Method and apparatus for secured digital video and access tracking

• US 20030233556A1
• Filed: 05/30/2002
• Published: 12/18/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 05/30/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Valtrus Innovations Limited (f/k/a Dolya Holdco 9 Limited) (Key Patent Innovations Limited)
• Original Assignee: Compaq Information Technologies Group LP (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: Neufeld, E. David, Angelo, Michael F.
• Granted Patent: US 7,472,283 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 713/186
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/6245 Protecting personal data, e.g. for financial or medical purposes
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2101 Auditing as a secondary aspect
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2209/608 Watermarking
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2209/88 Medical equipments
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/3231 Biological data, e.g. fingerprint, voice or retina network architectures or network communication protocols for supporting authentication of entities using biometrical features in a packet data network H04L63/0861
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/3247 involving digital signatures

Abstract

The specification discloses a system and related method for tracking access to digital information that involves combining biometric information of a person seeking access with the digital information and a digital signature. Each person who accesses the digital information has their biometric and digital signatures combined in this manner. Thus, the digital information itself reflects who has accessed the information. Where the digital information is a video, the combining of the biometric and digital signatures is done on a frame-by-frame basis.

Claims

1. A method of creating audit trails regarding access to digital information comprising:

providing a biometric of a person seeking access to the digital information;

creating a digital signature by the person seeking access based on the digital information; and

combining the biometric and the digital signature with the digital information.

2. The method as defined in claim 1 wherein the digital information is a streaming source, and wherein the creating and combining steps take place on an incremental basis within the streaming source.

3. The method as defined in claim 2 wherein the digital information is digital video, and wherein the creating and combining steps take place on a frame-by-frame basis.

4. The method as defined in claim 1 wherein creating a digital signature by the person seeking access based on the digital information further comprises:

calculating a one-way hash of the digital information to create a resultant; and

enciphering the resultant with a private key of the person seeking access to the digital information.

5. The method as defined in claim 4 wherein the calculating the one-way hash step further comprises calculating the one-way hash of the combination of the biometric and the digital information.

6. The method as defined in claim 1 wherein combining the biometric and the digital signature with the digital information further comprises:

including the biometric with the digital information; and

including the digital signature with the digital information.

7. The method as defined in claim 6 wherein the including steps further comprises appending the biometric and digital signature to the digital information.

8. The method as defined in claim 1 wherein combining the biometric and the digital signature with the digital information further comprises combining the biometric within the digital information using steganographic techniques.

9. The method as defined in claim 8 wherein combining the biometric within the digital information using steganographic techniques further comprises assigning an exclusive state for the biometric information.

10. The method as defined in claim 9 wherein assigning an exclusive state for the biometric information further comprises assigning an out-of-band color for the biometric.

11. The method as defined in claim 8 further comprising including the digital signature with the digital information.

12. The method as defined in claim 1 wherein providing a biometric of a person seeking access to the digital information further comprises providing fingerprint information of the person seeking access to the digital information.

13. The method as defined in claim 1 wherein providing biometric information of a person seeking access to the digital information further comprises providing iris scan information of the person seeking access to the digital information.

14. The method as defined in claim 1 wherein providing biometric information of a person seeking access to the digital information further comprises providing voice sample information of the person seeking access to the digital information.

15. A method comprising:

acquiring a digital image;

creating a digital signature by an acquiring machine operator based at least in part on the digital image; and

combining the digital image, a biometric of the acquiring machine operator, and the digital signature of the acquiring machine operator to create an image record.

16. The method as defined in claim 15 further comprising:

requesting access to the image record by a requestor;

verifying the requestor'"'"'s right to access the image record;

creating a digital signature of the requester based at least in part on the image record;

combining the image record, a biometric of the requester, and the digital signature of the requester to create an expanded image record; and

providing the expanded image record to the requesters.

17. The method as defined in claim 16 wherein creating a digital signature by an acquiring machine operator based at least in part on the digital image further comprises enciphering a one-way hash of the digital image using the a private key of the acquiring machine operator.

18. The method as defined in claim 16 wherein combining the digital image, a biometric of the acquiring machine operator, and the digital signature of the acquiring machine operator to create an image record further comprises:

appending the biometric of the acquiring machine operator to the digital image; and

appending the digital signature of the acquiring machine operator to the digital image.

19. The method as defined in claim 16 wherein combining the digital image, a biometric of the acquiring machine operator, and the digital signature of the acquiring machine operator further comprises integrating the biometric within the digital image using steganographic techniques.

20. The method as defined in claim 19 further comprising integrating the digital signature of the machine operator into the digital image using steganographic techniques.

21. The method as defined in claim 16 wherein verifying the requestor'"'"'s right to access the image record further comprises:

supplying a biometric of the requestor;

comparing the biometric supplied by the requestor to a previously verified biometric of the requester; and

allowing the requestor to obtain the expanded image record if the biometric supplied by the requester matches the previously verified biometric of the requestor.

22. The method as defined in claim 16 wherein creating a digital signature of the requestor based at least in part on the image record further comprises creating a digital signature by the requestor of a combined image record and biometric of the requestor.

23. The method as defined in claim 16 wherein combining the image record, a biometric of the requestor, and the digital signature of the requestor to create an expanded image record further comprises:

appending the biometric of the requestor to the image record; and

appending the digital signature of the requestor to the image record.

24. The method as defined in claim 16 wherein combining the image record, a biometric of the requester, and the digital signature of the requester to create an expanded image record further comprises integrating the biometric of the requestor within the image record using steganographic techniques.

25. The method as defined in claim 16 further comprising integrating the digital signature of the of the requester into the digital image using steganographic techniques.

26. The method as defined in claim 16 further comprising:

creating a digital signature by the acquiring machine based at least in part on the digital image; and

wherein the combining step further comprises combining the digital image, the digital signature by the acquiring machine, the biometric of the acquiring machine operator, and the digital signature of the acquiring machine operator to create the image record.

27. The method as defined in claim 16 wherein acquiring a digital image further comprises scanning a document to create the digital image.

28. The method as defined in claim 16 wherein acquiring a digital image further comprises taking an x-ray to create the digital image.

29. The method as defined in claim 16 wherein acquiring a digital image further comprises taking a magnetic resonance image (MRI) scan to create the digital image, and wherein the creating and combining steps take place on a frame-by-frame basis.

30. The method as defined in claim 16 wherein acquiring a digital image further comprises taking CT scan to create the digital image, and wherein the creating and combining steps take place on a frame-by-frame basis.

31. A structure comprising:

a computer system having a mass storage device; and

a digital file stored on the mass storage device, and wherein the digital file further comprises;

a digital image;

a biometric of a first person to whom access to the digital file has been granted; and

a digital signature of the first person.

32. The structure as defined in claim 31 wherein the digital file further comprises:

a biometric of a second person to whom access to the digital file has been granted; and

a digital signature of the second person.

33. The structure as defined in claim 31 wherein the digital file stored on the mass storage device of the computer system further comprises the biometric of the first person integrated within the digital image using steganographic techniques.

34. The structure as defined in claim 33 wherein the digital file stored on the mass storage device of the computer system further comprises the digital signature of the first person integrated within the digital image using steganographic techniques.

35. The structure as defined in claim 33 wherein the digital file stored on the mass storage device of the computer system further comprises the digital signature of the first person appended to the digital image.

36. The structure as defined in claim 33 wherein the digital file on the mass storage device further comprises the biometric of the second person integrated within the digital image using steganographic techniques.

37. The structure as defined in claim 36 wherein the digital file stored on the mass storage device further comprises the digital signature of the second person integrated within the digital image using steganographic techniques.

38. A method of creating audit trails regarding access to a digital medical record comprising:

providing a biometric of a person seeking access to the digital medical record;

creating a digital signature by the person seeking access based on the digital medical record; and

combining the biometric and the digital signature with the digital medical record.

39. The method as defined in claim 38 wherein creating a digital signature by the person seeking access based on the digital medical record further comprises:

calculating a one-way hash of the digital medical record to create a resultant; and

enciphering the resultant with a private key of the person seeking access to the digital medical record.

40. The method as defined in claim 39 wherein the calculating the one-way hash step further comprises calculating the one-way hash of the combination of the biometric and the digital medical record.

41. The method as defined in claim 38 wherein combining the biometric and the digital signature with the digital medical record further comprises:

including the biometric with the digital medical record; and

including the digital signature with the digital medical record.

42. The method as defined in claim 41 wherein the including steps further comprise appending the biometric and digital signature to the digital medical record.

43. The method as defined in claim 38 wherein combining the biometric and the digital signature with the digital medical record further comprises combining the biometric within the digital medical record using steganographic techniques.

44. The method as defined in claim 43 further comprising including the digital signature with the digital medical record.

45. The method as defined in claim 38 wherein providing a biometric of a person seeking access to the digital medical record further comprises providing fingerprint information of the person seeking access to the digital medical record.

46. The method as defined in claim 38 wherein providing biometric information of a person seeking access to the digital medical record further comprises providing iris scan information of the person seeking access to the digital medical record.

47. The method as defined in claim 38 wherein providing biometric information of a person seeking access to the digital medical record further comprises providing voice sample information of the person seeking access to the digital medical record.