SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR TEMPORARY OBFUSCATION DURING COLLABORATIVE COMMUNICATIONS

• US 20140208445A1
• Filed: 09/05/2013
• Published: 07/24/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 01/23/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: DeLuca, Lisa Seacat, Jang, Soobaek
• Granted Patent: US 9,100,373 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 726/30
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0428 wherein the data content is protected, e.g. by encrypting or encapsulating the payload
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/02 Protecting privacy or anonymity, e.g. protecting personally identifiable information [PII]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/63 Location-dependent; Proximity-dependent
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/12 Messaging; Mailboxes; Announcements

Abstract

Systems and methods for temporary obfuscation during collaborative communications are provided. A method for obfuscation during collaborative communications, comprises entering a message including content into a first messaging device, marking the content as sensitive, sending the message including the content via a network to a second messaging device, and obfuscating the marked content and displaying any remaining portions of the message on the second messaging device.

Claims

1. A system for obfuscation during collaborative communications, comprising:

a first messaging device and a second messaging device connected to each other via a network, wherein the first and second messaging devices each include;

a user interface and an input device through which a user of the messaging device is able to instruct the system to mark content of a message as sensitive; and

a content module capable of marking the content of the message as sensitive, and obfuscating the marked content, wherein the marked content is obfuscated on the messaging device which receives the message.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the first and second messaging devices each include a message analyzer module connected to the content module, wherein the message analyzer module is capable of analyzing the message to determine the presence of at least one of a graphic, meta data, a keyword or a key phrase.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein if the message analyzer module finds at least one of the graphic, meta data, keyword or key phrase, the message analyzer module outputs the finding to the content module, wherein the content module is capable of applying a flag to mark a part of the message corresponding to the at least one of the graphic, meta data, keyword or key phrase as sensitive.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the first and second messaging devices each include a preference rules module which is capable of outputting to the content module one or more predetermined preference rules that instruct that the message or a part of the message be marked as sensitive.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the predetermined preference rules are based on at least one of location, time, or people in proximity to the messaging devices.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the first and second messaging devices each include a detection module capable of determining at least one of a presence of a device in proximity to, a presence of a person in proximity to, or a location of each of the first and second messaging devices.

7. The system of claim 4, wherein the content module is capable of marking as sensitive and obfuscating the message or the part of the message based on the predetermined preference rules.

8. The system of claim 4, wherein, prior to obfuscation of the marked content on the messaging device which receives the message, the preference rule module performs a check to determine whether any preference rules have been implemented which may put conditions on whether the marked content is obfuscated.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein a user of the messaging device from which the message is sent provides details about the marked content via the input device, and wherein the details are transmitted via the network to a user of the messaging device which receives the message.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the marked content remains visible on the messaging device from which the message is sent.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the marked content is obfuscated on the messaging device from which the message is sent.

12. An article of manufacture comprising a computer readable storage medium comprising program code tangibly embodied thereon, which when executed by a computer, performs method steps for obfuscation during collaborative communications, the method steps comprising:

entering a message including content into a first messaging device;

marking the content as sensitive;

sending the message including the content via a network to a second messaging device; and

obfuscating the marked content and displaying any remaining portions of the message on the second messaging device.

13. An apparatus for obfuscation during collaborative communications, comprising:

a memory; and

a processor coupled to the memory and configured to execute code stored in the memory for;

entering a message including content into a first messaging device;

marking the content as sensitive;

sending the message including the content via a network to a second messaging device; and

obfuscating the marked content and displaying any remaining portions of the message on the second messaging device.