US 2014/0208124 A1 · HIGH PRIVACY OF FILE SYNCHRONIZATION WITH SHARING FUNCTIONALITY

Abstract

Systems and methods for providing privacy of file synchronization with sharing functionality are presented. In embodiments, a file synchronization system comprises one or more folders associated with one or more non-shared encryption keys, which may be a managed key shared across an organization, and/or a personal key that is not shared or has limited third-party sharing. The one or more non-shared encryption keys are not known to the data storage service. The file synchronization system may also include one or more folders associated with a shared encryption key that is shared with the data storage service, and in embodiments, with a set of users of the service. The system may include a mapping correlating folders to encryption type so items in each folder can be handled appropriately. The system may have additional folders, such as one or more public folders that may be available with limited or no restrictions.

Claims20

Dependent claims

A synchronization system client for synchronizing files and providing sharing capabilities, comprising:

at least one not-shared-key folder for storing items to be encrypted with a not-shared key and to be synchronized with a remote datastore, wherein the not-shared key is not shared with the remote datastore;
at least one shared-key folder for storing items to be encrypted with a shared key and to be synchronized with the remote datastore, wherein at least the client system and the remote datastore have access to the shared key;
a folder encryption map that associates the not-shared key with the at least one not-shared-key folder and associates the shared key with the at least one shared-key folder;
and
a differential encryption component that, responsive to an item changing within at least one of the at least one not-shared-key folder and the at least one shared-key folder, interfaces with the folder encryption map to access and encrypt the item to be transmitted to and stored at the remote datastore.

2 more elements

A datastore managing system operating on one or more service provider computer systems for providing storage and sharing capabilities, comprising:

at least one managed-key folder for a first client for storing items encrypted with a managed key, wherein the datastore managing system does not have access to the managed key;
and
at least one shared-key folder for the first client for storing items encrypted with a shared key, wherein at least the first client and the datastore managing system have access to the shared key;
and
a folder encryption map that correlates which encryption should be applied to items in the at least one managed-key folder and to items in the at least one shared-key folder.

2 more elements

A computer-implement method comprising:

providing a client installation module that when executed causes the steps to be performed comprising:
generating at least one not-shared-key folder that is associated with a not-shared key that is used to securely encrypt or unencrypt items in the not-shared-key folder, which not-shared key is accessible by at least one client system but not accessible by a datastore system with which the not-share-key folder is remotely stored;
generating at least one shared-key folder that is associated with a shared key that is used to securely encrypt or unencrypt items in the shared-key folder, which shared key is accessible by at least one client system and accessible by the datastore system with which the share-key folder is remotely stored;
and
maintaining a folder encryption map that maps which encryption key should be applied based upon whether an item is associated with the at least one not-shared-key folder or associated with the at least one shared-key folder.

2 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

High privacy of file synchronization with sharing functionality

Life of this patent

High privacy of file synchronization with sharing functionality

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims20