	US 12,326,956 B2
	Method and system of providing access to documents stored in personal storage mediums
David Mowatt, Dublin (IE); and David Ahs, Dublin (IE)
Assigned to Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC, Redmond, WA (US)
Filed by Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC, Redmond, WA (US)
Filed on Jul. 1, 2024, as Appl. No. 18/760,945.
Application 18/760,945 is a continuation of application No. 17/731,045, filed on Apr. 27, 2022, granted, now 12,045,360.
Prior Publication US 2024/0354435 A1, Oct. 24, 2024
This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.
Int. Cl. G06F 21/62 (2013.01)

CPC G06F 21/6218 (2013.01)

20 Claims

7. A method for providing access to data stored in a personal storage medium of a first user comprising:

receiving from a first client device associated with a first user and over a communication network, consent for access to one or more of the first user's documents, the one or more of the first user's documents being stored in a personal storage medium of the first user, the consent including a setting to select whether permission is granted to access the one or more of the first user's documents when the first user is offline;

storing information associated with the consent in a consent store;

creating search indices for the one or more of the first user's documents via an index service;

determining that the first user has not granted permission to access the one or more of the first user's documents when the first user is offline;

upon determining that the first user has not granted permission to access the one or more of the first user's documents when the first user is offline, storing the created search indices in an index store of the personal storage medium of the first user;

receiving from a searching entity, a search query for searching for data, the search query being received at a query service associated with an access management system;

determining that the data is stored in the personal storage medium of the first user;

upon determining that the data is stored in the personal storage medium of the first user, transmitting, from the query service associated with the access management system, a request to the consent store to determine whether the first user has consented to provide access to the data to the searching entity and to determine whether the first user has consented to provide access to the data when the first user is offline;

receiving over the communication network a confirmation from the consent store that the first user has consented to provide access to the data to the searching entity and the first user has not provided consent to access the data when the first user is offline;

determining that the first user is offline; and

upon determining that the first user is offline, providing, via the query service associated with the access management system to the searching entity a notification that the personal storage medium of the first user is not available for searching.