Private Social Data Sharing via Secure Cloud Storage Links
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing social media platforms compromise user control and ownership of digital data, expose users to privacy risks, and lack the ability to aggregate feeds from multiple networks securely.
Innovation Solution
A cloud-based system that allows users to store digital data on private secure storage, enabling encryption, access control, and sharing via hyperlinks, while aggregating feeds from multiple platforms into a centralized, user-controlled environment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If users store digital data on public social media platforms, then data sharing and accessibility are improved, but user control and ownership of data are lost
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments data storage and sharing control into two separate components: (1) a private secure storage component where users maintain exclusive control and ownership of their digital data, and (2) a sharing mechanism that allows selective access through generated links. This segmentation enables users to share data when needed while preserving continuous control and ownership, resolving the contradiction between accessibility and user control.
Solution Approach 2:
The system introduces an intermediary sharing mechanism that acts as a mediator between private storage and public access. When users want to share data, the system generates a secure link that serves as an intermediary, allowing recipients to access the data without the data leaving the user's private storage. This intermediary approach maintains user control while enabling sharing accessibility.
2Ease of operation
If users share digital data on public platforms, then data accessibility is improved, but privacy and security risks increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system extracts the data sharing function from public platforms and relocates it to a secure private storage environment. Users can generate sharing links for their data without the data itself being exposed to public platforms. This extraction removes data from the harmful public environment while preserving the useful sharing capability, thereby improving accessibility while eliminating privacy and security risks.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of moving or exposing the original data to public platforms, the system creates a copy in the form of a sharing link. This link contains the necessary information for access but does not replicate the actual data on public servers. The copying approach enables data accessibility for authorized users while keeping the original data secure in private storage, preventing privacy and security breaches.
3Adaptability or versatility
If social media platforms aggregate user feeds, then social networking functionality is improved, but data mining and advertising exposure increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system inverts the traditional social media model by allowing users to maintain their data in private secure storage while still enabling social networking functions. Instead of platforms aggregating user data to provide networking services, the system enables networking through sharing links generated from private storage. This inversion provides social networking versatility while eliminating data mining and advertising, as user data never leaves the private environment.
4Reliability
If users maintain private secure storage, then data security and user control are improved, but data sharing capability is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary action by pre-generating secure sharing links for user data while the data remains in private storage. When users want to share data, they can quickly generate and distribute these links without needing to move or expose the actual data. This preliminary preparation of sharing mechanisms maintains strong data security and user control while preserving easy data sharing capability, as the linking process is simple and instantaneous.
Data Source
AI summary
System and methods for providing private social networks, which are cloud-based in some instances, are provided herein. A method includes receiving a selection of the digital data on a private user secure data storage device from a first user, receiving a selection of one or more individuals to be given access to the digital data, applying access rights for the digital data, creating a URL that points to a location within the private user secure data storage device where the digital data resides, posting the URL to a plurality of social networks using a shared message, receiving a request from a second user for the digital data when the second user clicks the URL in the shared message, and serving the digital data to the second user directly from the private user secure data storage device without storing the digital data on any of the plurality of social networks.