Methods and apparatus for automatically controlling access to stored data, a storage location of stored data, and/or ownership of stored data based on life event information

Abstract

A multi-purpose appliance for providing a wide variety of functions, e.g., home management, device management and synchronization, archiving and distributing electronic copies of photos and/or film images and/or other services such as video conferencing is described. In various embodiments data is stored in a digital vault. The owner of stored content can set access rules and/or grant access to other individuals in a group, e.g., a family group. Content can be and sometimes is organized into categories with each category corresponding to a different type of information, e.g., medical information, personal information, calendar information, legal records family photos, etc. An owner of content can specify their relationships to another individual, e.g., another family member and have access and ownership rules apply based on the relationship to the owner of the content and/or specific user specified rules. Content is automatically added to the digital store, e.g., in response to the content being scanned or entered electronically by the owner. In response to detecting a life event, e.g., based on information in a scanned document, ownership and/or access rights to content are automatically updated to reflect the effect of the detected life event. For example a marriage may result in an automatic change to joint ownership status and/or a death may result in a change of ownership while a child leaving a house and moving to an apartment may result in an automatic restriction from obtaining access to some household financial information while the child is still allowed to access family photos.