Image Data Obfuscation That Preserves Functional and Visual Formats
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing data redaction techniques obscure both the functional and visual formats of sensitive data, making it difficult for software applications, particularly robotic process automation applications, to understand and function correctly during development and testing.
Innovation Solution
A method that generates artificial data with the same functional and visual formats as the sensitive data, allowing it to be obscured without revealing its cognitive content, using optical character recognition and machine learning to identify and replace sensitive data with non-sensitive data that maintains the original format.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If sensitive data is redacted using opaque rectangles or pixelating, then the sensitive content is hidden, but the functional format and visual format are also obscured making it difficult for software applications to understand and function correctly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates artificial data that copies the functional format and visual format of the original sensitive data without copying the actual sensitive content. This allows software applications to interact with data that maintains the same structure, length, and appearance characteristics, enabling proper functionality while preventing exposure of actual sensitive information.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces artificial data as an intermediary between the sensitive data and the software application. This intermediary maintains the necessary format characteristics for the application to function correctly while blocking access to the actual sensitive content, thus mediating between data protection requirements and application functionality requirements.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If sensitive data is replaced with fixed character strings or entity type dependent strings, then the sensitive content is hidden, but the visual format consistency is lost making it difficult for developers to test and ensure correct functionality
Solution Approach 1:
The patent generates artificial data that copies the visual format characteristics (length, font, style, position) of the original sensitive data. This allows developers to test software applications with data that visually matches the expected format, enabling proper development and testing while the actual sensitive content remains protected.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If the visual format of redacted data is changed, then the sensitive content is hidden, but software applications that rely on visual format recognition (such as RPA applications) cannot function correctly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates artificial data that precisely copies the visual format of the original sensitive data including font, size, style, color, and position. This ensures that software applications, particularly RPA applications that rely on visual format recognition, can continue to function correctly while the actual sensitive content remains protected.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies different quality characteristics to different aspects of the data: the sensitive content is completely replaced with artificial data, while the visual format characteristics are preserved locally in the same positions and with the same properties, allowing the system to simultaneously achieve content protection and format preservation.
Data Source
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AI summary
The present invention relates to a computer-implemented method for obscuring sensitive data. The method comprises: acquiring, by a processor, image data; extracting, by the processor, structured data from the image data, the structured data being sensitive data and having a defined functional format and a defined visual format; generating, by the processor, artificial data that is different from the structured data, the artificial data having the same functional format as the structured data; generating, by the processor, artificial image data based on the image data in which the structured data is replaced with the artificial data, the artificial data being based on the visual format of the structured data; and outputting, by the processor, the artificial image data.