Cross-App Data Access Policy Checks for Secure Sharing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing systems face challenges in determining whether and how different applications can share data while adhering to various capabilities, policies, and configurations, leading to potential misuse or unauthorized data sharing.
Innovation Solution
Implement a system where applications request data access through method calls that are processed to check compliance with defined capabilities, policies, and configurations, and prompt end users for authorization, with updates to applications and operating systems based on access decisions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If data sharing between applications is enabled to increase service effectiveness, then advertisement and service effectiveness is improved, but data misuse and unauthorized sharing risks increase
Solution Approach 1:
The operating system acts as an intermediary between applications, receiving data access requests from one application and evaluating them against policies before granting access to another application. This mediator role enables data sharing while preventing unauthorized access through centralized policy enforcement.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary policy evaluation and authorization checks before allowing data access between applications. By assessing capabilities, policies, and configurations in advance, the system prevents unauthorized sharing before it occurs rather than reacting after misuse happens.
2Reliability
If comprehensive policy checking is implemented to prevent unauthorized data sharing, then data security is improved, but data access determination complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The policy checking process is segmented into distinct components: capability evaluation, policy assessment, and configuration verification. Each component handles a specific aspect of the authorization decision, making the overall complex process more manageable and systematic through division of labor.
Solution Approach 2:
The operating system's policy evaluation mechanism serves multiple functions simultaneously: it checks capabilities, enforces policies, validates configurations, and makes authorization decisions. This multi-functional approach consolidates what would otherwise be separate complex systems into a unified framework.
3Reliability
If multiple entity policies are enforced to ensure compliant data sharing, then data sharing compliance is improved, but processing time for data access requests increases
Solution Approach 1:
Policies, capabilities, and configurations are evaluated and stored in advance before data access requests occur. By preparing authorization decisions beforehand and maintaining policy information in readily accessible formats, the system reduces processing time during actual data access operations while maintaining comprehensive compliance checking.
Data Source
AI summary
Systems, apparatuses, and methods are described for data sharing between applications. A first application may attempt to access data associated with a second application, an operating system, and/or a cloud service. An operating system may determine whether to grant access based on one or more factors such as device capability, an application declaration, a user setting, a user acknowledgement, and/or a data sharing policy.