Patent ID: 8904503

Claim:
A computer-implemented method for providing access to data accounts within user profiles via cloud-based storage services, at least a portion of the method being performed by a computing device comprising at least one processor, the method comprising: identifying a user profile associated with a user of a cloud-based storage service; identifying a plurality of data accounts within the user profile associated with the user of the cloud-based storage service; authenticating a client-based application associated with the user with a data account within the user profile by: delegating authentication between the client-based application associated with the user and the data account within the user profile to a client-based application associated with an additional user of the cloud-based storage service; upon delegating the authentication: obtaining user credentials associated with the data account from the client-based application associated with the additional user of the cloud-based storage service; searching an authentication database associated with the cloud-based storage service for the user credentials obtained from the client-based application associated with the additional user; identifying the user credentials obtained from the client-based application associated with the additional user while searching the authentication database associated with the cloud-based storage service; upon identifying the user credentials while searching the authentication database, determining that the user credentials correspond to the data account within the user profile; detecting a request from the client-based application associated with the user of the cloud-based storage service to access at least a portion of data stored in the data account within the user profile; in response to detecting the request from the client-based application associated with the user, locating a unique account name that identifies the data account in the request; upon locating the unique account name that identifies the data account in the request, satisfying the request from the client-based application associated with the user to access the portion of data stored in the data account via the cloud-based storage service by: locating a unique encryption key that corresponds to the data account identified by the unique account name; decrypting the portion of data stored in the data account with the unique encryption key that corresponds to the data account; providing a decrypted version of the portion of data stored in the data account to the client-based application associated with the user via the cloud-based storage service.