policy or policies covering said managed online identity; and

(2) not allowing said managed online identity to perform a task covered by the consent policy or policies covering said managed online identity without first obtaining consent from an associated online identity manager;

(b) a consent policy engine for determining;

(1) if an identified online entity is a managed online entity; and

(2) if an identified online entity is a managed online identity, the consent policy or policies covering with said managed online identity; and

(c) an association module for creating and approving an association between managed online identities and associated online identity managers based on consent policies covering said managed online identities by;

(i) proposing an association between an online identity manager and a managed online identity based on the consent policy covering said managed online identity,

(ii) obtaining validation data for the proposed association;

(iii) determining if the validation data meets requirements of the consent policy applicable to said managed online identity; and

,

(iv) if the validation data meets requirements of the consent policy applicable to aid managed online identity, approving the proposed association thereby allowing an online identity manager to consent to tasks covered by the consent policy applicable to said managed online identity.

2. A computer system for enforcing consent policies as claimed in claim 1 wherein the consent policy is mandatory if the managed online identity is different than the online identity manager.

3. A computer system as claimed in claim 1 wherein the consent policy is voluntary if the managed online identity and the online identity manager are the same.

4. A computer system for enforcing consent policies as claimed in claim 1 wherein said consent policy is a parental control policy, the managed online identity is a child identity and the online identity manager is a parent identity.

5. A computer system as claimed in claim 4 wherein the parental control policy is the Child Online Privacy Protection Act.

6. A computer system as claimed in claim 1 wherein said determination of whether an identified online identity is a managed online identity is based on user profile information received by said application module and supplied to said consent policy engine.

7. A computer system for enforcing consent policies as claimed in claim 6 wherein the consent policy is mandatory if the managed online identity is different than the online identity manager.

8. A computer system as claimed in claim 6 wherein the consent policy is voluntary if the managed online identity and the online identity manager are the same.

9. A computer system for enforcing consent policies as claimed in claim 6 wherein said consent policy is a parental control policy, the managed online identity is a child identity and the online identity manager is a parent identity.

10. A computer system as claimed in claim 9 wherein the parental control policy is the Child Online Privacy Protection Act.

11. A computer system for enforcing consent policies as claimed in claim 6 wherein a consent policy is determined to apply if the user profile information for the managed online identity meets consent policy criteria established by the online identity manager.

12. A computer system for enforcing consent policies as claimed in claim 11 wherein the consent policy is mandatory if the managed online identity is different than the online identity manager.

13. A computer system as claimed in claim 11 wherein the consent policy is voluntary if the managed online identity and the online identity manager are the same.

14. A computer system for enforcing consent policies as claimed in claim 11 wherein said consent policy is a parental controls policy, the managed online identity is a child identity and the online identity manager is a parent identity.

15. A computer system as claimed in claim 14 wherein the parental control policy is the Child Online Privacy Protection Act.

16. A computer system for enforcing consent policies as claimed in claim 1 wherein said application module includes a registration service and a profile database and wherein online identities are registered by said registration service storing associated user profile information in said profit database.

19. A computer system for enforcing consent policies as claimed in claim 16 wherein said consent policy engine receives a request to determine if a consent policy applies to an online identity when an online identity is registered by registration service.

20. A computer system for enforcing consent policies as claimed in claim 16 wherein said registration service can modify user profile information stored in said profile database and wherein said consent policy engine receives a request to determine if a consent policy applies to an identified online identity when user profile information related to an identified online identity is being modified by registration service.

21. A computer system for enforcing consent policies as claimed in claim 1 wherein said application module also includes a logon credential database for storing for storing information suitable for verifying online identities and wherein said registration service verifies the identity of online users by company online user verification information with information stored in said login credential database when an online identity logs on.

22. A computer system for enforcing consent policies as claimed in claim 1 wherein said association module can disapproves proposed associations if the validation data does not meet requirements of the consent policy applicable to said managed online identity.

23. A computer system for enforcing consent policies as claimed in claim 22 wherein disapproved proposed associations are deleted from said association module.

24. A method for enforcing a consent policy on online identities, the method comprising:

determining if a consent policy applies to user profile information corresponding to a first online identity;

if a consent policy applies to said user profile information corresponding to a first online identity, creating an association between the first online identity and a second online identity based on the consent policy, said second online identity being a manager of said first online identity; and

obtaining consent from the second online identity before the first online identity is allowed to perform an online task covered by the consent policy.

25. The method claimed in claim 24 wherein the consent policy is mandatory if it applies to a managed online identity.

26. The method claimed in claim 24 wherein the consent policy is voluntary if it applies to an online identity manager.

27. The method claimed in claim 24 wherein the consent policy is determined to apply if the user profile information meets consent policy criteria established for a managed online identity.

28. The method claimed in claim 27 wherein the consent policy is mandatory if it applies to a managed online identity.

29. The method claimed in claim 27 wherein the consent policy is voluntary if it applies to an online identity manager.

30. The method claimed in claim 27 wherein the consent policy is determined to apply if the consent policy has been requested by the first online identity and the user profile information for the first online identity meets the consent policy criteria for an online identity manager.

31. The method claimed in claim 30 wherein the consent policy is mandatory if it applies to a managed online identity.

32. The method claimed in claim 30 wherein the consent policy is voluntary if it applies to an online identity manager.

34. The method claimed in claim 24 wherein creating the association between the first online identity and a second identity includes obtaining association validation data and verifying that the association validation data meets the consent policy requirements.

35. The method claimed in claim 24 wherein the consent policies are parental control policies, the first online identity is a child and the second online identity is a parent identity.

36. The method claimed in claim 35 wherein the consent policy is the Child Online Privacy Protection Act policy.

37. The method claimed in claim 24 wherein creating an association between first online identity and a second online identity comprises;

obtaining information related to the association to be created;

proposing an association based on a consent policy;

obtaining association validation data;

resolving the association; and

approving the association if the resolving of the association is successful.

38. The method claimed in claim 37 wherein prior to proposing an association based on a consent policy;

a determination is made regarding whether association and validation data can be automatically approved;

if association and validation data can be automatically approved, obtaining association validation data;

proposing an association based on said obtained validation data; and

approving the association.

39. A computer readable medium comprising computer executable instructions for enforcing a consent policy on online identities that when executed cause a computer system to:

determine if a consent policy applies to user profile information corresponding to a first online identity;

if a consent policy applies to said user profile information corresponding to a first online identity, create an association between the first online identity and a second online identity based on the consent policy, said second online identity begin a manager of said first online identity; and

obtain consent from the second online identity before the first online identity is allowed to perform an online task covered by the consent policy.

40. A computer readable medium as claimed in claim 39 wherein the consent policy is mandatory if it applies to a managed online identity.

41. A computer readable medium as claimed in claim 39 wherein the consent policy is voluntary if it applies to an online identity manager.

42. A computer readable medium as claimed in claim 39 wherein the consent policy is determined to apply if the user profile information meets consent policy criteria established for a managed online identity.

43. A computer readable medium as claimed in claim 42 wherein the consent policy is mandatory if it applies to a managed online identity.

44. A computer readable medium as claimed in claim 42 wherein the consent policy is voluntary if it applies to an online identity manager.

45. A computer readable medium as claimed in claim 42 wherein the consent policy is determined to apply if the consent policy has been requested by the first online identity and the user profile information for the first online identity meets the consent policy for an online identity manager.

46. A computer readable medium as claimed in claim 45 wherein the consent policy is mandatory if it applies to a managed online identity.

47. A computer readable medium as claimed in claim 45 wherein the consent policy is voluntary if it applies to an online identity manager.

48. A computer readable medium as claimed in claim 39 wherein the association between the first online identity and a second identity includes association validation data and verifying that the association validation data meets the consent policy requirements.

49. A computer readable medium as claimed in claim 39 wherein the consent policies are parental control policies, the first online identity is a child and the second online identity is a parent identity.

50. A computer readable medium as claimed in claim 49 wherein the consent policy is the Child Online Privacy Protection Act policy.

51. A computer readable medium as claimed in claim 39 wherein the computer executable instructions that cause the computer system to create an association between the first online identity and a second online identity cause the computer system to:

obtain information related to the association to be created;

propose an association based on a consent policy;

obtain association validation data;

resolve the association; and

approve the association if the resolving of the association is successful.

52. A computer readable medium as claimed in claim 51 wherein, prior to an association based on a consent policy being proposed, said computer executable instructions cause said computer system to:

determine whether association and validation data can be automatically approved;

if association and validation data can be automatically approved, obtain association validation data;

propose an association based on said obtained validation data; and

approve the association.

53. A computer-readable medium having a data structure stored thereon for use in enforcing a consent policy on online identities, the data structure comprising:

a first data element indicative of association identification information;

a second data element indicative of identification information about an online identity manager;

a third data element indicative of identification information about a managed online identity;

a fourth data element indicative of policy identification information;

a fifth data element indicative of association verification information;

a sixth data element indicative of the status of an online identity managers association related request; and

a seventh data element indicative of the status of a managed online identities association related request;

wherein the data structure is used for adding, deleting, and modifying data in an association database, said association database used for creating and modifying associations between online identities based on a consent policy.

54. A computer-readable medium having a data structure stored thereon for use in enforcing a consent policy on online identities as claimed in claim 53 wherein the association is a managed association wherein the online identity manager manages the managed online identity.

55. A computer-readable medium having a data structure stored thereon for use in enforcing a consent policy on online identities, the data structure comprising:

a first data element indicative of information about restrictions and rules to be applied to online identities; and

a second data element indicative of information about instructions for validating and enforcing the policy;

wherein the data structure is used for adding, deleting, and modifying data in a consent policy database, said consent policy database used for determining if a consent policy applies to a first online identity so as to require obtaining consent from an associated online identity before the first online identity is allowed to perform a task covered by the consent policy.

56. A computer-readable medium having a data structure stored thereon for use in enforcing a consent policy on online identities, the data structure comprising:

a first data element indicative of information about intentions, said intentions being restrictions and rules a user of an online identity defines and imposes on the user'"'"'s own online identity; and

a second data element indicative of information about instructions for validating and enforcing the policies;

wherein the data structure is used for adding, deleting, and modifying data in a consent policy database, said consent policy database used for determining if a consent policy applies to a first online identity so as to require obtaining consent from an associated online identity before the first online identity is allowed to perform a task covered by the consent policy.