Journaling system with segregated data access
View Patent ↗A journaling system provides access to subsets of user information in a segregated fashion. This permits its users to define access settings for their user information thereby limiting which other users may access the user information. In one or more embodiments, the journaling system may include a server or other computing device and one or more storage devices used to store the user information, associated access settings, or both. The access settings may define particular criteria which must be met before a subset of user information may be accessed, and may identify particular users that may access the subset of user information.
1. A journaling system for controlling the association of information provided by different providers with different subsets of a collection of user information, comprising:
one or more communications devices configured to receive one or more user-designated access settings, each user-designated access setting associated with a subset of the collection, each user-designated access setting designating one or more providers who may associate content with the subset, wherein user-designated access settings associated with different subsets may designate different providers who may access said different subsets and provide content for association with said subset;
one or more data storage devices configured to receive first user information from a first provider granted access to a first subset and associate said first user information with said first subset, and receive second user information from a second provider granted access to a second subset and associate said second user information with said second subset, said first and second user information comprising electronically stored data in said data storage device;
one or more hardware processors configured to control the association of content with the subsets to those providers defined by said user-designated access settings by comparing information identifying a provider requesting access to one or more subsets to associate content therewith to the one or more user-designated access settings, wherein access to one or more of the one or more subsets for associating content therewith is granted only if said provider is designated by the one or more user-designated access settings.
2. The journaling system of claim 1 , wherein said collection comprises a website and said subsets comprise pages of said website.
3. The journaling system of claim 1 , wherein the user is a corporation and the providers comprise subsidiaries of the corporation.
4. The journaling system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more communications devices are configured to receive the one or more user-designated access settings from a user terminal.
5. The journaling system of claim 1 , wherein said first user information comprises information associated with a first journal of said first provider said second user information comprises information associated with a second journal of said second provider.
6. The journaling system of claim 5 , wherein said one or more storage devices store said information associated with said first journal and said information associated with said second journal.
7. The journaling system of claim 6 , wherein said first journal comprises a journal of a first corporate subsidiary and said second journal comprises a journal of a second corporate subsidiary.
8. The journaling system of claim 1 , wherein said one or more data storage devices store said user-designated access settings.
9. The journaling system of claim 1 , wherein said one or more processors are further configured to cause said the one or more communications devices to transmit the one or more subsets to which the provider is granted access.
10. The journaling system of claim 1 , wherein said one or more communications devices, one or more storage devices and one or more processors are associated with one or more servers.
11. The journaling system of claim 1 , wherein said first and second user information comprise one or more of text and images.
12. The journaling system of claim 1 , wherein said user-designated access settings designate, relative to each provider, the one or more subsets which the provider may view and the one or more subsets to which the provider may provide content.
13. The journaling system of claim 12 , wherein the user-designated access settings designate different access controls to view and provide content for different providers.
14. The journaling system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more communications devices are configured to receive the one or more user-designated access settings from a user terminal.
15. The journaling system of claim 1 , wherein said collection comprises a user's social media collection and said subsets comprise portions of said social media collection.
16. The journaling system of claim 1 , wherein said user-access settings are associated with a provider having a user name and wherein said first user information is associated with a user name of said first provider and said second user information is associated with a user name of said second provider.
17. A system for controlling the association of social media site content provided by different providers with different portions of a user's web-accessible social media journal, comprising:
one or more communications devices configured to receive one or more user-designated access settings, each user-designated access setting associated with different portions of the user's social media journal, each user-designated access setting designating one or more providers who may associate content with the portion of the user's social media journal, wherein user-designated access settings associated with different portions of the user's social media journal may designate different providers who may access said different portions and provide content for association with said portion;
one or more data storage devices configured to receive first user content from a first provider granted access to a first portion of the user's social media journal and associate said first user content with said first portion, and receive second user content from a second provider granted access to a second portion of the user's social media journal and associate said second user content with said second portion, said first and second user content comprising electronically stored data in said data storage device;
one or more hardware processors configured to control the association of content with the portions of the user's social media journal to those providers defined by said user-designated access settings by comparing information identifying a provider requesting access to one or more portions to associate content therewith to the one or more user-designated access settings, wherein access to one or more of the one or more portions for associating content therewith is granted only if said provider is designated by the one or more user-designated access settings.
18. A method for controlling the association of social media site content provided by different providers with different portions of a user's web-accessible social media journal, comprising:
receiving, via one or more communications devices at a social media server, one or more user-designated access settings, each user-designated access setting associated with different portions of the user's social media journal, each user-designated access setting designating one or more providers who may associate content with the portion of the user's social media journal, wherein user-designated access settings associated with different portions of the user's social media journal may designate different providers who may access said different portions and provide content for association with said portion;
storing, in a memory associated with said social media server, said one or more user-designated access settings;
receiving, at said social media server, requests by first and second providers to associate content with a portion of the user's social media journal;
comparing, by one or more hardware processors of said social media server, information identifying said first and second providers requesting access to one or more portions to associate content therewith to the one or more user-designated access settings;
when said first and second providers are not designated by the one or more user-designated access settings, preventing said first and second providers from associating content with said one or more portions of said user's social media journal; and
when said first and second providers are designated by the one or more user-designated access settings, receiving first user content from a first provider granted access to a first portion of the user's social media journal and associating said first user content with said first portion, and receiving second user content from a second provider granted access to a second portion of the user's social media journal and associate said second user content with said second portion, said first and second user content comprising electronically stored data in said data storage device associated with said social media server which is web-accessible.