Unregistered user account generation for content item sharing

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9716720-B2
Application number	US-201615152478-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 11, 2016
Priority date	Jul 15, 2014
Publication date	Jul 25, 2017
Grant date	Jul 25, 2017

Abstract

Various embodiments of the present technology involve the sharing of a content item though a synchronized content management system (CMS) without requiring a user to register or provide login credentials. For example, the CMS can receive a request from a first user of a computing device to share a content item with a second user. Instead of requiring the user to register or provide their login credentials, the CMS can generate an unregistered user account using a unique identifier associated with the computing device. Accordingly, in order to share the content item, the CMS can generate a link to retrieve the content item and send the link to the second user. Thus, creation of an unregistered user account can require no login credentials, thereby providing a simple, user friendly interface for initiating interactions with the CMS.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:
receiving, by a content management system, a request to share a content item with a user, the request being from a computing device unassociated with a user account;
generating, using a unique device identifier of the computing device, an unregistered user account with the content management system;
receiving, by the content management system, the content item;
associating the content item with the unregistered user account;
generating, by the content management system, a link to share the content item with the user, the link being associated with a path identifying a location of the content item in the content management system, and further associated with the unregistered user account;
sending the link to the user;
receiving, by the content management system, a request to retrieve the content item, the request being from the computing device associated with the unregistered user account; and
denying, by the content management system, access to the content item by the computing device associated with the unregistered user account.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:
monitoring usage associated with the unregistered user account;
determining the usage exceeds a threshold usage limit; and
causing a prompt to be displayed on the computing device, the prompt prompting an unregistered user of the computing device to register with the content management system to remove the threshold usage limit.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2 , wherein the threshold limit is at least one of a data per unit time limit, a cumulative data total limit, a sharable content item size limit, or a total number of content items sharable limit.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 2 , further comprising:
receiving a registration request from the computing device;
converting the unregistered user account into a registered account; and
removing the threshold usage limit.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 4 , further comprising:
receiving, by the content management system, a second registration request to associate a second computing device with the registered account; and
causing the second computing device to be associated with the registered account, wherein associating the second computing device with the registered account includes installing a client-side application on the second computing device, and wherein the content management system communicates with the computing device and the second computing device through a respective client-side application to synchronize data stored locally on each of the computing device and the second computing device with data stored in the content management system.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:
enabling an unregistered user of the unregistered user account to at least one of password protect the link or set a time period after which the link expires.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the unique identifier is at least one of a device ID, a phone number, or an email address.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the content item is received by the content management system from a native client application on the computing device associated with the content management system, wherein the functionality of the native client application is limited when the native client application is associated with the unregistered user account.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 8 , wherein the native client application or a plugin is preinstalled on the computing device.

10. A computing system, comprising:
at least one processor; and
memory including instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the computing system to:
receive, from a first user of a computing device, a request to share a content item with a second user;
determine that the computing device is not logged into a user account;
generate a ghost account using a unique device identifier of the computing device;
receive and at least temporarily store the content item;
associate the content item with the ghost account;
generate a link to the content item, the link being associated with a path identifying a location of the content item in the system, and further associated with the ghost account;
send the link to the second user;
receive a request to retrieve the content item, the request being from the computing device associated with the ghost account; and
deny access to the content item by the computing device associated with the ghost account.

11. The computing system of claim 10 , wherein the instructions that, when executed by the processor, further cause the computing system to:
monitor usage associated with the ghost account;
determine the usage exceeds a threshold usage limit; and
cause a prompt to be displayed on the computing device, the prompt prompting the first user of the computing device to at least one of login to the user account or register with the system.

12. The computing system of claim 11 , wherein the instructions that, when executed by the processor, further cause the computing system to:
receive login credentials from the first user;
associated the content item with the user account; and
remove the threshold usage limit.

13. The computing system of claim 11 , further comprising:
receive a registration request from the computing device;
convert the ghost account into a registered account; and
remove the threshold usage limit.

14. The computing system of claim 13 , wherein the instructions that, when executed by the processor, further cause the computing system to:
receive a second registration request to associate a second computing device with the registered account; and
cause the second computing device to be associated with the registered account, wherein associating the second computing device with the registered account includes installing a client-side application on the second computing device, and wherein the system communicates with the computing device and the second computing device through a respective client-side application to synchronize data stored locally on each of the computing device and the second computing device with data stored in the system.

15. The computing system of claim 10 , wherein the computing system communicates with the computing device through at least one of a native client application associated with the system installed on the computing device or a plugin through at least one of a web browser or file system.

16. The computing system of claim 15 , wherein at least the native client application or the plugin is preinstalled on the computing device.

17. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed by at least one processor, cause a computing device to:
receive, from a first user of a computing device, a request to share a content item with a second user, the first user being unassociated with a user account;
generate a ghost account using a unique device identifier of the computing device;
cause the content item to be associated with the ghost account;
generate a link to the content item, the link being associated with a path identifying a location of the content item, and further associated with the ghost account;
send the link to the second user;
receive a request to retrieve the content item, the request being from the computing device associated with the ghost account; and
deny access to the content item by

Assignees

• Dropbox Inc

Inventors

• Adams John
• Jain Aditi
• Pan Matteus

Classifications

• H04L63/102 Primary

  Entity profiles · CPC title

• H04L63/0815

  providing single-sign-on or federations · CPC title

• H04L63/083

  using passwords (cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication using a predetermined code H04L9/3226) · CPC title

• G06Q10/101 Primary

  Collaborative creation, e.g. joint development of products or services · CPC title

• H04L63/108

  when the policy decisions are valid for a limited amount of time · CPC title