Patent ID: 8566952

Claim:
A method of decrypting data, comprising: receiving, at a computer, a request for data that has been previously encrypted; determining, by the computer, whether the request has been granted sufficient permission to be decrypted, wherein the request has been granted sufficient permission to be decrypted when the request has at least one signature, and wherein the request has not been granted sufficient permission to be decrypted when the request does not have a signature; responsive to the request having been granted sufficient permission to be decrypted, the computer: decrypting the data, wherein decrypting the data comprises: using a first key to decrypt a second key, wherein the second key has been previously encrypted using the first key; and using the second key to decrypt the data, wherein the data has been previously encrypted using the second key; and providing the decrypted data over a network; responsive to the request not having been granted sufficient permission to be decrypted, the computer: retrieving a counter corresponding to at least one key that is used to decrypt the data and corresponding to an action performed by at least one user; and responsive to the value of the counter having a value relative to a threshold value: decrypting the data, wherein decrypting the data comprises: using the first key to decrypt the second key, wherein the second key has been previously encrypted using the first key, and using the second key to decrypt the data, wherein the data has been previously encrypted using the second key; providing the decrypted data over the network; and adjusting the value of the counter.