Patent ID: 8307427

Claim:
A system for managing data, the system comprising: a network; a computer connected to the network, wherein the computer having a computer processor and computer-readable code stored on a computer-readable medium and executable by the computer processor, configured to determine whether the data is shareable by a data holder that is a business entity with one or more of a plurality of external entities; a database connected to the computer, the database configured to store one or more data characteristics of the data, the data characteristics including at least a sensitivity score for the data, wherein the sensitivity score is based at least in part upon data type, the database further configured to store one or more data characteristics of a first set of sensitive data of the data holder, where the data holder approves of sharing the first set of sensitive data with the plurality of external entities, the database further configured to store one or more data characteristics of a second set of sensitive data of the data holder, where the data holder disapproves of sharing the second set of sensitive data with the plurality of external entities the database further configured to store one or more entity characteristics of each of the plurality of external entities with which the data is shared, the entity characteristics including at least a risk-of-release rating for each of the plurality of external entities, wherein the risk-of-release rating is based at least in part upon business type, track record related to past security performance, and present security expertise, wherein the database is exclusively accessible by the data holder and the one or more data characteristics and the one or more entity characteristics are stored as a record that is uniquely identifiable in the database by the data holder and provides information to the data holder regarding which of the plurality of external entities the data is shared such that the information allows the data holder to identify one or more of the plurality of external entities as a source of a release of a shared data; and a data tracking module and a user interface controllable by the data tracking module configured to: allow a user to input one or more data characteristics of the shared data wherein the release of the shared data is not authorized by the data holder; in response to receiving the data characteristics of the shared data, search for the record of the shared data in the database; and identify one or more of the plurality of external entities as a source of a release of the shared data by identifying the external entities in the database with which the data holder previously approved sharing the shared data by comparing the sensitivity score of the shared data that was released without authorization with the risk-of-release rating for each of the one or more external entities in the database.