Dynamic video exclusion zones for privacy

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2020404221-A1
Application number	US-202016905062-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jun 18, 2020
Priority date	Jun 24, 2019
Publication date	Dec 24, 2020
Grant date	—

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 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.

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 1 , wherein determining whether to obfuscate at least a portion of the video based on the exclusion zone and the state of the monitoring system comprises:
determining that the exclusion zone is to be obfuscated when the monitoring system is in a particular state and that the state of the monitoring system is in the particular state; and in response to determining that the exclusion zone is to be obfuscated when the monitoring system is in the particular state and that the state of the monitoring system is in the particular state, determining to obfuscate the exclusion zone in the video.

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:
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.

10 . 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 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.

11 . The system of claim 10 , 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.

12 . The system of claim 11 , 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.

13 . The system of claim 12 , wherein the particular room comprises a bathroom and the particular state comprises unarmed.

14 . The system of claim 11 , 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.

15 . The system of claim 10 , wherein determining whether to obfuscate at least a portion of the video based on the exclusion zone and the state of the monitoring system comprises:
determining that the exclusion zone is to be obfuscated when the monitoring system is in a particular state and that the state of the monitoring system is in the particular state; and in response to determining that the exclusion zone is to be obfuscated when the monitoring system is in the particular state and that the state of the monitoring system is in the particular state, determining to obfuscate the exclusion zone in the video.

16 . The system of claim 10 , 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.

17 . 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.

18 . The medium of claim 17 , 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.

19 . The medium of claim 18 , 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.

20 . The medium of claim 19 , wherein the particular room comprises a bathroom and the particular state comprises unarmed.

Assignees

• Alarm Com Inc

Inventors

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

Classifications

• H04N23/667

  Camera operation mode switching, e.g. between still and video, sport and normal or high- and low-resolution modes · CPC title

• H04N23/611

  where the recognised objects include parts of the human body · 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

• H04N7/18 Primary

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

• H04N23/65

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