Use PutObjectAcl with an AWS SDK or CLI

bool AwsDoc::S3::putObjectAcl(const Aws::String &bucketName, const Aws::String &objectKey, const Aws::String &ownerID,
                              const Aws::String &granteePermission, const Aws::String &granteeType,
                              const Aws::String &granteeID, const Aws::String &granteeEmailAddress,
                              const Aws::String &granteeURI, const Aws::S3::S3ClientConfiguration &clientConfig) {
    Aws::S3::S3Client s3Client(clientConfig);

    Aws::S3::Model::Owner owner;
    owner.SetID(ownerID);

    Aws::S3::Model::Grantee grantee;
    grantee.SetType(setGranteeType(granteeType));

    if (!granteeEmailAddress.empty()) {
        grantee.SetEmailAddress(granteeEmailAddress);
    }

    if (!granteeID.empty()) {
        grantee.SetID(granteeID);
    }

    if (!granteeURI.empty()) {
        grantee.SetURI(granteeURI);
    }

    Aws::S3::Model::Grant grant;
    grant.SetGrantee(grantee);
    grant.SetPermission(setGranteePermission(granteePermission));

    Aws::Vector<Aws::S3::Model::Grant> grants;
    grants.push_back(grant);

    Aws::S3::Model::AccessControlPolicy acp;
    acp.SetOwner(owner);
    acp.SetGrants(grants);

    Aws::S3::Model::PutObjectAclRequest request;
    request.SetAccessControlPolicy(acp);
    request.SetBucket(bucketName);
    request.SetKey(objectKey);

    Aws::S3::Model::PutObjectAclOutcome outcome =
            s3Client.PutObjectAcl(request);

    if (!outcome.IsSuccess()) {
        auto error = outcome.GetError();
        std::cerr << "Error: putObjectAcl: " << error.GetExceptionName()
                  << " - " << error.GetMessage() << std::endl;
    } else {
        std::cout << "Successfully added an ACL to the object '" << objectKey
                  << "' in the bucket '" << bucketName << "'." << std::endl;
    }

    return outcome.IsSuccess();
}

//! Routine which converts a human-readable string to a built-in type enumeration.
/*!
 \param access: Human readable string.
 \return Permission: Permission enumeration.
*/
Aws::S3::Model::Permission setGranteePermission(const Aws::String &access) {
    if (access == "FULL_CONTROL")
        return Aws::S3::Model::Permission::FULL_CONTROL;
    if (access == "WRITE")
        return Aws::S3::Model::Permission::WRITE;
    if (access == "READ")
        return Aws::S3::Model::Permission::READ;
    if (access == "WRITE_ACP")
        return Aws::S3::Model::Permission::WRITE_ACP;
    if (access == "READ_ACP")
        return Aws::S3::Model::Permission::READ_ACP;
    return Aws::S3::Model::Permission::NOT_SET;
}

//! Routine which converts a human-readable string to a built-in type enumeration.
/*!
 \param type: Human readable string.
 \return Type: Type enumeration.
*/
Aws::S3::Model::Type setGranteeType(const Aws::String &type) {
    if (type == "Amazon customer by email")
        return Aws::S3::Model::Type::AmazonCustomerByEmail;
    if (type == "Canonical user")
        return Aws::S3::Model::Type::CanonicalUser;
    if (type == "Group")
        return Aws::S3::Model::Type::Group;
    return Aws::S3::Model::Type::NOT_SET;
}

The following command grants full control to two AWS users (user1@example.com and user2@example.com) and read permission to everyone:

aws s3api put-object-acl --bucket amzn-s3-demo-bucket --key file.txt --grant-full-control emailaddress=user1@example.com,emailaddress=user2@example.com --grant-read uri=http://acs.amazonaws.com/groups/global/AllUsers

See http://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonS3/latest/API/RESTBucketPUTacl.html for details on custom ACLs (the s3api ACL commands, such as put-object-acl, use the same shorthand argument notation).

class ObjectWrapper:
    """Encapsulates S3 object actions."""

    def __init__(self, s3_object):
        """
        :param s3_object: A Boto3 Object resource. This is a high-level resource in Boto3
                          that wraps object actions in a class-like structure.
        """
        self.object = s3_object
        self.key = self.object.key


    def put_acl(self, email):
        """
        Applies an ACL to the object that grants read access to an AWS user identified
        by email address.

        :param email: The email address of the user to grant access.
        """
        try:
            acl = self.object.Acl()
            # Putting an ACL overwrites the existing ACL, so append new grants
            # if you want to preserve existing grants.
            grants = acl.grants if acl.grants else []
            grants.append(
                {
                    "Grantee": {"Type": "AmazonCustomerByEmail", "EmailAddress": email},
                    "Permission": "READ",
                }
            )
            acl.put(AccessControlPolicy={"Grants": grants, "Owner": acl.owner})
            logger.info("Granted read access to %s.", email)
        except ClientError:
            logger.exception("Couldn't add ACL to object '%s'.", self.object.key)
            raise