US Patent 10122707 User impersonation/delegation in a token-based authentication system

A “trusted service” establishes a trust relationship with an identity provider and interacts with the identity provider over a trusted connection. The trusted service acquires a token from the identity provider for a given user (or set of users) without having to present the user's credentials. The trusted service then uses this token (e.g., directly, by invoking an API, by acquiring another token, or the like) to access and obtain a cloud service on a user's behalf even in the user's absence. This approach enables background services to perform operations within a hosted session (e.g., via OAuth-based APIs) without presenting user credentials or even having the user present.