Patent ID: 8464360

Claim:
An information processing apparatus that is accessible from an external terminal device, comprising: a data storage section that is provided with a plurality of storing areas to each of which an accessing operation is restricted, and which are correlated to plural sets of first identification information, being inherent to external terminal devices to be used by access-authorized persons, respectively; a first acquiring section to acquire second identification information inherent to one of the external terminal devices from said one of the external terminal devices concerned; a second acquiring section to acquire positional information of one of the access-authorized persons, being correlated to one of the storing areas, from an apparatus other than said one of the external terminal devices; and a control section that determines whether or not the accessing operation for accessing to said one of the storing areas from said one of the external terminal devices should be allowed, and then, controls the accessing operation based on a determined result thereof; wherein, when a current operator tries to access a first storing area among the plurality of storing areas from a specific external terminal device, being any one of the external terminal devices, the control section transmits a message for requesting the current operator to input authentication information so as to send the authentication information inputted by the current operator back to the control section; and wherein, when the authentication information, inputted by the current operator currently operating the specific external terminal device, coincides with predetermined authentication information, the control section allows the current operator to conduct the accessing operation from the specific external terminal device, in response to facts that the second identification information, acquired from the specific external terminal device by the first acquiring section, coincides with first identification information correlated to the first storing areas, and the positional information of the access-authorized person correlated to the first storing area, which is acquired by the second acquiring section from the apparatus other than the specific external terminal device, fulfills a predetermined condition; wherein the positional information represents whether the access-authorized person is present or absent in a site into which the specific external terminal device is installed.