»Secure working in Web 2.0 – fully synchronised editing of encrypted documents«

Collaborative working, by which is meant more than one person being able to work on the same document which has been saved in the Cloud, is part of the new working environment of the digital society.

Protection of confidentiality in the Web 2.0

The confidentiality of documents is often of key importance: for example, the files belonging to a team of lawyers who are working on the takeover of a company or on a difficult piece of litigation, medical records or industrial secrets – in this era of the Cloud or rather of Web 2.0, confidentiality must be protected. The preferred method of achieving this is the encryption of documents.

Encryption and collaborative working

It does not currently make practical sense to use encryption where people wish to work collaboratively as the modern methods of encryption would result in excessively large quantities of data being produced.

The solution: new technology for encrypted collaborative working. The aim of the project is to develop an internet-based application which, on the basis of XML Encryption, enables synchronised, simultaneous editing of encrypted documents. Only the encrypted documents themselves will be saved on the web server with decryption and re-encryption occurring only in the internet browser.

Collaborative working and the law

The protection of confidentiality is comprehensively regulated by law. Each piece of technology which processes sensitive data in the Cloud must adhere to legal requirements.

The project is striving to develop a legally sound solution for collaborative working. It aims to determine the legal framework for confidential collaborative editing and explain how the solution developed by this project is compatible with the relevant legal requirements.