Abstractions and automation for enhanced sharing and collaboration

• US 20050232423A1
• Filed: 04/20/2004
• Published: 10/20/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 04/20/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Horvitz, Eric J., Dewan, Prasun, Grudin, Jonathan T.
• Granted Patent: US 7,908,663 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 380/255
• 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: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management

Abstract

The present invention provides methods for using abstractions of people, including dynamic and static groups of people, to enhance the efficiency of the specification and automation of policies for sharing information between users with a “need-to-know.” An instance of the present invention can also provide these users information based on a “time-to-know.” By providing access to information based on group affiliation and properties of the content of the information, the present invention maintains optimal information privacy while minimizing encumbrances to sharing data with appropriate users and even at appropriate times. The present invention can be integrated with other communication technologies to facilitate access to information in a time appropriate manner. Other instances of the present invention employ automated and semi-automated, mixed-initiative techniques, to make information-sharing decisions. Additional instances of the present invention include the employment of machine-learning techniques to facilitate construction of access policies from the actions or profile of a single user or a community of users, including the construction of automated sharing agents that work in an automated or mixed-initiative manner to respond to real-time requests for information.

Claims

1. A system that facilitates information access control, comprising:

a component that receives an access request for a data item; and

an access control component that processes the data item access request via utilization of at least one access policy based, at least in part, on at least one collaborative group of users and at least one content property associated with the data item.

2. The system of claim 1, the collaborative group of users comprising a group created via at least one selected from the group consisting of a statically created group and a dynamically created group.

3. The system of claim 2, the dynamically created group comprising a group created based on, at least in part, at least one selected from the group consisting of an activity associated with a user, a location associated with a user, and availability of a user.

4. The system of claim 3, the availability of the user comprising an availability based, at least in part, on a determination of at least one selected from the group consisting of cost of interruption and availability of communication channels.

5. The system of claim 3, the activity associated with the user comprising an activity based, at least in part, on a determination of at least one selected from the group consisting of live monitoring and calendar information.

6. The system of claim 2, the dynamically created group comprising a group based on, at least in part, users that attend at least one collaborative function with a first user;

the first user utilized as a basis to determine which group to dynamically create.

7. The system of claim 6, the collaborative function comprising a communications relationship with the first user for at least one specified period of time.

8. The system of claim 7, the communications relationship comprising at least one selected from the group consisting of a conference call, a meeting, and a joint activity with the first user.

9. The system of claim 1, the access policy comprising at least one selected from the group consisting of an optimistic policy, a pessimistic policy, and a mixed-initiative policy.

10. The system of claim 9, the optimistic policy comprising at least one policy selected from the group consisting of a policy of sharing with logging, a policy of sharing with logging with at least one message to at least one user that their actions are being logged, and a policy of alerting at least one user when indicated data items are accessed.

11. The system of claim 9, the mixed-initiative policy comprising at least one policy selected from the group consisting of a policy of informing at least one user of at least one real-time request and a policy of informing at least one user of at least one store-forward request.

12. The system of claim 1, the access policy comprising a policy based on automatic and mixed-initiative type policies;

the type of policy utilized is based on, in part, at least one selected from the group consisting of a cost of alerting and a cost of delays with requiring a user response.

13. The system of claim 12, the cost of alerting and delays comprising, at least in part, a cost associated with a current availability of a user.

14. The system of claim 13, the current availability of the user comprising availability based on, at least in part, at least one selected from the group consisting of location of the user, accessibility of communications by the user, and workload of the user.

15. The system of claim 1, the access policy comprising a policy created via at least one sharing agent that automates policies based on at least one selected from the group consisting of identity of a user, context of a user, and content of an access data item.

16. The system of claim 1, the access policy comprising a policy based on, at least in part, at least one selected from the group consisting of standard notions of file system folders and content properties as indicated by a file handling system.

17. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

an access policy agent component that constructs the access policy utilizing, at least in part, at least one selected from the group consisting of multiple dimensions of trust, machine learning techniques, and cost-benefit analysis.

18. The system of claim 17, the access policy agent component further employs at least one selected from the group consisting of a logical clustering of users and a statistical clustering of users;

the clustering based, at least in part, on at least one information sharing profile employed by the users.

19. The system of claim 18, the information sharing profile comprising a profile of settings disseminated among the users for at least one selected from the group consisting of utilization by the users and modification by the users.

20. The system of claim 19, the access policy agent component further comprising a profile setting dissemination component that employs at least one selected from the group consisting of a direct profile setting dissemination tool that directly disseminates setting information to the users and a profile setting recommendation engine that provides recommendations to the users.

21. The system of claim 20, the profile recommendation engine comprising, at least in part, an inferential model that predicts a user'"'"'s profile settings based on at least one parameter obtained from a setting subset of the disseminated profile settings.

22. The system of claim 21, the inferential model comprising a collaborative filtering model.

23. The system of claim 21, the inferential model employed to provide at least one selected from the group consisting of a recommendation for profile settings for a user and a sorted list of substantially similar profiles as a starting point for a user.

53. A computer readable medium having stored thereon computer executable components of the system of claim 1.

55. A device employing the system of claim 1 comprising at least one selected from the group consisting of a computer, a server, and a handheld electronic device.

24. A method for facilitating information access control, comprising:

receiving an access request for a data item; and

processing the data item access request via utilization of at least one access policy based, at least in part, on at least one collaborative group of users and at least one content property associated with the data item.

25. The method of claim 24, further comprising:

creating a collaborative group of users utilizing at least one selected from the group consisting of static grouping and dynamic grouping.

26. The method of claim 25, the dynamic grouping comprising grouping based on, at least in part, at least one selected from the group consisting of an activity associated with a user, a location associated with a user, and availability of a user.

27. The method of claim 26, the availability of the user comprising an availability based, at least in part, on a determination of at least one selected from the group consisting of cost of interruption and availability of communication channels.

28. The method of claim 26, the activity associated with the user comprising an activity based, at least in part, on a determination of at least one selected from the group consisting of live monitoring and calendar information.

29. The method of claim 25, the dynamic grouping comprising grouping based on, at least in part, users that attend at least one collaborative function with a first user;

the first user utilized as a basis for the dynamic grouping.

30. The method of claim 29, the collaborative function comprising a communications relationship with the first user for at least one specified period of time.

31. The method of claim 30, the communications relationship comprising at least one selected from the group consisting of a conference call, a meeting, and a joint activity with the first user.

32. The method of claim 24, the access policy comprising at least one selected from the group consisting of an optimistic policy, a pessimistic policy, and a mixed-initiative policy.

33. The method of claim 32, the optimistic policy comprising at least one policy selected from the group consisting of a policy of sharing with logging, a policy of sharing with logging with at least one message to at least one user that their actions are being logged, and a policy of alerting at least one user when indicated data items are accessed.

34. The method of claim 32, the mixed-initiative policy comprising at least one policy selected from the group consisting of a policy of informing at least one user of at least one real-time request and a policy of informing at least one user of at least one store-forward request.

35. The method of claim 24, the access policy comprising a policy based on automatic and mixed-initiative type policies;

the type of policy utilized is based on, in part, at least one selected from the group consisting of a cost of alerting and a cost of delays with requiring a user response.

36. The method of claim 35, the cost of alerting and delays comprising, at least in part, a cost associated with a current availability of a user.

37. The method of claim 36, the current availability of the user comprising availability based on, at least in part, at least one selected from the group consisting of location of the user, accessibility of communications by the user, and workload of the user.

38. The method of claim 24, further comprising:

constructing the access policy with at least one sharing agent that automates policies based on at least one selected from the group consisting of identity of a user, context of a user, and content of an access data item.

39. The method of claim 24, further comprising:

constructing the access policy based on, at least in part, at least one selected from the group consisting of standard notions of file system folders and content properties as indicated by a file handling system.

40. The method of claim 24, further comprising:

constructing the access policy utilizing, at least in part, at least one selected from the group consisting of multiple dimensions of trust, cost-benefit analyses, and machine learning techniques.

41. The method of claim 40, the access policy further employing at least one selected from the group consisting of a logical clustering of users and a statistical clustering of users;

the clustering based, at least in part, on at least one information sharing profile employed by the users.

42. The method of claim 41, the information sharing profile comprising a profile of settings disseminated among the users for at least one selected from the group consisting of utilization by the users and modification by the users.

43. The method of claim 42, the access policy further comprising disseminating profile settings via at least one selected from the group consisting of a directly disseminating profile settings to the users and recommending profile settings to the users by employing a profile recommendation engine.

44. The method of claim 43, the profile recommendation engine comprising, at least in part, an inferential model that predicts a user'"'"'s profile settings based on at least one parameter obtained from a setting subset of the disseminated profile settings.

45. The method of claim 44, the inferential model comprising a collaborative filtering model.

46. The method of claim 44, the inferential model providing at least one selected from the group consisting of a recommendation for profile settings for a user and a sorted list of substantially similar profiles as a starting point for a user.

54. A device employing the method of claim 24 comprising at least one selected from the group consisting of a computer, a server, and a handheld electronic device.

47. A system that facilitates information access control, comprising:

means for receiving an access request for a data item; and

means for processing the data item access request via utilization of at least one access policy based, at least in part, on at least one collaborative group of users and at least one content property associated with the data item.

48. A user interface, comprising:

an interface adapted to communicate data access parameters to a user;

at least one input associated with the interface to provide information related to accessing data via an access policy based, at least in part, on at least one collaborative group of users and at least one content property associated with the data; and

at least one output related to at least one parameter associated with the access policy to convey information relating to accessing the data.

49. The interface of claim 48, the output comprising at least one selected from the group consisting of a request granted indication, a request denied indication, and a reason for request indication.

50. The interface of claim 48, the output comprising at least one selected from the group consisting of an indication that an access attempt is occurring, a request for an access, and a request for communication regarding a request for access.

51. The interface of claim 48, the output comprising at least one selected from the group consisting of frequency of access, duration of access, time of access, and attempted accesses.

52. A data packet, transmitted between two or more computer components, that facilitates information access control, the data packet comprising, at least in part, information relating to an information access control system that utilizes, at least in part, an access control process that facilitates access requests via utilization of at least one access policy based, at least in part, on at least one collaborative group of users and at least one content property associated with an access data item.