Managing exchanges of sensitive data

1. A method of managing exchanges of sensitive data comprising:

establishing a secure connection across a network between a first application utilizing a first processing device and a second application utilizing a second processing device;

responsive to a service request from the first application, the service requiring a disclosure of a first set of sensitive data by the second application, the second application requesting a set of certified policy commitments of the first application in response to the service request;

responsive to receiving the set of certified policy commitments of the first application, the second application authenticating the set of certified policy commitments and determining acceptability of data handling policies included in the set of certified policy commitments, wherein the set of certified policy commitments of the first application includes data handling policies that the first application commits to utilize in handling and protecting the set of sensitive data of the second application; and

upon a positive authentication of the set of certified policy commitments and a positive determination of acceptability of the included data handling policies by the second application, providing the service including the disclosure of the first set of sensitive data from the second application through the secure connection;

wherein the first set of sensitive data can be provided by the second application to the first application pursuant to the set of certified policy commitments of the first application if the second application determines that the included data handling policies satisfy a set of predetermined policy requirements of the second application.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the first application is located at a first node and a first node identifier is provided with the set of certified policy commitments.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the first node identifier is stored in a memory and wherein multiple applications commonly share the first node identifier.

4. The method of claim 2 wherein the first node identifier is a public key.

5. The method of claim 4 further comprising challenging the first application to provide a response using a private key corresponding to the public key for authentication of the first application.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising requesting the first application to disclose a second set of sensitive data to the second application; responsive to receiving a request from the first application of a second set of certified policy commitments, providing the second set of certified policy commitments to the first application; and receiving the second set of sensitive data from the first the second application; wherein the second set of certified policy commitments of the second application includes data handling policies that the second application commits to utilize in handling and protecting the second set of sensitive data of the first application.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the predetermined set of policy requirements of the second application are selected from a standard set of policies.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the second application is located at a second node and a second node identifier is provided to verify the authenticity of the second node.

9. A computer usable program product comprising a non-transitory computer usable storage medium including computer usable code for use in managing exchanges of sensitive data, the computer usable program product comprising code for performing the steps of:

establishing a secure connection across a network between a first application utilizing a first processing device and a second application utilizing a second processing device;

responsive to a service request from the first application, the service requiring a disclosure of a first set of sensitive data by the second application, the second application requesting a set of certified policy commitments of the first application in response to the service request;

responsive to receiving the set of certified policy commitments of the first application, the second application authenticating the set of certified policy commitments and determining acceptability of data handling policies included in the set of certified policy commitments, wherein the set of certified policy commitments of the first application includes data handling policies that the first application commits to utilize in handling and protecting the set of sensitive data of the second application; and

upon a positive authentication of the set of certified policy commitments and a positive determination of acceptability of the included data handling policies by the second application, providing the service including the disclosure of the first set of sensitive data from the second application through the secure connection;

wherein the first set of sensitive data can be provided by the second application to the first application pursuant to the set of certified policy commitments of the first application if the second application determines that the included data handling policies satisfy a set of predetermined policy requirements of the second application.

10. The computer usable program product of claim 9 wherein the first application is located at a first node and a first node identifier is provided with the set of certified policy commitments.

11. The computer usable program product of claim 10 wherein the first node identifier is stored in a memory and wherein multiple applications commonly share the first node identifier.

12. The computer usable program product of claim 10 wherein the first node identifier is a public key.

13. The computer usable program product of claim 12 further comprising challenging the first application to provide a response using a private key corresponding to the public key for authentication of the first application.

14. The computer usable program product of claim 9 further comprising requesting the first application to disclose a second set of sensitive data to the second application; responsive to receiving a request from the first application of a second set of certified policy commitments, providing the second set of certified policy commitments to the first application; and receiving the second set of sensitive data from the first the second application; wherein the second set of certified policy commitments of the second application includes data handling policies that the second application commits to utilize in handling and protecting the second set of sensitive data of the first application.

15. The computer usable program product of claim 9 wherein the predetermined set of policy requirements of the second application are selected from a standard set of policies.

16. A data processing system for managing exchanges of sensitive data, the data processing system comprising:

a processing device; and

a memory storing program instructions which when executed by the processing device execute the steps of:

establishing a secure connection across a network between a first application utilizing a first processing device and a second application utilizing a second processing device;

responsive to a service request from the first application, the service requiring a disclosure of a first set of sensitive data by the second application, the second application requesting a set of certified policy commitments of the first application in response to the service request;

responsive to receiving the set of certified policy commitments of the first application, the second application authenticating the set of certified policy commitments and determining acceptability of data handling policies included in the set of certified policy commitments, wherein the set of certified policy commitments of the first application includes data handling policies that the first application commits to utilize in handling and protecting the set of sensitive data of the second application; and

upon a positive authentication of the set of certified policy commitments and a positive determination of acceptability of the included data handling policies by the second application, providing the service including the disclosure of the first set of sensitive data from the second application through the secure connection;

wherein the first set of sensitive data can be provided by the second application to the first application pursuant to the set of certified policy commitments of the first application if the second application determines that the included data handling policies satisfy a set of predetermined policy requirements of the second application.

17. The data processing system of claim 16 wherein the first application is located at a first node and a first node identifier is provided with the set of certified policy commitments.

18. The data processing system of claim 17 wherein the first node identifier is stored in a memory and wherein multiple applications commonly share the first node identifier.

19. The data processing system of claim 17 wherein the first node identifier is a public key.

20. The data processing system of claim 19 further comprising challenging the first application to provide a response using a private key corresponding to the public key for authentication of the first application.

21. The data processing system of claim 16 further comprising requesting the first application to disclose a second set of sensitive data to the second application; responsive to receiving a request from the first application of a second set of certified policy commitments, providing the second set of certified policy commitments to the first application; and receiving the second set of sensitive data from the first the second application; wherein the second set of certified policy commitments of the second application includes data handling policies that the second application commits to utilize in handling and protecting the second set of sensitive data of the first application.