XR Privacy Interposer Mediating Sensor Data Access
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing XR applications have unfettered access to user device sensors, posing significant privacy risks as they can capture and utilize raw image data without runtime checks, leading to potential misuse of sensitive information.
Innovation Solution
An interposer application that modifies image data based on user-defined privacy preferences, restricting access to sensitive content on a frame-by-frame basis, and mediates between the operating system and XR applications to manage data access.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If XR applications are granted direct access to sensor data, then the application functionality and data processing capability are improved, but the privacy risk and security vulnerability increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an interposer application that sits between the XR application and the video capture driver, acting as a mediator that filters and modifies image data before passing it to the application. This intermediary layer enables the application to receive processed data for functionality while preventing direct access to raw sensitive data, thereby resolving the contradiction between productivity and privacy risk.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the data access control into multiple layers: the video capture driver captures raw data, the interposer application processes and filters specific regions of interest, and the XR application receives only the necessary processed data. This segmentation allows each component to perform its function while maintaining privacy boundaries, addressing the contradiction between functionality and security.
2Ease of operation
If the operating system provides binary permission choices for sensor access, then the system simplicity and ease of operation are maintained, but the privacy control granularity is insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic privacy control where the interposer application can modify different regions of image data in real-time based on privacy preferences. Instead of static binary permissions, the system dynamically determines which regions to share with the application and which to protect, providing fine-grained control while maintaining ease of operation through automated processing.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies different quality levels of data access to different regions of the image. Sensitive regions are protected or modified, while non-sensitive regions are shared with the application. This local differentiation enables fine-grained privacy control without requiring complex user configuration, balancing adaptability with ease of operation.
3Measurement precision
If raw image data is passed to XR applications for processing, then the measurement precision and processing accuracy are improved, but the loss of information control and data security increase
Solution Approach 1:
The interposer application performs preliminary processing of the image data before passing it to the XR application. By pre-identifying and protecting sensitive regions, the system maintains processing accuracy for non-sensitive areas while preventing data security losses. This preliminary action resolves the contradiction between precision and information control.
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and methods are described for preserving the privacy of a user in connection with an extended reality (XR) application. The system and methods may receive, by an interposer application, image data from a video capture driver and determine, by the interposer application and based on privacy preferences of a user profile, whether a region of the image data comprises sensitive content. In response to determining that a region of the image data comprises sensitive content, the image data may be modified by applying, by the interposer application, a modification to the region of the image data. The modified image data may be provided by the interposer application to the XR application, wherein the wherein the XR application may be prohibited from directly accessing data from the video capture driver.