Providing access to application data

• US 9,104,885 B1
• Filed: 03/02/2012
• Issued: 08/11/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 03/02/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Inventors: Strand, William Alexander, Nguyen, Luan K., Kannanari, Ahamed A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Patel, Nirav B
• Application Number:
  US13/410,980
• Time in Patent Office: 1,257 Days
• Field of Search: 726 2- 7, 726 26- 33, 713/189, 713/193, 709223-229
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/33 using certificates
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/44 Program or device authentication
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/62 Protecting access to data via a platform, e.g. using keys or access control rules
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/08 for authentication of entities cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication H04L9/32
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/20 Transfer of user or subscriber data

Abstract

Disclosed are various embodiments for providing access to application data stored by multiple applications across multiple devices of a user. A request to store application data is obtained by a data storage service from an application associated with a user. The application is executed in a client computing device, and the request specifies a security credential and is obtained by way of a network. The application data is stored by the data storage service in response to the request to store. The data storage service may be configured to store data for multiple applications associated with the user, and each of the applications may be associated with a different security credential.

Claims

1. A system, comprising:

at least one computing device; and

a data storage service executable in the at least one computing device, the data storage service comprising;

logic that authenticates a first application executed on a first client computing device based at least in part upon at least one application-level security credential in response to receiving a request to store application preference data from the first application executed on the first client computing device, the first application being associated with a user, and the request to store specifying the at least one application-level security credential and being obtained by way of a network;

logic that stores the application preference data in response to authenticating the first application executed on the first client computing device and in response to receiving the request to store the application preference data;

logic that authenticates the first application executed on a second client computing device based at least in part upon the at least one application-level security credential in response to receiving a request to access the application preference data from the first application executed on the second client computing device, the request to access specifying the at least one application-level security credential and being obtained by way of the network;

logic that provides the application preference data to the second client computing device by way of the network in response to authenticating the first application executed on the second client computing device and receiving the request to access the application preference data from the first application executed in the second client computing device; and

wherein the data storage service is configured to store data for a plurality of applications associated with the user, the first application executed on the first client computing device and the first application executed on the second client computing device are associated with a common at least one application-level security credential, and the first application executed on the first client computing device and a second application executed on the second client computing device are associated with a different at least one application-level security credential.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the request to access specifies an offset for a file, and the logic that provides is configured to read the application preference data from the file relative to the offset from a data store.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the data storage service further comprises:

logic that creates a file folder in response to receiving a request to create the file folder in a data store, the file folder being associated with the first application and the user, the request to create specifying at least one master security credential associated with the user, the at least one master security credential being used by the user to gain access to the application preference data;

logic that automatically generates the at least one application-level security credential and associates the at least one application-level security credential with the file folder; and

logic that returns the at least one application-level security credential to the first client computing device and the second client computing device by way of the network.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the first application corresponds to a game, and the application preference data includes a saved state for the game.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the request to store specifies an offset for a file, and the logic that stores is configured to update the file relative to the offset with the application preference data in a data store.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the data storage service is operated by a third-party entity, and the third-party entity is not a publisher of the first application.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the data storage service is configured to store data for another plurality of applications associated with the user and with a common publisher, and individual ones of the other plurality of applications associated with the common publisher are associated with a same at least one application-level security credential.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the data storage service is configured to restrict the first application from accessing data stored on behalf of the second application associated with the user.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the data storage service is configured to grant read only access to the second application for accessing data stored on behalf of the first associated with the user.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the application preference data comprises a screen orientation preference.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the application preference data configures a normalized hardware setting of the first client computing device.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein the application preference data comprises at least one of:

a preferred language or a preferred audio level.

13. The system of claim 1, wherein the application preference data is associated with a group of applications, and the first application is a member of the group of applications.

14. The system of claim 1, wherein the data storage service further comprises logic that sends the application-level security credential to the first application executed in the second client computing device by way of the network, the application-level security credential being automatically generated by the data storage service.

15. A method, comprising:

receiving, by a data storage service executed via at least one of one or more computing devices, a request to store application preference data from a first application associated with a user, the first application being executed in a first client computing device, the request to store specifying at least one application-level security credential and being received by way of a network;

authenticating, by the data storage service executed via at least one of the one or more computing devices, the first application being executed in the first client computing device based at least in part upon the at least one application-level security credential in response to receiving the request to store the application preference data from the first application executed on the first client computing device;

storing, by the data storage service executed via at least one of the one or more computing devices, the application preference data in response to receiving the request to store and in response to authenticating the first application executed on the first client computing device;

authenticating, by the data storage service executed via at least one of the one or more computing devices, the first application executed on a second client computing device based at least in part upon the at least one application-level security credential in response to receiving a request to access the application preference data from the first application executed on the second client computing device, the request to access specifying the at least one application-level security credential;

providing, by the data storage service executed via at least one of the one or more computing devices, the application preference data to the second client computing device in response to authenticating the first application executed on the second client computing device and receiving the request to access the application preference data from the first application executed in the second client computing device; and

wherein the data storage service is configured to store data for a plurality of applications associated with the user, the first application executed on the first client computing device and the first application executed on the second client computing device are associated with a common at least one application-level security credential, and the first application executed on the first client computing device and a second application executed on the second client computing device are associated with a different at least one application-level security credential.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the request to access specifies an offset for a file, and the application preference data is read from the file relative to the offset from a data store.

17. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

receiving, by the data storage service executed via at least one of the one or more computing devices, a request to create a file folder in a data store, the file folder being associated with the first application and the user, the request to create specifying at least one master security credential associated with the user, the at least one master security credential being used by the user to gain access to the application preference data;

creating, by the data storage service executed via at least one of the one or more computing devices, the file folder in response to the request to create;

automatically generating, by the data storage service executed via at least one of the one or more computing devices, the at least one application-level security credential and associating the at least one application-level security credential with the file folder; and

returning, by the data storage service executed via at least one of the one or more computing devices, the at least one application-level security credential to the first client computing device by way of the network.

18. The method of claim 15, wherein the data storage service is configured to store data for another plurality of applications associated with the user and with a common publisher, and individual ones of the other plurality of applications associated with the common publisher are associated with a same at least one application-level security credential.

19. The method of claim 15, further comprising restricting, by the data storage service executed via at least one of the one or more computing devices, the second application from accessing data stored on behalf of the first application associated with the user.

20. A non-transitory computer-readable medium embodying a program executable in at least one computing device, comprising:

code that authenticates a first application executed in a first client computing device based on at least one application-level security credential in response to receiving a request to store application preference data from the first application, the first application being associated with a user, the request to store specifying the at least one application-level security credential and being received by way of a network;

code that stores application preference data in response to authenticating the first application and in response to receiving the request to store the application preference data from the first application;

code that authenticates the first application executed on a second client computing device based at least in part upon the at least one application-level security credential in response to receiving a request to access the application preference data from the first application executed on the second client computing device, the request to access specifying the at least one application-level security credential; and

code that provides the application preference data to the second client computing device in response to authenticating the first application executed on the second client computing device and receiving the request to access the application preference data from the first application executed in the second client computing device;

wherein the program is configured to store data for a plurality of applications associated with the user, the first application executed on the first client computing device and the first application executed on the second client computing device are associated with a common at least one application-level security credential, and the first application executed on the first client computing device and a second application executed on the second client computing device are associated with a different at least one application-level security credential.

21. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 20,

wherein the request to access specifies an offset for a file, and the application preference data is read from the file relative to the offset from a data store.

22. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 20, further comprising:

code that creates a file folder in response to receiving a request to create the file folder in a data store, the file folder being associated with the first application and the user, the request to create specifying at least one master security credential associated with the user, and the at least one master security credential being used by the user to gain access to the application preference data;

code that automatically generates the at least one application-level security credential and associates the at least one application-level security credential with the file folder; and

code that returns the at least one application-level security credential to the first client computing device by way of the network.

23. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 20, wherein the program is configured to store data for another plurality of applications associated with the user and with a common publisher, and individual ones of the other plurality of applications associated with the common publisher are associated with a same at least one application-level security credential.

24. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 20, further comprising code that restricts the second application from accessing data stored on behalf of the first application associated with the user.