Patent ID: 8484747

Claim:
A computer-implemented method comprising: storing, in an access control database, an access control list providing for access control based on a hierarchy of users within an organization; receiving, by a computing device, an electronic mail (email) message addressed from a sender to a recipient within said organization, said electronic mail (email) message comprising message segments directed to different persons, said different persons being associated in said electronic mail (email) message with tags, each of said tags only indicating one of a position and a level of a person within said organization, and said electronic mail (email) message further indicating that said sender has invoked access control on contents of said electronic mail (email) message; when said sender has invoked said access control on said contents of said electronic mail (email) message, automatically parsing, by said computing device, said contents of said electronic mail (email) message to delineate said message segments directed to said different persons by identifying any of said tags at a beginning of each of said message segments; automatically using, by said computing device, said access control list stored in said access control database to verify, based on said tags, access rights of said recipient with respect to each of said message segments; and transmitting, by said computing device, said electronic mail (email) message to said recipient such that, when said recipient accesses said electronic mail (email) message, said recipient is able to view all said message segments for which said recipient has said access rights and none of said message segments for which said recipient does not have said access rights.