Dynamic video exclusion zones for privacy

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11457183-B2
Application number	US-202117341706-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 8, 2021
Priority date	Jun 24, 2019
Publication date	Sep 27, 2022
Grant date	Sep 27, 2022

Abstract

Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for preserving privacy in surveillance. The methods, systems, and apparatus include actions of determining a state of a monitoring system, determining an exclusion zone that is shown in a video, determining whether to obfuscate at least a portion of the video based on the exclusion zone and the state of the monitoring system, and obfuscating at least the portion of the video.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:
determining an arming state of a monitoring system;
determining an exclusion zone that is shown in a video;
determining whether to obfuscate at least a portion of the video based on the exclusion zone and the arming state of the monitoring system, wherein determining whether to obfuscate at least the portion of the video based on the exclusion zone and the arming state of the monitoring system includes:
determining that humans in the exclusion zone are to be obfuscated when the monitoring system is in a particular arming state and that the arming state of the monitoring system is in the particular arming state; and
in response to determining that humans in the exclusion zone are to be obfuscated when the monitoring system is in the particular arming state and that the arming state of the monitoring system is in the particular arming state, determining to obfuscate humans in the exclusion zone in the video; and
obfuscating at least the portion of the video that shows a human in the exclusion zone without obfuscating another portion of the video that shows a portion of the exclusion zone without any humans.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining an exclusion zone that is shown in a video comprises:
receiving, from an exclusion zone definition database, an exclusion zone definition that specifies the exclusion zone; and
determining, based on the exclusion zone definition, that the video shows the exclusion zone.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the exclusion zone definition specifies that a particular room is to be obfuscated when the monitoring system is in a particular state and not obfuscated when the monitoring system is not in the particular state.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the particular room comprises a bathroom and the particular state comprises unarmed.

5. The method of claim 2 , wherein the exclusion zone definition specifies that in a living room, humans are always to be obfuscated, and when the state of the monitoring system is unarmed, an entirety of the living room is to be obfuscated.

6. The method of claim 2 , wherein determining that humans in the exclusion zone are to be obfuscated when the monitoring system is in a particular arming state and that the arming state of the monitoring system is in the particular arming state comprises:
determining that the exclusion zone definition specifies that only humans are to be obfuscated in the exclusion zone during the particular arming state.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining a state of a monitoring system comprises:
receiving, from a control unit of the monitoring system and by an obfuscation engine, an indication that the monitoring system is unarmed.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein obfuscating at least the portion of the video comprises:
replacing pixels in the video that correspond to the exclusion zone with black pixels.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein obfuscating at least the portion of the video comprises:
replacing pixels in the video that correspond to the human in the exclusion zone with black pixels.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein obfuscating at least the portion of the video comprises:
storing the video labeled with metadata that specifies which portions of the video should be obscured for which types of users when the video is played.

11. A system comprising:
one or more computers and one or more storage devices storing instructions that are operable, when executed by the one or more computers, to cause the one or more computers to perform operations comprising:
determining an arming state of a monitoring system;
determining an exclusion zone that is shown in a video;
determining whether to obfuscate at least a portion of the video based on the exclusion zone and the arming state of the monitoring system, wherein determining whether to obfuscate at least the portion of the video based on the exclusion zone and the arming state of the monitoring system includes:
determining that humans in the exclusion zone are to be obfuscated when the monitoring system is in a particular arming state and that the arming state of the monitoring system is in the particular arming state; and
in response to determining that humans in the exclusion zone are to be obfuscated when the monitoring system is in the particular arming state and that the arming state of the monitoring system is in the particular arming state, determining to obfuscate humans in the exclusion zone in the video; and

obfuscating at least the portion of the video that shows a human in the exclusion zone without obfuscating another portion of the video that shows a portion of the exclusion zone without any humans.

12. The system of claim 11 , wherein determining an exclusion zone that is shown in a video comprises:
receiving, from an exclusion zone definition database, an exclusion zone definition that specifies the exclusion zone; and
determining, based on the exclusion zone definition, that the video shows the exclusion zone.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the exclusion zone definition specifies that a particular room is to be obfuscated when the monitoring system is in a particular state and not obfuscated when the monitoring system is not in the particular state.

14. The system of claim 13 , wherein the particular room comprises a bathroom and the particular state comprises unarmed.

15. The system of claim 12 , wherein the exclusion zone definition specifies that in a living room, humans are always to be obfuscated, and when the state of the monitoring system is unarmed, an entirety of the living room is to be obfuscated.

16. The system of claim 12 , wherein determining that humans in the exclusion zone are to be obfuscated when the monitoring system is in a particular arming state and that the arming state of the monitoring system is in the particular arming state comprises:
determining that the exclusion zone definition specifies that only humans are to be obfuscated in the exclusion zone during the particular arming state.

17. The system of claim 11 , wherein determining a state of a monitoring system comprises:
receiving, from a control unit of the monitoring system and by an obfuscation engine, an indication that the monitoring system is unarmed.

18. The system of claim 11 , wherein obfuscating at least the portion of the video comprises:
replacing pixels in the video that correspond to the exclusion zone with black pixels.

19. The system of claim 11 , wherein obfuscating at least the portion of the video comprises:
replacing pixels in the video that correspond to the human in the exclusion zone with black pixels.

20. The system of claim 11 , wherein obfuscating at least the portion of the video comprises:
storing the video labeled with metadata that specifies which portions of the video should be obscured for which types of users when the video is played.

21. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing software comprising instructions executable by one or more computers which, upon such execution, cause the one or more computers to perform operations comprising:
determining a state of a monitoring system;
determining an exclusion zone that is shown in a video;
determining whether to obfuscate at least a portion of the video based on the exclusion zone and the state of the monitoring system; and
obfuscating at least the portion of the video.

22. The medium of claim 21 , wherein dete

Assignees

• Alarm Com Inc

Inventors

• Trundle Stephen Scott
• Kerzner Daniel Todd
• Madden Donald Gerard
• Berg Benjamin Asher

Classifications

• H04N7/18 Primary

  Closed-circuit television [CCTV] systems, i.e. systems in which the video signal is not broadcast · CPC title

• H04N23/64

  Computer-aided capture of images, e.g. transfer from script file into camera, check of taken image quality, advice or proposal for image composition or decision on when to take image · CPC title

• H04N23/65

  Control of camera operation in relation to power supply · CPC title

• H04N23/611

  where the recognised objects include parts of the human body · CPC title

• H04N23/661

  Transmitting camera control signals through networks, e.g. control via the Internet · CPC title