Apparatus and method for creating a map of a real name word to an anonymous word for an electronic document

• US 7,243,304 B2
• Filed: 06/28/2002
• Issued: 07/10/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 06/29/2001
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation)
• Inventors: Sato, Makoto
• Primary Examiner(s): Hong; Stephen
• Assistant Examiner(s): PATEL, MANGLESH M
• Application Number:
  US10/183,873
• Publication Number:
  US 20030005312A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,838 Days
• Field of Search: 715530-532, 715/513, 709/206, 707/3, 707/103.R, 713165-168, 704/260, 380/282
• US Class Current: 715/246
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/6254 by anonymising data, e.g. decorrelating personal data from the owner's identification

Abstract

An anonymous level decision unit decides an anonymous level to anonymize a real name word included in the electronic document. An additional label generation unit generates an additional label corresponding to the real name word based on an identifier. A dictionary stores a correspondence relationship between the real name word and an anonymous term as an abstract concept of the real name word. A map creation unit selects the anonymous term corresponding to the real name word based on the anonymous level from the dictionary, generates an anonymous word corresponding to the real name word by adding the additional label to the anonymous term, and correspondingly stores the real name word and the anonymous word. A map representing a correspondence relationship between the real name word and the anonymous word for the identifier is created.

Claims

1. An apparatus for creating a map of a real name word to an anonymous word for an electronic document to be provided to a document processing person, the anonymous word being a more general and less specific meaning of the real name word, the apparatus comprising:

a processor;

an anonymous level decision unit configured to decide an anonymous level as an abstract degree to anonymize the real name word included in the electronic document, wherein the anonymous level decision unit sets the anonymous level for the real name word to a low level when a usage frequency of the real name word is high in the electronic document;

a dictionary configured to store a correspondence relationship between the real name word and at least one anonymous term as an abstract concept of the real name word, wherein each anonymous term corresponds to the anonymous level;

an additional label generation unit configured to generate an additional label uniquely corresponding to the real name word if said dictionary stores the same anonymous term corresponding to a plurality of real name words included in the electronic document; and

a map creation unit configured to select the at least one anonymous term corresponding to the real name word and the decided anonymous level from said dictionary, to generate an anonymous word corresponding to the real name word by adding the additional label to the anonymous term, and to correspondingly store the real name word and the anonymous word, whereby a map representing a correspondence relationship between the real name word and the anonymous word is stored in correspondence with an identifier of the document processing person.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said dictionary stores a plurality of anonymous terms corresponding to the real name word, each of the plurality of anonymous terms corresponds to different anonymous levels.

3. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said dictionary stores the anonymous term of a higher abstract degree corresponding to a larger of the anonymous level.

4. The apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said dictionary stores a larger number of anonymous terms that respectively correspond to different anonymous level for the real name word of a narrower category.

5. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said dictionary stores a normalization numerical value corresponding to the real name word including numerical value data.

6. The apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said anonymous level decision unit decides the anonymous level of the real name word by referring to said dictionary in accordance with a user'"'"'s indication.

7. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said additional label generation unit generates the additional label corresponding to the real name word by using a random number to uniquely identify the real name word.

8. The apparatus according to claim 5, wherein said map creation unit multiplies the normalization numerical value with the numerical value data included in the real name word, and adds the additional label corresponding to the real name word to the multiplied value as the anonymous word.

9. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said map creation unit differently creates the map in correspondence with each identifier of a plurality of document processing persons.

10. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the map correspondingly stores the real name word, the anonymous word, the anonymous term and the additional label from which the anonymous word is generated.

11. A method for creating a map of a real name word to an anonymous word for an electronic document to be provided to a document processing person, the anonymous word being a more general and less specific meaning of the real name word, the method comprising:

deciding an anonymous level as an abstract degree to anonymize the real name word included in the electronic document, wherein the anonymous level for the real name word is set to a low level when a usage frequency of the real name word is high in the electronic document;

storing a correspondence relationship between the real name word and at least one anonymous term as an abstract concept of the real name word in a dictionary, wherein each anonymous term corresponds to the anonymous level;

generating an additional label uniquely corresponding to the real name word if the dictionary stores the same anonymous term corresponding to a plurality of real name words included in the electronic document;

selecting the at least one anonymous term corresponding to the real name word and the decided anonymous level from the dictionary;

generating an anonymous word corresponding to the real name word by adding the additional label to the anonymous term; and

correspondingly storing the real name word and the anonymous word, whereby a map representing a correspondence relationship between the real name word and the anonymous word is stored in correspondence with an identifier of the document processing person.

12. A computer program product embodied in a computer-readable medium, comprising:

a computer readable program code embodied in said product for causing a computer to create a map of a real name word to an anonymous word for an electronic document to be provided to a document processing person, the anonymous word being a more general and less specific meaning of the real name word, said computer readable program code having;

a first program code to decide an anonymous level as an abstract degree to anonymize the real name word included in the electronic document, wherein the first program code sets the anonymous level for the real name word to a low level when a usage frequency of the real name word is high in the electronic document;

a second program code to store a correspondence relationship between the real name word and at least one anonymous term as an abstract concept of the real name word in a dictionary, wherein each anonymous term corresponds to the anonymous level;

a third program code to generate an additional label uniquely corresponding to the real name word if the dictionary stores the same anonymous term corresponding to a plurality of real name words included in the electronic document;

a fourth program code to select the anonymous term corresponding to the real name word and the decided anonymous level from the dictionary;

a fifth program code to generate an anonymous word corresponding to the real name word by adding the additional label to the anonymous term; and

a sixth program code to correspondingly store the real name word and the anonymous word, whereby a map representing a correspondence relationship between the real name word and the anonymous word is stored in correspondence with an identifier of the document processing person.

13. An apparatus for anonymizing an electronic document to be provided to a document processing person, anonymization being a conversion from a real name word to a more general and less specific meaning of the real name word, the apparatus comprising:

a processor;

an anonymous level decision unit configured to decide an anonymous level as an abstract degree to anonymize a real name word included in the electronic document, wherein the anonymous level decision unit sets the anonymous level for the real name word to a low level when a usage frequency of the real name word is high in the electronic document;

a dictionary configured to store a correspondence relationship between the real name word and at least one anonymous term as an abstract concept of the real name word, wherein each anonymous term corresponds to the anonymous level;

an additional label generation unit configured to generate an additional label uniquely corresponding to the real name word if said dictionary stores the same anonymous term corresponding to a plurality of real name words included in the electronic document;

a map creation unit configured to select the anonymous term corresponding to the real name word and the decided anonymous level from said dictionary, to generate an anonymous word corresponding to the real name word by adding the additional label to the anonymous term, and to correspondingly store the real name word and the anonymous word, whereby a map representing a corresponding relationship between the real name word and an anonymous word is stored in correspondence with an identifier of the document processing person;

a real name word extraction unit configured to extract the real name word from the electronic document by referring to the map; and

a conversion unit configured to replace the extracted real name word with the corresponding anonymous word by referring to the map.

14. A method for anonymizing an electronic document to be provided to a document processing person, anonymization being a conversion from a real name word to a more general and less specific meaning of the real name word, the method comprising:

deciding an anonymous level as an abstract degree to anonymize a real name word included in the electronic document, wherein the anonymous level for the real name word is set to a low level when a usage frequency of the real name word is high in the electronic document;

storing a correspondence relationship between the real name word and at least one anonymous term as an abstract concept of the real name word in a dictionary, wherein each anonymous term corresponds to the anonymous level;

generating an additional label uniquely corresponding to the real name word if the dictionary stores the same anonymous term corresponding to a plurality of real name words included in the electronic document;

selecting an anonymous term corresponding to the real name word and the decided anonymous level from the dictionary;

generating an anonymous word corresponding to the real name word by adding the additional label to the anonymous term;

correspondingly storing the real name word and the anonymous word, whereby a map representing a correspondence relationship between the real name word and the anonymous word is stored in correspondence with an identifier of the document processing person;

extracting the real name word from the electronic document by referring to the map; and

replacing the extracted real name word with the corresponding anonymous word by referring to the map.

15. A computer program product embodied in a computer-readable medium, comprising:

a computer readable program code embodied in said product for causing a computer to anonymize an electronic document to be provided to a document processing person, anonymization being a conversion from a real name word to a more general and less specific meaning of the real name word, said computer readable program code having;

a first program code to decide an anonymous level as an abstract degree to anonymize a real name word included in the electronic document, wherein the first program code sets the anonymous level for the real name word to a low level when a usage frequency of the real name word is high in the electronic document;

a second program code to store a correspondence relationship between the real name word and at least one anonymous term as an abstract concept of the real name word in a dictionary, wherein each anonymous term corresponds to the anonymous level;

a third program code to generate an additional label uniquely corresponding to the real name word if the dictionary stores the same anonymous term corresponding to a plurality of real name words included in the electronic document;

a fourth program code to select the anonymous term corresponding to the real name word and the decided anonymous level from the dictionary;

a fifth program code to generate an anonymous word corresponding to the real name word by adding the additional label to the anonymous term;

a sixth program code to correspondingly store the real name word and the anonymous word, whereby a map representing a correspondence relationship between the real name word and the anonymous word is stored in correspondence with an identifier of the document processing person;

a seventh program code to extract the real name word from the electronic document by referring to the map; and

an eighth program code to replace the extracted real name word with the corresponding anonymous word by referring to the map.

16. An apparatus for unanonymizing an electronic document, unanonymization being a conversion from a more general and less specific meaning of a real name word to the real name word, the apparatus comprising:

a processor;

an anonymous level decision unit configured to decide an anonymous level as an abstract degree to anonymize a real name word included in the electronic document to be provided to a document processing person, wherein the anonymous level decision unit sets the anonymous level for the real name word to a low level when a usage frequency of the real name word is high in the electronic document;

a dictionary configured to store a correspondence relationship between the real name word and at least one anonymous term as an abstract concept of the real name word, wherein each anonymous term corresponds to the anonymous level;

an additional label generation unit configured to generate an additional label uniquely corresponding to the real name word if said dictionary stores the same anonymous term corresponding to a plurality of real name words in the electronic document;

a map creation unit configured to select the anonymous term corresponding to the real name word and the decided anonymous level from said dictionary, to generate an anonymous word corresponding to the real name word by adding the additional label to the anonymous term, and to correspondingly store the real name word and the anonymous word, whereby a map representing a correspondence relationship between the real name word and the anonymous word is stored in correspondence with an identifier of the document processing person;

an anonymous word extraction unit configured to extract each anonymous word from an anonymous document related to an anonymous version of the electronic document by referring to the map, the anonymous document being returned from the document processing person; and

a conversion unit configured to add the corresponding real name word to the extracted anonymous word in the anonymous document by referring to the map.

17. The apparatus according to claim 16, wherein said conversion unit replaces the extracted anonymous word with the corresponding real name word in the anonymous document.

18. A method for unanonymizing an electronic document, unanonymization being a conversion from a more general and less specific meaning of a real name word to the real name word, the method comprising:

deciding an anonymous level as an abstract degree to anonymize a real name word included in an electronic document to be provided to a document processing person, wherein the anonymous level for the real name word is set to a low level when a usage frequency of the real name word is high in the electronic document;

storing a correspondence relationship between the real name word and at least one anonymous term as an abstract concept of the real name word in a dictionary, wherein each anonymous term corresponds to the anonymous level;

generating an additional label uniquely corresponding to the real name word if the dictionary stores the same anonymous term corresponding to a plurality of real name words included in the electronic document;

selecting the anonymous term corresponding to the real name word and the decided anonymous level from the dictionary;

generating an anonymous word corresponding to the real name word by adding the additional label to the anonymous term;

correspondingly storing the real name word and the anonymous word, whereby a map representing a correspondence relationship between the real name word and the anonymous word is stored in correspondence with an identifier of the document processing person;

extracting each anonymous word from an anonymous document related to an anonymous version of the electronic document by referring to the map, the anonymous document being returned from the document processing person; and

adding the corresponding real name word to the extracted anonymous word in the anonymous document by referring to the map.

19. A computer program product embodied in a computer-readable medium, comprising:

a computer readable program code embodied in said product for causing a computer to unanonymize an electronic document, unanonymization being a conversion from a more general and less specific meaning of a real name word to the real name word, said computer readable program code having;

a first program code to decide an anonymous level as an abstract degree to anonymize a real name word included in the electronic document to be provided to a document processing person, wherein the first program code sets the anonymous level for the real name word to a low level when a usage frequency of the real name word is high in the electronic document;

a second program code to store a correspondence relationship between the real name word and at least one anonymous term as an abstract concept of the real name word in a dictionary, wherein each anonymous term corresponds to the anonymous level;

a third program code to generate an additional label uniquely corresponding to the real name word if the dictionary stores the same anonymous term corresponding to a plurality of real name words included in the electronic document;

a fourth program code to select the anonymous term corresponding to the real name word and the decided anonymous level from the dictionary;

a fifth program code to generate an anonymous word corresponding to the real name word by adding the additional label to the anonymous term;

a sixth program code to correspondingly store the real name word and the anonymous word, whereby a map representing a correspondence relationship between the real name word and the anonymous word is stored in correspondence with an identifier of the document processing person;

a seventh program code to extract each anonymous word from an anonymous document related to an anonymous version of the electronic document by referring to the map, the anonymous document being returned from the document processing person; and

an eighth program code to add the corresponding real name word to the extracted anonymous word in the anonymous document by referring to the map.