Database Engine Privacy Journal Checks After Backup Restore

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Solution Overview

Problem

Conventional database management systems fail to ensure privacy compliance during backup restoration operations, as they do not account for privacy data removal requests made after the backup was performed, leading to potential breaches of privacy policies.

Innovation Solution

A privacy compliance notification system is implemented, which generates a notification based on comparing a privacy journal to a database transaction journal to identify unexecuted privacy operations since the backup restoration, ensuring compliance through a computationally efficient manner.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If a backup copy of the database is restored using conventional operational-backup-restoration model, then the database can be recovered to a previous state, but privacy compliance is compromised because privacy data removal requests made after the backup are not executed

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveprivacy complianceVSAvoidsystem complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent segments the database journal into two separate journals: a database transaction journal that logs all database operations, and a privacy journal that logs only privacy-related operations (such as data removal requests). This segmentation allows the system to track privacy operations independently without complicating the overall database restoration process, as each journal can be processed separately during compliance verification.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The patent introduces a privacy compliance notification system as an intermediary component that compares the privacy journal against the database transaction journal to identify unexecuted privacy operations. This intermediary mechanism automates the compliance verification process, reducing the need for complex manual procedures while ensuring privacy policies are maintained after backup restoration.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Measurement precision

If manual procedures are used to verify privacy compliance after backup restoration, then privacy data can be identified, but the process is time-consuming and prone to human error and inconsistencies

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvecompliance verification accuracyVSAvoidverification time
Core Design Contradiction:
Measurement precisionVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The patent implements a self-service mechanism where the database management system automatically compares the privacy journal against the database transaction journal and generates compliance notifications without requiring manual intervention. The system identifies unexecuted privacy operations through automated journal comparison, eliminating human error and inconsistencies while significantly reducing the time required for compliance verification.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #25Self-service

Solution Approach 2:

The patent establishes a feedback loop where the privacy compliance notification system continuously monitors the database state after backup restoration, compares it against the privacy journal, and generates notifications when compliance issues are detected. This automated feedback mechanism ensures timely detection and correction of privacy violations, improving both accuracy and efficiency.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #23Feedback

3Reliability

If the entire database transaction journal is analyzed to identify privacy operations, then complete privacy compliance can be ensured, but the computational overhead and processing time increase significantly

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveprivacy compliance assuranceVSAvoidcomputational resources
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSUse of energy by moving object

Solution Approach 1:

The patent reduces computational overhead by segmenting the analysis focus from the entire database transaction journal to specifically the privacy journal. The privacy journal contains only privacy-related operations, allowing the system to verify compliance by analyzing a smaller, targeted subset of transactions. This segmentation maintains complete privacy compliance assurance while significantly reducing the computational resources required compared to analyzing all database operations.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Data Source

PatentEP4457679B1Database management engine for a database management system
Publication Date: 2025.12.03 MICROSOFT TECHNOLOGY LICENSING LLC
  • EP4457679B1 patent drawingFigure 1A
  • EP4457679B1 patent drawingFigure 1B
  • EP4457679B1 patent drawingFigure 1C

AI summary

Methods, systems, and computer storage media provide a privacy compliance notification indicating a database's level of compliance with a privacy policy after restoring the database to the database's backup copy. The database is associated with a database management engine. The database supports privacy-based first-class data entities. The privacy-based first-class data entities are database entities having privacy system-level metadata properties associated with data operations in a database language syntax. The privacy compliance notification may be generated based on determining whether a privacy database operation associated with a database journal and a privacy journal has been executed on a database since the database was restored to a backup copy of the database. The database transaction journal includes a transaction log of database operations executed against the database, and the privacy journal includes the database operations logged as privacy database operations associated with the plurality of privacy-based first-class data entities.