Patent ID: 7403925

Claim:
A method comprising: receiving an entitlement request from a user via a client seeking an entitlement permission; generating an entitlement profile corresponding to the user, the entitlement profile is based on the entitlement request; generating an entitlement criteria based on entitlement rules, wherein the entitlement rules are placed at a metadata repository; associating first metadata with the entitlement criteria to describe the entitlement criteria, and placing the entitlement criteria and the first metadata at the metadata repository; associating second metadata with the entitlement profile to describe the entitlement profile, and placing the entitlement profile and the second metadata at the metadata repository; retrieving the entitlement criteria, the first metadata, the entitlement profile, and the second metadata from the metadata repository; matching the entitlement profile and the second metadata with the entitlement criteria and the first metadata to determine whether the entitlement request is satisfied; granting the entitlement permission upon satisfaction of the entitlement rules by the entitlement request; generating an audit trail of entitlement events by tracking the entitlement events relating to the granting of the entitlement permission, the audit trail having entitlement-related information, the entitlement-related information having information relating to one or more of first users requesting the entitlement permission, second users receiving the entitlement permission, and third users receiving the entitlement permission and not receiving an access permission, the first users including the user, wherein the tracking of the entitlement events includes tracking one or more of trusted data sources, reviewing entitlement requests, entitlement permission upon changes in one or more of the entitlement rules, entitlement regulations, and user characteristics; and validating the granting of the entitlement permission by accessing the audit trail.