Patent ID: 7333616

Claim:
A method for managing access to messages, the method comprising the computer-implemented steps of: a first client, generating a message key, encrypting a message with the message key to generate an encrypted message; a policy server generating and providing to the first client: a user key that is generated based upon a user key descriptor that includes user identification data that uniquely identifies the user associated with the first client, and a user recovery key that is generated based upon both a server recovery key and user identification data that uniquely identifies a user associated with the first client; the policy server generating and deleting the server recovery key in accordance with an encryption key management policy; the first client, generating an encrypted message key by encrypting the message key with at least the user recovery key and the user key, deleting the message key, transmitting the encrypted message and the encrypted message key from the first client to the second client; the second client transmitting the encrypted message key to the policy server; the policy server receiving the encrypted message key from the second client; the policy server decrypting the encrypted message key using both the user recovery key and the user key to recover the message key that was used to generate the encrypted message that was received by the second client from the first client; and providing the message key to the second client to enable the second client to decrypt the encrypted message and recover the message.