One-Way Hashing for Secure PII Storage and Authentication
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Solution Overview
Problem
The storage of personally identifiable information (PII) from identification documents is vulnerable to security threats, as it can be targeted by bad actors for identity theft or fraud, and existing methods lack effective solutions for secure storage and authentication.
Innovation Solution
A method and system that utilize a one-way hashing function to convert PII into unique digests, which are stored instead of the original information, allowing for secure storage and authentication by generating the same digest for the same input, enabling anonymized identification and authentication without risking the original data.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If personally identifiable information is stored for authentication purposes, then authentication functionality is enabled, but security vulnerability increases due to exposure to bad actors
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a copy of the PII in the form of a hash digest, storing only the digest rather than the original PII. This copy allows authentication functionality to be maintained while the original sensitive information remains protected from exposure to bad actors.
Solution Approach 2:
The hash digest acts as an intermediary between the original PII and the authentication system. The digest enables authentication comparisons without revealing the actual PII, serving as a mediator that maintains functionality while eliminating direct storage of sensitive data.
2Measurement precision
If original PII is stored for authentication, then authentication accuracy is maintained, but data breach risk increases
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of storing the original PII, the system stores a hash digest copy that preserves the authentication accuracy through consistent hashing while eliminating the data breach risk associated with storing raw PII.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transforms the PII into a different parameter form (hash digest) that maintains the necessary authentication properties while changing the data representation to be secure against breaches.
3Ease of operation
If PII is stored in database, then authentication capability is provided, but system security decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The system stores only the hash digest copy of PII in the database rather than the original PII, maintaining authentication capability through the digest while improving system security by eliminating sensitive data storage.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts the essential authentication functionality from the PII itself and separates it into the hash digest form, allowing the database to store only the extracted digest information rather than the full PII.
Data Source
AI summary
The present disclosure describes methods and systems for handling personal identifiable information. In some implementations, the information is collected during the authentication of identification (ID) documents. The system includes a one-way hashing function that converts unique personal identifiable information into a unique digest. The system can store the digest without having to store the personal identifiable information. Because the hashing function generates the same digest when given the same input, the digests can be used as anonymized identifiers in place of the personal identifiable information.