Format-Preserving Tokenization Web Service for Secure Data Collaboration
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing systems fail to effectively protect sensitive or unshareable data while allowing fast and large-scale data processing and interaction between parties, as they often require insecure channels for transmission and expose confidential information.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of a tokenization web service that generates surrogate tokens from source data using cryptographic hash functions, allowing format-preserving tokenization to maintain data format and security, enabling secure collaboration without exposing personal identity information or sensitive data.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional data sharing methods are used, then data can be transmitted and processed, but sensitive information is exposed and security is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments data into two distinct components: sensitive data and non-sensitive data. Tokenization separates the sensitive portion (which is replaced with a token) from the non-sensitive portion (which can be shared). This segmentation allows selective sharing of only the necessary data elements while protecting sensitive information, directly resolving the contradiction between security and information loss.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces tokens as intermediary elements that represent sensitive data without exposing the actual sensitive information. These tokens act as mediators between the need for data sharing and the need for security. The token can be transmitted and processed in place of sensitive data, enabling data workflows while maintaining confidentiality through the intermediary token mechanism.
2Reliability
If sensitive data is masked or encrypted, then confidentiality is maintained, but data processing capability and utility are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies different quality treatments to different parts of the data structure. The sensitive portion is tokenized to maintain confidentiality, while the non-sensitive portion remains in its original, fully usable form. This local differentiation of data quality allows the system to maintain high processing efficiency for the non-sensitive data while applying security measures only where necessary, avoiding the productivity loss that would result from encrypting or masking the entire dataset.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a token copy that represents the sensitive data without containing the actual sensitive information. This token copy can be used in processing operations in place of the original sensitive data, maintaining processing capability while protecting confidentiality. The token serves as a functional substitute that enables data workflows without requiring access to the actual sensitive values.
3Adaptability or versatility
If format-preserving tokenization is implemented, then data format is maintained for compatibility, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the format parameters of the tokenized data to match the original data format specifications. Format-preserving tokenization ensures that the tokenized output maintains the same length, data type, and structural characteristics as the input sensitive data. This parameter adjustment allows the tokenized data to be processed by existing systems without modification, achieving format compatibility while the underlying tokenization mechanism handles the complexity of secure transformation.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables secure data sharing and collaboration by representing sensitive data with tokens that preserve format and confidentiality, allowing associated tokens to be linked for access while keeping sensitive information hidden from unauthorized parties.
Implementation Method 1
A tokenization web service generates a token from source data
Data Source
AI summary
The present disclosure provides systems, methods, and products for providing a tokenization service and a complementary API. The tokenization service may provide format-preserving tokens. The tokenization service may associate different tokens generated by different users from the same data, so that users can retrieve and use associated tokens for collaboration and access to each other's data, information, etc. The tokenization service may restrict the creation of an association between, and access to, users' tokens based on a requirement for a relationships between users according to a social graph model.