Opaque Bound Variables for AR Privacy
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional operating systems face privacy concerns, especially in augmented reality (AR)/virtual reality (VR) devices, as they may capture sensitive user data without proper protection, allowing non-trusted applications to access sensitive information.
Innovation Solution
An application framework utilizing opaque bound variables to obfuscate sensitive data, where applications can process variables without direct access to the underlying data, using trusted services provided by the operating system to manage and process sensitive information.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If traditional operating systems allow applications to access captured data, then applications can perform necessary processing functions, but user privacy and data security are compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary layer (opaque bound variables and trusted services) between the application and sensitive data. Applications interact with obfuscated variables rather than raw data, and trusted services act as mediators that process data on behalf of applications without exposing the actual data to untrusted applications. This resolves the contradiction by enabling data processing functionality while preventing direct access to sensitive information.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the data access system into multiple components: opaque bound variables that hide data, trusted services that process data, and applications that consume processed results. This segmentation allows the system to provide data processing capabilities to applications while isolating sensitive data from direct application access, thus maintaining both functionality and security.
2Productivity
If applications directly access sensitive data, then processing efficiency is improved, but data security and access control are weakened
Solution Approach 1:
Trusted services serve as intermediaries that handle data processing operations. Applications submit requests to trusted services, which then access and process the actual data securely. This intermediary approach maintains processing efficiency by allowing applications to work with opaque variables while the trusted services handle the actual data manipulation in a secure environment.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates opaque copies or representations of the actual data (opaque bound variables) that applications can manipulate without accessing the real data. These copies preserve the functional characteristics needed for processing while eliminating the security risk of exposing actual sensitive information, thus maintaining productivity without compromising reliability.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If opaque bound variables are used to hide data, then data privacy is enhanced, but application development complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The opaque bound variable system is designed to be self-service in that it automatically manages the obfuscation and unobfuscation of data without requiring complex application-level implementation. The framework handles the complexity of data protection transparently, allowing applications to work with opaque variables using standard programming constructs while the underlying complexity is managed by the system itself.
Data Source
AI summary
In one embodiment, a computing system executes an application defining a bound variable that references a bound value. The bound value references computation instructions to derive a corresponding current value of the bound variable and the application lacks access permission to the current value of the bound variable. An operating system of the computing system receives a request to perform an operation that references the bound variable. The operating system identifies, based on computation instructions, one or more services separate from a process running the application to process the computation instructions referenced by the bound value. At least one of the one or more services has access permission to the current value of the bound variable. The operating system computes, using the one or more identified services, the current value of the bound variable according to the computation instructions of the bound value.