UWB Surveillance Anonymization for Privacy-Secure Event Detection

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing surveillance systems face challenges in ensuring data security and privacy, particularly in the context of personal sensor data collected by UWB sensors, as they often require significant effort to anonymize or delete data to protect identity, which can be inefficient and prone to unauthorized access.

Innovation Solution

A UWB monitoring system that employs anonymization techniques such as data modification or deletion, encryption, and selective suspension of anonymization during exceptional events, combined with UWB tokens for secure access control, to ensure that personal sensor data is protected and only accessible to authorized entities.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Measurement precision

If personal sensor data is collected and stored for surveillance purposes, then monitoring capability and detection accuracy are improved, but data security risks and privacy protection difficulties increase

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvedetection accuracyVSAvoiddata security
Core Design Contradiction:
Measurement precisionVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The patent extracts personally identifiable information (PII) from sensor data through automated anonymization processes. The system identifies and removes or masks PII elements such as facial features, voice patterns, and personal identifiers, retaining only the surveillance-relevant data for security monitoring purposes.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent introduces an intermediary anonymization layer between data collection and data storage/processing. This intermediary process transforms raw personal data into anonymized data while preserving the utility for security monitoring, acting as a buffer that protects original personal information.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Reliability

If data anonymization is continuously applied to protect privacy, then personal data protection is improved, but access to necessary personal data during exceptional events becomes difficult

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveprivacy protectionVSAvoiddata accessibility
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSAdaptability or versatility

Solution Approach 1:

The patent implements dynamic anonymization that adjusts based on situational context. During normal operations, full anonymization is applied to protect privacy. When exceptional events are detected (such as security threats or emergencies), the system dynamically reduces anonymization intensity to allow access to personally identifiable information for investigative purposes.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #15Dynamics

Solution Approach 2:

The system changes the anonymization parameter settings based on event severity and type. The degree of anonymization is adjusted as a variable parameter, transitioning from high anonymization during routine monitoring to lower anonymization during exceptional events, balancing privacy protection with operational needs.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #35Parameter changes

3Reliability

If anonymization filters are applied at the sensor level, then data security is improved, but processing time and computational effort increase

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvedata securityVSAvoidprocessing time
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies anonymization filters in real-time as data is being collected from sensors, rather than processing data in batches afterward. This preliminary anonymization ensures data is protected from the moment of collection, preventing exposure during transmission and storage while maintaining continuous surveillance capability.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The patent replaces manual data handling and post-processing anonymization with automated real-time anonymization systems. The automated filters process data streams continuously without human intervention, reducing both processing time and the risk of manual errors while maintaining data security.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #28Mechanics substitution (Replace mechanical system)

4Reliability

If all personal data is anonymized by default, then privacy protection is improved, but operational efficiency during security incidents decreases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveprivacy protectionVSAvoidoperational efficiency
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSProductivity

Solution Approach 1:

The system dynamically adjusts the level of anonymization based on operational context. During normal surveillance operations, full anonymization is maintained to protect privacy. When security incidents or exceptional events are detected, the system automatically reduces anonymization to provide investigators with access to personally identifiable information, improving operational efficiency during critical events.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #15Dynamics

Solution Approach 2:

The degree of anonymization is implemented as a controllable parameter that changes based on event severity. The system transitions from a static all-or-nothing anonymization approach to a dynamic parameter-based approach, allowing fine-tuned adjustment of privacy protection levels to match operational requirements during different types and severities of security events.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #35Parameter changes

Data Source

PatentEP4094235B1UWB surveillance system
Publication Date: 2025.11.19 BUNDESDRUCKEREI GMBH
  • EP4094235B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP4094235B1 patent drawingFigure 2~3
  • EP4094235B1 patent drawingFigure 4~5

AI summary

The invention relates to a UWB monitoring system (100) for monitoring a spatial region (102). The UWB monitoring system comprises a plurality of UWB sensors (110) which are distributed in the spatial region. The UWB sensors are configured to capture sensor data and to transmit the captured sensor data via the UWB. The UWB monitoring system is configured to capture sensor data comprising personal sensor data in the spatial domain using the UWB sensors, to filter the captured sensor data using an anonymisation filter (123), wherein the anonymisation filter is configured to anonymise the personal sensor data, to analyse the captured sensor data for detecting an exception event, and, upon detecting the exception event, to temporarily suspend anonymising the personal sensor data.