Field-Level Encryption for Reformatting Lender Output Data
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing encryption methods prevent data manipulation and reformatting, requiring decryption and re-encryption, which limits flexibility and exposes sensitive information to unauthorized entities.
Innovation Solution
A method of encrypting data in a flexible format that allows manipulation and reformatting without decryption, using a first data key for sensitive data and storing encryption metadata with paths to encrypted data, enabling secure transformation and decryption at an intermediate layer.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If data is encrypted at the object or file level, then data security is improved, but data manipulation and reformatting capabilities deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the data object into multiple data elements, where only sensitive data elements are encrypted while non-sensitive data elements remain unencrypted. This allows partial encryption that maintains security for sensitive information while preserving manipulation capabilities for non-sensitive portions of the data structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies encryption selectively to specific data elements based on their sensitivity rather than encrypting the entire data object uniformly. This local quality approach encrypts only where necessary, maintaining security for sensitive fields while leaving other fields accessible for manipulation and reformatting.
2Reliability
If encryption is applied to protect sensitive information, then data security is improved, but the ability to reformat data without decryption deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the data object into encrypted and unencrypted segments, allowing reformatting operations to proceed on the unencrypted portions without requiring decryption. This segmentation enables ease of operation for common data transformation tasks while maintaining security where needed.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies different encryption states to different data elements based on their sensitivity classification. Non-sensitive data elements remain in plaintext, enabling easy reformatting and manipulation operations without decryption overhead, while sensitive elements maintain encryption for security.
3Reliability
If decryption and re-encryption is performed during reformatting, then data security is maintained, but processing time and complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments data elements by sensitivity level, allowing reformatting operations to skip decryption steps for unencrypted elements. This eliminates unnecessary processing time for non-sensitive data while maintaining security encryption for sensitive data throughout the reformatting process.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies encryption selectively rather than uniformly, so that reformatting operations only need to handle encrypted portions when necessary. This local approach reduces overall processing time by avoiding redundant decryption and re-encryption cycles for non-sensitive data elements.
Data Source
AI summary
A multi-lender architecture is configured to provide a loan applicant with automated pre-qualification and automobile loan eligibility evaluation for multiple candidate lenders. Lender output data may include sensitive data. The lender output data is stored in a data object of a first format and one or more fields of the data object are encrypted at the field level. The encrypted data object may be transmitted through multiple application layers or terminals. The encrypted data object may be reformatted at one or more application layers or terminals without decryption. A reformatted encrypted data object containing the lender output data may be decrypted at the last layer before forwarding the lender output data to the loan applicant.