Management device, control method for the management device, and program

Abstract

This reduces the workload involved in checking whether documents contain confidential information. [Solution] The management device includes a display control means that causes a list of print jobs to be executed on a printing device installed outside the management area to be displayed on a display means of a terminal used by the administrator. The display control means displays information on the list screen indicating that the document to be printed related to the print job may contain confidential information.

Description

【Technical Field】 【0001】 This disclosure relates to a technique for suppressing leakage of confidential information. 【Background Art】 【0002】 Image forming apparatuses such as multi-functional printers having a function of scanning documents and a printing function are widely used. If a document containing confidential information is scanned or printed unconditionally using the above image forming apparatus, there is a risk that the confidential information will leak. To suppress leakage of confidential information, for example, Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for restricting printing and saving operations by a user according to a confidentiality classification determined for each document image, and when the administrator receives an approval request and obtains the approval of the administrator, releasing the restriction on the printing and saving operations. 【Prior Art Documents】 【Patent Documents】 【0003】 【Patent Document 1】 Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2016-133815 【Summary of the Invention】 【Problems to be Solved by the Invention】 【0004】 By the way, the act of printing a document containing confidential information on a multi-functional printer installed outside the company such as a convenience store also involves a risk of leakage of confidential information. Regarding such a risk, there is a service that prevents a document from being printed from a multi-functional printer installed outside the company unless the administrator permits a request for printing a document containing confidential information from the user. In the above service, in order for the administrator to permit printing of a printing permission request from the user, the administrator needs to check the content of the document. When there are a large number of documents to check whether they contain confidential information, the workload of the administrator increases, and there is a risk that the confidential information in the documents will be overlooked. This disclosure has been made in view of this point, and an object thereof is to reduce the workload of the operation for the administrator to check whether the document contains confidential information. [Means for solving the problem] 【0005】 The management device relating to this disclosure includes a display control means that causes a list screen of print jobs executed on a printing device installed outside the management area to be displayed on a display means of a terminal used by the administrator, and the display control means is characterized in that, if the document to be printed related to the print job may contain confidential information, it displays information on the list screen indicating that such confidential information may be contained. [Effects of the Invention] 【0006】 The technology described herein makes it possible to reduce the workload for administrators in verifying whether documents contain confidential information. [Brief explanation of the drawing] 【0007】 [Figure 1] A diagram showing the overall configuration of this system. [Figure 2] Hardware configuration diagram of the image forming apparatus 110. [Figure 3] Hardware configuration diagram of the information processing device 120. [Figure 4] Hardware configuration diagram of the print management device 130. [Figure 5] Software configuration diagram of print management device 130. [Figure 6] A diagram showing examples of various tables. [Figure 7] A flowchart of the print management device 130, which is started by uploading a print job. [Figure 8] A flowchart of the processes executed by the print management device 130 upon receiving and initiating a request. [Figure 9] A flowchart of the processes executed by the print management device 130, which is initiated upon receiving a print number. [Figure 10] This figure shows an example of a print approval request application screen generated by the print management device 130. [Figure 11]This figure shows an example of a print approval list screen generated by the print management device 130. [Figure 12] This figure shows an example of a print approval confirmation screen generated by the print management device 130. [Figure 13] A diagram showing examples of various screens generated by the print management device 130. [Figure 14] A flowchart of the processes executed by the print management device 130 upon receiving a request. [Figure 15] This figure shows an example of a print approval list screen generated by the print management device 130. [Modes for carrying out the invention] 【0008】 The embodiments of this disclosure will be described below with reference to the attached drawings. The embodiments described below are not limiting to this disclosure, and not all combinations of features described in the embodiments are necessarily essential to the solutions of this disclosure. The same components will be denoted by the same reference numerals. Furthermore, each step in the flowchart will be indicated by a reference numeral beginning with "S". 【0009】 [First Embodiment] 《Overall Structure》 Figure 1 shows the overall configuration of this system. The system 100 of this embodiment includes an image forming apparatus 110, an information processing apparatus 120, and a print management device 130, which are interconnected by a network 140. Examples of this network 140 include the Internet and a LAN (Local Area Network). Here, the LAN may be a wired LAN or a wireless LAN. In Figure 1, one image forming apparatus 110 and one information processing apparatus 120 are depicted, but there may be one or more of each device. The image forming apparatus 110 is an example of a printing device, the information processing apparatus 120 is an example of a user terminal, and the print management device 130 is an example of an information processing apparatus. In this embodiment, the image forming apparatus 110 is assumed to be installed outside the management area where approval for printing is required. In this embodiment, for documents that require administrator approval for printing outside the management area where approval for printing is required, the administrator sets the approval requirement. Then, printing of the document is permitted only when the administrator approves the user's request for permission to print the document. 【0010】 The print management device 130 works in cooperation with the image forming apparatus 110 to provide users with the function of managing document image data generated by scanning in the image forming apparatus 110 and transmitting image data to be printed to the image forming apparatus 110. The print management device 130 may consist of one device or multiple devices. The print management device 130 may be a cloud service deployed via the internet. Alternatively, it may be an on-premise device operating within the same LAN as the image forming apparatus 110 and the information processing device 120. In Figure 1, the print management device 130 consists of only one device, but if it is a cloud service, there may be a print management device 130 in each region where the service is deployed. The information processing device 120 connects to the print management device 130 and can issue print instructions to the image forming apparatus 110, which is working in cooperation with the print management device 130, and configure the functions provided by the print management device 130 via a GUI. Here, GUI stands for Graphical User Interface. 【0011】 Hardware Configuration of Image Forming Apparatus 110 FIG. 2 is a hardware configuration diagram of the image forming apparatus 110. The image forming apparatus 110 includes a control unit 210, an operation unit 220, a printer 221, a scanner 222, and an authentication device 223. The control unit 210 controls the operations of the entire image forming apparatus 110. The control unit 210 includes a CPU 211, a ROM 212, a RAM 213, an HDD 214, an operation unit I / F 215, a printer I / F 216, a scanner I / F 217, an authentication device I / F 218, and a communication unit 219. 【0012】 The CPU 211 reads out the control programs stored in the ROM 212 and executes and controls various functions of the image forming apparatus 110 such as reading, printing, and communication. The RAM 213 is used as the main memory of the CPU 211 and a temporary storage area such as a work area. The HDD 214 is a large-capacity storage unit that stores image data and various programs. The HDD 214 may be an SSD (Solid State Drive), a flash memory, or cloud storage. In the present embodiment, it is assumed that one CPU 211 executes each process described below using one memory (RAM 213 or HDD 214), but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a plurality of CPUs, a plurality of RAMs, or HDDs may cooperate to execute each process. 【0013】 The operation unit I / F 215 is an interface that connects the operation unit 220 and the control unit 210. The operation unit 220 is provided with a touch panel or a keyboard, etc., and receives operations, inputs, and instructions from the user. The GUI displayed on the operation unit 220 may receive configuration information generated by another device such as the print management apparatus 130 via the Internet and display it based on the configuration information, or display it based on the configuration information stored in the HDD 214 in advance. 【0014】 The printer I / F 216 is an interface that connects the printer 221 and the control unit 210. Image data for printing is transferred from the control unit 210 to the printer 221 via the printer I / F 216 and printed on a recording medium. The scanner I / F 217 is an interface that connects the scanner 222 and the control unit 210. The scanner 222 reads a document set on a document table or an ADF (Auto Document Feeder) not shown in the figure to generate image data and inputs it to the control unit 210 via the scanner I / F 217. The image forming apparatus 110 can print out (copy) the image data generated by the scanner 222 from the printer 221, and can also transmit it as a file or by email. 【0015】 The authentication device I / F 218 is an interface that connects the authentication device 223 and the control unit 210. The authentication device 223 is, for example, a card reader that reads an IC card, or a fingerprint authentication device that reads a fingerprint, and is used for authenticating a user who uses the image forming apparatus 110. The communication unit 219 is an interface that connects the control unit 210 to a LAN. The image forming apparatus 110 can communicate with the information processing apparatus 120 and the print management apparatus 130 via the communication unit 219. 【0016】 《Hardware Configuration of Information Processing Apparatus 120》 FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the information processing apparatus 120. Although the information processing apparatus 120 of the present embodiment assumes a device such as a PC, it may be a device such as a tablet terminal or a smartphone as long as it is an information processing apparatus capable of network communication. The information processing apparatus 120 includes an input I / F 301, a CPU 302, a ROM 303, a RAM 304, an external storage device 305, an output I / F 306, a display unit 307, an operation unit 308, and a communication unit 309, etc. 【0017】 The input interface 301 is an interface for detecting user input and operation instructions via the operation unit 308. The operation unit 308 may be a physical keyboard and physical buttons, or a soft keyboard and soft buttons displayed on the display unit 307. In other words, the input interface 301 may accept user input operations via the display unit 307. 【0018】 The CPU 302 is the system control unit and controls the entire information processing device 120. The ROM 303 stores fixed data such as control programs executed by the CPU 302, data tables, and embedded operating system (hereinafter referred to as "embedded OS") programs. In this embodiment, each control program stored in the ROM 303 performs software execution control such as scheduling, task switching, and interrupt processing under the management of the embedded OS stored in the ROM 303. 【0019】 RAM304 consists of SRAM (Static Random Access Memory) and other components that require a backup power supply. Since RAM304 retains data using a primary battery (not shown) for data backup, important data such as program control variables can be stored without being lost. RAM304 also includes a memory area for storing configuration information and management data for the information processing device 120. The CPU 302 uses RAM304 as both main memory and work memory. External storage device 305 stores browser applications and other data for operating and displaying the print management device 130. External storage device 305 may be an HDD, SSD, flash memory, or cloud storage. 【0020】 The output I / F 306 is an interface for displaying data and notifying the status of the information processing device 120 via the display unit 307. The display unit 307 is an LED (light-emitting diode), LCD (liquid crystal display), or touch panel, etc., for displaying data and notifying the status of the information processing device 120. The communication unit 309 is a component for performing data communication with the image forming apparatus 110 and the print management device 130, etc. 【0021】 Hardware configuration of the print management device 130 Figure 4 is a hardware configuration diagram showing an example of a print management device 130. The print management device 130 includes a CPU 401, ROM 402, RAM 403, storage unit 404, and communication unit 406. 【0022】 The CPU 401 controls the entire print management device 130 by reading the control program stored in the ROM 402 and executing various processes. The RAM 403 is used as the main memory and temporary storage area for the CPU 401, such as the work area. The storage unit 404 is a non-volatile storage device such as an HDD, SSD, or flash memory, and includes an information processing program 405. The information processing program 405 is read and executed by the CPU 401. The storage unit 404 may also be cloud storage. The communication unit 406 is an interface for connecting to the internet. It receives requests from the image forming apparatus 110 and the information processing apparatus 120 via the communication unit 406 and transmits various information to the image forming apparatus 110 and the information processing apparatus 120. 【0023】 Software configuration of print management device 130 Figure 5 is a functional block diagram showing an example of the configuration (software configuration) of an information processing program 405 stored in the storage unit 404 of the print management device 130. The information processing program 405 includes a request processing unit 501, a display control unit 502, an account management unit 503, a print job management unit 504, a string extraction unit 505, a confidential information analysis unit 506, and a notification control unit 507. 【0024】 The request processing unit 501 receives requests from the image forming apparatus 110 and the information processing apparatus 120 via the communication unit 406 and transmits the received information to the respective functional units of the information processing program 405. The print management device 130 provides a GUI that can be displayed in a browser application running on the information processing apparatus 120. The display control unit 502 generates GUI configuration information in response to requests received via the request processing unit 501 and transmits this configuration information to the information processing apparatus 120. Similarly, it generates GUI configuration information to be displayed on the operation unit 220 of the image forming apparatus 110 in response to a request from the image forming apparatus 110 and transmits it to the image forming apparatus 110 via the request processing unit 501. The account management unit 503 manages the account information of users who log in to the print management device 130 via the GUI displayed on the image forming apparatus 110 and the information processing apparatus 120 connected to the print management device 130 in the account management table. 【0025】 The print job management unit 504 has the function of rendering print jobs uploaded to the print management device 130 by the user, and stores the document image data obtained by rendering in the storage unit 404. The print job management unit 504 also maintains a print job management table, which manages information such as the storage location of document image data and print settings. In this embodiment, print jobs are described as being uploaded via a GUI displayed on the information processing device 120, but are not limited to this. Print jobs may also be generated from document image data read by the scanner 222 of the image forming apparatus 110 and received via the internet. Alternatively, print jobs may be generated from document image data managed by a third service such as a cloud storage service. 【0026】 The string extraction unit 505 identifies a character area within arbitrary document image data, performs OCR (Optical Character Recognition) processing on the identified character area, and extracts the string within the character area. 【0027】 The confidential information analysis unit 506 maintains a keyword management table and manages keywords indicating confidential information in the keyword management table. The confidential information analysis unit 506 compares the string extracted by the string extraction unit 505 with the aforementioned keywords to analyze and determine whether or not confidential information is contained in the document image data (document image). The confidential information analysis unit 506 also maintains a confidential information management table and manages information on strings within the document image data (document image) that have been analyzed and determined to be confidential information in the confidential information management table. The keywords managed in the keyword management table may be defined by the user via the GUI displayed on the information processing device 120. Alternatively, the keywords managed in the keyword management table may be generated from patterns learned by the print management device 130 using the document image data as a dataset. 【0028】 The notification control unit 507 has a function to notify users of the print management device 130. In this embodiment, email notification to users is given as one example of a notification method, but it is not limited to this. Notifications may also be made via a GUI generated by the display control unit 502 and displayed on the information processing device 120, or via SMS (Short Message Service), etc. 【0029】 Figure 6(a) is a table showing an example of an account management table held by the account management unit 503. In this embodiment, the account management table has an account ID column, an account name column, a password column, an email address column, an authorization column, a printer authentication information column, and an application destination account ID column. 【0030】 The Account ID column is an identifier used to uniquely identify the account information of a user of the print management device 130. The Account Name column shows the user's account name. The Password column is the password used by the user to log in to the print management device 130 via the GUI displayed on the information processing device 120. The Email Address column shows the email address to which the notification control unit 507 will send email notifications. The Permissions column shows the permissions assigned to the user's account. Figure 6(a) shows, as an example, the "General Role," which is the permission given to users of printing, and the "Administrator Role," which is given to administrators who process print approval requests (print approval requests) received from users of printing. 【0031】 The printer authentication information column contains authentication information that allows the user to access functions provided by the print management device 130 from the GUI displayed on the image forming apparatus 110. Here, the authentication information may be a PIN code or pattern that can be entered into the operation unit 220, or it may be a unique ID number of an IC card that can be read by an authentication device 223 such as a card reader. 【0032】 The "Recipient Account ID" column indicates the account ID of the administrator to whom users submit print approval requests. In Figure 6(a), the recipient account IDs for accounts named "User A" and "User B" are linked to the account ID of "Administrator C". This means that "User A" and "User B" need to obtain approval from "Administrator C" in order to perform printing. 【0033】 Figure 6(b) is a table showing an example of a print job management table managed by the print job management unit 504. The print job management table has a print job ID column, a status column, a file name column, a document image URL column, a print settings column, a print number column, and an account ID column. 【0034】 The Print Job ID column is an identifier that uniquely identifies a print job uploaded by a user. The Status column indicates the status of the print job. In Figure 6(b), the following statuses are listed: "Uploaded" indicates that the print job has been uploaded. "Pending Approval" indicates that a print approval request has been sent from the user to the administrator. "Approved" indicates that the print approval request has been approved by the administrator. "Denied" indicates that the print approval request has been denied by the administrator. "Printing Completed" indicates that the print job has been executed by the user. 【0035】 The file name column indicates the file name of the document image data (the document to be printed) that is the subject of the print approval request. The document image URL column indicates the URL (Uniform Resource Locator) that shows the location where the document image data obtained by rendering the print job is stored. The image forming apparatus 110 can obtain the document image data from the print management device 130 by using the value in the document image URL column. 【0036】 The print settings column displays the settings used when printing is performed. Figure 6(b) shows the "Size" and "Single-sided / Double-sided" print settings as examples. In addition, the print settings column manages information related to print settings such as the number of copies, color settings, collation settings, and stapling settings. In this embodiment, information related to print settings is managed in a unified print settings column, but it is also possible to manage it by dividing it into columns for each print setting item field. 【0037】 The print number column is a random value that the user of the print job enters into the GUI of the image forming apparatus 110 to execute any approved print job. The account ID column shows the account ID of the user who uploaded the print job via the GUI displayed on the information processing device 120. 【0038】 Figure 6(c) shows an example of a keyword management table maintained by the confidential information analysis unit 506. The keyword management table includes an ID column and a keyword column. The ID column shows an identifier that uniquely identifies the keyword. The keyword column shows keywords that the confidential information analysis unit 506 uses to analyze and determine whether or not confidential information is contained in the document image data. In Figure 6(c), static strings such as "Confidential" or "For Internal Use Only" are shown as examples of keywords, but the system is not limited to these. Dynamic strings such as email addresses or telephone numbers may also be used as keywords. 【0039】 Figure 6(d) shows an example of a confidential information management table maintained by the confidential information analysis unit 506. The confidential information management table includes a confidential information ID column, a print job ID, a page column, a coordinate column, a string column, and a keyword ID column. The confidential information ID column indicates an identifier for uniquely identifying confidential information contained in document image data. The print job ID column is the same as the print job ID managed by the print job management unit 504, and is information for identifying print jobs that have been determined to contain confidential information. The page column indicates the page location where the string determined to be confidential information exists. The coordinate column indicates the rectangular coordinates of the string determined to be confidential information. In Figure 6(d), the rectangular coordinates (X coordinate, Y coordinate, height, width) are represented in a single column, but the coordinate column may be split. The string column indicates the string determined to be confidential information within the document image data. The keyword ID column is the same as the keyword ID managed by the keyword management table shown in Figure 6(a), and indicates the keyword used in determining that the value of the string column in the record is confidential information. 【0040】 《Processing flow in the print management device 130》 Figures 7, 9, and 12 are flowcharts showing the processing flow performed by the print management device 130 in this embodiment. The processing shown in these flowcharts is achieved when the CPU 401 responds to requests from the image forming apparatus 110 and the information processing device 120, reads the information processing program 405 from the storage unit 404, expands it into the RAM 403, and executes the expanded program. 【0041】 The flowchart shown in Figure 7 illustrates the process that begins when a print job is uploaded from the information processing device 120 to the print management device 130. After the user logs in to the authentication screen (not shown) of the print management device 130 displayed on the information processing device 120, the flowchart shows a series of processes that begin when the print job is uploaded from the information processing device 120 to the print management device 130. In this embodiment, a detailed explanation of the uploading of print jobs on the information processing device 120 is omitted, but the user can upload a print job by specifying the document file to be printed and the print settings. 【0042】 In S701, the print job management unit 504 receives a print job from the information processing device 120 via the request processing unit 501. The print job management unit 504 generates document image data by rendering the PDL (Page Description Language) data included in the print job and saves it to the storage unit 404. The print job management unit 504 also stores the storage location of the document image data and the print settings included in the print job in the print job management table. At this time, the print job management unit 504 sets the value of the status column in the print job management table to "Uploaded" as the initial value. 【0043】 In S702, the display control unit 502 generates configuration information for the print approval request application screen 800, described later, and sends the configuration information for the print approval request application screen 800 to the information processing device 120 via the request processing unit 501. In S703, the button pressed on the print approval request application screen 800, described later, is detected. If the detected button is the application button 806, the print job management unit 504 performs the processing from S704 to S707. On the other hand, if the detected button is the cancel button 805, the process proceeds to S708. 【0044】 In S704, the print job management unit 504 updates the value of the status column of the record in the print job management table to "awaiting approval". In S705, the notification control unit 507 obtains the email address of the administrator to whom the print approval request is submitted from the account management unit 503 and sends an email to that email address indicating that a print approval request has been received. In S706, the string extraction unit 505 analyzes the pattern of pixel values ​​in the document image data generated in S701 to identify character regions and performs OCR (Optical Character Recognition) processing on each character region. Through OCR processing, each string contained in each character region in the document image data is recognized and converted into text data. 【0045】 In S707, the confidential information analysis unit 506 searches for strings that match the keywords managed in the keyword management table within the text data acquired by S706. If a string matching the keyword is found, the document image data being searched is considered to contain confidential information, and the string that matches the keyword and its position information are stored in the confidential information management table of the confidential information analysis unit 506. Once the data is stored in the confidential information management table, the processing shown in the flowchart in Figure 7 is completed. In S708, the display control unit 502 closes the print approval request application screen 800, displays the print job upload screen (not shown), and completes the processing shown in the flowchart in Figure 7. 【0046】 Figure 8 shows an example of a print approval request application screen 800 generated by the display control unit 502 in the processing of S702. The print approval request application screen 800 includes a preview display area 801, a page operation area 802, a print settings display area 803, an application information display area 804, a cancel button 805, and an application button 806. 【0047】 The preview display area 801 displays a preview image of the document image data generated by S701. If the document image data consists of multiple pages, the page manipulation area 802 provides a function to manipulate the page turning of the preview image displayed in the preview display area 801. The print settings display area 803 displays a list of print settings specified by the user when uploading the print job. In Figure 8, the file name, color settings, number of pages, single-sided / duplex settings, collation settings, and print destination are shown as examples of print settings, but are not limited to these. Depending on the function of the image forming apparatus 110 at the print destination, settings such as stapling or punch hole settings may also be displayed. 【0048】 The application information display area 804 displays application information for a print approval request for the currently displayed print job. Figure 8 shows an example of application information, including the print job ID and the recipient. The print job ID is an identifier that uniquely identifies the submitted print job, and the recipient indicates the account name of the administrator to whom the print approval request is submitted. The cancel button 805 is a button that allows the user to close the print approval request application screen 800 without submitting a print approval request. The submit button 806 is a button that allows the user to submit a print approval request to the administrator. 【0049】 The flowchart in Figure 9 shows the process that begins when the information processing device 120 requests (applies for) the configuration information of the print approval request application screen 800 from the print management device 130. The display control unit 502 generates and displays the authentication screen (not shown) of the print management device 130 on the information processing device 120, where the administrator performs the login process. After the login process is completed, the information processing device 120 requests the configuration information of the print approval request application screen 800 from the print management device 130 via the administrator's GUI, and the process shown in Figure 9 begins. 【0050】 Here, we will explain an example of the print approval request list screen 1000 that the information processing device 120 requests from the print management device 130, using Figure 10. The print approval request list screen 1000 includes a print approval request list area 1001, a filtering condition selection button 1002, and a confidential document icon 1003 (warning mark). 【0051】 The print approval request list area 1001 displays a table-formatted list of print approval requests submitted to the currently logged-in administrator. The print approval request list area 1001 has columns for Job ID, File Name, Status, Application Date, Applicant, and Confidential. 【0052】 The Job ID column is an identifier that uniquely identifies the submitted print job and displays the same value as shown in the application information display area 804 of the print approval request application screen 800. The File Name column shows the file name of the document image that is the subject of the print approval request. The Status column shows the status of each print approval request. The status displayed here is the same as the Status column in the print job management table managed by the print job management unit 504 and shows "Pending Approval," "Approved," or "Rejected," etc., depending on the administrator's approval status. The Application Date column shows the date and time the application was submitted by the print user on the print approval request application screen 800. The Applicant column displays the account name of the print user who submitted the application. The Confidential column indicates whether or not the document image data that is the subject of the print approval request contains confidential information. For print jobs that are determined to contain confidential information, a confidential document icon 1003 (warning mark) is displayed in the Confidential column. Furthermore, each print approval request in the print approval request list area 1001 can be clicked on the GUI, and when a click by an administrator is detected, the system transitions to the print approval confirmation screen 1100 (described later) corresponding to the clicked print approval request. 【0053】 Note that the print approval request list screen 1000 is not limited to the example described above. The screen displaying the list of print approval requests may, for example, display an icon for each print job. In this case, a warning mark will be placed on the icon of a print job that contains confidential information. Alternatively, the icons for print jobs containing confidential information and those that do not may be color-coded to make them easily distinguishable. When an icon for a print job is selected by the user, the print approval confirmation screen 1100 shown in Figure 11 will be displayed. 【0054】 Returning to the explanation of the flowchart in Figure 9, in S901, the display control unit 502 retrieves records from the print job management table held by the print job management unit 504 in which the applicant account is currently logged in as an administrator. At this time, only print job information that matches the selection state of the filtering condition selection button 1002 and the value of the status column is retrieved. If the filtering condition is "none", all records in which the applicant account is currently logged in as an administrator are retrieved. 【0055】 In S902, the display control unit 502 uses the print job ID from the print job information acquired in S901 to search the confidential information management table held by the confidential information analysis unit 506 for a record in which the value of the print job ID column matches. In S903, the display control unit 502 uses the print job information acquired in S901 to generate configuration information for the print approval request list screen 1000 and sends it to the information processing device 120 via the request processing unit 501. Furthermore, for print jobs in S902 for which one or more records in the confidential information management table have a matching value in the print job ID column, a confidential document icon 1003 (warning mark) is added to the confidential column in the print approval request list screen. 【0056】 In S904, the display control unit 502 detects that an administrator has clicked on any record in the print approval request list area 1001 on the GUI displayed on the information processing device 120. The display control unit 502 then receives the print job ID corresponding to the clicked print approval request from the information processing device 120. In S905, the display control unit 502 obtains print job information matching the print job ID received in S904 from the print job management table of the print job management unit 504. It also obtains document image data using the value of the document image URL column in the print job management table. 【0057】 In S906, the display control unit 502 searches the confidential information management table held by the confidential information analysis unit 506 for records in the print job ID column whose value matches the print job ID obtained in S904. If at least one record matches the print job ID obtained in S904, the process proceeds to S907. On the other hand, if no record matches the print job ID obtained in S704, the process proceeds to S909. 【0058】 In S907, the display control unit 502 uses the document image data acquired in S905 and the coordinate column values ​​of the confidential information acquired in S906 to generate an administrator preview image that highlights the strings determined to be confidential information. In S908, the display control unit 502 uses the administrator preview image generated in S907 to generate configuration information for the print approval confirmation screen 1100, described later, and sends it to the information processing device 120 via the request processing unit 501. The configuration information for the print approval confirmation screen 1100 includes information indicating the presence or absence of confidential information and information warning that the document contains confidential information. Once the configuration information for the print approval confirmation screen 1100 is sent to the information processing device 120, the process proceeds to S910. 【0059】 In S909, the display control unit 502 generates an administrator preview image from the document image data acquired in S905. The display control unit 502 also generates configuration information for the print approval confirmation screen 1100 on the administrator preview screen and sends it to the information processing device 120 via the request processing unit 501. Once the configuration information for the print approval confirmation screen 1100 is sent to the information processing device 120, the process proceeds to S910. 【0060】 In S910, the display control unit 502 detects the administrator's operation on the print approval confirmation screen 1100. If the detected operation is the pressing of the approval button 1109, the process proceeds to S911. If the detected operation is the pressing of the rejection button 1108, the process proceeds to S913. 【0061】 In S911, the print job management unit 504 updates the value of the status column in the relevant record in the print job management table to "Approved" and stores a random value in the print number column that does not overlap with other records. In S912, the notification control unit 507 obtains the user's email address from the account management table of the account management unit 503 and notifies the user by email that the print approval request has been approved by the administrator. At this time, the print number generated in S911 is added to the body of the email sent. Once the email notification of approval has been sent, the processing of the flowchart shown in Figure 9 is completed. The above example describes the use of email notification, but is not limited to this. The notification control unit 507 may also notify the user of the approval by SMS. 【0062】 In S913, the print job management unit 504 updates the value of the status column in the relevant record in the print job management table to "rejected". In S914, the notification control unit 507 obtains the user's email address from the account management table of the account management unit 503 and sends an email notification that the print approval request has been rejected by the administrator. Once the rejection email has been sent, the processing in the flowchart shown in Figure 9 is completed. The above example uses email notification, but is not limited to this. The notification control unit 507 may also notify the user of the rejection via SMS. Furthermore, once the above rejection process is performed, the print job management unit 504 executes a process to stop the printing process for the print job that has been determined to be rejected. 【0063】 Here, an example of the print approval confirmation screen 1100 is shown in Figure 11. The print approval confirmation screen 1100 includes a back button 1101, a confidential document warning label 1102, a preview display area 1103, and a highlight display 1104. Furthermore, the print approval confirmation screen 1100 includes a page operation area 1105, a print settings display area 1106, an application information display area 1107, a reject button 1108, and an approve button 1109. 【0064】 The back button 1101 is a button for transitioning to the print approval request list screen 1000. The confidential document warning label 1102 is a label for warning the administrator based on the fact (information) that the currently displayed document image data may contain confidential information. In Figure 11, as an example, it displays "This document may contain confidential information." The preview display area 1103 is an area for displaying the administrator preview image generated by the display control unit 502 in the processing of S907 or S909. As described in S907, a highlight display 1104 is added to the rectangular coordinates of strings determined to be confidential information in the administrator preview image. In the above description, the confidential document warning label 1102 is displayed in the preview display area 1103, but the contents of the confidential document warning label 1102 may also be displayed in a pop-up window on the preview display area 1103. 【0065】 The page manipulation area 1105 is a component that provides a function to operate the page turning of the administrator preview images displayed in the preview display area 1103. The print settings display area 1106 is an area in which the display control unit 502 displays the print job setting information obtained from the print job management table held by the print job management unit 504 in S905. In the application information display area 1107, the display control unit 502 displays the application information of the currently displayed print approval request obtained from the print job management table held by the print job management unit 504 in S905. Figure 11 shows the aforementioned print job ID and the account name of the applicant as an example of application information. 【0066】 The denial button 1108 is a component for denying the currently displayed print request. On the other hand, the approval button 1109 is a button for approving the currently displayed print request, and is a component for allowing the administrator to permit the currently displayed document image data to be printed by the image forming apparatus 110. If, in S906, no record matching the print job ID exists in the confidential information management table of the confidential information analysis unit 506, the confidential document warning label 1102 and highlighting 1104 will not be added to the generated print approval confirmation screen 1100. 【0067】 The flowchart shown in Figure 12 is an example of a processing group that begins in S710 when the print number attached to the email and the printer authentication information are entered into the print number input screen 1310 (described later) displayed on the image forming apparatus 110. In S1201, the print job management unit 504 receives the print number and printer authentication information from the image forming apparatus 110. In S1202, the print job management unit 504 searches the print job management table for a record that matches the print number received in S1201. In S1203, the print job management unit 504 uses the account ID column of the record obtained in S1202 to search for account information from the account management unit 503. 【0068】 In S1204, the print job management unit 504 verifies whether the printer authentication information received in S1201 via the account management unit 503 matches the printer authentication information for the account obtained in S1203. If the print job management unit 504 determines that the two match, the process proceeds to S1205. On the other hand, if the print job management unit 504 determines that the two do not match, the process proceeds to S1208. 【0069】 In S1205, the print job management unit 504 sends the requested print job information and document image data to the image forming apparatus 110 as a response to S1201. In S1206, the print job management unit 504 receives a notification from the image forming apparatus 110 indicating that printing is complete and updates the value of the status column of the record in the print job management table to "Printing Complete". In S1207, the display control unit 502 generates the configuration information for the print completion screen, which will be described later, and sends it to the image forming apparatus 110 via the request processing unit 501. Once the transmission of the configuration information for the print completion screen is complete, the processing of the flowchart shown in Figure 12 is finished. 【0070】 In S1208, the display control unit 502 generates configuration information for the input error screen, which will be described later, and sends it to the image forming apparatus 110 via the request processing unit 501. Once the transmission of the input error screen configuration information is complete, the processing of the flowchart shown in Figure 12 is finished. 【0071】 Figure 13 shows examples of the print number input screen 1310, print completion screen 1320, and input error screen 1330 generated by the display control unit 502 and displayed on the operation unit 220 of the image forming apparatus 110, as well as an example of screen transitions. The print number input screen 1310 includes a print number input section 1311, a printer authentication information input section 1312, and a print start button 1313. The print number input section 1311 and the printer authentication information input section 1312 are text boxes into which any alphanumeric characters can be entered according to the operation of the operation unit 220 of the image forming apparatus 110. Note that in Figure 13, the printer authentication information input section 1312 is drawn assuming a PIN as the printer authentication information, but if authentication is performed using an IC card, the printer authentication information input section 1312 is not necessary. 【0072】 The print start button 1313 is used to execute printing based on the information entered in the print number input section 1311 and the printer authentication information input section 1312. If the combination of the entered print number and printer authentication information is correct, the system will transition to the print completion screen 1320 after printing is completed. If the combination of the print number and printer authentication information is incorrect, the system will transition to the input error screen 1330. 【0073】 The print completion screen 1320 includes a print completion message display unit 1321 and a back button 1322. The print completion message display unit 1321 displays a message to the user indicating that the execution of the specified print job has been completed. As an example, Figure 13 shows the print job ID along with the text "Printing complete." The back button 1322 is a component for transitioning from the print completion screen 1320 to the print number input screen 1310. 【0074】 The input error screen 1330 includes an input error message display section 1331 and a back button 1332. The input error message display section 1331 is an area that displays text to the user of printing indicating that there is an error in the information entered on the print number input screen 1310. The back button 1332 is a component for transitioning from the input error screen 1330 to the print number input screen 1310. 【0075】 In this embodiment, the print completion screen 1320 is displayed after the print start button 1313 is pressed. Alternatively, a screen for confirming or changing print settings may be displayed before printing is performed, or a screen showing the status of the ongoing print process may be displayed before transitioning to the print completion screen 1320. 【0076】 As described above, in the print management device 130 where users print after receiving administrator approval, the administrator can explicitly identify print jobs containing confidential information from the GUI displayed on the information processing device 120. This reduces the workload for administrators in checking whether documents contain confidential information. 【0077】 《Second Embodiment》 In this embodiment, a means is provided for the print management device 130 to collectively "deny" print approval requests that it has determined contain confidential information. The flowchart shown in Figure 14 is a flow that starts when an administrator requests configuration information for the print approval request list screen 1000 from the print management device 130 via the GUI. Specifically, on the authentication screen (not shown) for the print management device 130, which is generated by the display control unit 502 and displayed on the information processing device 120, the administrator logs in to the print management device 130 using their password. The logged-in administrator then requests configuration information for the print approval request list screen 1500 from the print management device 130 via the GUI, thereby starting the process shown in the flowchart in Figure 14. The process shown in the flowchart in Figure 14 is a processing flow that replaces the flowchart in Figure 9 described above. Note that the processing flow that starts when a print user logs in to the print management device 130 is the same as the process in the flowchart in Figure 9 described above, so it is omitted from this embodiment. 【0078】 In S1401, the display control unit 502 retrieves a record from the print job management table held by the print job management unit 504 in which the requesting account is the currently logged-in administrator. In S1402, the display control unit 502 uses the print job ID of the print job information obtained in S1401 to search the confidential information management table held by the confidential information analysis unit 506 for a record in which the value of the print job ID column matches. 【0079】 In S1403, the display control unit 502 generates configuration information for the print approval request list screen 1500, described later, using the print job information acquired in S1401, and sends the configuration information for the print approval request list screen 1500 to the information processing device 120 via the request processing unit 501. Furthermore, for print jobs in S1402 that contain one or more confidential documents, a confidential document icon 1503 is added to the confidential column in the print approval request list screen 1500. 【0080】 In S1404, the print job management unit 504 receives a request indicating that the administrator has pressed the confidential document bulk rejection button 1504, which will be described later. At this time, the print job management unit 504 receives a list of print job IDs of print approval requests that have been determined to contain confidential information from the information processing device 120. 【0081】 In S1405, the print job management unit 504 searches the print job management table for records in which each element of the list of print job IDs received in S1404 matches the print job ID, and updates the value of each status column to "rejected". In S1406, the notification control unit 507 obtains the email address of the user who submitted the rejected print approval request from the account management table of the account management unit 503, and notifies the user by email that the print approval request has been rejected by the administrator. Once the rejection process is completed in bulk, the print job management unit 504 executes a process to stop the printing process for all print jobs that have been determined to be rejected. 【0082】 Figure 15 shows an example of the print approval request list screen 1500 generated by the display control unit 502 in S1403. In this embodiment, the print approval request list screen 1500 is a screen that replaces the print approval request list screen 1000 described above. The print approval request list screen 1500 includes a print approval request list area 1501, a filtering condition selection button 1502, a confidential document icon 1503, and a confidential document bulk rejection button 1504. 【0083】 The print approval request list area 1501, the filtering condition selection button 1502, and the confidential document icon 1503 have the same functions as the print approval request list area 1001, the filtering condition selection button 1002, and the confidential document icon 1003 described above, respectively. Therefore, the explanation of the above items is omitted in this embodiment. The confidential document bulk rejection button 1504 is a button for rejecting one or more print approval requests in bulk for which the confidential document icon 1503 is displayed in the confidential column of the print approval request list area 1501. 【0084】 Note that the print approval request list screen 1500 is not limited to the example described above. The screen displaying the list of print approval requests may, for example, display an icon for each print job. In this case, a warning mark will be placed on the icon of a print job that contains confidential information. Alternatively, the icons for print jobs containing confidential information and those that do not may be color-coded to make them easily distinguishable. When an icon for a print job is selected by the user, the print approval confirmation screen 1100 shown in Figure 11 is displayed. 【0085】 As shown in the processing flow in Figure 14, in a print management device 130 where users manage the execution of printing after receiving approval from the administrator, it becomes possible for the administrator to collectively reject print approval requests that the print management device 130 has determined to contain confidential information. This reduces the workload for the administrator in checking whether documents contain confidential information. 【0086】 [Other embodiments] In the embodiments described above, OCR processing is performed, but this disclosure is not limited thereto. For example, if the file to be printed in a print job is a text file or a Word file, "text data" may be extracted from the file without performing OCR processing. In such cases, it is determined whether the extracted text data contains confidential information. If confidential information is found to be present, a confidential document warning label is displayed for the corresponding print job on the print approval request list screen. 【0087】 This disclosure can also be implemented by supplying a program that implements one or more of the functions of the embodiments described above to a system or device via a network or storage medium, and by having one or more processors in the computer of that system or device read and execute the program. It can also be implemented by a circuit (e.g., an ASIC) that implements one or more functions. 【0088】 The above-described embodiments include the following configurations. 【0089】 (Configuration 1) A management device comprising: a display control means that causes a list screen of print jobs to be executed on a printing device installed outside the management area to be displayed on a display means of a terminal used by the administrator, wherein the display control means is characterized in that, if the document to be printed related to the print job may contain confidential information, it may display information on the list screen indicating that such confidential information may be contained. 【0090】 (Configuration 2) The management device according to Configuration 1, wherein the display control means does not display information that may contain confidential information on the list screen if there is no possibility that the document to be printed related to the print job contains confidential information. 【0091】 (Configuration 3) The management device according to Configuration 1, characterized in that the information is displayed on the list screen by a warning mark. 【0092】 (Configuration 4) The management device according to Configuration 1 or 3, characterized in that when the display control means selects a print job that may contain confidential information from the list screen by operation of the administrator, it displays a warning on the preview screen of the document image of the print job displayed on the terminal's display means indicating that it may contain confidential information. 【0093】 (Configuration 5) The management device according to Configuration 4, characterized in that the display control means displays the warning in a pop-up window on the display means of the terminal. 【0094】 (Configuration 6) The management device according to Configuration 4, further comprising: an extraction means for identifying a character area within a document image of the document to be printed related to the print job and extracting a string of characters from the character area; and an analysis means for analyzing whether the string of characters extracted by the extraction means contains the confidential information, wherein the display control means highlights the string of characters that the analysis means has analyzed to potentially contain the confidential information on a preview screen of the document image of the print job. 【0095】 (Composition 7) The management device according to configuration 4, further comprising management means for managing the printing process by the print job, wherein the management means performs a process of not allowing printing by the print job that may contain confidential information when the request for approval for the print job that may contain confidential information is denied by the administrator's operation on the preview screen of the document image of the print job. 【0096】 (Configuration 8) The management device according to Configuration 7, characterized in that the management means performs a process of not allowing printing by all print jobs that may contain confidential information if the request for approval for all print jobs that may contain confidential information is denied by the administrator's operation on the list screen. 【0097】 (Configuration 9) The management device according to Configuration 1 or 3, further comprising: notification means for notifying the user who requested approval of the print job of the decision when an approval or rejection decision for the print job is made by an administrator. 【0098】 (Configuration 10) The management device according to Configuration 9, wherein the notification means notifies the user of the decision by email. 【0099】 (Configuration 11) The management device according to Configuration 9 or 10, characterized in that the notification means notifies the user of the decision via Short Message Service (SMS). 【0100】 (Configuration 12) A control method for a management device, characterized by comprising: a first display step of displaying a list screen of print jobs to be executed on a printing device installed outside the management area on a display means of a terminal used by the administrator; and a second display step of displaying information on the list screen indicating that the document to be printed related to the print job may contain confidential information. 【0101】 (Configuration 13) A program for causing a computer to function as a management device as described in any one of Configurations 1 to 11.

Claims

[Claim 1] A display control means that displays a list of print jobs executed on a printing device installed outside the controlled area on a display means of a terminal used by the administrator, It has, The display control means is a management device characterized by displaying information on the list screen indicating that the document to be printed related to the print job may contain confidential information. [Claim 2] The management device according to claim 1, characterized in that the display control means does not display information that may contain confidential information on the list screen if there is no possibility that the document to be printed related to the print job contains confidential information. [Claim 3] The management device according to claim 1, characterized in that the aforementioned information is displayed on the list screen by a warning mark. [Claim 4] The management device according to claim 1, characterized in that when the display control means selects a print job that may contain confidential information from the list screen by an operation of the administrator, it displays a warning on the preview screen of the document image of the print job displayed on the terminal's display means indicating that it may contain confidential information. [Claim 5] The management device according to claim 4, characterized in that the display control means displays the warning in a pop-up window on the display means of the terminal. [Claim 6] Extraction means for identifying character regions within the document image of the document to be printed related to the print job, and extracting the character string from the character region, An analysis means for analyzing whether the string extracted by the extraction means contains the confidential information, It further possesses, The management device according to claim 4, characterized in that the display control means highlights the string that has been analyzed by the analysis means as potentially containing confidential information on the preview screen of the document image of the print job. [Claim 7] A management means for managing the printing process by the aforementioned print job, It further possesses, The management device according to claim 4, wherein the management means performs a process of not allowing printing by the print job that may contain confidential information when the request for approval for the print job that may contain confidential information is denied by the administrator's operation on the preview screen of the document image of the print job. [Claim 8] The management device according to claim 7, characterized in that the management means performs a process of not allowing printing by all print jobs that may contain confidential information if the request for approval for all print jobs that may contain confidential information is denied by the administrator's operation on the list screen. [Claim 9] When an administrator makes a decision to approve or deny the print job, a notification means is provided to notify the user who requested approval of the print job of the decision. The control device according to claim 1, further comprising the following: [Claim 10] The management device according to claim 9, characterized in that the notification means notifies the user of the decision by email. [Claim 11] The management device according to claim 9, characterized in that the notification means notifies the user of the decision via Short Message Service (SMS). [Claim 12] A first display step involves displaying a list of print jobs executed on a printing device located outside the controlled area on a display device used by the administrator. If the document to be printed related to the print job may contain confidential information, a second display step is to display information on the list screen indicating that the document may contain such confidential information. A control method for a management device characterized by having the following features. [Claim 13] A program for causing a computer to function as a management device according to any one of claims 1 to 11.

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