Patent ID: 8880905

Claim:
A computer-implemented method for processing metadata, comprising: storing a file received from a first user in a storage device of a data processing system, the file having private metadata encrypted by a secret key associated with a second user; storing a private metadata identifier in a predetermined storage location, indicating that the private metadata of the file has not been decrypted and indexed, wherein the private metadata identifier identifies the private metadata of the file and the second user; in response to an inquiry subsequently received from the second user, scanning the predetermined storage location to identify the private metadata identifier based on a user identifier of the second user extracted from the inquiry; transmitting the encrypted metadata identified by the private metadata identifier to the second user, wherein the private metadata is decrypted by the second user to recover decrypted metadata; and in response to the decrypted metadata received from the second user, indexing by a file system of the data processing system the decrypted metadata for the purpose of subsequent searches of at least one of the metadata and the file in the storage device.