Systems and methods for controlling access to objects within a file system utilizing data associated with those objects are disclosed. More specifically, in one embodiment access controls pertaining to a user may be specified in terms of tags which may be associated with an object, and a user's access to objects may be controlled based upon these tags. These tags may reflect the content of the object, or a grouping, category or another type of classification of the object and may be determined through the processing of the object. In particular, in one embodiment, metadata associated with an object may be classified and associated with classification tags associated with those classifications. A user's access to objects may then be specified through a set of classification tags, where the user may access objects associated with those classification tags.