Creating distinct user spaces through user identifiers

Abstract

A method of, and a processing system for, creating distinct user spaces. In a platform originally intended to be a single user platform, for each of a plurality of users, a first application used by the user can be assigned a user identifier (UID) unique to the user and the first application. The first UID can be associated with user data exclusively associated with the user and the first application to create a multi-user platform.

1 . A non-transitory computer readable medium storing a program for creating distinct user accounts, the program comprising instructions operable to cause a processor in a computing device to perform a method comprising:
 establishing multiple user accounts on the computing device that are isolated from one another or are orthogonal to one another, wherein establishing the multiple user accounts comprises:
 assigning to a first application associated with a first user account a first user identifier (UID) unique to the first user account and the first application; 
 assigning to a second application associated with a second user account a second UID unique to the second user account and the second application; 
 assigning a first range of unique UIDs to the first user account, wherein the first unique UID assigned to the first user account and the first application is from the first range of unique UIDs; and 
 assigning a second range of unique UIDs to the second user account, wherein the second unique UID assigned to the second user account and the second application is from the second range of unique UIDs. 
   
     
     
         2 . The non-transitory computer readable medium according to  claim 1 ,
 wherein the first application comprises a first Android™ application and the second application comprises a second Android™ application, and   wherein the computing device comprises a mobile computing device.   
     
     
         3 . The non-transitory computer readable medium according to  claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises differentiating system functions by the unique UIDs assigned to the first application and the second application, and
 wherein differentiating the system functions by the unique UIDs assigned to the first application and the second application comprises appending the unique UIDs to the system functions.   
     
     
         4 . The non-transitory computer readable medium according to  claim 3 , wherein the first application and the second application are common to both the first user account and the second user account and the differentiated system functions enable the data associated with the first application and the first user account to persist in storage on the computing device without colliding with data associated with the second application and the second user account that is also persisted on the computing device. 
     
     
         5 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 1 , wherein assigning the first unique UID to the first application and the first user account and assigning the second unique UID to the second application and the second user account are performed in a serially incrementing manner. 
     
     
         6 . The non-transitory computer readable medium according to  claim 1 , wherein the first range of unique UIDs is a portion of a total number of available unique UIDs for the computing device and the second range of unique UIDs is another portion of the total number of available unique UIDs for the computing device. 
     
     
         7 . The non-transitory computer readable medium according to  claim 1 , wherein establishing the multiple user accounts further comprises allocating a third range of unique UIDs for system or administrative use. 
     
     
         8 . The non-transitory computer readable medium according to  claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises:
 removing the first application or the second application from the computing device; and   returning the unique UID assigned to the first application or the unique UID assigned to the second application to a pool of available UIDs that is associated with the computing device.   
     
     
         9 . The non-transitory computer readable medium according to  claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises encrypting data that is associated with the second application when such data is persistently stored. 
     
     
         10 . The non-transitory computer readable medium according to  claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises authenticating a user before permitting the user to access the second user account. 
     
     
         11 . The non-transitory computer readable medium according to  claim 1 , wherein establishing the multiple user accounts further comprises establishing a new file system by writing a list of support functions and adding an entry to a virtual filesystem switch (VFS) table. 
     
     
         12 . A mobile computing device, comprising:
 one or more persistent data storage elements;   an operating system stored on the one or more persistent data storage elements, the operating system associating unique user identifiers (UIDs) with applications so that an application is restricted to reading or modifying data created by the application; and   a processor configured to cause application data to be stored to the one or more persistent data storage elements, wherein the processor is further configured to:
 cause a first range of unique UIDs to be assigned to a first user account of the mobile computing device; 
 cause a first application associated with the first user account to be assigned a first UID unique to the first user account and the first application, wherein the first unique UID is from the first range of unique UIDs assigned to the first user account; 
 cause a second range of unique UIDs to be assigned to a second user account of the mobile computing device; and 
 cause a second application associated with the second user account to be assigned a second UID unique to the second user account and the second application, wherein the second unique UID is from the second range of unique UIDs assigned to the second user account; 
   wherein assignment of the first and second range of unique UIDs enables application data associated with the first user account that is stored on the one or more persistent data storage elements to be isolated from application data associated with the second user account that is stored on the one or more persistent data storage elements.   
     
     
         13 . The mobile computing device according to  claim 12 , further comprising an encryption engine that is configured to selectively encrypt the application data associated with the second user account. 
     
     
         14 . The mobile computing device according to  claim 12 , wherein the processor is further configured to execute an authentication module to cause an authentication to be performed with respect to a user of the second user account. 
     
     
         15 . The mobile computing device according to  claim 12 , wherein the processor is further configured to cause a differentiation of system functions based on the unique UIDs assigned to the first and second applications. 
     
     
         16 . The mobile computing device according to  claim 15 , wherein the processor is further configured to cause the differentiation of system functions based on the unique UIDs assigned to the first and second applications by appending the unique UIDs of the first and second applications to system functions respectively associated with the first and second applications. 
     
     
         17 . The mobile computing device according to  claim 12 , wherein the operating system comprises the Android™ mobile operating system. 
     
     
         18 . A mobile computing device, comprising:
 one or more persistent data storage elements; and   a processor configured to cause application data to be stored to the one or more persistent data storage elements, wherein the processor is further configured to:
 cause a first range of unique user identifiers (UIDs) to be assigned to a first user account of the mobile computing device; 
 cause a first Android™ application associated with the first user account to be assigned a first UID unique to the first user account and the first Android™ application, wherein the first unique UID is from the first range of unique UIDs assigned to the first user account; 
 cause a second range of unique UIDs to be assigned to a second user account of the mobile computing device; and 
   cause a second Android™ application associated with the second user account to be assigned a second UID unique to the second user account and the second Android™ application, wherein the second unique UID is from the second range of unique UIDs assigned to the second user account;   wherein assignment of the first and second range of unique UIDs enables application data associated with the first user account that is stored on the one or more persistent data storage elements to be isolated from application data associated with the second user account that is stored on the one or more persistent data storage elements.   
     
     
         19 . The non-transitory computer readable medium according to  claim 1 , wherein the program is compatible with the Android™ mobile operating system. 
     
     
         20 . The non-transitory computer readable medium according to  claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises executing the Android™ operating system.