Token-activated, federated access to social network information
View Patent ↗Methods, apparatuses and systems directed to federated access to social networking information of a user initiated upon activation of a physical access token. A user may initiate a workflow, by activating a physical token, that establishes a federated access session between a third-party system and a social networking system to allow the third-party system to augment the user's experience with social networking information without the user directly accessing either the third-party system or the social networking system.
1. A method comprising:
by a computing system of a social-networking system, receiving from a third-party computing system a request for federated access to social-networking information of a user of the social-networking system, wherein:
the request for federated access was initiated by a physical access token corresponding to a transaction performed by the user at a point-of-sale terminal and comprises an indication of one or more options associated with the social-networking system that may be selected by the user at the point-of-sale terminal; and
the social-networking system maintains:
information identifying one or more connections of the user to one or more other users;
a profile of the user comprising information associated with the user; and
one or more privacy or other configuration settings associated with the user,
by a computing system of the social-networking system, determining, based on one or more of the privacy or other configuration settings, that the third-party computing system is authorized to receive information from the social-networking system associated with the user, wherein the request comprises information indicating that the transaction is directed to, at least in part, receiving by the user, at the third-party computer system, the information from the social-networking system; and
by a computing system of the social-networking system, establishing a federated-access session with the third-party computing system providing the third-party computing system federated access to the information associated with the user.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the request for federated access further comprises an access token generated by another third-party computing system.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the federated-access session has a time limit, after which the federated-access session expires.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the request for federated access further comprises an access-token-reader identifier; and
the method further comprises mapping the access-token-reader identifier to access permissions associated with the user.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the request for federated access further comprises an access-token-reader identifier; and
the method further comprises mapping the access-token-reader identifier to a third-party application.
6. The method of claim 5 , wherein:
the third-party application maps to privacy settings configured by the user; and
the method further comprises allowing the third-party application to access social-networking information of the user according to the privacy settings.
7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising receiving content from the third-party computing system over the federated-access session and posting the content to a user-profile page of the user within the social-networking system.
8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising receiving, from the third-party computing system, a request over the federated-access session to debit a virtual currency account of the user.
9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising streaming social-networking information of the user over the federated-access session to the third-party computing system.
10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising hosting an interactive communications session between the user and the social-networking system through the federated-access session.
11. One or more computer-readable non-transitory storage media embodying software that is operable when executed to:
receive, from a third-party computing system, a request for federated access to social-networking information of a user of a social-networking system, wherein:
the request for federated access was initiated by a physical access token corresponding to a transaction performed by the user at a point-of-sale terminal and comprises an indication of one or more options associated with the social-networking system that may be selected by the user at the point-of-sale terminal; and
the social-networking system maintains:
information identifying one or more connections of the user to one or more other users;
a profile of the user comprising information associated with the user; and
one or more privacy or other configuration settings associated with the user;
determine, based on one or more of the privacy or other configuration settings, that the third-party computing system is authorized to receive information from the social-networking system associated with the user, wherein the request comprises information indicating that the transaction is directed to, at least in part, receiving by the user, at the third-party computer system, the information from the social-networking system; and
establish a federated-access session with the third-party computing system providing the third-party computing system federated access to the information associated with the user.
12. The media of claim 11 , wherein the request for federated access further comprises an access token generated by another third-party computing system.
13. The media of claim 11 , wherein the federated-access session has a time limit, after which the federated-access session expires.
14. The media of claim 11 , wherein:
the request for federated access further comprises an access-token-reader identifier; and
the software is further operable when executed to map the access-token-reader identifier to access permissions associated with the user.
15. The media of claim 11 , wherein:
the request for federated access further comprises an access-token-reader identifier; and
the software is further operable when executed to map the access-token-reader identifier to a third-party application.
16. The media of claim 15 , wherein:
the third-party application maps to privacy settings configured by the user; and
the software is further operable when executed to allow the third-party application to access social-networking information of the user according to the privacy settings.
17. The media of claim 11 , wherein the software is further operable when executed to receive content from the third-party computing system over the federated-access session and post the content to a user-profile page of the user within the social-networking system.
18. The media of claim 11 , wherein the software is further operable when executed to receive, from the third-party computing system, a request over the federated-access session to debit a virtual currency account of the user.
19. The media of claim 11 , wherein the software is further operable when executed to stream social-networking information of the user over the federated-access session to the third-party computing system.
20. The media of claim 11 , wherein the software is further operable when executed to host an interactive communications session between the user and the social-networking system through the federated-access session.
21. A computing system of a social-networking system comprising:
one or more processors; and
a memory coupled to the processors comprising instructions executable by the processors, the processors being operable when executing the instructions to:
receive, from a third-party computing system, a request for federated access to social-networking information of a user of the social-networking system, wherein:
the request for federated access was initiated by a physical access token corresponding to a transaction performed by the user at a point-of-sale terminal and comprises an indication of one or more options associated with the social-networking system that may be selected by the user at the point-of-sale terminal; and
the social-networking system maintains:
information identifying one or more connections of the user to one or more other users;
a profile of the user comprising information associated with the user; and
one or more privacy or other configuration settings associated with the user;
determine, based on one or more of the privacy or other configuration settings, that the third-party computing system is authorized to receive information from the social-networking system associated with the user, wherein the request comprises information indicating that the transaction is directed to, at least in part, receiving by the user, at the third-party computer system, the information from the social-networking system; and
establish a federated-access session with the third-party computing system providing the third-party computing system federated access to the information associated with the user.
22. The computing system of claim 21 , wherein the request for federated access further comprises an access token generated by another third-party computing system.
23. The computing system of claim 21 , wherein the federated-access session has a time limit, after which the federated-access session expires.
24. The computing system of claim 21 , wherein:
the request for federated access further comprises an access-token-reader identifier; and
the processors are further operable when executing the instructions to map the access-token-reader identifier to access permissions associated with the user.
25. The computing system of claim 21 , wherein:
the request for federated access further comprises an access-token-reader identifier; and
the processors are further operable when executing the instructions to map the access-token-reader identifier to a third-party application.
26. The computing system of claim 25 , wherein:
the third-party application maps to privacy settings configured by the user; and
the processors are further operable when executing the instructions to allow the third-party application to access social-networking information of the user according to the privacy settings.
27. The computing system of claim 21 , wherein the processors are further operable when executing the instructions to receive content from the third-party computing system over the federated-access session and post the content to a user-profile page of the user within the social-networking system.
28. The computing system of claim 21 , wherein the processors are further operable when executing the instructions to receive, from the third-party computing system, a request over the federated-access session to debit a virtual currency account of the user.
29. The computing system of claim 21 , wherein the processors are further operable when executing the instructions to stream social-networking information of the user over the federated-access session to the third-party computing system.
30. The computing system of claim 21 , wherein the processors are further operable when executing the instructions to host an interactive communications session between the user and the social-networking system through the federated-access session.