Data security through physical separation of data

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11288396-B2
Application number	US-201916444195-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 18, 2019
Priority date	Jun 18, 2019
Publication date	Mar 29, 2022
Grant date	Mar 29, 2022

Abstract

A data security method may include storing user data to a first device and storing metadata corresponding to the user data to a second device. The method may further include making a first determination that at least one device selected from the group of the first device and the second device is not in communication with a third device. The method may further include disabling utilization of the user data in response to the first determination.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
storing user data to a first device;
storing metadata corresponding to the user data to a second device;
making a first determination that at least one device selected from the group consisting of the first device and the second device is not in communication with a third device,
wherein making the first determination comprises making a second determination that the at least one device is not using a predetermined communication path to communicate with the third device; and
disabling utilization of the user data in response to the first determination, the disabling comprising displaying a message on at least one device selected from the group consisting of the first device, the second device, and the third device.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the third device is the first device.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the third device is the second device.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the predetermined communication path is a predetermined data cable.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the predetermined communication path is a predetermined network.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first device comprises a desktop computer, the second device comprises a smart phone, and the third device comprises a tablet computer.

7. A method comprising:
storing user data to a first device,
wherein the user data has been separated from corresponding metadata,
wherein the corresponding metadata is not stored on the first device;
making a first determination that the first device is not in communication with a discrete device,
wherein making the first determination comprises making a second determination that the first device is not using a predetermined communication path to communicate with the discrete device,
wherein the corresponding metadata is stored on the discrete device; and
in response to the first determination, disabling utilization of the user data, the disabling comprising blocking an ability of the discrete device to obtain the user data from the first device.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein disabling utilization of the user data further comprises displaying on the first device a message corresponding to the first device not being in communication with the discrete device.

9. The method of claim 7 , wherein the predetermined communication path is a predetermined data cable.

10. The method of claim 7 , wherein the predetermined communication path is a predetermined network.

11. The method of claim 7 , further comprising establishing communication with the discrete device; and
enabling utilization of the user data.

12. The method of claim 7 , further comprising establishing communication with the discrete device; and
storing user data obtained from the discrete device to the first device.

13. A method comprising:
storing metadata to a second device comprising a smart watch,
wherein the metadata has been separated from user data to which the metadata corresponds,
wherein the user data is not stored on the second device;
making a first determination that the second device is not in communication with a discrete device comprising a tablet computer,
wherein making the first determination comprises making a second determination that the second device is not using a predetermined communication path to communicate with the discrete device,
wherein the user data is stored on the discrete device; and
in response to the first determination, disabling utilization of the user data, the disabling comprising blocking an ability of the discrete device to obtain the corresponding metadata from the second device.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein disabling utilization of the user data further comprises displaying on the second device a message corresponding to the second device not being in communication with the discrete device.

15. The method of claim 13 , wherein the predetermined communication path is a predetermined data cable.

16. The method of claim 13 , wherein the predetermined communication path is a predetermined network.

17. The method of claim 13 , further comprising establishing communication with the discrete device; and
enabling utilization of the user data.

Assignees

• IBM

Inventors

• Li Li
• Kadlecsik Barnabas
• Goldberg Itzhack
• Liu Su
• Lev Ran Etai

Classifications

• G06F21/6254

  by anonymising data, e.g. decorrelating personal data from the owner's identification · CPC title

• G06F21/6245 Primary

  Protecting personal data, e.g. for financial or medical purposes · CPC title

• G06F21/64 Primary

  Protecting data integrity, e.g. using checksums, certificates or signatures · CPC title