Patent Issued for Built-in legal framework file management (USPTO 11328089): International Business Machines Corporation

2022 MAY 30 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- From Alexandria, Virginia, NewsRx journalists report that a patent by the inventors Allen, Corville O. (Morrisville, NC, US), Gkoulalas-Divanis, Aris (Waltham, MA, US), filed on September 20, 2019, was published online on May 10, 2022.

The patent’s assignee for patent number 11328089 is International Business Machines Corporation (Armonk, New York, United States).

News editors obtained the following quote from the background information supplied by the inventors: “The present invention relates to a computing environment, and more particularly to a computer program, method, and system for enforcing a consent-based privacy legal framework.”

As a supplement to the background information on this patent, NewsRx correspondents also obtained the inventors’ summary information for this patent: “According to one embodiment of the invention, there is a method that enforces a privacy legal framework filesystem along with an operating system (OS) to enforce the privacy legal framework. An access of a datum in a selected file in the filesystem includes accessing a metadata associated with the selected file where the metadata includes a privacy state and an owner consent-based access policy. The owner consent-based access policy is enforced by the OS via special-purpose support requiring usage of the metadata to access the selected file.

“According to one embodiment of the invention, there is provided an information handling system including at least one processor executing instructions implementing steps of the method that provides a filesystem access infrastructure that enforces a consent-based file access.

“According to one embodiment of the invention, there is provided a computing program product executing instructions having the steps of the method that provides a filesystem access infrastructure that enforces a consent-based file access.

“The foregoing is a summary and thus contains, by necessity, simplifications, generalizations, and omissions of detail; consequently, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the summary is illustrative only and is not intended to be in any way limiting. Other aspects, inventive features, and advantages of the present invention will be apparent in the non-limiting detailed description set forth below.”

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“1. A method that enforces a privacy legal framework within a storage of an information handling system that includes a processor and a memory accessible by the processor, the method comprising: providing a filesystem along with an operating system (OS) to enforce the privacy legal framework wherein an access of a datum in a selected file in the filesystem includes accessing a metadata associated with the selected file wherein the metadata includes a privacy state and an owner consent-based access policy; and enforcing by the OS via special-purpose custom commands requiring usage of the metadata to access the selected file, the owner consent-based access policy.

“2. The method of claim 1, wherein the privacy legal framework is selected from a group consisting of General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA), Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), and Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

“3. The method of claim 1, wherein the selected file is encrypted, and wherein decryption of the selected file requires access from the OS.

“4. The method of claim 1, wherein the owner consent-based access policy further comprises: an auditing information, an owner information, an expiration, an access information, and a consent information.

“5. The method of claim 4, wherein the auditing information records information related to accessing the selected file and further comprises: recording who accessed the selected file; recording when the selected file is accessed; and recording actions performed on the selected file.

“6. The method of claim 4, wherein the consent information includes a purpose for which personal data can be used, a date that an authorization was given by a data owner, and a date of the expiration.

“7. The method of claim 6, wherein the selected file is deleted automatically after the date of the expiration.

“8. The method of claim 1, further comprising: tracking, automatically, copies of the selected file.

“9. The method of claim 8, further comprising: adjusting contents of the tracked copies of the selected file based on a current consent information of a data owner.

“10. An information handling system that enforces a privacy legal framework comprising: One or more processors; a memory coupled to at least one of the processors; a network interface that connects a local node to one or more remote nodes; and a set of computer program instructions stored in the memory and executed by at least one of the processors in order to perform actions comprising: providing a filesystem along with an operating system (OS) to enforce the privacy legal framework wherein an access of a datum in a selected file in the filesystem includes accessing a metadata associated with the selected file wherein the metadata includes a privacy state and an owner consent-based access policy; and enforcing by the OS via special-purpose custom commands requiring usage of the metadata to access the selected file, the owner consent-based access policy.

“11. The information handling system of claim 10, wherein the privacy legal framework is selected from a group consisting of General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA), Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), and Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

“12. The information handling system of claim 10, wherein the selected file is encrypted, and decryption of the selected file requires access from the OS.

“13. The information handling system of claim 10, wherein the owner consent-based access policy further comprises: an auditing information, an owner information, an expiration, an access information, and a consent information.

“14. The information handling system of claim 13, wherein the auditing information records information related to accessing the selected file and wherein the actions further comprise: recording who accessed the selected file; recording when the selected file is accessed; and recording actions performed on the selected file.

“15. A computer program product that enforces a privacy legal framework stored in a computer readable storage medium, comprising computer program code that, when executed by an information handling system, performs actions comprising: providing a filesystem along with an operating system (OS) to enforce the privacy legal framework wherein an access of a datum in a selected file in the filesystem includes accessing a metadata associated with the selected file wherein the metadata includes a privacy state and an owner consent-based access policy; and enforcing by the OS via special-purpose custom commands requiring usage of the metadata to access the selected file, the owner consent-based access policy.

“16. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein the privacy legal framework is selected from a group consisting of General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA), Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), and Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

“17. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein the selected file is encrypted, and decryption of the selected file requires access from the OS.

“18. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein the owner consent-based access policy further comprises: an auditing information, an owner information, an expiration, an access information, and a consent information.

“19. The computer program product of claim 18, wherein the auditing information records information related to accessing the selected file and wherein the actions further comprise: recording who accessed the selected file; recording when the selected file is accessed; and recording actions performed on the selected file.

“20. The computer program product of claim 19, wherein the consent information includes a purpose for which personal data can be used, a date that an authorization was given by a data owner, and an expiration date.”

For additional information on this patent, see: Allen, Corville O. Built-in legal framework file management. U.S. Patent Number 11328089, filed September 20, 2019, and published online on May 10, 2022. Patent URL: http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=11328089.PN.&OS=PN/11328089RS=PN/11328089

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