Delegation as a mechanism to manage business activity by taking on a shared identity

• US 8,683,557 B1
• Filed: 02/03/2012
• Issued: 03/25/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 02/05/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Desikan, Pavan K., Nestler, Michael
• Primary Examiner(s): THIAW, CATHERINE B
• Application Number:
  US13/366,233
• Time in Patent Office: 781 Days
• Field of Search: 726 1- 8, 713/168, 713/176, 709/204, 709/205, 709/229, 709/246
• US Class Current: 726/4
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/31 User authentication
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/45 Structures or tools for the administration of authentication
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/101 Collaborative creation, e.g. joint development of products or services
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/01 Social networking
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/08 for authentication of entities cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication H04L9/32
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0884 by delegation of authentication, e.g. a proxy authenticates an entity to be authenticated on behalf of this entity vis-à-vis an authentication entity

Abstract

A system, method and computer program product for using delegation as a mechanism to manage business activity by taking on a shared identity. In some implementations, the system includes a user interface module for receiving input signals from and sending information to a user, a delegate authentication module and an identity translation module. The delegate authentication module is operable to determine that an individual user identity is authorized to act as a delegate for an organization having an identity on a network-based software application and generate a verification signal. The delegate authentication module is coupled to the user interface module to receive the input signals from the user. The identity translation module is operable to translate the input signals from the user to a format such that they appear to be from the identity of the organization.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

determining by a processor that a user, under an individual user identity, is authorized to manage a personal activity on a social network provided by a social network application;

determining by the processor that the individual user identity is authorized to act as a delegate for an organization having an identity on the social network that is distinct from the individual user identity belonging to the user;

setting a translator for processing input provided by the user under the individual user identity while acting as the delegate for the organization;

receiving by the processor under the individual user identity input from the user to manage a business activity associated with the organization;

determining the user to be acting as the delegate for the organization based on the input;

translating with the translator the input to manage the business activity from being received under the individual user identity to being received under the identity of the organization; and

automatically providing translator data describing the input to manage the business activity as being received under the identity of the organization to the social network application, the social network application being configured to provide data describing the business activity for presentation to one or more other users of the social network.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the business activity includes a social network activity selected from a group of posting, blogging, sharing photos, approving, disapproving, and acknowledging using a positive or negative endorsement.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving authentication credentials for the individual user identity from the user associated with the individual user identity; and

authenticating the individual user identity by comparing the authentication credentials against credentials stored in a data store, wherein the user is determined to be acting as the delegate for the organization automatically without any additional user authentication being required.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein determining the user to be acting as the delegate further comprises:

identifying in a data store one or more delegations between one or more organizations and the individual user identity; and

providing the individual user identity access to act on behalf of the one or more organizations for which a delegation is identified in the data store.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 4, wherein identifying includes identifying a plurality of delegations between a plurality of organizations and the individual user identity, and providing includes providing the individual user identity access via a shared user identity interface to act on behalf of each of the plurality of organizations, the shared user identity interface having a context for each of the plurality of organizations.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

providing information for a user interface for requesting a delegation allowing the individual user identity to act on behalf of the organization;

receiving a request for the delegation; and

obtaining authorization for the delegation via a predefined mechanism.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

generating a shared identity user interface including a first context that represents the user as an individual and a second context that represents the identity of the organization, each of the first context and the second context including a selector specifying which identity is associated with the first context and the second context and a region to accept input to manage an activity on the social network and display information related to the identity specified by the selector; and

presenting the shared identity user interface to the user associated with the individual user identity authorized to act as the delegate for the organization.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 7, wherein the selector is a tab and the region is window area corresponding to the tab.

9. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a computer-readable program, wherein the computer-readable program, when executed on a computer, causes the computer to perform steps comprising:

determining by a processor that a user, under an individual user identity is authorized to manage a personal activity on a social network;

determining by the processor that the individual user identity is authorized to act as a delegate for an organization having an identity on the social network that is distinct from the individual user identity belonging to the user;

setting a translator for processing input provided by the user under the individual user identity while acting as the delegate for the organization;

receiving by the processor under the individual user identity input from the user to manage a business activity associated with the organization;

determining the user to be acting as the delegate for the organization based on the input;

translating with the translator the input to manage the business activity from being received under the individual user identity to being received under the identity of the organization; and

automatically providing translator data describing the input to manage the business activity as being received under the identity of the organization to social network application, the social network application being configured to provide data describing the business activity for presentation to one or more other users of the social network.

10. The computer program product of claim 9, wherein the business activity includes a social network activity selected from a group of posting, blogging, sharing photos, approving, disapproving, acknowledging using a positive or negative endorsement.

11. The computer program product of claim 9, wherein the computer-readable program, when executed on a computer, further causes the computer to perform steps of:

receiving authentication credentials for the individual user identity from the user associated with the individual user identity; and

authenticating the individual user identity by comparing the authentication credentials against credentials stored in a data store, wherein the user is determined to be acting as the delegate for the organization automatically without any additional user authentication being required.

12. The computer program product of claim 9, wherein determining the user to be acting as the delegate further comprises:

identifying in a data store one or more delegations between one or more organizations and the individual user identity; and

providing the individual user identity access to act on behalf of the one or more organizations for which a delegation is identified in the data store.

13. The computer-implemented method of claim 12, wherein identifying includes identifying a plurality of delegations between a plurality of organizations and the individual user identity, and providing includes providing the individual user identity access via a shared user identity interface to act on behalf of each of the plurality of organizations, the shared user identity interface having a context for each of the plurality of organizations.

14. The computer program product of claim 9, wherein the computer-readable program, when executed on a computer, further causes the computer to perform steps of:

providing information for a user interface for requesting a delegation allowing the individual user identity to act on behalf of the organization;

receiving a request for the delegation; and

obtaining authorization for the delegation via a predefined mechanism.

15. The computer program product of claim 9, wherein the computer-readable program, when executed on a computer, further causes the computer to perform steps of:

generating a shared identity user interface including a first context that represents the user as an individual and a second context that represents the identity of the organization, each of the first context and the second context including a selector specifying which identity is associated with the first context and the second context and a region to accept input to manage an activity on the social network and display information related to the identity specified by the selector; and

presenting the shared identity user interface to the user associated with the individual user identity authorized to act as the delegate for the organization.

16. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein the selector is a tab and the region is window area corresponding to the tab.

17. A system comprising:

one or more processors;

a user interface module executable by the one or more processors to receive input signals from and to send information to a user, the input signals including an input to manage a business activity associated with an organization,

a delegate authentication module executable by the one or more processors to determine that an individual user identity is authorized to act as a delegate for the organization having an identity on a social network that is distinct from the individual user identity belonging to the user and to generate a verification signal, the user, under the individual user identity being authorized to manage a personal activity on the social network, the delegate authentication module coupled to the user interface module to receive the input signals from the user and to determine the user to be acting as the delegate for the organization based on one or more of the input signals; and

an identity translation module executable by the one or more processors to translate the input signals from the user to a format such that they appear to be from the identity of the organization and to automatically provide data describing the input signals to manage the business activity as being received under the identity of the organization to a social network application, the social network application being configured to provide data describing the business activity for presentation to one or more other users of the social network, the identity translation module coupled to the user interface module to send and receive information, and coupled to the delegate authentication module to receive the verification signal.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the business activity includes a social network activity selected from a group of posting, blogging, sharing photos, approving, disapproving, and acknowledging using a positive or negative endorsement.

19. The system of claim 17, further comprising a delegation creation module executable by the one or more processors to create a delegation relationship between the individual user identity and the organization.

20. The system of claim 17, further comprising a delegation creation module executable by the one or more processors to receive authentication credentials for the individual user identity from the user, wherein the delegate authentication module is configured to authenticate the individual user identity by comparing the authentication credentials against credentials stored in a data store and the delegate authentication module is configured to determine the user to be acting as the delegate for the organization automatically without requiring any additional user authentication.

21. The system of claim 19, wherein the delegation creation module is further configured to generate a user interface for requesting a delegation allowing the individual user identity to act on behalf of the organization, receive a request for the delegation via the user interface, and obtain authorization for the delegation via a predefined mechanism.

22. The system of claim 17, further comprising a data store storing one or more delegations between one or more organizations and the individual user identity, wherein the delegate authentication module is configured to provide the individual user identity access to act on behalf of the one or more organizations for which a delegation is stored in the data store.

23. The system of claim 17, wherein the user interface module is operable to generate a shared identity user interface including a first context that represents the user as an individual and a second context that represents the identity of the organization, each of the first context and the second context including a selector specifying which identity is associated with the first context and the second context and a region to accept input to manage an activity on the social network and display information related to the identity specified by the selector, the user interface module being further configured to present the shared identity user interface to the user associated with the individual user identity authorized to act as the delegate for the organization.