Method and device for data protection

• US 7,716,478 B2
• Filed: 10/17/2002
• Issued: 05/11/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 10/19/2001
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: STS Group
• Original Assignee: Keyvelop Co.
• Inventors: Baumard, Philippe, Viot, Marc
• Primary Examiner(s): Barron, Jr.; Gilberto
• Assistant Examiner(s): ARMOUCHE, HADI S
• Application Number:
  US10/492,945
• Publication Number:
  US 20050081033A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,763 Days
• Field of Search: 713/158, 713/170, 713/176, 713/177, 713/178, 713/189, 713/193, 709/206
• US Class Current: 713/170
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2209/56 Financial cryptography, e.g. electronic payment or e-cash
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2209/60 Digital content management, e.g. content distribution
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/3247 involving digital signatures
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/3263 involving certificates, e.g. public key certificate [PKC] or attribute certificate [AC]; Public key infrastructure [PKI] arrangements network architectures or network communication protocols for supporting authentication of entities using certificates in a packet data network H04L63/0823
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/3297 involving time stamps, e.g. generation of time stamps

Abstract

For controlling the broadcasting of a digital document, the method brings at least three actors into play. First actor is an originator user computer system wherein a file is generated for containing the digital document, digital conditioning attributes corresponding to at least one predetermined event that is liable to affect the data in future use and information that secures data integrity are associated with the data. Second actor is a future user computer system which causes an occurrence of the predetermined event. Third actor is a remote computer system arranged for detecting the event occurrence by storing digital conditioning attributes and information that secures data integrity without knowledge of the digital document.

Claims

1. A process for protecting data, comprising:

a step of assigning (310), in an IT system of an author user, attributes referred to as <

<

digital conditioning>

>

of said data, attributes corresponding to at least one predetermined event that affects a future use of said data in the course of said data'"'"'s future use by a future user,

a step of attributing (312), in the IT system of the author user, information that secures an integrity of said data,

a step of encrypting (314), by the IT system of the author user, said data using said information that secures the integrity of said data,

a step of setting up a file called <

<

envelope>

>

(315), in the IT system of the author user, envelope carrying data, digital conditioning attributes affected to said data and information that secures the integrity of said data,

a step of storing (316) from an IT system of the author user in a remote IT system, digital conditioning attributes affected to said data, information that secures the integrity of said data and said encrypted data,

a step (322) of connecting a recipient future user and the remote IT system, to access encrypted data,

for each predetermined event related to said data, a step of storing (326), in the remote IT system and in relation with the attributes of said data, of an identifier of said event and of the date of said event, and

at each connection between the author'"'"'s IT system and the remote IT system, a step of storing (332) predetermined events corresponding to the attributes of the data, in the IT system of the author, so that the IT system of the author keeps track, for each event regarding said data, of the identifier of said event, the identifier of the user at the origin of the event and the date of said event,

wherein said envelope is transmitted from the author user to the recipient future user via a path separate from the remote IT system, the remote IT system controlling a transfer between the users,

wherein each event regarding said data can only be set, by the future user, during a connection between the IT system of said future user and the remote IT system.

2. The process according to claim 1, wherein during the attribution of digital conditioning attributes, the attributes of said data include an identifier of the author of the data.

3. The process according to claim 1, wherein during the attribution of digital conditioning attributes, the attributes of said data include an identifier for each future user, signatory or recipient, of said data.

4. The process according to claim 1, wherein during the step of storing, in the remote IT system, the event identifier (326), the remote IT system also stores an identifier of the author user at the origin of said event.

5. The process according to claim 1, further comprising a step of determining the usage conditions of said data, by the IT system of the author user, and, upon each access query to said data, a step of checking that the usage conditions of the data are met.

6. The process according to claim 5, wherein the usage conditions include identification conditions of the future user.

7. The process according to claim 6, wherein identification conditions of the future user include, at least, the implementation of a digital certificate identifying the IT system of the future user.

8. The process according to claim 6, wherein identification conditions of the future user include, at least, the implementation of a digital signature identifying the IT system of the future user.

9. The process according to claim 5, wherein usage conditions of the future user include or not a right, to edit said data.

10. The process according to claim 1, wherein during at least one part, for instance the digital signature, of the events affecting said data, a transmission step, to the author user, of an acknowledgement receipt identifying the recipient future user who triggered said event (330).

11. The process according to claim 1, wherein when, during a predetermined event, said data is modified by the recipient future user, the remote IT system goes through the step of storing the modifications made to said data (328).

12. The process according to claim 1, wherein the digital conditioning attributes determine which future users will be authorized to sign the data.

13. The process according to claim 1, wherein at least one predetermined event, the digital conditioning attributes allocated during the step of attributing data attributes, represent a usage condition of said data.

14. The process according to claim 1, wherein the process includes a step of transmitting, to each author user and to each signatory user, an identifier of at least one predetermined event, the date of each predetermined event and the identification of the future user triggering the event (330).

15. The process according to claim 14, further comprising a step of bundling said events with said envelope, in each IT system of each author and of each signatory user.