Patent ID: 8732481

Claim:
A non-transitory computer-usable storage medium having instructions embodied therein that when executed cause a computer system to perform a method for encrypting an object, said method comprising: creating a workflow order for said object; receiving public parameters from a key generation center at a computer associated with an object master; generating a public key, at said computer system, based on a user identifier and said public parameters, wherein said user identifier is comprised of user related information; encrypting said object using said public key such that said object cannot be opened without a private key corresponding to said public key, wherein said object is a composite document comprising multiple elements of documents of different formats, and wherein said private key is generated in response to a request from an authenticated user using said user identifier at said key generation center; and controlling access to said multiple elements of said object based on said workflow order such that an order in which workflow participants may access the object is automatically enforced.