Collaborative information retrieval across a network of varying permissions
Searching data for a user includes searching a first set of data that is directly accessible to the user to provide a first set of search results, searching a second set of data that is not directly accessible to the user to provide a second set of search results, comparing the search results, and, if at least a portion of the second set of search results is better than the first set of search results, causing the portion to be provided to the user. Causing the portion to be provided to the user may include obtaining permission from an entity that controls permissions to the portion of the second set. The entity that controls permissions to the portion of the second set may be an owner of the portion. The first set of data may be determined based on credentials and sharing permissions of the user.
1. A method of searching data for a user, comprising:
searching, by a server of a cloud service, a first set of data that is directly accessible to the user to provide a first set of search results, wherein the first set of data is determined to be directly accessible to the user based on user access permissions for data in the first set of data;
searching, by the server of the cloud service, a second set of data that is not directly accessible to the user to provide a second set of search results, wherein the second set of data is determined to be not directly accessible to the user based on user access permissions for data in the second set of data;
comparing, by the server of the cloud service, a plurality of criteria for each result in the first sets of search results to the plurality of criteria for each result in the second set of search results;
determining, by the server of the cloud service, a value for each result in the first set of search results and each result in the second set of search results based on the comparing; and
in response to at least one result of the second set of search results having a higher determined value than at least one result the first set of search results, causing, by the server of the cloud service the at least one result of the second set of search results to be provided to a client device of the user.
2. A method, according to claim 1 , wherein causing the at least one result of the second set of search results to be provided to the client device of the user includes obtaining permission from an entity that controls permissions to the at least one result of the second set of data.
3. A method, according to claim 2 , wherein the entity that controls permissions to the second set of data is an owner of the second set of data.
4. A method, according to claim 2 , wherein the at least one result of the second set of search results is provided to the client device of the user only if system permissions allow sharing the second set of data with the user independent of any permission granted by the entity.
5. A method, according to claim 1 , wherein fragments of content units in some of the at least one result of the second set of search results are obfuscated before being provided to the client device of the user.
6. A method, according to claim 1 , wherein the first set of data is determined based on credentials and sharing permissions of the user.
7. A method, according to claim 1 , wherein the second data set includes at least one of: a full content repository of an organization of the user, data for other users in a network of users having a working relationship with the user, an ad hoc network of experts in a knowledge domain based on one or more prior requests of the user or/and based on retrieved results in the domain, or file repositories in workplace social networks.
8. A method, according to claim 7 , wherein the workplace social networks include at least one of: Slack, Yammer, or enterprise and employee clusters in the cloud storage service.
9. A method, according to claim 8 , wherein the cloud storage service is one of: Dropbox, Box, Amazon S3, Google Drive, and Microsoft Azure.
10. A method, according to claim 1 , wherein at least some of the first and second sets of data are provided in a cloud storage system.
11. A method, according to claim 10 , wherein the first set of data is logically separated from the second set of data using ownership and permissions of the data.
12. A method, according to claim 10 , wherein the user is a client of the cloud storage system.
13. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising a set of instructions stored therein which, when executed by a processor, causes the processor to search data for a user by:
searching a first set of data that is directly accessible to the user to provide a first set of search results, wherein the first set of data is determined to be directly accessible to the user based on user access permissions for data in the first set of data;
searching a second set of data that is not directly accessible to the user to provide a second set of search results, wherein the second set of data is determined to be not directly accessible to the user based on user access permissions for data in the second set of data;
comparing a plurality of criteria for each result in the first sets of search results to the plurality of criteria for each result in the second set of search results;
determining a value for each result in the first set of search results and each result in the second set of search results based on the comparing; and
in response to at least one result of the second set of search results having a higher determined value than at least one result the first set of search results, causing the at least one result of the second set of search results to be provided to a client device of the user.
14. A non-transitory computer readable medium, according to claim 13 , wherein causing the at least one result of the second set of search results to be provided to the client device of the user includes obtaining permission from an entity that controls permissions to the at least one result of the second set of data.
15. A non-transitory computer readable medium, according to claim 14 , wherein the entity that controls permissions to the second set of data is an owner of the second set of data.
16. A non-transitory computer readable medium, according to claim 14 , wherein the at least one result of the second set of search results is provided to the client device of the user only if system permissions allow sharing the second set of data with the user independent of any permission granted by the entity.
17. A non-transitory computer readable medium, according to claim 13 , wherein fragments of content units in some of the at least one result of the second set of search results are obfuscated before being provided to the client device of the user.
18. A non-transitory computer readable medium, according to claim 13 , wherein the first set of data is determined based on credentials and sharing permissions of the user.
19. A non-transitory computer readable medium, according to claim 13 , wherein the second data set includes at least one of: a full content repository of an organization of the user, data for other users in a network of users having a working relationship with the user, an ad hoc network of experts in a knowledge domain based on one or more prior requests of the user or/and based on retrieved results in the domain, or file repositories in workplace social networks.
20. A non-transitory computer readable medium, according to claim 19 , wherein the workplace social networks include at least one of: Slack, Yammer, or enterprise and employee clusters in a cloud storage service.
21. A non-transitory computer readable medium, according to claim 20 , wherein the cloud storage service is one of: Dropbox, Box, Amazon S3, Google Drive, and Microsoft Azure.
22. A non-transitory computer readable medium, according to claim 13 , wherein at least some of the first and second sets of data are provided in a cloud storage system.
23. A non-transitory computer readable medium, according to claim 22 , wherein the first set of data is logically separated from the second set of data using ownership and permissions of the data.
24. A non-transitory computer readable medium, according to claim 22 , wherein the user is a client of the cloud storage system.
25. A non-transitory computer readable medium, according to claim 13 , wherein the software is one of: pre-loaded in a mobile device, installed from an app store, and downloaded from a Web site.
26. A non-transitory computer readable medium, according to claim 25 , wherein the mobile device uses an operating system selected from the group consisting of: iOS, Android OS, Windows Phone OS, Blackberry OS and mobile versions of Linux OS.