System and method for electronic device display privacy

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9779474-B2
Application number	US-201414245512-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 4, 2014
Priority date	Apr 4, 2014
Publication date	Oct 3, 2017
Grant date	Oct 3, 2017

Abstract

An electronic device and associated method is provided. The electronic device comprises a processor; a display coupled to the processor, the display for displaying an image; a memory coupled to the processor; and a security module saved in the memory. The security module configures the processor to apply obfuscation to the image displayed on the display when a privacy mode is engaged on the electronic device.

First claim

What is claimed is the following:

1. An electronic device comprising:
a processor;
a display coupled to the processor for displaying content;
a memory coupled to the processor; and
a security module saved in the memory, the security module for configuring the processor to:
apply a first obfuscation to the content displayed on the display when a privacy mode is engaged on the electronic device and when the electronic device is in an active viewing mode in which the electronic device is actively being used, wherein applying the first obfuscation includes anamorphic rendering the content at a first threshold such that the content appears undistorted when viewed from a selected viewing position and appears distorted when viewed from other viewing positions, wherein the selected viewing position is defined by a selected viewing angle of a user of the electronic device with respect to the display of the electronic device; and
apply a second obfuscation to the content displayed on the display when the privacy mode is engaged on the electronic device and when the electronic device is in an inactive viewing mode in which the electronic device is not actively being used, wherein the second obfuscation is different from the first obfuscation.

2. The electronic device according to claim 1 , wherein applying the second obfuscation includes anamorphic rendering the content at a second threshold greater than the first threshold such that the content appears distorted when viewed from the selected viewing position.

3. The electronic device according to claim 1 , wherein applying the first obfuscation comprises at least one of: perspective rendering applied to the content such that the content appears undistorted when viewed is from the selected viewing position, three dimensional (3D) rendering applied to the content such that the content appears undistorted when viewed from the selected viewing position, applying a second content to a background of the content such that the content becomes more difficult to discern, applying a blur to the content such that the content becomes more difficult to discern, or applying a blur to a portion of the content such that the content becomes more difficult to discern.

4. The electronic device according to claim 1 , wherein the security module further configures the processor to:
determine whether the electronic device is in an active viewing mode or an inactive viewing mode, before applying the first or second obfuscation to the content.

5. The electronic device according to claim 1 , wherein the selected viewing position is maintained regardless of a position in space of the electronic device relative to the selected viewing position.

6. A method of implementing a privacy mode on an electronic device having a processor coupled to a display and a memory, the method comprising:
applying a first obfuscation to content displayed on the display when the privacy mode is engaged on the electronic device and when the electronic device is in an active viewing mode in which the electronic device is actively being used, wherein applying the first obfuscation includes anamorphic rendering the content at a first threshold such that the content appears undistorted when viewed from a selected viewing position and appears distorted when viewed from other viewing positions, wherein the selected viewing position is defined by a selected viewing angle of a user of the electronic device with respect to the display of the electronic device; and
applying a second obfuscation to the content displayed on the display when the privacy mode is engaged on the electronic device and when the electronic device is in an inactive viewing mode in which the electronic device is not actively being used, wherein the second obfuscation is different from the first obfuscation.

7. The method according to claim 6 , wherein applying the second obfuscation includes anamorphic rendering the content at a second threshold greater than the first threshold such that the content appears distorted when viewed from the selected viewing position.

8. The method according to claim 6 , wherein applying the first obfuscation comprises at least one of: perspective rendering applied to the content such that the image appears undistorted when viewed from the selected viewing position, three dimensional (3D) rendering applied to the content such that the content appears undistorted when viewed from the selected viewing position, applying a second content to a background of the content such that the content becomes more difficult to discern, applying a blur to the content such that the content becomes more difficult to discern, or applying a blur to a portion of the content such that the content becomes more difficult to discern.

9. The method according to claim 6 , further comprising:
determining whether the electronic device is in an active viewing mode or an inactive viewing mode, before applying the first or second obfuscation to the content.

10. The method according to claim 6 , wherein the selected viewing position is maintained regardless of a position in space of the electronic device relative to the selected viewing position.

11. A non-transitory machine readable having tangibly stored thereon executable instructions for execution by a processor of an electronic device medium storing instructions that when executed by an electronic device, the electronic device having a processor coupled to a display and a memory, wherein the executable instructions, when executed by the processor of the electronic device, cause the processor to:
apply a first obfuscation to content displayed on the display when the privacy mode is engaged on the electronic device and when the electronic device is in an active viewing mode in which the electronic device is actively being used, wherein applying the first obfuscation includes anamorphic rendering the content at a first threshold such that the content appears undistorted when viewed from a selected viewing position and appears distorted when viewed from other viewing positions, wherein the selected viewing position is defined by a selected viewing angle of a user of the electronic device with respect to the display of the electronic device; and
apply a second obfuscation to the content displayed on the display when the privacy mode is engaged on the electronic device and when the electronic device is in an inactive viewing mode in which the electronic device is not actively being used, wherein the second obfuscation is different from the first obfuscation.

12. The non-transitory machine readable according to claim 11 , wherein applying the second obfuscation includes anamorphic rendering the content at a second threshold greater than the first threshold such that the content appears distorted when viewed from the selected viewing position.

13. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein applying the second obfuscation includes deactivating the display of the electronic device.

14. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the security module configures the processor to:
determine, using one or more sensors, a viewing angle of the user of the electronic device with respect to the display of the electronic device;
adjust to the first obfuscation in accordance with the determined viewing angle to such that the content appears undistorted when viewed from the selected viewing position when a difference between the determined viewing angle and the selected viewing angle is within a viewing angle threshold.

15. The electronic device of claim 14 , wherein the security module configures the processor to:
display a mess

Assignees

• Blackberry Ltd

Inventors

• Kominar Jeremy Lawson

Classifications

• G09G5/00 Primary

  Control arrangements or circuits for visual indicators common to cathode-ray tube indicators and other visual indicators (image data processing or generation, in general G06T) · CPC title

• G09G2340/10

  Mixing of images, i.e. displayed pixel being the result of an operation, e.g. adding, on the corresponding input pixels · CPC title

• G09G2320/068

  for control of viewing angle adjustment · CPC title

• G09G2358/00

  Arrangements for display data security · CPC title

• G06T15/20

  Perspective computation · CPC title