Mobile image capture and transmission of documents to a secure repository

• US 9,621,628 B1
• Filed: 09/20/2013
• Issued: 04/11/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 09/21/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: EA Holdings, Inc. (Maryland) (Dell Technologies Inc.)
• Original Assignee: EA Holdings, Inc. (Maryland) (Dell Technologies Inc.)
• Inventors: Benton, Melinda Heeth
• Primary Examiner(s): Arani, Taghi
• Assistant Examiner(s): Vu, Phy Anh
• Application Number:
  US14/033,160
• Time in Patent Office: 1,299 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/629 to features or functions of an application
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/645 using a third party
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2143 Clearing memory, e.g. to prevent the data from being stolen
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 10/60 for patient-specific data, e.g. for electronic patient records
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/67 for remote operation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/06 specially adapted for file transfer, e.g. file transfer protocol [FTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/00 Cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for secret or secure communications; Network security protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/033 of the user plane, e.g. user's traffic

Abstract

Various methods and systems are provided for capture and transmission of images to a secure repository. In one example, among others, a method includes capturing an image of a document as an image file using a mobile device, adding metadata to the image file, and securely transmitting the image file to a server. The image file can be stored in a secure repository. In another example, a mobile device includes a secure transfer application that causes the mobile device to capture an image as an image file, add metadata to the image file, and transmit the image file to a server via a secure connection. The server may store the image file in a secure repository. In another example, a non-transitory computer-readable medium includes a program that captures an image, adds metadata to the image file, and transmits the image file securely to a server.

Claims

1. A method for secure capture and transmission of a file to a secure repository on a server, comprising:

providing access to a secure document capture interface on a mobile device in response to verification of user credentials by a remote authentication server;

capturing an image of a document through the secure document capture interface, the image captured as an image file using a camera of the mobile device;

generating, by the mobile device, an updated image file by adding metadata to the image file, the metadata entered through the secure document capture interface;

storing the updated image file in encrypted secure memory of the mobile device, where access to the updated image file stored in the encrypted secure memory is restricted to the secure document capture interface on the mobile device;

establishing a secure encrypted connection to the server in response to a user command to save the updated image file, wherein the secure encrypted connection is a secure connection over a wireless link, and the user command is provided through the secure document capture interface;

transmitting, by the mobile device, the updated image file securely to the server, where the updated image file is transmitted via the secure encrypted connection and stored in the secure repository on the server;

receiving confirmation of successful transfer of the updated image file to the server; and

automatically removing, by the mobile device, the updated image file from the encrypted secure memory of the mobile device in response to receiving the confirmation.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the capturing of the image of the document comprises:

capturing a first image of the document using the mobile device;

automatically detecting, by the mobile device, the document within the first image;

generating a corrected first image by geometrically correcting the first image; and

outputting the corrected first image as the image of the document.

3. The method of claim 2, comprising binarizing the first image.

4. The method of claim 2, comprising correcting an orientation of the first image.

5. The method of claim 2, comprising correcting a size of the first image.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the secure encrypted connection is a SSL connection over a wireless link.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

capturing an image of a second document through the secure document capture interface, the image of the second document captured as a second image file using the camera of the mobile device;

generating a second updated image file by adding metadata to the second image file; and

transmitting the second updated image file securely to the server via the secure encrypted connection.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising storing the second updated image file in the encrypted secure memory of the mobile device, where access to the second updated image file stored in the encrypted secure memory is restricted to the secure document capture interface.

9. A mobile device, comprising:

processing circuitry and memory; and

a secure transfer application stored in the memory for secure capture and transmission of a file from the mobile device to a secure repository on a server, where the secure transfer application, when executed by the processing circuitry, causes the mobile device to;

provide access to a secure document capture interface on the mobile device in response to remote server authentication of user credentials;

capture an image of a document in response to a user input provided through the secure document capture interface, the image captured as an image file;

generate an annotated image file by adding metadata to the image file, the metadata provided through the secure document capture interface;

store the annotated image file in encrypted secure memory of the mobile device, where files stored in the encrypted secure memory are accessible only through the secure transfer application;

establish a secure encrypted connection to the server in response to a user command to save the annotated image file, wherein the secure encrypted connection is a secure connection over a wireless link, and the user command is provided through the secure document capture interface;

transmit the annotated image file including the metadata to the server via the secure encrypted connection, where the server stores the annotated image file including the metadata in the secure repository;

receive confirmation of successful transfer of the annotated image file to the server; and

automatically remove the annotated image file from the encrypted secure memory of the mobile device in response to receiving the confirmation.

10. The mobile device of claim 9, wherein the mobile device receives the confirmation of successful transfer from the server via the secure encrypted connection.

11. The mobile device of claim 9, wherein the secure transfer application causes the mobile device to display a failure notification via the secure document capture interface in response to a failed upload of the annotated image file to the server.

12. The mobile device of claim 9, wherein the secure transfer application causes the mobile device to display a failure notification via the secure document capture interface in response to a failure to establish the secure encrypted connection to the server.

13. The mobile device of claim 9, wherein the secure transfer application causes the mobile device to:

capture images of a plurality of documents as image files in response to user inputs provided through the secure document capture interface;

generate annotated image files by adding metadata to the image files; and

transmit the annotated image files to the server via the secure encrypted connection.

14. A non-transitory computer-readable medium embodying a program executable in a mobile processing device, the program for secure capture and transmission of a file from the mobile processing device to a secure repository on a server, the program comprising instructions that cause the mobile processing device to:

provide a secure document capture interface on the mobile processing device in response to remote server authentication of a user;

capture an image of a document in response to a capture command provided through the secure document capture interface, the image captured as an image file;

generate an annotated image file by adding metadata to the image file;

store the annotated image file in encrypted secure memory of the mobile processing device, where files stored in the encrypted secure memory are accessible only through the secure document capture interface;

establish a secure encrypted connection to the server in response to a user command to save the annotated image file, wherein the secure encrypted connection is a secure connection over a wireless link, and the user command is provided through the secure document capture interface;

transmit the annotated image file including the metadata securely to the server via the secure encrypted connection, where the server is configured to store the annotated image file including the metadata in the secure repository;

receive confirmation of successful transfer of the annotated image file to the server; and

automatically remove, the annotated image file from the encrypted secure memory of the mobile processing device in response to receiving the confirmation.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 14, wherein the program causes the mobile processing device to:

capture images of a plurality of documents as image files in response to user input capture commands provided through the secure document capture interface;

store annotated image files in the encrypted secure memory, where the annotated image files are generated by adding metadata provided through the secure document capture interface to the image files;

transmit the annotated image files to the server via the secure encrypted connection; and

remove the annotated image files from the encrypted secure memory in response to confirmation of successful transfer of the annotated image files to the server.