TTL-Enveloped Data Access Control for Social Networks
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing social networking systems face challenges in protecting members' personalized information due to privacy laws, which often require immediate deletion of member-specific data, failing to sufficiently safeguard user privacy.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a system that encrypts and envelops data with a time-to-live (TTL) envelope using PGP encryption, ensuring data accessibility only within a specified timeframe and using a distributed file system to segregate and aggregate data, thereby protecting personal information and adhering to privacy regulations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If member-specific information from third-party websites is retained for customization, then user experience is improved, but privacy protection deteriorates due to potential exposure of personalized information
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts member-specific information from the main data set and stores it separately in a distributed file system. This allows the system to retain customization capabilities while isolating sensitive personal information, thereby reducing privacy exposure risks while maintaining user experience personalization.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements a nested structure where member-specific information is enveloped within an encrypted container that includes metadata and access control mechanisms. This nested design allows the system to maintain detailed member profiles for customization while protecting the core personal information through multiple layers of encryption and access controls.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If member-specific information is immediately deleted to comply with privacy laws, then privacy protection is improved, but loss of useful member data increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary encryption and segmentation of member-specific information before any potential deletion or retention decisions. By pre-processing the data into encrypted, segmented units with controlled access, the system can comply with privacy laws requiring deletion while preserving the ability to recover or utilize aggregated insights when appropriate.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements a mechanism where member-specific information can be discarded (deleted) to comply with privacy laws, but the encrypted segments and metadata are retained. This allows the system to recover aggregated, de-identified insights from the discarded data while maintaining compliance, thus reducing information loss while protecting privacy.
3Loss of information
If encrypted data is stored indefinitely for potential future access, then data utility is improved, but security risks increase due to prolonged storage of sensitive information
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic retention policies where encrypted member-specific information is stored with time-based or condition-based expiration metadata. The system can adaptively adjust storage duration and access permissions based on privacy requirements, data sensitivity, and usage patterns, thereby maintaining data utility while systematically reducing security risks over time through automated expiration and deletion of obsolete data.
Data Source
AI summary
Embodiments of a system and method for controlling access to personal information are generally described herein. In an example, a method may include receiving, at an internal server, data including personal information from a third party website, the personal information including a member identification to a social networking service, adding a time to live envelope to the data, receiving a request for the data, determining whether the time to live envelope indicates that the data is accessible, in response to determining that the time to live envelope indicates that the data is accessible, releasing the data according to the request, and aggregating the data with other information.