Healthcare Data Access Control Using Token-Based Authorization

The patent segments user data into distinct types (e.g., demographic information, medical history, treatment data) and allows users to grant access to each segment independently. This enables selective sharing where users can control which specific data segments are accessed by which entities, thereby improving data accessibility while maintaining privacy control through fine-grained permission management.

The patent introduces an intermediary authorization server that mediates between users and authorized entities. This server manages access tokens and authentication credentials, verifying user permissions before granting data access. The intermediary ensures that even when multiple entities request data, each request is validated against user-defined preferences, thus enabling collaboration while preventing unauthorized access and maintaining security.

The patent implements preliminary authentication where users provide authentication credentials and define data sharing preferences in advance, before any data access requests are processed. The authorization server stores these preferences and credentials, so when authorized entities request data, the access control decisions are already predetermined based on user choices. This preliminary setup enhances security through robust verification while managing complexity by establishing rules upfront rather than during each access event.

The patent changes the parameter of authentication from simple username-password verification to a multi-parameter system that includes authentication credentials, access tokens, user preferences, and data type specifications. This enhanced parameter set enables more reliable access control by considering multiple factors in the authentication process, though it increases system complexity through the need to manage and verify multiple parameters simultaneously.