Secure device sharing
First Claim
1. A method of securing an electronic device to enable a user to share the device with another person, the device having an operating system, the method comprising the steps of:
- receiving a request to lock the device, setting a lock indicator to establish the locked state of the device;
associating permitted task information with a locked state of the device, receiving a user request to activate a selected task;
identifying the locked state of the device; and
reading said permitted task information and determining whether said selected task is permitted based upon said permitted task information and, if so, activating said selected task.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A device and method for placing the device in a locked state having an associated set of permitted tasks so as to permit the device owner to share the device with others but maintain security over aspects of the device. A task change request is evaluated to determine whether the requested task is permitted and, if so, the requested task is allowed; if not, then an authorization process is invoked to prompt the user to input authorization data. Upon verification of the authorization data, the device may be unlocked and the requested change implemented. The permitted tasks may designate specific applications, specific operations or functions within applications or at the operating system level, one or more currently open windows, and other levels of granularity.
103 Citations
31 Claims
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1. A method of securing an electronic device to enable a user to share the device with another person, the device having an operating system, the method comprising the steps of:
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receiving a request to lock the device, setting a lock indicator to establish the locked state of the device;
associating permitted task information with a locked state of the device, receiving a user request to activate a selected task;
identifying the locked state of the device; and
reading said permitted task information and determining whether said selected task is permitted based upon said permitted task information and, if so, activating said selected task. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. An electronic device, the device having a locked state and an unlocked state, the device comprising:
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a main body housing a user input device, a display, memory, and a processor operatively coupled to said user input device, said display and said memory;
an operating system running on said processor for managing input and output through said user input device and said display and providing a platform for operation of application programs, wherein said operating system is configured to receive a user request to change to a selected task;
a locking component for receiving a request to lock the device, setting a lock indicator to establish the locked state of the device, and associating permitted task information with the locked state of the device; and
a task request component for identifying that the device is in the locked state and for determining whether said selected task is permitted based upon the permitted task information and, if so, activating said selected task. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A computer program product for securing an electronic device to enable a user to share the device with another person, the computer program product comprising a computer-readable medium having recorded thereon computer executable instructions, said electronic device having an operating system and said computer executable instructions comprising:
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computer executable instructions for receiving a request to lock the device, computer executable instructions for setting a lock indicator to establish the locked state of the device;
computer executable instructions for associating permitted task information with a locked state of the device, computer executable instructions for receiving a user request to activate a selected task;
computer executable instructions for identifying the locked state of the device; and
computer executable instructions for reading said permitted task information and determining whether said selected task is permitted based upon said permitted task information and, if so, activating said selected task. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
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Specification