Event-triggered release through third party of pre-encrypted digital data from data owner to data assignee
A future proof method and system for securely transferring digital data from a data owner to a data assignee through a third party involving securely registering the data owner possessing the digital data with the third party and securely predefining to the third party a trigger event associated with a data assignee, registering the data assignee with the third party, receiving encrypted digital data and an encrypted trigger event associated with the data assignee transmitted from the data owner to the third party, and securely transferring and releasing the digital data to the at least one data assignee by the third party upon validation by the third party of the occurrence of the trigger event in such a manner that digital data can be used by data assignee on data assignee system.
1. A method for securely transferring digital data from a data owner to a data assignee through a third party comprising:
receiving, from the data assignee by a server associated with the third party, a public key of the data assignee;
sending, from the server associated with the third party to the data owner, the public key of the data assignee and a public key of the third party;
receiving by the server associated with the third party from the data owner:
a data description record describing software tools and environments for data viewing and software execution, the data description record comprising file format information corresponding to the digital data and system and application information corresponding to a computing environment necessary to assure proper viewing or execution of the digital data, the data description record encrypted with the public key of the third party;
a trigger event information associated with the data assignee, the trigger event information encrypted with the public key of the third party; and
the digital data encrypted with the public key of the data assignee;
maintaining, by the server associated with the third party, software applications and environments for proper viewing or execution of the digital data in accordance with the data description record;
recognizing, by the server associated with the third party, the occurrence of the trigger event associated with the data assignee; and
sending, from the server associated with the third party to the data assignee after recognizing the occurrence of the trigger, the digital data encrypted with the public key of the data assignee and the software applications and environments necessary for proper viewing or execution of the digital data.
2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
registering the data owner with the third party; and
registering the data assignee with the third party.
3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:
transmitting to the data owner a notice of successful registration of the data assignee upon registering the data assignee.
4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
storing the public key of the data assignee.
5. A system for securely transferring digital data from a data owner to a data assignee through a third party, the system comprising:
one or more computer processors; and
a non-transitory computer-readable storage device communicatively coupled to the one or more computer processors, wherein the storage device stores instructions that when executed cause at least some of the one or more computer processors to perform operations comprising:
receive a public key of the data assignee from the data assignee;
send the public key of the data assignee and a public key of the third party to the data owner;
receive from the data owner:
a data description record describing software tools and environments for data viewing and software execution, the data description record comprising file format information corresponding to the digital data and system and application information corresponding to a computing environment necessary to assure proper viewing or execution of the digital data, the data description record encrypted with the public key of the third party;
a trigger event information associated with the data assignee, the trigger event information encrypted with the public key of the third party; and
the data encrypted with the public key of the data assignee;
maintain software applications and environments for proper viewing or execution of the digital data in accordance with the data description record;
recognize, by the third party, an occurrence of the trigger event corresponding to the trigger event information; and
send, to the data assignee after recognizing the occurrence of the trigger, the digital data encrypted with the public key of the data assignee and the software applications and environments necessary for proper viewing or execution of the digital data.
6. The system of claim 5 , wherein the instructions further comprise instructions that when executed cause at least some of the one or more hardware processors to:
register the data owner with the third party; and
register the data assignee with the third party.
7. A non-transitory computer-readable storage device with computer-executable instructions stored thereon that, when executed by one or more computer processors, cause the one or more computer processors to perform operations comprising:
receive a public key of the data assignee from the data assignee;
send the public key of the data assignee and a public key of the third party to the data owner;
receive from the data owner:
a data description record describing software tools and environments for data viewing and software execution, the data description record comprising file format information corresponding to the digital data and system and application information corresponding to a computing environment necessary to assure proper viewing or execution of the digital data, the data description record encrypted with the public key of the third party;
a trigger event information associated with the data assignee, the trigger event information encrypted with the public key of the third party; and
the data encrypted with the public key of the data assignee;
maintain software applications and environments for proper viewing or execution of the digital data in accordance with the data description record;
recognize, by the third party, an occurrence of the trigger event corresponding to the trigger event information; and
send, to the data assignee after recognizing the occurrence of the trigger, the digital data encrypted with the public key of the data assignee and the software applications and environments necessary for proper viewing or execution of the digital data.
8. The non-transitory computer-readable storage device of claim 7 , further comprising further computer-executable instructions for receiving a notice of successful receipt of the digital data from the third party.
9. The non-transitory computer-readable storage device of claim 8 , further comprising further computer-executable instructions for deleting the digital data upon receiving the notice of successful receipt.
10. The non-transitory computer-readable storage device of claim 7 , further comprising further computer-executable instructions for deleting the trigger event information after sending the encrypted trigger event information to the third party.
11. The non-transitory computer-readable storage device of claim 7 , further comprising further computer-executable instructions for sending an additional encrypted trigger event information to the third party.
12. The non-transitory computer-readable storage device of claim 7 , further comprising further computer-executable instructions for:
modifying the trigger event information;
encrypting the modified trigger event information using the public key of the third party; and
sending the encrypted modified trigger event information to the third party.
13. The non-transitory computer-readable storage device of claim 7 , further comprising further computer-executable instructions for:
receiving a notice of unsuccessful receipt of the encrypted trigger event information from the third party.
14. The non-transitory computer-readable storage device of claim 7 , further comprising further computer-executable instructions for:
receiving a notice of unsuccessful validation of a trigger event from the third party.
15. The non-transitory computer-readable storage device of claim 7 , further comprising further computer-executable instructions for:
receiving a notice of successful validation of a trigger event from the third party.