Dynamic enforcement of privacy settings by a social networking system on information shared with an external system
First Claim
1. A computer implemented method comprising:
- maintaining a user account for each of a plurality of users of a social networking system, each user account comprising social network information associated with a respective user of the plurality of users;
establishing a plurality of connections, each connection between two or more of the user accounts;
maintaining, by the social networking system, one or more privacy settings for a subject user of the plurality of users, the maintained privacy settings selected by the subject user and containing rules for access to social network information associated with the subject user, each rule making one or more items of the social network information associated with the subject user either available or unavailable to one or more other users of the plurality of users based on the established connections between the subject user and the one or more other users;
receiving a request from an external system for information associated with the subject user of the social networking system, the external system outside of the social networking system, the external system configured to provide an online service to the subject user, and the external system further configured to personalize the online service with information associated with the subject user obtained from the social networking system;
establishing, with the external system, a predetermined time period for the external system to delete at least a portion of the information associated with the subject user of the social networking system and shared with the external system by the social networking system; and
transmitting a response to the external system, the response comprising information responsive to the request for information associated with the subject user based on the maintained privacy settings, the external system configured to delete at least a portion of the information associated with the subject user that was transmitted to the external system by the social networking system.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An external system (such as a website) that interacts with users communicates with a social networking system to access information about the users, who may also be users of the social networking system. If a privacy setting is changed in the social networking system, and the change applies to information that has been shared with an external system, the change is enforced at the external system. For example, the external system may be notified that the information is invalid and must be deleted, or the external system may periodically request the information so that changes to the privacy settings are eventually experienced at the external systems. When an external system again needs the information, whether expired naturally or actively invalidated by the social network, the external system sends a new request for the information, which is subject to the (possibly revised) privacy settings.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A computer implemented method comprising:
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maintaining a user account for each of a plurality of users of a social networking system, each user account comprising social network information associated with a respective user of the plurality of users; establishing a plurality of connections, each connection between two or more of the user accounts; maintaining, by the social networking system, one or more privacy settings for a subject user of the plurality of users, the maintained privacy settings selected by the subject user and containing rules for access to social network information associated with the subject user, each rule making one or more items of the social network information associated with the subject user either available or unavailable to one or more other users of the plurality of users based on the established connections between the subject user and the one or more other users; receiving a request from an external system for information associated with the subject user of the social networking system, the external system outside of the social networking system, the external system configured to provide an online service to the subject user, and the external system further configured to personalize the online service with information associated with the subject user obtained from the social networking system; establishing, with the external system, a predetermined time period for the external system to delete at least a portion of the information associated with the subject user of the social networking system and shared with the external system by the social networking system; and transmitting a response to the external system, the response comprising information responsive to the request for information associated with the subject user based on the maintained privacy settings, the external system configured to delete at least a portion of the information associated with the subject user that was transmitted to the external system by the social networking system. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions, the instructions when executed by a processor causing the processor to:
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maintain a user account for each of a plurality of users of a social networking system, each user account comprising social network information associated with a respective user of the plurality of users; establish a plurality of connections, each connection between two or more of the user accounts; maintain, by the social networking system, one or more privacy settings for a subject user of the plurality of users, the maintained privacy settings selected by the subject user and containing rules for access to social network information associated with the subject user, each rule making one or more items of the social network information associated with the subject user either available or unavailable to one or more other users of the plurality of users based on the established connections between the subject user and the one or more other users; receive a request from an external system for information associated with the subject user of the social networking system, the external system outside of the social networking system, the external system configured to provide an online service to the subject user, and the external system further configured to personalize the online service with information associated with the subject user obtained from the social networking system; establish, with the external system, a predetermined time period for the external system to delete at least a portion of the information associated with the subject user of the social networking system and shared with the external system by the social networking system; and transmit a response to the external system, the response comprising information responsive to the request for information associated with the subject user based on the maintained privacy settings, the external system configured to delete at least a portion of the information associated with the subject user that was transmitted to the external system by the social networking system. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A computer system comprising:
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an electronic processor; and a non-transitory memory storing instructions executable by the electronic processor to; maintain a user account for each of a plurality of users of a social networking system, each user account comprising social network information associated with a respective user of the plurality of users; establish a plurality of connections, each connection between two or more of the user accounts; maintain, by the social networking system, one or more privacy settings for a subject user of the plurality of users, the maintained privacy settings selected by the subject user and containing rules for access to social network information associated with the subject user, each rule making one or more items of the social network information associated with the subject user either available or unavailable to one or more other users of the plurality of users based on the established connections between the subject user and the one or more other users; receive a request from an external system for information associated with the subject user of the social networking system, the external system outside of the social networking system, the external system configured to provide an online service to the subject user, and the external system further configured to personalize the online service with information associated with the subject user obtained from the social networking system; establish, with the external system, a predetermined time period for the external system to delete at least a portion of the information associated with the subject user of the social networking system and shared with the external system by the social networking system; and transmit a response to the external system, the response comprising information responsive to the request for information associated with the subject user based on the maintained privacy settings, the external system configured to delete at least a portion of the information associated with the subject user that was transmitted to the external system by the social networking system. - View Dependent Claims (20)
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Specification