Patent Issued for Data access control (USPTO 11803658): United Services Automobile Association

2023 NOV 17 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- From Alexandria, Virginia, NewsRx journalists report that a patent by the inventors Fernandez, Gabriel Carlos (San Antonio, TX, US), Hartshorn, Joel S. (Olalla, WA, US), Jonak, Sumita T. (San Antonio, TX, US), Krishnaswamy, Pooja (Cedar Park, TX, US), Russell, Christopher (San Antonio, TX, US), Schwarz, Jr., Thomas Wayne (Helotes, TX, US), filed on October 29, 2020, was published online on October 31, 2023.

The patent’s assignee for patent number 11803658 is United Services Automobile Association (San Antonio, Texas, United States).

News editors obtained the following quote from the background information supplied by the inventors: “Many companies and organizations have set up their corporate information technology (IT) networks so that their employees can work from any place that has Internet access. To remotely access a corporate IT network, an employee may be required to log into a computer using credentials, such as a username and password. Today, employees regularly log into and access their corporate networks from home, coffee shops, or airports. For example, a consultant who regularly travels may use his or her laptop to access certain documents or send and receive emails at an airport or hotel. In another example, a software engineer can avoid rush-hour traffic in the morning by writing or reviewing software code from home or coffee shop until after the traffic subsides. Technology has made it possible for employees to have the flexibility to work from any place that has Internet access including their corporate offices. However, companies and organizations that offer remote access capabilities to their employees also face certain security risks. For example, an unauthorized person may hack into the corporate server that provides sensitive customer data to computers remotely operated by employees. In another example, an employee may himself or herself remotely log into the corporate network for such nefarious purposes.

“The techniques introduced here may be better understood by referring to the following Detailed Description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numerals indicate identical or functionally similar elements. Moreover, while the technology is amenable to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments have been shown by way of example in the drawings and are described in detail below. The intention, however, is not to limit the technology to the particular embodiments described. On the contrary, the technology is intended to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the scope of the technology as defined by the appended claims.”

As a supplement to the background information on this patent, NewsRx correspondents also obtained the inventors’ summary information for this patent: “Employers are increasingly allowing their employees to access documents remotely which poses certain security risks. For example, a remote employee of a company may download sensitive personal information of the customers of the company. In another example, a remote employee’s laptop, username, and password may be stolen and an unauthorized person may access a secure database to download or access sensitive personal information of the customers of the company.

“This patent document describes example systems, methods, and apparatus that can prevent or deter a person from obtaining or accessing sensitive personal information about a person from a server. For example, a customer of a company or other user may control who can access his or her sensitive personal information by identifying his or her access preferences included in an access control list, where the access preference describes a level of access that at least one remote employee or person may have to the customer’s sensitive personal information. A corporate data protection server may containerize the sensitive personal information and the access control list of the person in a data protection container. If a remote employee or a person requests access the customer’s sensitive personal information, the corporate data protection server may provide the sensitive personal information to the remote employee or person by determining, using the access preference in the access control list, that the remote employee or person has access privilege to the customer’s sensitive personal information and by determining that the remote employee or person’s authentication information (e.g., username, password, biometric information) matches or is the same as an authorized authentication information stored on the corporate data protection server. Although references are made to a “corporate” server, “corporate” data protection server, and “corporate” network system, the techniques and systems described are applicable to servers and systems other than those of a company. Additionally, the techniques described are applicable to any sensitive information of any type of entity. For example, the sensitive information can be personal information of a person, classified documents of the government, or confidential documents of a company.”

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“1. A data protection system, comprising: a first computer comprising a processor configured to: receive, via a graphical user interface, an access preference included in an access control list, wherein the access preference describes a level of access, provided by a customer of an enterprise, to sensitive personal information about the customer by at least one additional person associated with the enterprise, wherein the first computer is associated with the customer, and wherein the access preference includes a type of user associated with the enterprise permitted to access the sensitive personal information; send, to a server, a first message comprising the access control list that includes the access preference; a second computer comprising a processor configured to: send, to the server, a second message comprising a request to access the sensitive personal information and authentication information of the at least one additional person that initiated the request; the server comprising a processor configured to: receive the first message from the first computer and the second message from the second computer; containerize, after receiving the first message, the sensitive personal information and the access control list associated with the sensitive personal information in a data protection container; determine, based on the access preference included in the first message and the authentication information included in the second message, that the at least one additional person is not the type of user associated with the enterprise permitted to access the sensitive personal information; in response to determining that the at least one additional person is not permitted to access the sensitive personal information, obtain, from a pre-determined data set, a set of inaccurate personal information for the customer, wherein the set of inaccurate personal information is different from the sensitive personal information about the customer; and send the set of inaccurate personal information to the second computer associated with the at least one additional person, wherein the second computer is configured to display the set of inaccurate personal information.

“2. The system of claim 1, wherein the sensitive personal information is containerized by including a watermark of an identifier of the at least one additional person that initiated the request to access the sensitive personal information, and in response to determining that the second computer is approved to access the sensitive personal information, send the watermark to the second computer to be displayed with the sensitive personal information.

“3. The system of claim 1, wherein the sensitive personal information is containerized by including a watermark of an identifier of the customer associated with the sensitive personal information, and in response to determining that the second computer is approved to access the sensitive personal information, send the watermark to the second computer to be displayed with the sensitive personal information.

“4. The system of claim 1, wherein the access preference indicates that the level of access is a one-time access where the at least one additional person is allowed to access the sensitive personal information once.

“5. The system of claim 1, wherein the second message includes a public Internet Protocol (IP) address or a media access control (MAC) address associated with the second computer, and wherein the server comprising the processor is further configured to: determine that the public IP address or the MAC address associated with the second computer is not approved to access the sensitive personal information of the customer; and delete the sensitive personal information from the data protection container upon determining that the second computer is not approved to access the sensitive personal information.

“6. The system of claim 1, wherein the second message includes a public Internet Protocol (IP) address associated with the second computer, and wherein the server comprising the processor is further configured to: determine that the public IP address associated with the second computer is associated with a location that is outside of a previously approved geo-fenced area for the second computer; and delete the sensitive personal information from the data protection container upon determining that the second computer is located outside of the previously approved geo-fenced area.

“7. The system of claim 1, wherein the second message includes a public Internet Protocol (IP) address or a media access control (MAC) address associated with the second computer, and wherein the server comprising the processor is further configured to: determine that the public IP address or the MAC address associated with the second computer is not approved to access the sensitive personal information of the customer; obtain, from a pre-determined data set, a set of inaccurate personal information for the customer upon determining that the second computer is not approved to access the sensitive personal information, wherein the inaccurate personal information is different from the sensitive personal information about the customer; and send the inaccurate personal information about the customer to the second computer.

“8. The system of claim 1, wherein the sensitive personal information is containerized by including a pre-determined sensitive personal information about a fictional person, and wherein the server comprising the processor is further configured to: determine that the pre-determined sensitive personal information about the fictional person is leaked by detecting a presence of at least some of the pre-determined sensitive personal information in a data set.

“9. A data protection method, comprising: receiving a first message from a first computer and a second message from a second computer, wherein the first message includes an access control list that includes an access preference, wherein the access preference describes a level of access, provided by a customer of an enterprise, to sensitive personal information about the customer by at least one additional person associated with the enterprise, wherein the first computer is associated with the customer, and wherein the access preference includes a type of user associated with the enterprise permitted to access the sensitive personal information, and wherein the second message comprises a request to access the sensitive personal information and authentication information of the at least one additional person that initiated the request; containerizing, after receiving the first message, the sensitive personal information and the access control list associated with the sensitive personal information in a data protection container; determining, based on the access preference included in the first message and the authentication information included in the second message, that the at least one additional person is not the type of user associated with the enterprise permitted to access the sensitive personal information; in response to determining that the at least one additional person is not permitted to access the sensitive personal information, obtain, from a pre-determined data set, a set of inaccurate personal information for the customer, wherein the set of inaccurate personal information is different from the sensitive personal information about the customer; and sending the set of inaccurate personal information to the second computer associated with the at least one additional person, wherein the second computer is configured to display the set of inaccurate personal information.

“10. The method of claim 9, wherein the sensitive personal information is containerized by including a watermark of an identifier of the at least one additional person that initiated the request to access the sensitive personal information, and in response to determining that the second computer is approved to access the sensitive personal information, sending the watermark to the second computer to be displayed with the sensitive personal information.

“11. The method of claim 9, wherein the sensitive personal information is containerized by including a watermark of an identifier of the customer associated with the sensitive personal information, and in response to determining that the second computer is approved to access the sensitive personal information, sending the watermark to the second computer to be displayed with the sensitive personal information.

“12. The method of claim 9, wherein the access preference indicates that the level of access is a one-time access where the at least one additional person is allowed to access the sensitive personal information once.

“13. The method of claim 9, wherein the second message includes a public Internet Protocol (IP) address or a media access control (MAC) address associated with the second computer, and wherein the method further comprises: determining that the public IP address or the MAC address associated with the second computer is not approved to access the sensitive personal information of the customer; and deleting the sensitive personal information from the data protection container upon determining that the second computer is not approved to access the sensitive personal information.

“14. The method of claim 9, wherein the second message includes a public Internet Protocol (IP) address associated with the second computer, and wherein the method further comprises: determining that the public IP address associated with the second computer is associated with a location that is outside of a previously approved geo-fenced area for the second computer; and deleting the sensitive personal information from the data protection container upon determining that the second computer is located outside of the previously approved geo-fenced area.”

There are additional claims. Please visit full patent to read further.

For additional information on this patent, see: Fernandez, Gabriel Carlos. Data access control. U.S. Patent Number 11803658, filed October 29, 2020, and published online on October 31, 2023. Patent URL (for desktop use only): https://ppubs.uspto.gov/pubwebapp/external.html?q=(11803658)&db=USPAT&type=ids

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