Mobile Data Privacy Capsule for Contextual Access Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing mobile application access control mechanisms lack the ability to restrict access to sensitive data based on dynamic, situational, locational, or environmental contexts, allowing authorized users to access private data in inappropriate situations, especially when operating in offline mode.
Innovation Solution
A mobile data privacy service that tags sensitive data and enforces access policies using contextual attributes, ensuring data is accessed only within specified boundaries by encapsulating it in an encrypted capsule, which can only be decrypted in appropriate contexts, and includes obligations for secure display such as location-based restrictions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional access control mechanisms (encryption and identity recognition) are used, then unauthorized access is prevented, but contextual appropriateness of data access cannot be enforced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic access control by evaluating contextual attributes (location, device type, network environment, time) at the moment of data access requests. The system transitions from static authorization to dynamic policy evaluation, where access decisions are made based on current contextual conditions rather than fixed credentials alone. This allows the system to adapt access permissions based on real-time situational context.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a data privacy service as an intermediary component between the mobile application and the data store. This intermediary evaluates access requests against contextual attributes and policy constraints before allowing data retrieval. The service acts as a mediator that enforces contextual policies without requiring changes to the core application logic, enabling contextual control while maintaining application functionality.
2Ease of operation
If data is made accessible offline to maintain functionality in poor connectivity areas, then application availability is improved, but data security and contextual control are compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary contextual evaluation and policy enforcement at the time of data retrieval, even when operating offline. By establishing contextual constraints at the point of access rather than relying on pre-downloaded authorization tokens, the system maintains security without requiring continuous network connectivity. The contextual attributes are evaluated in real-time based on the device's current state.
Solution Approach 2:
The mobile device and application perform self-contained contextual evaluation using built-in sensors and services (location, network status, device identification) to determine access permissions. The system uses its own resources to enforce security policies without external intervention, enabling autonomous contextual control while maintaining both availability and security in offline environments.
Data Source
AI summary
In an example embodiment, a request for data is received from an end-user device, the request including one or more contextual attributes of the end-user device. The request is forwarded to a data provider. Data is then received from the data provider. It is determined if the data includes tagged sensitive data. If so, then the tagged sensitive data and the one or more contextual attributes are sent to a data access platform. Then policy constraints corresponding to the data are received from the data access platform. The sensitive data is encrypted in a manner that a data privacy module on the end-user device only decrypts the sensitive data when one or more contextual attributes of the end-user device meet one or more requirements identified in the policy constraints, and then the encrypted sensitive data and the policy are sent to the data privacy module.