Controlling privacy in a face recognition application

• US 9,497,202 B1
• Filed: 03/07/2016
• Issued: 11/15/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 12/15/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hyundai Motor Company (Hyundai Motor Group), Kia Corp.
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Salonidis, Theodoros, Calo, Seraphin B., Ko, Bong Jun, Lee, Kang-Won, Verma, Dinesh C.
• Primary Examiner(s): Lu, Tom Y
• Application Number:
  US15/063,116
• Time in Patent Office: 253 Days
• Field of Search: 382/118
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/583 using metadata automatically derived from the content
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/5838 using colour
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/5854 using shape and object relationship
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9535 Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/32 using biometric data, e.g. fingerprints, iris scans or voiceprints
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/6218 to a system of files or objects, e.g. local or distributed file system or database
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/6254 by anonymising data, e.g. decorrelating personal data from the owner's identification
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/83 input devices, e.g. keyboards, mice or controllers thereof
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2117 User registration
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/16 Human faces, e.g. facial parts, sketches or expressions
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/172 Classification, e.g. identification
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/10 for controlling access to devices or network resources
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/105 Multiple levels of security
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/08 Access security

Abstract

Embodiments of the present invention may involve a method, system, and computer program product for controlling privacy in a face recognition application. A computer may receive an input including a face recognition query and a digital image of a face. The computer may identify a target user associated with a facial signature in a first database based at least in part on a statistical correlation between a detected facial signature and one or more facial signatures in the first database. The computer may extract a profile of the target user from a second database. The profile of the target user may include one or more privacy preferences. The computer may generate a customized profile of the target user. The customized profile may omit one or more elements of the profile of the target user based on the one or more privacy preferences and/or a current context.

Claims

1. A method for controlling privacy in a face recognition application, the method comprising:

capturing, by a sensor device, a digital image of a face;

receiving, by the sensor device, a face recognition query;

detecting, by the sensor device, a facial signature from the digital image of the face;

calculating, by the sensor device, a statistical correlation between the detected facial signature and one or more facial signatures in a first database;

identifying, by the sensor device, a target user associated with the facial signature in the first database based at least in part on the statistical correlation between the detected facial signature and the one or more facial signatures in the first database;

extracting, by the sensor device, a profile of the target user from a second database, wherein the profile comprises one or more privacy preferences;

generating, by the sensor device, a customized profile of the target user, wherein the customized profile omits one or more elements of the profile of the target user based on the one or more privacy preferences and further based on the facial expression of the target user, wherein a decision to omit the one or more elements from the customized profile is made based on detecting the facial expression of the target user in the digital image; and

providing, by the sensor device, the customized profile of the target user.