Visibility Token Access Control for Social Networks
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing content-sharing systems in social networks face challenges in efficiently controlling access to shared content items, particularly due to the complexity of determining visibility rules and updating access control lists as user relationships change, leading to increased server response times and administrative burdens.
Innovation Solution
The use of visibility tokens, which represent visibility policies rather than individual content items, allows users to associate the same token with multiple content items and automatically propagate tokens based on trust relationships, enabling efficient access control and filtering of search results.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If access control lists are updated every time a relationship in the network changes, then access control accuracy is maintained, but server response time increases and administrative burden increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by pre-computing and caching visibility rules when relationships change, rather than computing them on-demand during access requests. The system maintains a cache of visibility rules that are updated in advance, allowing fast access control decisions without real-time computation of trust network paths.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses copying by maintaining cached copies of visibility rules that can be reused across multiple access requests. Instead of recalculating visibility rules for each request, the system creates and stores copies of these rules in a cache, reducing repeated computation and improving response time while maintaining access control accuracy.
2Adaptability or versatility
If visibility rules are determined on demand for each content item, then access control flexibility is maintained, but server response time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary computation of visibility rules based on trust network relationships and content item properties, storing these rules in a cache before they are needed for access decisions. This allows the system to maintain flexible, customized visibility rules while avoiding on-demand computation during access requests.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates cached copies of visibility rules that can be efficiently retrieved and applied during access requests. These copied rules preserve the flexibility and customization of on-demand computation while eliminating the performance penalty of real-time calculation.
3Ease of manufacture
If discrete communities are used for content sharing, then content organization is improved, but users must post content in multiple places to reach multiple communities
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a universal trust network model where a single content posting can reach multiple communities through propagated visibility rules. Instead of requiring separate postings for each community, the system allows one content item to be shared across multiple trust network communities through automated rule propagation, reducing posting effort while maintaining organized community structures.
4Reliability
If users post content only to communities they explicitly join, then privacy control is improved, but content sharing reach is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary propagation of visibility rules through the trust network when content is posted, automatically determining which users can access the content based on their trust relationships. This allows users to maintain privacy control through explicit trust relationships while the system proactively extends content reach to appropriate users in the trust network without requiring additional user action.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements self-service by allowing the trust network system to automatically manage content propagation and visibility rule application. Users define their trust relationships once, and the system automatically handles the complex logic of determining and enforcing visibility rules across the network, enabling both privacy control and extended sharing reach without additional user effort.
Data Source
AI summary
Access control systems and methods regulate access to shared content items in a corpus using visibility tokens. A user provides other users with access to a content item by associating a content token with the content item and associating a matching user token with each user who is to be granted access. A user who attempts to access the content item succeeds only if that user has a user token matching the content token associated with the content item. User tokens can be propagated automatically from one user to another, e.g., based on trust relationships among the users. Content tokens can be indexed with content items so that when a user searches the corpus, a search engine can detect matches between user tokens and content tokens and filter the search results based on whether they are visible to the querying user.