Search engine with privacy protection

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10454932-B2
Application number	US-201514842731-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 1, 2015
Priority date	Sep 15, 2009
Publication date	Oct 22, 2019
Grant date	Oct 22, 2019

Abstract

A search engine system with privacy protection, including a data indexer configured to create an index of data, a search engine configured to search the index of the data in response to a query, and create a search result set including excerpts from the data, and a privacy protector configured to identify at least one data entity within at least one excerpt of the search result set that meets at least one predefined entity extraction criterion, redact the search result set by removing the data entity from the excerpt, and present the redacted search result set on a computer output device.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for providing privacy protection in a data searching system, the method comprising:
receiving a query from a requestor;
identifying within data excerpts a first data entity;
generating first redacted excerpts by removing the first data entity responsive to a first entity extraction criterion from the data excerpts, wherein the first entity extraction criterion is related to privacy consideration independent of an identity of the requestor;
generating a first redacted search result set from the first redacted excerpts in response to a search query of the data occurring after the generating of the first redacted excerpts;
identifying within the first redacted search result set a second data entity;
generating a second redacted search result set by removing the second data entity from the first redacted search result set responsive to a second entity extraction criterion, wherein the second entity extraction criterion applies rules specific to the identity of the requestor; and
presenting the second redacted search result set on a computer output device.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first redacted search result set renders an access control indicator in place of the removed first data entity.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
providing the first data entity to be removed according to the first entity extraction criterion to the requestor having a role permitting access to the first data entity.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving selection of an item in the second redacted search result set from a selecting requestor; and
applying controls to determine whether to provide access to a complete version of the selected item.

5. The method of claim 4 , further comprising:
maintaining a record of an identity of the selecting requestor and a description of the selected item and a reason given for selection of the item.

6. The method of claim 4 , further comprising:
receiving with the query an access reason associated with the query, wherein the controls provide access to the selected item when the access reason permit access to the selected item.

7. A data searching system comprising:
at least one processor and a memory with instructions stored therein configured for execution by the processor, wherein executing the instructions causes the at least one processor to perform actions including:
receiving a query from a requestor;
identifying within data excerpts in a search result set from the query a first data entity;
generating first redacted excerpts by removing the first data entity responsive to a first entity extraction criterion from the data excerpts, wherein the first entity extraction criterion is related to privacy consideration independent of an identity of the requestor;
generating a first redacted search result set from the first redacted excerpts in response to a search query of data occurring after the generating of the first redacted excerpts;
identifying within the first redacted search result set a second data entity;
generating a second redacted search result set by removing the second data entity from the first redacted search result set responsive to a second entity extraction criterion, wherein the second entity extraction criterion applies rules specific to the identity of the requestor; and
presenting the second redacted search result set on a computer output device.

8. The system of claim 7 , wherein the first redacted search result set renders an access control indicator in place of the removed first data entity.

9. The system of claim 7 , wherein executing the instructions causes the at least one processor to perform actions further including:
providing the first data entity to be removed according to the first entity extraction criterion to the requestor having a role permitting access to the first data entity.

10. The system of claim 7 , wherein executing the instructions causes the at least one processor to perform actions further including:
receiving selection of an item in the second redacted search result set from a selecting requestor; and applying controls to determine whether to provide access to a complete version of the
selected item.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein executing the instructions causes the at least one processor to perform actions further including:
maintaining a record of an identity of the selecting requestor and a description of the selected item and a reason given for selection of the item.

12. The system of claim 10 , wherein executing the instructions causes the at least one processor to perform actions further including: receiving with the query an access reason associated with the query, wherein the controls provide access to the selected item when the access reason permit access to the selected item.

13. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon that when executed by a processor performs operations for searching data, the operations comprising:
receiving a query from a requestor;
identifying within data excerpts in a search result set from the query a first data entity;
generating first redacted excerpts by removing the first data entity responsive to a first entity extraction criterion from the data excerpts, wherein the first entity extraction criterion is related to privacy consideration independent of an identity of the requestor;
generating a first redacted search result set from the first redacted excerpts in response to a search query of the data occurring after the generating of the first redacted excerpts;
identifying within the first redacted search result set a second data entity;
generating a second redacted search result set by removing the second data entity from the first redacted search result set responsive to a second entity extraction criterion, wherein the second entity extraction criterion applies rules specific to the identity of the requestor; and
presenting the second redacted search result set on a computer output device.

14. The computer program product of claim 13 , wherein the first redacted search result set renders an access control indicator in place of the removed first data entity.

15. The computer program product of claim 13 , wherein the operations further comprise:
providing the first data entity to be removed according to the first entity extraction criterion to the requestor having a role permitting access to the first data entity.

16. The computer program product of claim 13 , wherein the operations further comprise:
receiving selection of an item in the second redacted search result set from a selecting requestor; and
applying controls to determine whether to provide access to a complete version of the selected item.

17. The computer program product of claim 16 , wherein the operations further comprise:
maintaining a record of an identity of the selecting requestor and a description of the selected item and a reason given for selection of the item.

18. The computer program product of claim 16 , wherein the operations further comprise:
receiving with the query an access reason associated with the query, wherein the controls provide access to the selected item when the access reason permit access to the selected item.

Assignees

• IBM

Inventors

• Fox Joshua
• Pelts Michael
• Shapiro Eitan

Classifications

• G06F16/248

  Presentation of query results · CPC title

• G06F21/62 Primary

  Protecting access to data via a platform, e.g. using keys or access control rules · CPC title

• G06F21/84

  output devices, e.g. displays or monitors · CPC title

• G06F16/2455

  Query execution · CPC title

• G06F16/9038

  Presentation of query results · CPC title