METHODS, SYSTEMS, AND DEVICES FOR HANDLING IMAGE DATA FROM CAPTURED IMAGES

• US 20150106623A1
• Filed: 10/16/2013
• Published: 04/16/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 10/10/2013
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Elwha LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: Elwha LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Inventors: Holman, Pablos, Hyde, Roderick A., Levien, Royce A., Lord, Richard T., Lord, Robert W., Malamud, Mark A.
• Application Number:
  US14/055,471
• Publication Number:
  US 20150106623A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 713/171
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2209/24 Key scheduling, i.e. generating round keys or sub-keys for block encryption
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0428 wherein the data content is protected, e.g. by encrypting or encapsulating the payload
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0457 wherein the sending and receiving network entities apply dynamic encryption, e.g. stream encryption cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for stream encryption H04L9/065
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/14 using a plurality of keys or algorithms
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/03 Protecting confidentiality, e.g. by encryption
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/33 using wearable devices, e.g. using a smartwatch or smart-glasses
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/65 Environment-dependent, e.g. using captured environmental data

Abstract

Computationally implemented methods and systems include acquiring an image, wherein said image includes at least one representation of a feature of at least one entity, detecting a presence of a privacy beacon in the acquired image, wherein further image process operation on image data unrelated to detection of the presence of the privacy beacon is avoided prior to encryption of the acquired image data, said privacy beacon associated with the at least one entity, and encrypting the acquired image, through use of a unique device encryption key that is unique to a particular device. In addition to the foregoing, other aspects are described in the claims, drawings, and text.

Claims

1. A computationally-implemented method, comprising:

acquiring an image, wherein said image includes at least one representation of a feature of at least one entity;

detecting a presence of a privacy beacon in the acquired image, wherein further image process operation on image data unrelated to detection of the presence of the privacy beacon is avoided prior to encryption of the acquired image data, said privacy beacon associated with the at least one entity;

encrypting the acquired image, through use of a unique device encryption key that is unique to a particular device; and

facilitating transmission of the encrypted image and privacy beacon data associated with the privacy beacon to a location configured to perform one or more processes on one or more of the encrypted image and the privacy beacon data.

8. The computationally-implemented method of claim 1, wherein said acquiring an image, wherein said image includes at least one representation of a feature of at least one entity comprises:

capturing an image through use of a wearable computer, wherein said image includes at least one representation of the feature of at least one entity.

9. The computationally-implemented method of claim 1, wherein said acquiring an image, wherein said image includes at least one representation of a feature of at least one entity comprises:

capturing the image through use of a wearable computer, wherein said image includes at least one representation of the feature of at least one entity, and wherein the image is captured without knowledge of the at least one entity.

10. The computationally-implemented method of claim 1, wherein said acquiring an image, wherein said image includes at least one representation of a feature of at least one entity comprises:

acquiring an image that includes text, wherein said image includes one or more words that are a feature of the text.

11. The computationally-implemented method of claim 1, wherein said acquiring an image, wherein said image includes at least one representation of a feature of at least one entity comprises:

receiving optical data that contains an image, wherein said image includes at least one representation of a feature of at least one entity.

14. The computationally-implemented method of claim 1, wherein said detecting a presence of a privacy beacon in the acquired image, wherein further image process operation on image data unrelated to detection of the presence of the privacy beacon is avoided prior to encryption of the acquired image data, said privacy beacon associated with the at least one entity comprises:

detecting a presence of a detectable marker associated with the at least one entity in the acquired image, wherein further image process operation on image data unrelated to detection of the presence of the detectable marker is avoided prior to encryption of the acquired image data.

15. The computationally-implemented method of claim 14, wherein said detecting a presence of a detectable marker associated with the at least one entity in the acquired image, wherein further image process operation on image data unrelated to detection of the presence of the detectable marker is avoided prior to encryption of the acquired image data comprises:

detecting a presence of an optically-detectable marker associated with the at least one entity in the acquired image, wherein further image process operation on image data unrelated to detection of the presence of the optically-detectable marker is avoided prior to encryption of the acquired image data.

21. The computationally-implemented method of claim 1, wherein said detecting a presence of a privacy beacon in the acquired image, wherein further image process operation on image data unrelated to detection of the presence of the privacy beacon is avoided prior to encryption of the acquired image data, said privacy beacon associated with the at least one entity comprises:

performing one or more image process operations on the acquired image to detect the presence of the privacy beacon associated with the at least one entity in the acquired image; and

preventing one or more image process operations that are unrelated to the detection of the presence of the privacy beacon associated with the at least one entity in the acquired image until the acquired image data is encrypted.

22. The computationally-implemented method of claim 21, wherein said preventing one or more image process operations that are unrelated to the detection of the presence of the privacy beacon associated with the at least one entity in the acquired image until the acquired image data is encrypted comprises:

denying access to one or more image process operations that are unrelated to the detection of the presence of the privacy beacon associated with the at least one entity in the acquired image.

25. The computationally-implemented method of claim 1, wherein said detecting a presence of a privacy beacon in the acquired image, wherein further image process operation on image data unrelated to detection of the presence of the privacy beacon is avoided prior to encryption of the acquired image data, said privacy beacon associated with the at least one entity comprises:

detecting the presence of the privacy beacon associated with the at least one entity in the acquired image without storing the acquired image in a memory that is accessible to one or more processes that are unrelated to the detection of the presence of the privacy beacon.

26. The computationally-implemented method of claim 1, wherein said detecting a presence of a privacy beacon in the acquired image, wherein further image process operation on image data unrelated to detection of the presence of the privacy beacon is avoided prior to encryption of the acquired image data, said privacy beacon associated with the at least one entity comprises:

performing one or more image process operations on the acquired image to detect the presence of the privacy beacon associated with the at least one entity in the acquired image; and

executing said encrypting the acquired image step immediately after execution of the one or more image process operations on the acquired image to detect the presence of the privacy beacon.

27. The computationally-implemented method of claim 1, wherein said detecting a presence of a privacy beacon in the acquired image, wherein further image process operation on image data unrelated to detection of the presence of the privacy beacon is avoided prior to encryption of the acquired image data, said privacy beacon associated with the at least one entity comprises:

transmitting the acquired image data to a dedicated component configured to detect the presence of the privacy beacon associated with the at least one entity in the acquired image; and

preventing access to the acquired image data in unencrypted format.

29. The computationally-implemented method of claim 27, wherein said transmitting the acquired image data to a dedicated component configured to detect the presence of the privacy beacon associated with the at least one entity in the acquired image comprises:

transmitting the acquired image data to a dedicated component configured to detect the presence of the privacy beacon associated with the at least one entity in the acquired image;

generating a binary response regarding whether the privacy beacon is present in the acquired image data; and

destroying the transmitted image data at the dedicated component.

30. The computationally-implemented method of claim 1, wherein said detecting a presence of a privacy beacon in the acquired image, wherein further image process operation on image data unrelated to detection of the presence of the privacy beacon is avoided prior to encryption of the acquired image data, said privacy beacon associated with the at least one entity comprises:

converting captured light data into digital image data;

performing one or more digital image processes on the digital image data to detect the presence of the privacy beacon in the acquired image data; and

preventing access to one or more other modules of an image capture device until the acquired image data is encrypted.

31. The computationally-implemented method of claim 30, wherein said performing one or more digital image processes on the digital image data to detect the presence of the privacy beacon in the acquired image data comprises:

performing one or more digital image processes to generate a binary result in regard to a presence of the privacy beacon associated with the at least one entity in the acquired image; and

deleting the unencrypted image data used to perform the one or more digital image processes to generate the binary result in response to notification that the image data has been encrypted.

32. The computationally-implemented method of claim 1, wherein said detecting a presence of a privacy beacon in the acquired image, wherein further image process operation on image data unrelated to detection of the presence of the privacy beacon is avoided prior to encryption of the acquired image data, said privacy beacon associated with the at least one entity comprises:

splitting the acquired image data into first optical image data and second optical image data through use of an optical splitter;

detecting a privacy beacon in the first optical image data through an optical image process; and

converting the second optical image data into digital image data.

35. The computationally-implemented method of claim 32, wherein said detecting a privacy beacon in the first optical image data through an optical image process comprises:

applying at least one filter to the optical image data, said filter configured to filter for one or more privacy beacons; and

detecting the privacy beacon in the filtered optical image data.

36. The computationally-implemented method of claim 32, wherein said converting the second optical image data into digital image data comprises:

converting the second optical image data into digital image data upon receipt of the second optical image data; and

transferring the digital image data for encryption without performance of a process on the digital image data prior to encryption.

37. The computationally-implemented method of claim 1, wherein said detecting a presence of a privacy beacon in the acquired image, wherein further image process operation on image data unrelated to detection of the presence of the privacy beacon is avoided prior to encryption of the acquired image data, said privacy beacon associated with the at least one entity comprises:

detecting the presence of the privacy beacon in acquired optical image data, wherein further image process operation on the optical image data unrelated to detection of the presence of the privacy beacon is avoided prior to conversion of the optical image data into digital image data for encryption.

38. The computationally-implemented method of claim 1, wherein said detecting a presence of a privacy beacon in the acquired image, wherein further image process operation on image data unrelated to detection of the presence of the privacy beacon is avoided prior to encryption of the acquired image data, said privacy beacon associated with the at least one entity comprises:

receiving acquired optical image data; and

performing one or more optical operations on the optical image data to detect the privacy beacon in the acquired optical image data.

39. The computationally-implemented method of claim 38, wherein said performing one or more optical operations on the optical image data to detect the privacy beacon in the acquired optical image data comprises:

performing a wave transformation on the optical image data through use of an optical component; and

performing at least one optical correlation with the transformed optical image data and a reference data.

40. The computationally-implemented method of claim 38, wherein said performing one or more optical operations on the optical image data to detect the privacy beacon in the acquired optical image data comprises:

performing at least one transformation on the optical image data;

executing at least one optical correlation with the transformed optical image data and a reference data; and

generating a binary result with regard to a presence of the privacy beacon based on the executed at least one optical correlation.

41. The computationally-implemented method of claim 38, wherein said performing one or more optical operations on the optical image data to detect the privacy beacon in the acquired optical image data comprises:

generating a binary result with regard to a presence of the privacy beacon based on one or more optical operations performed on the optical image data; and

transmitting the optical image data to an optical-to-digital converter configured to convert the optical image data to digital image data.

46. The computationally-implemented method of claim 1, wherein said encrypting the acquired image, through use of a unique device encryption key that is unique to a particular device comprises:

encrypting the acquired image data, through use of a unique device encryption key that is stored on a permanent memory of the particular device.

47. The computationally-implemented method of claim 1, wherein said encrypting the acquired image, through use of a unique device encryption key that is unique to a particular device comprises:

retrieving the unique device encryption key that is unique to the particular device; and

encrypting the acquired image through use of the unique device encryption key.

51. The computationally-implemented method of claim 1, wherein said encrypting the acquired image, through use of a unique device encryption key that is unique to a particular device comprises:

generating the unique device encryption key that is unique to the particular device; and

encrypting the acquired image through use of the generated unique device encryption key.

52. The computationally-implemented method of claim 51, wherein said generating the unique device encryption key that is unique to the particular device comprises:

generating the unique device encryption key at least partly based on a unique device identifier.

56. The computationally-implemented method of claim 1, wherein said encrypting the acquired image, through use of a unique device encryption key that is unique to a particular device comprises:

receiving the acquired image data directly after the privacy beacon detection; and

encrypting the directly received image, through use of the unique device encryption key that is unique to the particular device.

57. The computationally-implemented method of claim 1, wherein said encrypting the acquired image, through use of a unique device encryption key that is unique to a particular device comprises:

receiving the acquired image data directly from an image capturing component; and

encrypting the received acquired image, through use of the unique device encryption key that is unique to the particular device.

58. The computationally-implemented method of claim 1, wherein said facilitating transmission of the encrypted image and privacy beacon data associated with the privacy beacon to a location configured to perform one or more processes on one or more of the encrypted image and the privacy beacon data comprises:

transmitting the encrypted image and the privacy beacon data associated with the privacy beacon to a location configured to perform one or more processes on one or more of the encrypted image and the privacy beacon data.

59. The computationally-implemented method of claim 1, wherein said facilitating transmission of the encrypted image and privacy beacon data associated with the privacy beacon to a location configured to perform one or more processes on one or more of the encrypted image and the privacy beacon data comprises:

transmitting the encrypted image to the location configured to perform one or more processes; and

transmitting the privacy beacon data associated with the privacy beacon to the location configured to perform one or more processes.

60. The computationally-implemented method of claim 59, wherein said transmitting the privacy beacon data associated with the privacy beacon to the location configured to perform one or more processes comprises:

acquiring data that corresponds to a detection of the privacy beacon; and

transmitting the data that corresponds to the detection of the privacy beacon.

61. The computationally-implemented method of claim 60, wherein said acquiring data that corresponds to a detection of the privacy beacon comprises:

acquiring binary data that corresponds to a detection of the privacy beacon.

62. The computationally-implemented method of claim 60, wherein said acquiring data that corresponds to a detection of the privacy beacon comprises:

acquiring data that indicates a presence of the privacy beacon; and

performing analysis on the acquired image data to determine an identifier associated with the privacy beacon.

63. The computationally-implemented method of claim 60, wherein said acquiring data that corresponds to a detection of the privacy beacon comprises:

acquiring data that identifies the privacy beacon.

66. The computationally-implemented method of claim 1, wherein said facilitating transmission of the encrypted image and privacy beacon data associated with the privacy beacon to a location configured to perform one or more processes on one or more of the encrypted image and the privacy beacon data comprises:

encoding privacy metadata based on the privacy beacon into the encrypted image; and

transmitting the encrypted image that includes the privacy metadata to the location configured to perform processing on the encrypted image.

67. The computationally-implemented method of claim 1, wherein said facilitating transmission of the encrypted image and privacy beacon data associated with the privacy beacon to a location configured to perform one or more processes on one or more of the encrypted image and the privacy beacon data comprises:

facilitating transmission of the encrypted image and privacy beacon data associated with the privacy beacon to a location configured to determine whether to allow decryption of the encrypted image at least partly based on the privacy beacon data.

69. The computationally-implemented method of claim 1, wherein said facilitating transmission of the encrypted image and privacy beacon data associated with the privacy beacon to a location configured to perform one or more processes on one or more of the encrypted image and the privacy beacon data comprises:

acquiring privacy beacon data that identifies the privacy beacon;

transmitting the privacy beacon data to a location configured to store term data associated with release of an image of the at least one entity;

receiving term data associated with the release of the image of the at least one entity; and

facilitating transmission of the term data and the encrypted image to the location configured to perform one or more processes on one or more of the encrypted image and the privacy beacon data.

70. The computationally-implemented method of claim 1, wherein said facilitating transmission of the encrypted image and privacy beacon data associated with the privacy beacon to a location configured to perform one or more processes on one or more of the encrypted image and the privacy beacon data comprises:

processing the privacy beacon data to generate term data associated with release of an image of the at least one entity; and

transmitting the encrypted image and the generated term data to a location configured to perform one or more processes on one or more of the encrypted image and the privacy beacon data.

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72. A computationally-implemented system, comprising

circuitry for acquiring an image, wherein said image includes at least one representation of a feature of at least one entity;

circuitry for detecting a presence of a privacy beacon in the acquired image, wherein further image process operation on image data unrelated to detection of the presence of the privacy beacon is avoided prior to encryption of the acquired image data, said privacy beacon associated with the at least one entity;

circuitry for encrypting the acquired image, through use of a unique device encryption key that is unique to a particular device; and

circuitry for facilitating transmission of the encrypted image and privacy beacon data associated with the privacy beacon to a location configured to perform one or more processes on one or more of the encrypted image and the privacy beacon data.

73-143. -143. (canceled)