URL Annotation for Document Access Verification
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing document management systems struggle to accurately track and verify document accesses, especially when multiple parties access the same document via a shared link, leading to confusion and potential misattribution of document interactions.
Innovation Solution
A document management system that modifies URLs with an annotation containing a coded value identifying the message scanning system, allowing the document management system to verify and log document accesses by trusted entities.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a document management system tracks document accesses using shared links, then multiple parties can access the document, but it becomes difficult to determine who actually accessed and interacted with the document
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the access tracking by inserting unique identification codes into the URL parameters for each user. This allows the system to divide the shared link into multiple traceable paths, where each path carries specific user identification information. When a user accesses the document through their personalized URL, the system can precisely attribute the access to that specific user rather than treating all accesses as anonymous shared link usage.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary mechanism in the form of URL parameters that carry user identification information. These parameters act as mediators between the user and the document access logging system, enabling the transmission of user identity information through the URL without requiring direct user input or complex authentication protocols at the point of access.
2Reliability
If the message scanning system modifies the URL with an annotation, then the document management system can verify the access, but the URL structure becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The patent modifies the URL by changing its parameters rather than its fundamental structure. Specific query parameters are added or modified to include user identification codes, while the core URL pathway remains unchanged. This approach maintains URL functionality and recognizability while embedding verification information in the parameter section, which is standard practice in web protocols and does not fundamentally alter how URLs work.
Data Source
AI summary
Information identifying a message scanning system is encoded into URLs. A document management system can decode the identifying information to verify that a document accessed via a URL was accessed by a trusted entity rather than by an unknown user. The document management system sends a message including a URL to access a document. When a message scanning system known to the document management system reviews the message for threats, it encodes its identity into a modified form of the URL in the message and uses the modified URL to access the resource. The document management system can decode the identity of the messaging system using a decoding key. Based on the identification, the document management system updates records associated with the document to include the document acce by the message scanning system.