Using biometric verification to grant access to redacted content

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9721107-B2
Application number	US-201313913403-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 8, 2013
Priority date	Jun 8, 2013
Publication date	Aug 1, 2017
Grant date	Aug 1, 2017

Abstract

Some embodiments provide an electronic device with a novel content redaction engine. The content redaction engine of some embodiments determines whether to redact content for output based on whether a user is biometrically verified. When the content redaction engine receives verification data indicating that the user is biometrically verified, the device displays content without any portion redacted. On the other hand, when the content redaction engine does not receive such verification data, the device displays the content with at least a portion redacted. The electronic device of some embodiments additionally includes a biometric reader and a biometric verification engine. The biometric reader reads a person's uniquely identifying biometric data (e.g., thumbprint/fingerprint, iris scan, voice, etc.). This biometric information is then read by the biometric verification engine for comparison to a stored set of verified user biometric data. When the biometric data matches the stored data, the person is verified.

First claim

We claim:

1. A non-transitory machine readable medium storing a program for execution by at least one processing unit of a mobile device, the program comprising sets of instructions for:
while the mobile device is in a locked-screen mode:
receiving a message comprising a sender identification and a message content from another device;
displaying a notification of the received message by displaying the sender identification and redacting the message content;
receiving biometric verification data indicating whether a user of the mobile device is verified through biometric data;
when the biometric verification data indicates that the user is verified, displaying the notification of the received message by displaying the sender identification and the message content without any redactions; and
when the biometric verification data indicates that the user is not verified, continuing to display the notification of the received by displaying the sender identification and redacting the message content.

2. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the set of instructions for receiving biometric verification data comprises sets of instructions for:
receiving biometric data through a biometric reader of the mobile device; and
generating the biometric verification data by comparing the received biometric data with stored biometric data of the user of the mobile device.

3. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 2 , wherein the sender identification and the message content without any redactions is only displayed while biometric data is received through the biometric reader of the mobile device.

4. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the message is one of a Short Message Service (SMS) message and an electronic mail message.

5. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the set of instructions for redacting the message content comprises a set of instructions for not displaying the message content.

6. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the set of instructions for redacting the message content comprises a set of instructions for blurring the message content.

7. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the sender identification comprises a name of a user of the other device.

8. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the biometric data comprises one of fingerprint and thumbprint data.

9. A mobile device comprising:
a set of processing units comprising at least one hardware processor;
a display screen for displaying a notification of a message while the mobile device is in a locked-screen mode, the message comprising a sender identification and a message content;
a biometric reader; and
a non-transitory machine readable medium storing:
a device display module which when executed by at least one of the processing units displays, on the display screen, the notification of the message by displaying the sender identification and redacting the message content;
a biometric verification engine which when executed by at least one of the processing units evaluates biometric data received from the biometric reader to determine whether to verify a user; and
a content redaction engine which when executed by at least one of the processing units determines whether to (i) continue to display the notification of the message by displaying the sender identification and redacted message content when the biometric verification engine does not verify the user or (ii) display the notification of the message by displaying the sender identification and the message content without any redactions when the biometric verification engine verifies the user.

10. The mobile device of claim 9 , wherein the biometric data reader reads fingerprint information.

11. The mobile device of claim 10 , wherein the biometric verification engine comprises a set of instructions for comparing the fingerprint information from the biometric data reader to a stored fingerprint for an owner of the mobile device.

12. The mobile device of claim 10 , wherein the biometric verification engine comprises a set of instructions for comparing the fingerprint information from the biometric data reader to a plurality of stored fingerprints for a plurality of different users.

13. The mobile device of claim 9 , wherein the message is one of a Short Message Service (SMS) message and an electronic mail message.

14. The mobile device of claim 9 , wherein the sender identification comprises a name of a user of the other device.

15. The mobile device of claim 9 , wherein displaying the redacted message content comprises not displaying the message content.

16. The mobile device of claim 9 , wherein the displaying the redacted message content comprises blurring the message content.

17. A mobile device comprising:
a set of processing units comprising at least one hardware processor; and
a non-transitory machine readable medium storing a program for execution by at least one of the processing units of the mobile device, the program comprising sets of instructions for:
while the mobile device is in a locked-screen mode:
receiving a message comprising a sender identification and a message content from another device;
displaying a notification of the received message by displaying the sender identification and redacting the message content;
receiving biometric verification data indicating whether a user of the mobile device is verified through biometric data;
when the biometric verification data indicates that the user is verified, displaying the notification of the received message by displaying the sender identification and the message content without any redactions; and
when the biometric verification data indicates that the user is verified, continuing to display the notification of the received message by displaying the sender identification and redacting the message content.

18. The mobile device of claim 17 further comprising a biometric reader, wherein the set of instructions for receiving biometric verification data comprises sets of instructions for:
receiving biometric data through the biometric reader of the mobile device; and
generating the biometric verification data by comparing the received biometric data with stored biometric data of the user of the mobile device.

19. The mobile device of claim 18 , wherein the sender identification and the message content without any redactions is only displayed while biometric data is received through the biometric reader of the mobile device.

20. The mobile device of claim 17 further comprises a biometric reader, wherein the biometric data comprises fingerprint information received through the biometric reader of the mobile device.

21. The mobile device of claim 17 , wherein the set of instructions for redacting the message content comprises a set of instructions for not displaying the message content.

22. The mobile device of claim 17 , wherein the set of instructions for redacting the message content comprises a set of instructions for blurring the message content.

23. A method comprising:
while a device is in a lock-screen mode:
receiving a message comprising a sender identification and a message content from another device;
displaying a notification of the received message by displaying the sender identification and redacting the message content;
receiving biometric verification data indicating whe

Assignees

• Apple Inc
• Apple Inc

Inventors

• Han Byron Bay
• Marciniak Craig Alan
• Whalley Andrew Roger
• Shepherd Matthew Elliott

Classifications

• G06F21/60 Primary

  Protecting data · CPC title

• G06F21/32

  using biometric data, e.g. fingerprints, iris scans or voiceprints · CPC title

• G06F21/6245

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