Patent Issued for Controlling Access To Protected Information (USPTO 10,915,590)
2021 FEB 18 (NewsRx) -- By a
Patent number 10,915,590 is assigned to
The following quote was obtained by the news editors from the background information supplied by the inventors: “The present invention relates to the field of controlling access to protected information stored in a database such as confidential information, sensitive data, Protected/Personal Health Information (PHI), etc.
“The present invention further relates to a computer program product comprising computer-readable program code that enables a processor of a system to implement such a method.
“The present invention yet further relates to a system for controlling access to protected information stored in a database such as confidential information, sensitive data, PHI, etc.
“The use of computers to store confidential information, such as patient medical data records, is well known. Conventional security measures, such as user passwords, are typically used to prevent unauthorized access to the patient medical records.
“In one example, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1966, known as HIPAA, mandates security for protected health information by organizations, such as hospitals. However, in some circumstances, it may be desirable to limit access to patient data records independent of any regulatory requirement.”
In addition to the background information obtained for this patent, NewsRx journalists also obtained the inventors’ summary information for this patent: “Some embodiments of the present invention seek to provide a method for controlling access to protected information stored in a database.
“Some embodiments of the present invention further seek to provide a computer program product including computer program code for implementing the method when executed on a processor of a data processing system.
“Some embodiments of the present invention yet further seek to provide a data storage system adapted to execute this computer program code.
“Some embodiments of the present invention also seek to provide a system for controlling access to protected information stored in a database.
“According to an embodiment of the present invention there is provided a computer-implemented method for controlling access to protected information stored in a database. A set of database records in various data tables may be identified as being master records. In each database record of the database, there may be stored one or more ownership data fields comprising owner identification information for identifying a master record associated with the database record. A database record of the database may be retrieved and the owner identification information of the ownership data fields of the retrieved database record may be analyzed to identify the master record associated with the retrieved database record. Access to the retrieved database record may then be controlled using the same one or more authorization rules used to govern access to the master record associated with the retrieved database record.
“According to another embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a computer program product for controlling access to protected information stored in a database. The computer program product comprises a computer readable storage medium having program instructions embodied therewith, the program instructions executable by a processing unit to cause the processing unit to perform a method according to an embodiment of the invention.
“According to another embodiment of the invention, there is provided a data storage system comprising at least one processor and the computer program product according to an embodiment. The at least one processor is adapted to execute the computer program code of said computer program product.
“According to yet another embodiment of the invention, there is provided a system for controlling access to protected information stored in a database. The system comprises: an ownership storage unit adapted to store a plurality of ownership rules in a data table, each ownership rule designating database records of a data table as master records. The system also comprises a database storage unit adapted to store, in each database record of the database, one or more ownership data fields comprising owner identification information for identifying a master record associated with the database record. The system also comprises a data retrieval unit adapted to retrieve a database record of the database. The system also comprises an authorization control unit adapted to analyze the owner identification information of the ownership data fields of the retrieved database record to identify the master record associated with the retrieved database record and to control access to the retrieved database record using the same on or more authorization rules governing access to the master record.”
The claims supplied by the inventors are:
“What is claimed is:
“1. A computer-implemented method (CIM) for controlling access to protected information stored in a database, the CIM comprising: identifying a set of database records in various data tables as master records, with each master record having an associated set of authorization rule(s); storing, in each database record of the database, one or more ownership data fields including owner identification information for identifying a master record associated with the database record; retrieving a retrieved database record of the database; analyzing the owner identification information of the one or more ownership data fields of the retrieved database record to identify the master record associated with the retrieved database record; controlling access to the retrieved database record using the set of authorization rule(s) of the master record associated with the retrieved database record; associating a newly created or updated database record in the data with the master record, with the association including processing the newly created or updated database record by analyzing an ownership meta-data table to determine which master record the database record should be associated with; and creating an ownership inheritance structure to graphically represent the data ownership rules, with the ownership inheritance structure being a tree structure that includes one root node and at least one leaf node; wherein the identification of the master records in the data table further includes: extending the Data Definition Language (DDL) to allow a database designer to define data ownership rules, extending the DDL language processor to allow the set of authorization rule(s) to be stored in the ownership meta-data table for the database, and extending the Database Management System to process the ownership meta-data table so as to identify the master records in the database; wherein the one or more ownership data fields includes: metadata, a flag field comprising information for indicating whether the database record has an associated master record, an owner identification field comprising information identifying the master record associated with the database record, a key of the master record associated with the database record, with the key being an integer, a table identification field comprising information identifying the data table comprising the master record associated with the database record, and/or a record identification field which identifies the master record associated with the database record; wherein the Database Management System further includes: extensions to the Data Definition Language that allow the database designer to declare information indicative of ownership relationships between tables containing master data and other tables containing data related to that master data, with the ownership relationships information being stored in an ownership meta-data table, and extensions in the Database Management System that are adapted to be triggered when a new database record is created or an existing record is updated so as to process the one or more ownership data fields to determine which master records, if any, that database record should be associated with; wherein the database includes the set of database records in various data tables as master records; wherein the database is a relational database; the protected information includes protected health information; and the owner relationship of the one or more ownership data fields of the retrieved database record(s) is a hierarchical relationship.
“2. The CIM of claim 1 wherein the owner relationship of the one or more ownership data fields of the retrieved database record(s) is transitive.
“3. The CIM of claim 1 wherein: the root node of the tree structure represents the master record and the at least one leaf node represents an updated database record; and the at least one leaf node automatically inherits the row-based authorization rule(s) that are applied to the master record.”
URL and more information on this patent, see: McGrath, Damian; Qi, Meng; Bruzzano, Bruno; Mariani, Francesco. Controlling Access To Protected Information.
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