Patent ID: 8683553

Claim:
A trusted entity for use in a communication network, the communication network comprising an application service provider that provides one or more computer-based services to one or more subscribers, the trusted entity comprising: a computing device for receiving downloads of software applications, including: an access control rule determination means for determining an access control rule to be enforced against the application service provider making a request for information associated with a subscriber, the access control rule determined based on at least one of a subscriber-defined access policy and a system-defined access policy; a system-defined access policy determination means for determining the application service provider's rights to access information associated with the subscriber based on one or more of a trustworthiness rating of the application service provider, a level of integrity of the application service provider, and a level of integrity of the subscriber; a subscriber-defined access policy determination means for determining the application service provider's rights to access information associated with the subscriber based on at least the subscriber's preferences; a subscriber properties management means comprising: a subscription management portion managing an opt-in message and an opt-out message from the subscriber, wherein the opt-in message and the opt-out message is performed by either a direct mechanism or an indirect mechanism; a subscriber identity integrity determining portion determining a level of integrity in the subscriber's opt-in message; and a subscriber preferences management portion maintaining the subscriber's preferences; and an access control rule enforcement means for enforcing the access control rule against the application service provider.