Compliance interface for compliant applications

• US 7,802,267 B2
• Filed: 11/03/2005
• Issued: 09/21/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 11/03/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Pennington, Stan Dale, Toll, Roderick M., Ahdieh, Keumars A. II, Gill, Timothy Arthur, Wynn, Roger H., Wiest, Peter M., Culbreth, Aaron
• Primary Examiner(s): Cao; Diem K
• Application Number:
  US11/266,143
• Publication Number:
  US 20070124739A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,783 Days
• Field of Search: 713/201, 713/182, 726/1, 726/30, 719/328
• US Class Current: 719/328
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/604 Tools and structures for managing or administering access control systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/6227 where protection concerns the structure of data, e.g. records, types, queries
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2101 Auditing as a secondary aspect
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2149 Restricted operating environment
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/541 via adapters, e.g. between incompatible applications

Abstract

A compliance interface is disclosed that takes in queries from applications which may want to know if they are compliant with associated polices stored on a computing system. The interface can then interpret these queries and provide notifications and instructions to the applications. Notifications may give notice of how a policy may impact an application, and instructions may tell an application how to behave in order to stay compliant with the policies. In one aspect, the interface exposes policies set forth by parents. Via a management control panel, parents can set or alter various policies, stored in a settings store, to protect children from contact with undesirable content. The interface interprets these policies to ensure that applications, such as those provided by third party vendors, are compliant with the wishes set forth in the parents'"'"' policies.

Claims

1. A computing system having a processor wherein the processor executes instructions to implement a user controlled application program interface (API) allowing application compliance according to computer system policies, the API comprising:

a query interface implemented on said processor, said query interface providing queries from a compliant application to the API for checking by the API against multiple polices regarding restrictions on features that are exposed by the compliant application and stored in a settings store of the computing system, wherein the policies are set to protect the user from exposure to application features deemed to be harmful to the user;

a notification interface implemented on said processor, said notification interface providing a notification to the compliant application as to which policies are being implemented by said processor, the notification interface further notifying the compliant application and other compliant applications affected by said implemented policies of the impact of compliance with the implemented policies; and

an instruction interface implemented on said processor, the instruction interface providing an instruction to the compliant application to implement a particular behavior in regard to an implemented policy.

2. The computing system according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the query interface, the notification interface, and the instruction interface is configured to at least one of receive arguments from and return arguments to the compliant application.

3. The computing system according to claim 1, wherein each of the computer system policies is interpreted by the API and is applied across the computing system.

4. The computing system according to claim 1, wherein the API is extensible beyond the query interface, the notification interface, and the instruction interface and includes a feedback mechanism that provides information that may be used to verify compliance with policies in regard to a particular user and to alter policies in regard to the particular user.

5. The computing system according to claim 4, wherein the feedback information is provided by a logging service that logs events of the particular user and is used to alter at least one policy.

6. The computing system according to claim 1, wherein the policies are set by a user via a control panel.

7. The computing system according to claim 1, wherein the policies are set remotely from the computing system.

8. The computing system according to claim 1, wherein the compliant application is provided to the computing system by a third-party vendor.

9. The computing system according to claim 1, wherein the compliant application comprises a computing system application.

10. The computing system according to claim 1, wherein the compliant application comprises a web application.

11. The computing system according to claim 1, wherein the compliant application comprises an instant messenger application.

12. The computing system according to claim 1, wherein the compliant application comprises a gaming application.

13. The computing system according to claim 1, wherein the compliant application comprises an email application.

14. The computing system according to claim 1, wherein the compliant application comprises a media player application.

15. The computing system according to claim 1, wherein the settings store comprises at least one silo associated with the compliant application.

16. A processor-implemented method for implementing restrictions on compliant applications of a computing system comprising:

the processor receiving at least one query from a compliant application via a query interface;

the processor checking the at least one query against multiple policies regarding restrictions on features that are exposed by the compliant application, wherein the policies are set to protect a user from exposure to application features deemed to be harmful to the user, and wherein the policies implemented in connection with the compliant application are stored in an information silo;

the processor sending at least one instruction to the compliant application in response to the at least one query of the compliant application, wherein the instruction instructs the compliant application to implement a particular behavior in regard to an implemented policy; and

sending at least one notification to the compliant application when a policy affecting the compliant application is to be implemented, the notification notifying the compliant application and other compliant applications affected by the implemented policy of the impact of compliance with the implemented policy.

17. A computer readable storage medium bearing computer executable instructions, wherein the instructions provide for a user controlled application program interface (API) allowing application compliance according to computer system policies, comprising:

a query interface that provides queries from a compliant application to the API via the query interface for checking by the API against multiple polices regarding restrictions on features that are exposed by the compliant application, the policies being stored in a settings store, wherein the policies are set to protect the user from exposure to application features deemed to be harmful to the user;

an instruction interface that provides an instruction to the compliant application to implement a particular behavior in regard to an implemented policy; and

a notification interface that provides a notification to the compliant application as to which policies are being implemented by a computing system on which the API resides, the notification interface further notifying the compliant application and other compliant applications affected by said implemented policies of the impact of compliance with the implemented policies.