Transformed Machine Readable Image Access Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing machine readable images, such as QR codes, face challenges in controlling access to intended users due to widespread availability of decoder applications and devices, leading to unauthorized access by unintended users.
Innovation Solution
A method and system that transforms machine readable images to render data inaccessible, using a configuration module to reconfigure the image back to a decodable form accessible only to authorized reader devices, either locally or through a server, by altering modifiable characteristics like color, layout, or pixel arrangement.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If machine readable images are made easily accessible using existing decoder applications, then ease of operation is improved, but security and access control deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by transforming the machine readable image into an encrypted or obfuscated form before it is displayed to the user. The image is pre-processed to hide the encoded data, and only the authorized decoder application with the correct decryption key can restore it to its original decodable form. This ensures that access control is established before the user attempts to scan the image, preventing unauthorized access while maintaining ease of operation for authorized users.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary element - a decryption key or authentication mechanism - that must be present in the authorized decoder application to access the encoded data. This intermediary acts as a mediator between the transformed image and the decoding process, allowing only authenticated applications to restore and decode the image. This resolves the contradiction by maintaining ease of operation for authorized users while implementing robust access control through the intermediary authentication step.
2Reliability
If a new secure machine readable image format is devised, then security is improved, but device complexity and implementation cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies parameter changes by modifying existing machine readable image parameters (such as color, orientation, or encoding structure) to create a transformed version that requires decryption. Rather than creating an entirely new image format, the solution changes the state or parameters of the existing image through encryption or obfuscation techniques. This approach improves security while avoiding the complexity of developing and implementing a completely new image format standard.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies inversion by reversing the traditional approach: instead of creating a new secure format from scratch, it takes an existing widely-compatible machine readable image format and inverts its accessibility by encrypting or transforming it. The security is achieved not through the image format itself but through the transformation applied to it. This resolves the contradiction by maintaining compatibility with existing formats while adding security through the inverse operation of encryption.
Data Source
AI summary
A method, apparatus, and computer-readable medium for decoding transformed machine readable images is disclosed. A reader device can acquire a machine readable image that is transformed. A configuration module can reconfigure the transformed image to a form that renders the data in the image accessible by the reader device. A read module can decode the reconfigured machine readable image to retrieve the data contained in the image.