Data policies for online services

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12386983-B2
Application number	US-202017100759-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 20, 2020
Priority date	Dec 30, 2011
Publication date	Aug 12, 2025
Grant date	Aug 12, 2025

Abstract

An online service may maintain or create data for a user, and a user may be allowed to exert control over how the data are used. In one example, there may be several categories of data, and the user may be able to specify who may use the data, and the purpose for which the data may be used. Additionally, a user may be able to see how many of his “friends” (or other contacts) have extended trust to a particular entity, which may aid the user in making a decision about whether to extend trust to that entity. User interfaces may be provided to allow users to specify how their data are to be used.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A computing system comprising:
a processor; and
memory storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform acts comprising:
obtaining user data for a user, the user data corresponding to multiple categories of data;
presenting, by way of a user interface at a client computing device of the user that is in network communication with the computing system, a grid comprising the multiple categories of data and user-selectable purposes, wherein a purpose of the user-selectable purposes is indicative of a usage restriction on a computer-implemented service with respect to data belonging to a category of the multiple categories of data;

for each category of data, receiving, by way of the user interface, a respective purpose selected by the user from amongst multiple selectable purposes wherein the usage restriction of the respective purpose applies to an act associated with the purpose;
applying the usage restrictions to the obtained user data that the computer-implemented service maintains for the user; and
enforcing the usage restrictions.

2. The computing system of claim 1 , wherein rows of the grid presented by way of the user interface correspond to the multiple categories of data and columns of the grid correspond to the multiple selectable purposes.

3. The computing system of claim 1 , wherein the user data is obtained from the computer-implemented service, and the acts of obtaining, receiving, applying, and enforcing are performed by a second computer-implemented service.

4. The computing system of claim 1 , wherein the acts of obtaining, receiving, applying, and enforcing are performed by the computer-implemented service.

5. The computing system of claim 4 , wherein the computer-implemented service is a social networking service.

6. The computing system of claim 4 , wherein the computer-implemented service is a photo sharing service.

7. The computing system of claim 1 , the acts further comprising: receiving an identity of the computer-implemented service from the client computing device.

8. The computing system of claim 1 , further comprising causing a user interface to be presented to a user on a client computing device operated by the user, wherein the user interface includes selectable elements that facilitate user selection of purposes for the user data.

9. A method performed by a server computing the device, wherein the method facilitates applying usage restrictions on user data for a user, the method comprising:
obtaining the user data for a user, the user data comprising first data that belongs to a first category and second data that belongs to a second category;
for the first data that belongs to the first category, receiving, from a client computing device of the user that is in network communication with the server computing device, a first purpose selected by the user from amongst multiple selectable purposes by way of a user interface at the client computing device, wherein the user interface comprises a grid, wherein the first purpose identifies a first usage restriction on a computer-implemented service with respect to the first data that belongs to the first category, wherein the first usage restriction applies to a first act associated with the first purpose;
for the second data that belongs to the second category, receiving, from the client computing device, a second purpose selected by the user from amongst the multiple selectable purposes presented by way of a user interface at the client computing device, wherein the user interface comprises a grid, wherein the second purpose identifies a second usage restriction on the computer-implemented service with respect to the second data that belongs to the second category, wherein the second usage restriction applies to a second act associated with the second purpose;
applying the first usage restriction to the first data that belongs to the first category;
applying the second usage restriction to the second data that belongs to the second category; and
enforcing the first usage restriction and the second usage restriction.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the computer-implemented service maintains the user data.

11. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:
causing the user interface to be displayed on a display of the client computing device, wherein the user interface includes a grid that comprises a first axis and a second axis, wherein categories of data are listed along the first axis and purposes are listed along the second axis, and further wherein the first purpose for the first data is received based upon interaction of the user with a first cell in the grid and the second purpose for the second data is received based upon interaction of the user with a second cell in the grid.

12. The method of claim 9 , wherein acts of the method are performed by a second computer-implemented service that is different from the computer-implemented service.

13. The method of claim 9 , wherein the computer-implemented service is a social networking service.

14. The method of claim 9 , wherein the computer-implemented service is a photo sharing service.

15. The method of claim 9 , wherein the user data comprises at least one of text, photos, video, or audio.

16. The method of claim 9 , wherein the computer-implemented service is a gaming service.

17. A non-transitory computer-readable storage device comprising instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform acts comprising:
obtaining user data for a user, the user data corresponding to multiple categories of data; and
presenting by way of a user interface at a client computing device of the user that is in network communication with the computing system, a grid comprising the multiple categories of data and user-selectable purposes, wherein a purpose of the user-selectable purposes is indicative of a usage restriction on a computer-implemented service with respect to data belonging to a category of the multiple categories of data;
for each category of data, receiving, by way of the user interface, a respective purpose selected by the user from amongst multiple selectable purposes wherein the usage restriction of the respective purpose applies to an act associated with the purpose;
applying the usage restrictions to the obtained user data that the computer-implemented service maintains for the user; and
enforcing the usage restrictions.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable storage device of claim 17 , wherein rows of the grid presented by way of the user interface correspond to the multiple categories of data and columns of the grid correspond to the multiple selectable purposes.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable storage device of claim 17 , wherein the user data is obtained from the computer-implemented service, and the acts of obtaining, receiving, applying, and enforcing are performed by a second computer-implemented service.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable storage device of claim 17 , wherein the acts of obtaining, receiving, applying, and enforcing are performed by the computer-implemented service.

Assignees

• Microsoft Technology Licensing Llc

Inventors

• Friedman Arie
• Bitran Hadas
• Barash Uri
• Davis Marc
• Nahir Oded

Classifications

• G06Q30/0251

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• G06F21/6263

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