Understanding ownership of contributed documents
As the issuer of a folder share you may allow the external user with whom you shared to add new documents into the shared folder. Such documents as referred to as contributed.
Contribution of documents by a share recipient is considered to be an operation in which the recipient is acting on behalf of the share issuer. This consideration results in the security of the document being adjusted to match as if the issuer created the document. The recipient still has the ability to revise the document for as long as the share exists.
In normal circumstances this means that the share issuer becomes the owner and has full control rights over the contributed document.
However, in the case where the same folder is shared with the same recipient by someone other than the original issuer, or when nested folders are shared, another share issuer might become the owner of the contributed document.
Ownership with multiple issuers and one external user
How does ownership work when multiple issuers grant document permission to upload documents on a folder to the same external user? Which internal user has ownership?
- Internal user 1 shares Folder A, granting the external user permission to upload documents to Folder A.
- Internal user 2 also Shares Folder A, granting the external user permission to upload documents to Folder A.
The owner of documents contributed in Folder A is determined by the order in which the external user responded to the share invitations. The issuer whose share invitation was accepted last becomes the owner of those documents.
Ownership with nested shared folders
In this scenario, two internal users grant an external user permission to upload documents to nested folders.
Internal user 1 shares Folder A, granting the external user permission to upload documents to Folder A.
Internal user 2 shares Folder B, which is nested underneath Folder A, granting the external user permission to upload documents to Folder B.
If the user adds a document to folder B, which internal users has ownership of the document? In this case, Internal user 2 has ownership. The issuer of a folder share that is closest in proximity to the filed-in folder gets ownership of any documents that are contributed in that folder.