Social media and data sharing controls

• US 10,824,757 B2
• Filed: 02/04/2016
• Issued: 11/03/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 06/06/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AirWatch LLC (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AirWatch LLC (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Inventors: Sorensen, Christian Blake
• Primary Examiner(s): Vu, Viet D
• Application Number:
  US15/015,631
• Publication Number:
  US 20160154975A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,734 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/6245 Protecting personal data, e.g. for financial or medical purposes
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/01 Social networking
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/10 Multimedia information
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/52 for supporting social networking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/306 User profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/37 Managing security policies for mobile devices or for controlling mobile applications

Abstract

Social media and data sharing controls may be provided. Upon receiving a request to transmit an element of data to a recipient, a determination may be made as to whether the recipient is appropriate to receive the element of data. In response to determining that the recipient is appropriate to receive the element of data, the element of data may be transmitted. In response to determining that the recipient is not appropriate to receive the element of data, at least one remedial action may be performed.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving a request to transmit an element of data to a recipient on behalf of a sender, the request identifying a service through which the element of data is requested to be shared from a mobile device associated with the sender;

determining whether the element of data is allowed to be shared through the service based upon determining a first category for a network address of a public server of the service through which the element of data is requested to be shared;

identifying a contact record associated with the recipient;

determining whether the recipient is appropriate to receive the element of data based upon whether the first category corresponds to a second category determined for the contact record associated with the recipient;

in response to determining that the recipient is appropriate to receive the element of data and that the element of data is allowed to be shared, causing the element of data to be transmitted to the public server associated with the service; and

in response to determining that the recipient is not appropriate to receive the element of data, performing at least one remedial action.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein determining whether the element of data is allowed to be shared through the service further comprises determining whether the content of the element of data contains a keyword associated with a professional context of the sender.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein determining whether the content of the element of data contains the keyword associated with the professional context of the sender further comprises determining whether the content includes a predetermined term specified in a compliance rule.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein determining whether the recipient is appropriate to receive the element of data is based upon whether the contact record associated with the recipient corresponds to a professional service or a personal service.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein performing the at least one remedial action further comprises at least one of:

requesting user confirmation of the request to transmit the element of data to the recipient or logging the request to transmit the element of data.

16. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining to impose a hardware restriction on the mobile device associated with the sender based upon a determination that the mobile device has a capture device that is restricted according to a compliance rule, the capture device being able to record audio or capture an image.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the hardware restriction is imposed based upon a determination of a location of the mobile device and a period of time, the determination of the location being based upon a wireless device associated with the mobile device.

20. The method of claim 1, wherein the first category is determined based upon the network address of the public server by determining whether the network address is on a whitelist of professional sites.

6. A system comprising:

a user device; and

an agent executed by the user device, the agent, when executed, being configured to cause the user device to at least;

receive a request to transmit an element of data to a recipient on behalf of a sender, the request identifying a service through which the element of data is requested to be shared from the user device associated;

determine whether the element of data is allowed to be shared through the service based upon determining a first category for a network address of a public server of the service through which the element of data is requested to be shared;

identify a contact record associated with the recipient;

determine whether the recipient is appropriate to receive the element of data based upon whether the first category corresponds to a second category determined for the contact record associated with the recipient;

in response to determining that the recipient is appropriate to receive the element of data and that the element of data is allowed to be shared, cause the element of data to be transmitted to the public server associated with the service; and

in response to determining that the recipient is not appropriate to receive the element of data, perform at least one remedial action.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the agent determines whether the element of data is allowed to be shared through the service by determining whether the content of the element of data contains a keyword associated with a professional context of the sender.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the agent determines whether the content of the element of data contains the keyword associated with the professional context of the sender by determining whether the content includes a predetermined term specified in a compliance rule.

9. The system of claim 6, wherein the agent determines whether the recipient is appropriate to receive the element of data based upon whether the contact record associated with the recipient corresponds to a professional service or a personal service.

10. The system of claim 6, wherein the agent performs the at least one remedial action by at least one of:

requesting user confirmation of the request to transmit the element of data to the recipient, logging the request to transmit the element of data, or preventing sharing of the element of data.

18. The system of claim 6, wherein the agent determines to impose a hardware restriction on the user device associated with the sender based upon a determination that the user device has at least one device characteristic that is restricted according to a compliance rule.

19. The system of claim 6, wherein the agent determines to impose a software restriction on the user device based upon a determination that the user device has at least one software feature enabled and an external storage device.

11. A non-transitory computer-readable medium embodying a program that, when executed, causes at least one computing device to at least:

receive a request to transmit an element of data to a recipient on behalf of a sender, the request identifying a service through which the element of data is requested to be shared from a mobile device associated with the sender;

determine whether the element of data is allowed to be shared through the service based upon determining a first category for a network address of a public server of the service through which the element of data is requested to be shared;

identify a contact record associated with the recipient;

determine whether the recipient is appropriate to receive the element of data based upon whether the first category corresponds to a second category determined for the contact record associated with the recipient;

in response to determining that the recipient is appropriate to receive the element of data and that the element of data is allowed to be shared, cause the element of data to be transmitted to the public server associated with the service; and

in response to determining that the recipient is not appropriate to receive the element of data, perform at least one remedial action.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein the program, when executed, determines whether the content of the element of data contains a keyword associated with a professional context of the sender by determining whether the content includes a predetermined term specified in a compliance rule.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein the program, when executed, determines whether the recipient is appropriate to receive the element of data based upon whether the contact record associated with the recipient corresponds to a professional service or a personal service.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein the program, when executed, determines whether the element of data is allowed to be shared through the service by determining whether the content of the element of data contains a keyword associated with a professional context of the sender.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein the program, when executed, performs the at least one remedial action by at least one of:

requesting user confirmation of the request to transmit the element of data to the recipient, logging the request to transmit the element of data, or preventing sharing of the element of data.