Image Segmentation With Encrypted Ordering for PII Protection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing image processing systems store images in a format that is both machine- and human-readable, exposing personally identifying information (PII) to unauthorized access, and lack effective methods to protect PII while allowing machine processing.
Innovation Solution
Image segmentation is applied to divide images into smaller segments, which are reordered and transformed, with transformation data stored in an encrypted database, accessible only to authorized applications, and the reconstructed image is stored in transient memory.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If images are stored in a format that is both machine- and human-readable, then ease of operation is improved, but security against unauthorized access to PII deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The image is divided into multiple segments that are stored separately. Each segment contains only a portion of the original image, making it difficult for unauthorized users to reconstruct the complete image and access PII, while authorized applications can retrieve and reassemble the segments to process the full image.
Solution Approach 2:
An intermediary system (the image processing application) is introduced between the stored image segments and the end user. This intermediary holds the encryption keys and reconstruction logic, allowing authorized applications to access and process images while preventing direct access by end users.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If image segmentation and encryption are applied, then security against unauthorized access is improved, but device complexity deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of storing the complete original image, the system stores multiple copies of segmented portions. Each segment is a copy of a specific region, and the combination of all segments reconstructs the original image. This approach distributes complexity across multiple simple storage units rather than requiring a single complex secure storage system.
Data Source
AI summary
An input image is divided into segments. The segments may be reassembled to reform the input image. The order of the segments may be stored in an encrypted database for which approved applications have the decryption key but users do not. This allows the approved applications to determine the order and reform the input image without allowing users to do the same. To further increase the difficulty of reforming the input image, the segments may be transformed. Example transformations include rotation and mirroring. The encrypted database may store an indication of the transformation applied to each segment. The effort of reforming the input image without access to the database is increased substantially. The reformed input image may be stored in transient memory only, without being stored to long-term storage. Thus, the reformed image cannot be accessed from a file system by unauthorized users.