Token Scope Matching for Web Authorization Efficiency
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing web applications often require users to repeatedly authorize access to their private data across different devices and applications, leading to increased user interactions and authentication protocols, which can be cumbersome and inefficient.
Innovation Solution
A system and method that allows for automatic authorization of future requests by determining if the requested scope is the same as or a subset of a previously issued token, reducing the need for user intervention and minimizing the number of authentication interactions by reusing existing authorization tokens.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the system requires users to authorize each access request individually, then security and user control are improved, but user convenience and authorization efficiency deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary authorization by issuing tokens that pre-approve future access requests. Instead of requiring user action for each request, the system anticipates future needs by providing tokens in advance that cover specified scopes of data access, thereby resolving the contradiction between security (through pre-approved limits) and convenience (through automatic reuse).
Solution Approach 2:
The authorization token serves multiple functions: it acts as a security credential, a caching mechanism, and a scope-defining document. A single token can cover multiple future requests within its scope, making the authorization system universal rather than requiring separate authorizations for each access event.
2Measurement precision
If the system issues new tokens for each authorization request, then authorization accuracy and scope control are improved, but authorization efficiency and user interaction reduction deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The system changes the parameter of token issuance from 'one token per request' to 'one token per scope'. By evaluating whether a requested scope matches or is subset of an existing token's scope, the system maintains precise authorization control while improving efficiency through token reuse when parameters align.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of creating new authorization credentials for each request, the system copies and reuses existing valid tokens when the access scope matches previously authorized parameters. This copying approach maintains authorization precision while dramatically improving efficiency by avoiding redundant authorization processes.
3Reliability
If the system requires multiple authentication round-trips, then verification reliability is improved, but communication overhead and processing time worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The verification process performs preliminary scope matching before initiating full authentication round-trips. By checking if the requested scope is already covered by an existing token, the system eliminates unnecessary communication rounds, reducing time loss while maintaining verification reliability through scope validation.
4Reliability
If the system stores credentials for each device and application, then security control is improved, but system complexity and credential management worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The authorization token serves as a universal credential that can be reused across multiple devices and applications within its scope. Instead of managing separate credentials for each device-app combination, the system uses scope-based tokens that work universally wherever the same data access scope is required, reducing complexity while maintaining security control.
Data Source
AI summary
The subject matter of this specification can be embodied in, among other things, a method that includes receiving, from a web browser, a request for a token that authorizes a third party server to access a user's data stored by a content provider server. The token specifies a first scope of authorization that indicates a portion of the user's data that the third party server is permitted to access. The method also includes determining if the first scope is substantially the same as or a subset of a second scope of a previously issued token and transmitting the token in response to the received request if the first scope is determined to be substantially the same as or a subset of the second scope.