More Choices, More Control: Extending Access Control by Meta-rights Reallocation

Online Social Networks (OSN) are platforms that let users build relationships by interacting with each other and adding objects. They differ from simple technical systems in having to satisfy social as well as technical requirements, so OSN access control is both more complex and more subtle than traditional. Currently, it is managed by local management of individual domains and local roles like friend. But making friend gives them rights, raising the issue of meta-rights, the right to issue a right. As user move from friend dyads to groups to communities, a systematic scheme to handle meta-rights (e.g. transferring, delegating, multiplying and dividing rights) is required. This paper outlines a general model to manage meta-rights for OSN in particular and socio-technical systems in general. The model´s validity derives from socio-technical design, where social requirements like ownership and fairness give technical axioms.