Apple 'Safe Deposit Box' Patent Revealed Ahead of Mac OS X Lion

Patently Apple details a recent Apple patent application which describes a new Mac OS X feature called "Safe Deposit Box":

Apple's patent is about a safe deposit box for securing important user files. In one aspect, when a user drags-and-drops a file representation onto a safe deposit box icon, the file is secured. In another aspect, when a user selects the safe deposit box icon and verifies his or her identity, the user could access secured files through a safe deposit box window.

By dragging your important files into the "Safe Deposit Box", files could be automatically encrypted and hidden from access. Original copies would be securely deleted and even copied into the cloud for backup.

One of the key attributes or selling points of Apple's Safe Deposit Box Application or OS X feature is that your digital valuables could be stored "off site" or beyond the home computer to safeguard your digital valuables which could be something like a Will or Living Will, agreements, life insurance policies, home insurance policies, a simple home inventory list or video or perhaps something that's really valuable to most every iTunes fan: a copy of your iTunes Library.

There's no guarantee that Apple is planning on including this into Mac OS X Lion, but rumors have suggested that Apple is heavily investing in some sort of cloud strategy. Apple also plans to release Mac OS X Lion this summer, but has only given a small preview of some of the new features.