JP2010122733A - Image management device, its control method, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To properly perform the disclosure level setup of an image such as a photograph without imposing any labor on a user. <P>SOLUTION: An image management device includes: an image input means 10100 for inputting an image; a person detection means 10200 for detecting a person from the input image; and a disclosure level determination means 10300 for determining the disclosure level of the image based on the person detection result of the person detection means 10200. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image management apparatus, a control method thereof, and a program, and more particularly to a technique for appropriately setting an image disclosure level.

  The present invention is not limited, but is an effective technique when applied to a photo publishing service. In the photo publishing service, there is a need for a technique related to attribute information generation for effectively using held images, and more specifically, a method or apparatus for appropriately determining the release level of held images. Providing is an issue.

Many services, such as news, web logs, and social network services, have been proposed and used in practice, where information held by individuals and companies is stored on the Internet and shared and used by multiple users. In such an environment, with regard to photography, many album services have been proposed in which photos taken by individuals are stored on a network storage and shared with friends, acquaintances, groups, etc., or disclosed to an unspecified number of users. Is being operated.
Patent Document 1 discloses a technique related to a repository service for users to share and exchange photos.

When storing personal information in a network storage and sharing it with others, it is usually common to set the disclosure level of the information when storing or storing the information. The same applies when photos are stored in network storage and shared. The user sets a public level for each photo when accumulating the photo images, and operates the photo images according to the set public level. Patent Document 2 discloses a technique relating to a method of designating the relationship between an editing authority level and a disclosure level of videos and information published on a homepage based on a tree diagram as to individuals, companies, and families.
In addition, a method of managing private information with a password is also performed. Patent Document 3 discloses a technique relating to image data supply that allows personal information to be freely browsed while being kept secret.
JP 2005-129056 A JP 2003-203092 A JP 2002-142051 A

  In the system proposed above, the user manually designates the publication level when storing and registering on the network of photographic images to be shared. However, in the method of setting the public level manually, the user needs to perform a troublesome process of setting the public level when registering. When an image taken by a photographing device such as a camera is immediately stored in a network storage, the user has to perform a work of setting a public level every time a photograph is taken, which is very troublesome.

  It is also conceivable to set default disclosure level information for a photograph taken in advance and automatically assign the set disclosure level. However, in this case, if the release level intended by the user for the photo is the same as the preset release level, there is no need to perform the troublesome processing of setting the release level. Must be specified. In addition, when such a method is used, the setting change may be forgotten when the image is registered, and the image may be registered at a public level that is not desired by the user.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide an image management apparatus, a control method thereof, and a program for appropriately setting a public level of an image such as a photograph without requiring a user. To do.

  To achieve the above object, the present invention comprises the following arrangement.

  An image management apparatus according to the present invention includes a person detection unit that detects a person from an input image, and a disclosure level determination unit that determines a disclosure level of the image based on a person detection result by the person detection unit. It is characterized by that.

  The control method of the image management apparatus according to the present invention includes a person detection step of detecting a person from an input image, and a disclosure level determination step of determining a disclosure level of the image based on a person detection result by the person detection step. , Including.

  An image management program according to the present invention includes a person detection step for detecting a person from an image input to a computer, and a disclosure level determination step for determining a disclosure level of the image based on a person detection result obtained by the person detection step. , Is executed.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an image management apparatus, a control method thereof, and a program for appropriately setting a disclosure level of an image such as a photograph without requiring the user to take time.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail.
The system according to the present embodiment described below includes an image input unit that inputs an image, a person detection unit that analyzes an image input by the image input unit and detects a person included in the image, and a person detection result And a public level judging means for judging the public level based on the image, and judges the public level of the image based on the detection result of the person in the input image. By adopting such a configuration, it becomes possible for a user to assign a public level without manually setting a public level after taking a picture, and sharing or using an image while retaining human information. It is possible to achieve the problem of determining the public level of the image for performing the image in a manner that reduces the load on the user.

  In addition, by adopting such a configuration, it is possible to provide a service that reduces the load on the user in a service that stores and uses photographs on a network. Further, by forgetting the setting of the disclosure level, it is possible to provide a service that avoids a situation where an image is disclosed at a disclosure level that does not conform to the user's intention. As a result, there is an effect that it is possible to further activate the storage and use of photographs in the service.

(First embodiment)
A first best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
Referring to FIG. 1, the first best mode of the present invention is an image input means 10100, a person detection means 10200, a disclosure level determination means 10300, an image recording means 10400, an accumulation means 10500, and a criterion storage means. 10600. Next, functions of each unit included in the present embodiment will be described.

  The image input means 10100 has a function of inputting a photographic image. The person detection means 10200 has a function of receiving a photographic image input from the image input means 10100 and detecting a person appearing in the photographic image. The disclosure level determination unit 10300 has a function of receiving the person detection result from the person detection unit 10200 and determining the disclosure level. The image recording unit 10400 has a function of receiving an image from the image input unit 10100, receiving a disclosure level from the disclosure level determining unit 10300, and recording it in the storage unit 10500. The accumulation unit 10500 has a function of accumulating images.

  The image input means 10100 is, for example, a CPU equipped with a program that operates according to a predetermined rule. In this case, for example, a function of reading an image file stored in an external storage medium such as a hard disk or a memory is provided. The image input means may be an external state CCD sensor group such as an image pickup unit of a video camera.

  The person detection means 10200 is a CPU equipped with a program that operates according to a predetermined rule, for example. A feature amount may be extracted from the image information, and the person may be detected based on whether or not a pattern of the feature amount detected when a person exists prepared in advance as dictionary information is observed. As person detection, instead of detecting the person itself, a specific part unique to the person such as face, upper body, and rear view may be detected, and the person may be detected based on the detection result. The person detection may be performed only for a person whose face portion exceeds a predetermined size. In this case, processing efficiency can be improved. The CPU may be a dedicated CPU or a CPU shared with other components.

  The public level determining means 10300 is, for example, a CPU equipped with a program that operates according to a predetermined rule. Predetermined criteria for the correspondence between the person detection result and the public level are stored in the criterion storage means 10600, and when the detection result is input, the criterion is handled based on the stored criterion. Select a publication level. The input may be only the person detection means, or may be configured to make a determination based on a plurality of inputs such as the user's history, time, other image feature amounts, and determination result patterns. The CPU may be a dedicated CPU or a CPU shared with other components.

  The image recording means 10400 is, for example, a CPU equipped with a program that operates according to a predetermined rule. The image input by the image input unit 10100 is recorded in the storage unit 10500 in association with the determined disclosure level. When images are stored in a shared storage connected to a network, communication means may be provided and the input image may be operated to be stored in a storage at a remote location on the network. In addition, a security function such as encryption or authentication may be further provided in order to record an image safely at a remote location on the network. The CPU may be a dedicated CPU or a CPU shared with other components.

  As an example, the storage unit 10500 includes a storage device such as a hard disk / flash memory, and may be a dedicated storage device or may be used in combination with another storage device. The input image may be stored in the form of a file, or may be stored in the form of a database describing the registrant, registration time, size, release level, and the like. Moreover, it may be a portable terminal that accumulates images according to the disclosure level.

  The determination criterion storage unit 10600 has a function of storing and accumulating a correspondence relationship between the person detection result and the disclosure level as a “determination criterion”. Note that the criterion storage unit 10600 is a functional unit that is realized by a software program using hardware such as a hard disk or a flash memory.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration as an example of the construction of a system that stores and uses photographic images on a network.

  A photo sharing server 20200, a plurality of photo registration terminals 20310, 20320,... 203N0 and a plurality of photo browsing terminals 20410, 20420,. An example of the communication network 20100 is the Internet, but it may be a corporate LAN or a private network.

  The photo sharing server 20200 is realized by a computer having a communication unit 20210, a photo sharing / publication control CPU 20220, and a data storage unit 20230 which is a large-capacity storage. The photo sharing / publishing control CPU 20220 performs data exchange and file management for sharing and publishing photos. The data storage unit 20230 stores photographic images to be shared / disclosed and meta information associated with each photographic image. Here, it is assumed that the meta information of the photographic image includes information indicating the disclosure level of the photographic image.

  A photo registration terminal 20310 is a photo shooting unit 21314 such as a camera, a CPU 20315 that handles various data processing, an instruction input unit 200313 that gives instructions for shooting and registration of a keyboard, buttons, and the like, and a user instruction and a photo image check. A terminal equipped with a communication unit 20311 for communicating with a monitor 20312 and a network and a data storage unit 20316 for storing data such as photographic images and meta-information of the photographic images and various programs, a mobile phone with a camera, a computer with a camera function This includes a communication function and a digital camera with a built-in CPU. Although the photo registration terminal is described as one module in FIG. 2, it may be realized by a combination of a plurality of hardware such as a digital camera and a computer, a video camera and a dedicated communication dedicated terminal. In that case, one hardware may be configured such that there is no photographing device or no monitor. The communication unit may be a communication unit that bundles a plurality of photo registration terminals and a communication unit that communicates with a photo sharing server via a network, and a plurality of communication devices may be installed in a hierarchical structure.

  A photo browsing terminal 20410 has a control CPU 20414 that controls various data processing, an instruction input unit 20412 that supports the browsing of photos such as a keyboard and buttons, and a similar 204413 network that confirms user instructions and displays photo images. A terminal equipped with a communication unit 20411 for communication with a data storage unit for storing data such as photographs and various programs, a personal computer, a mobile phone with a camera, a communication function, a digital camera with a built-in CPU, a car navigation terminal, etc. It hits. Similar to the photo registration terminal 20310, all functions need not be realized by a single terminal, and may be realized by a plurality of terminals such as a server and a thin client, a mobile phone and a home server.

  It should be noted that the photo browsing terminal and the photo registration terminal may be the same terminal and can be used for photo registration and photo browsing according to a user instruction.

  When the hardware configuration shown in FIG. 2 is adopted, the image input unit 10100 in FIG. 1 is realized by, for example, cooperation between the imaging unit 20314, the control CPU 20315, and the instruction input unit 20313. When not linked to an imaging device such as a camera, the control CPU 20315 may read and input an image stored in advance from the data storage unit 20316 in accordance with an instruction via the instruction input unit 20313. The communication may be either wired communication in which information is exchanged by a cable or wireless communication in which information is exchanged by a wireless signal, or cooperation.

  Similarly, the person detection unit 10200 and the disclosure level determination unit 10300 are implemented on the data storage unit 20316 and the control CPU 20315 that store programs describing operations. The image recording means 10400 includes a control CPU 20315 on the photo registration terminal 20310 side, a data storage unit 20316, a communication unit 20311 and a communication network 20100, a communication unit 20210 on the photo sharing server 20200, a photo sharing / publication control CPU 20220, and a control program. It can be implemented by a combination of data storage units 20230 to be stored. The storage means can be mounted on the data storage unit 20230 of the photo sharing server. In addition, the person detection unit 10200 and the disclosure level determination unit 10300 may be mounted on the photo sharing server 20200. In this case, the photo input means is configured to include a communication unit 20311 of the photo registration terminal 20310 and a communication unit 20210 of the photo sharing server 20200. The photo recording unit 10400 is implemented by the CPU 20220 and the data storage unit 20230 on the photo sharing server side. Is possible.

  Next, an overall operation example of the present embodiment will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. 1 and 3.

  The image input means 10100 inputs a photographic image (S1001). Captures and inputs the output from an imaging device mounted on a digital camera or camera-equipped mobile phone. Alternatively, an image designated by the user may be read out and input from images stored in a hard disk or memory.

  The person detection means 10200 analyzes the input photographic image and detects a person appearing in the photographic image (S1002).

  In the present embodiment, as a technique for detecting that a person is in the screen by an image processing technique, several detection methods well known to those skilled in the art can be used. For example, a detection method can be used in which a face area is detected and a person is detected based on the aspect ratio of the detected skin color area and determination of the eyes and lips area. The person detection means 10200 may operate so as to output not only the presence / absence of person detection but also the number of detected persons and the detected person's size and position information as necessary.

  The disclosure level determining means 10300 determines the disclosure level of the photograph based on the detection result of the person in the photograph image and the determination criteria stored in the determination criterion storage means 10600 (S1003).

  The image recording unit 10400 stores the image in the storage unit 10500 based on the determined disclosure level (S0004).

  Next, the process for determining the disclosure level in step S1003 of FIG. 3 will be described in detail below.

  FIG. 4 is a process flow diagram showing an embodiment (part 1) of the criterion for determining the disclosure level. In FIG. 4, if a person is detected as a result of the person detection, it is not disclosed (step S1103), and if no person is detected, it is disclosed (step S1104). As a result, when a landscape photograph such as a sunset or a flower-up is photographed, the disclosure level determining means 10300 makes the photograph public, and when a portrait or group photograph is inputted, the input photograph is not disclosed. . According to the present embodiment, it is possible to provide a system for storing and publishing images in which privacy is strictly protected.

  FIG. 5 is a process flow diagram showing an embodiment (part 2) of a criterion for determining the disclosure level. In FIG. 5, the disclosure level is determined according to the number of detected persons (step S1202). As a result of the person detection, if the number of detected persons is larger than 10 (generally, there are many group photographs), the photograph is made public (step S1203). If the number is 10 or less, the photograph is made private (step S1204). Yes. According to the present embodiment, even if a photograph such as a group photo is taken on the premise of disclosure, an appropriate disclosure level can be determined without requiring the user to set a disclosure standard. it can.

  FIG. 6 is a process flow diagram showing an embodiment (part 3) of the criterion for determining the disclosure level. In FIG. 6, the size (number of pixels) of the detected person on the photographic image is determined in advance, the person is detected (Yes in step S1302), and appears larger than the predetermined specific size. If it is present (step S1303, Yes), it is not disclosed (step S1304), otherwise it is disclosed (step S1305). According to the present embodiment, if the user's face is small and the resolution is low, the user who allows the disclosure without taking the trouble of setting a cumbersome disclosure standard to the user, An appropriate level of publication can be determined.

  As shown in FIGS. 4, 5, and 6, the determination standard determined by the public level determining unit 10300 is based on the presence or absence of person detection, but this is combined with other items such as the size and the number of detected persons. May be. In addition, the detected person may be recognized, and may be determined to be private only when a specific person is included (such as his own child) or a specific category (such as female) is included. .

  As described in the description of FIG. 2, the image recording unit 10400 performs operations such as network connection and authentication as necessary during storage due to the physical positional relationship between the disclosure level determination unit 10300 and the storage unit 10500. I do.

  By adopting the above-described configuration, the public level of the image can be set by detecting a person appearing in the photograph without manual designation by the user.

  In the present embodiment, the determination criterion is associated with a user identifier for identifying each user and stored in the determination criterion storage means 10600 (for each user). The image input means 10100 When inputting a photographic image, a user identifier is also input, and the disclosure level determining unit 10300 reads the criterion for the user identifier input together with the input photographic image from the criterion storage unit 10600 and reads the criterion. The public level may be determined based on the detection result of the person.

(Second Embodiment)
Next, a second best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
Referring to FIG. 7, the second best mode of the present invention is an image input means 30100 for inputting a photographic image, and a person who receives a photographic image input from the image input means and appears in the photographic image. A person detection means 30200 for detecting the person detection result, a person detection result received from the person detection means, a public level determination means 30300 for determining a public level, an image received from the image input means, and a public level from the public level determination means. An image recording unit 30400 that receives and records in the storage unit 30500, a storage unit 30500 that stores the image, and a determination reference pattern storage unit 30600 that stores a public level determination reference (hereinafter simply referred to as “determination reference”) pattern. Judgment criteria designator for the user to specify the criteria to be used when determining the disclosure level of photographic images And 30700, a determination reference storage unit 30800 for storing the criteria selected by the criterion specifying unit is configured to have a.

  The image input means 30100, the person detection means 30200, the disclosure level determination means 30300, the image recording means 30400, and the storage means 20500 are the image input means 10100, person detection means 10200, and disclosure disclosed in FIG. 1 of the first best mode. Since the level determination unit 10300, the image recording unit 10400, and the storage unit 10500 may have the same configuration, description thereof is omitted.

  An example of the criterion storage means 30600 for storing the criterion pattern is a storage device such as a hard disk / flash memory. Even if it is a dedicated storage device, it may be shared with other storage devices. When storing, it may be in the form of a file describing the rules, or in the form of a table in which the disclosure level is set for each pattern. The determination criterion is associated with a user identifier for identifying each user and stored for each user.

  As an example, the determination criterion designating unit 30700 for the user to specify the determination criterion for determining the disclosure level is an instruction device such as a keyboard or a mouse. If necessary, a user may have a monitor for confirming the contents of the designation, and a CPU that controls the designation for easy designation. Although it may be a dedicated device, it may be shared with other input devices, CPUs, and display devices.

  In this embodiment, an instruction to change the designation of the judgment standard by the judgment standard designating unit 30700 is given together with the input of the user identifier. When the determination criterion specifying unit 30700 receives the designation / change of the determination criterion accompanied by the input of the user identifier, the determination criterion storage unit 30800 specifies / changes the determination criterion associated with the input user identifier.

  An example of the criterion storage means 30800 for storing the criterion specified in the criterion specification means 30700 is a storage device such as a hard disk / flash memory. Even if it is a dedicated storage device, it may be shared with other storage devices.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the processing flow of the second embodiment of the present invention.
In the present embodiment, the result of detecting an instruction to the present embodiment using the determination criterion designating unit 30700 when the user wants to change the determination criterion setting from the previous one (S2001). When selection of a determination criterion to be adopted is detected from the determination criterion pattern storage unit 30600 (S2002), the determination criterion storage unit 30800 stores the selection criterion (S2003). In step S2003, when the determination criterion desired by the user is not in the determination criterion pattern storage means 30600 or when it is not newly created, it may be newly created and registered.

  If the setting is not changed, the user does nothing regarding the setting. When there is an image to be registered in the storage unit 30500 (S2004, Yes), the image input unit 30100 performs image input (S2005), the person detection unit 30200 performs person detection (S2006), and a disclosure level determination unit. 30300 determines the disclosure level using the person detection result detected by the person detection unit 30200 and the criterion set in step S2003 (S2007), and the image recording unit 30400 discloses the input image and the disclosure to the storage unit 30500. The level is accumulated (S2008).

FIG. 9 is an example of a determination reference pattern stored in the determination reference pattern storage unit.
As a determination reference pattern, in addition to disclosure (pattern 3) when a person is not detected when a person is detected, it is not disclosed when a person is detected with a size greater than a specific size (pattern 5). ), Selected when not more than a specific number of persons are detected (pattern 6), disclosed when a person is detected, and not disclosed when a person is not detected (pattern 4) I do. Further, the list may include information that is disclosed regardless of the person detection result (pattern 1) and information that is not disclosed regardless of the person detection result (pattern 2).

  In FIG. 9, two levels of disclosure and non-disclosure are shown as disclosure levels, but in addition to disclosure and non-disclosure, three levels of disclosure may be set only for a predetermined person. The predetermined person is, for example, a family member, a friend, or an acquaintance. In addition, friends, acquaintances, etc. may be set in different categories in detail. For example, an image in which a large person is detected is disclosed to the person, family, and friends, while an image in which a small person is detected is disclosed only to the person and family. Since the actual hardware configuration can be realized by the configuration shown in FIG. 2, the description thereof is omitted here.

  As an example of person detection performed by the person detection means 30200, in addition to a direct method such as a method based on face detection and a method based on person detection, such a method is used through a method for detecting a landscape and a method for detecting an up of a flower. An indirect (indicating nothing) method may be used that does not include a person.

  As a disclosure level storage method performed by the image recording unit 30400, a disclosure level is recorded as an attribute for each photograph as a photograph attribute. However, at the stage of implementation, the same disclosure level may be recorded together in a form that can be collectively managed by assigning positions as images.

  At the publication level, the automatically set publication level may include an error, and thus may have a function of changing the publication level or re-registering on a browser through the network.

  Moreover, in this embodiment, it is preferable to accumulate | store a criterion for every user and to determine a publication level for every user. In this case, the determination criteria may be configured to be set in advance by each user. By accumulating judgment criteria for each user, one-to-many public level determination is possible, in which judgment is automatically performed for multiple photos, which are photos of the person, for the key of a certain person. become. Therefore, it is possible to provide a system capable of setting a policy for each person.

  In addition, when a plurality of people are photographed in one photo and the judgment criteria of the public level of each person are different, the photo publication level is adjusted to the person with the strictest judgment criteria. Good.

Hereinafter, the effects obtained from the embodiment will be further described.
According to the above-described embodiment, it is possible to automatically determine the public level of a photograph recorded in a network storage or the like. Thus, the user can set the photo release level without performing the troublesome process of setting the photo release level.

  The above-described embodiment can be applied to a photo storage / use service that stores and uses photos on the Internet. In addition, it can also be applied to individual photo storage and use services such as groups, companies, and organizations. Furthermore, it can be applied not only to photographs but also to services for storing and sharing multimedia information including moving images.

  The preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described above, but the present invention is not limited to this, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention.

It is a block diagram which shows schematic structure of 1st Embodiment by this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structural example at the time of comprising 1st Embodiment by this invention as a photo storage and utilization service. It is a flowchart which shows the processing flow of 1st Embodiment by this invention. It is the figure which showed the flow of the 1st method of the publication level determination which concerns on 1st Embodiment by this invention. It is the figure which showed the flow of the 2nd method of the publication level determination which concerns on 1st Embodiment by this invention. It is the figure which showed the flow of the 3rd method of the publication level determination which concerns on 1st Embodiment by this invention. It is a block diagram which shows schematic structure of 2nd Embodiment by this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the processing flow of 2nd Embodiment by this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the pattern of the criterion based on 2nd Embodiment by this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10100 Image input means 10200 Person detection means 10300 Public level determination means 10400 Image recording means 10500 Image storage means 20100 Communication network 20200 Photo sharing server 20210 Communication part 20220 Photo sharing / publication control CPU
20230 Data storage unit 20310 Photo registration terminal 1
20311 Communication unit 20312 Monitor 20313 Instruction input unit 20314 Imaging unit 20315 Control CPU
20316 Data storage unit 20320 Photo registration terminal 2
203N0 Photo registration terminal N
20410 Photo viewing terminal 1
20411 Communication unit 20412 Instruction input means 20413 Monitor 20414 Control CPU
20415 Data storage unit 20420 Photo browsing terminal 2
204M0 Photo browsing terminal M
30100 Image input means 30200 Person detection means 30300 Disclosure level determination means 30400 Image recording means 30500 Storage means 30600 Determination reference pattern storage means 30700 Determination reference designation means 30800 Determination reference storage means

Claims (14)

A person detecting means for detecting a person from the input image;
A disclosure level determining means for determining a disclosure level of the image based on a person detection result by the person detecting means;
An image management apparatus comprising:   The disclosure level determining means, when detecting a person in the person detection result, determines the disclosure level of the image based on a criterion for determining the disclosure level set for each detected person. Item 2. The image management device according to Item 1. Having a criterion storage means for associating the person detection result with the disclosure level;
The image management apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the disclosure level determination unit determines a disclosure level based on the determination criterion of the disclosure level stored in the determination criterion storage unit.   The image management apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the determination criterion storage unit can change or modify the determination criterion stored for each user according to a user instruction.   The determination criterion storage unit stores a plurality of correspondences between detection results of persons and disclosure levels, and selects one of the correspondences according to a user's instruction, thereby obtaining a determination criterion. The image management apparatus according to claim 4.   The image management apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the determination criterion storage unit stores a determination criterion for determining a disclosure level based on a detected person size. .   The image management apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the determination criterion storage unit stores a determination criterion for determining a disclosure level based on the number of detected persons.   The determination criterion storage unit stores a determination criterion for determining a public level based on the number of persons having a predetermined size or more among detected persons. The image management apparatus according to claim 1.   9. The image management apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the person detection unit detects the person by detecting a face included in the image.   The disclosure level determining means recognizes whether or not a specific person is included based on the result of person detection by the person detecting means, and determines the disclosure level based on the recognition result. The image management apparatus according to claim 9. A person detection step for detecting a person from the input image;
A disclosure level determining step for determining a disclosure level of the image based on a person detection result of the person detection step;
A control method for an image management apparatus.   The disclosure level determining step, when a person is detected from the person detection result, determines a disclosure level of the image based on a criterion for determining a disclosure level set for each detected person. Item 12. A method for controlling an image management apparatus according to Item 11. A criterion storage step for associating the person detection result with the disclosure level,
13. The control method for an image management apparatus according to claim 11 or 12, wherein the disclosure level determination step determines a disclosure level based on the disclosure level determination criterion stored in the determination criterion storage step. On the computer,
A person detection step for detecting a person from the input image;
A disclosure level determining step for determining a disclosure level of the image based on a person detection result of the person detection step;
An image management program for executing

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