Managing application permissions on a mobile device
First Claim
1. One or more non-transitory computer-readable media having computer-executable instructions embodied thereon that, when executed, causes a mobile device to perform a method of tracking application permissions granted to applications running on the mobile device, the method comprising:
- receiving, at the mobile device, notice that an application received a grant of permission to access a capability on the mobile device, wherein(1) the capability is protected by being accessible by the application only after receiving the grant of permission,(2) the capability includes a function that the mobile device was to potentially perform upon receiving a request from the application to perform the function, and(3) the application is installed on the mobile device;
generating a permission-status message that includes information describing the grant of permission; and
communicating the permission-status message over a wireless interface to a privacy manager that records permission statuses for the applications running on the mobile device, wherein the privacy manager operates on a computing device that is separate from the mobile device, thereby creating a remote record of the grant of permission that is accessible through the privacy manager.
6 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method for managing and tracking a permission status for an application on a mobile device is provided. The privacy policy on a mobile device may require users to grant permission for an application to access certain capabilities (e.g., GPS, personal information manager) on the mobile device. The user may be presented an interface on the mobile device that allows the user to grant an application permission to access the capability. When the user grants an application permission to access a capability a message is sent to a remote privacy manager that tracks the permission status of applications on the mobile device. The user may view the permission status of each application through the Internet. The user may also use the privacy manager to remotely change the permissions on the mobile device.
-
Citations
20 Claims
-
1. One or more non-transitory computer-readable media having computer-executable instructions embodied thereon that, when executed, causes a mobile device to perform a method of tracking application permissions granted to applications running on the mobile device, the method comprising:
-
receiving, at the mobile device, notice that an application received a grant of permission to access a capability on the mobile device, wherein (1) the capability is protected by being accessible by the application only after receiving the grant of permission, (2) the capability includes a function that the mobile device was to potentially perform upon receiving a request from the application to perform the function, and (3) the application is installed on the mobile device; generating a permission-status message that includes information describing the grant of permission; and communicating the permission-status message over a wireless interface to a privacy manager that records permission statuses for the applications running on the mobile device, wherein the privacy manager operates on a computing device that is separate from the mobile device, thereby creating a remote record of the grant of permission that is accessible through the privacy manager. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
-
-
8. One or more non-transitory computer-readable media having computer-executable instructions embodied thereon that, when executed, causes a computing device to perform a method of remotely managing and tracking application permissions for applications installed on a mobile device, the method comprising:
-
receiving, at the computing device, a permission-status message from the mobile device that includes information describing a change in permission status for an application on the mobile device, wherein the permission status is used by the mobile device to determine whether the application is given access to a capability on the mobile device, and wherein the permission-status message includes a unique identifier for the mobile device; storing the information related to the change in the permission status in a data store in association with the unique identifier, thereby allowing a current permission status for the application to be tracked independently of the mobile device; receiving a request to retrieve the current permission status for the application from the data store; and communicating the current permission status for the application. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
-
-
14. One or more non-transitory computer-readable media having computer-executable instructions embodied thereon that, when executed, causes a mobile device to perform a method of managing application permissions on the mobile device, the method including:
-
receiving a request from an application to execute computer code that will access a capability on the mobile device; determining that a policy governing access to the capability requires a user of the mobile device to give the application permission to access the capability; determining that the user has not given the application permission to access the capability; presenting a permission interface to the user that asks whether the user wants to grant the application permission to access the capability; receiving a response from the user that grants the application permission to access the capability; updating a permission status of the application to allow the application to access the capability; and communicating the content of the response to a privacy manager on a computing device that is separate from the mobile device, thereby allowing the permission status to be remotely recorded and accessed. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
-
Specification