JP2011203864A - Communication terminal and method for protecting image data - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To exhaustively and surely protect image data without requiring cumbersome operations.SOLUTION: The communication terminal 10 includes an image storage unit 11, which stores a plurality of pieces of image data associated with secret setting information of each image data; a feature point storage unit 12, which stores feature point information of authentication target information contained in reference image data; a parameter storage unit 13, that stores parameter information used for collation of image data; a reading unit 14A which reads target image data, feature point information, and parameter information; a collating unit 14B, which collates feature point information and the target image data based on the parameter information; and a setting update unit 14C, which performs securing processes (for example, a process for updating the secret setting information of the target image data stored in the image storage unit 11 for setting the secret-setting information of the target image data), when a collation result is obtained where the feature point information and the target image match.

Description

  The present invention relates to a communication terminal and an image data protection method.

  Conventionally, as a technique for preventing and protecting image data from being seen by others, an operation for setting the image data stored in a specific folder in the communication terminal to a secret mode (for example, turning on secret setting information of the image data) Technology that protects image data by realizing a secret mode (a mode in which only authorized persons can refer to image data and prevent referencing of image data by persons other than authorized persons) is known. ing.

  On the other hand, an image authentication technique for authenticating a predetermined authentication target in an image (for example, a so-called face authentication technique for a human face) is known, and using this image authentication technique, for example, There is known a lock release function that allows only authorized persons who have registered face information in advance to release the lock (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2008-259236 A

  In the above-described protection technique using the secret mode, the user needs to individually perform protection processing (for example, processing for updating the secret setting information to ON) for each piece of image data to be protected. There is a risk that it is very complicated and image data cannot be reliably protected due to setting mistakes or omissions by the user.

  Against this background, there has been a long-awaited need to automatically and reliably protect image data using the above-described image authentication technology.

  Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of such a problem, and a communication terminal and an image that can more reliably protect image data without using a complicated operation by using image authentication technology. It aims to provide a data protection method.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, a communication terminal according to the present invention includes an image storage unit that stores a plurality of pieces of image data and secret setting information of each piece of image data in association with each other, and an authentication target included in the reference image data Feature point storage unit storing feature point information of information, parameter storage unit storing parameter information used for collation of image data, target image data and feature point storage stored in image storage unit A reading unit that reads out the feature point information stored in the unit and the parameter information stored in the parameter storage unit, and a matching unit that compares the feature point information with the target image data based on the read out parameter information; A protection processing unit that executes a predetermined protection process on the target image data when a matching result indicating that the feature point information matches the target image data is obtained.

  In such a communication terminal, based on the parameter information stored in advance, the target image data is automatically verified with the feature point information stored in advance, and when the matching result is obtained, A predetermined protection process is executed for the image data. As described above, the predetermined protection processing for the target image data is automatically performed according to the result of automatic matching with the feature point information without being operated each time for each image data. Image data can be reliably protected without omission while making it unnecessary. As an example of the predetermined protection process, there is a process of updating the secret setting information of the target image data stored in the image storage unit so that the secret setting information of the target image data is turned on. In addition to this, a process for deleting the target image data, a process for automatically transmitting the target image data to the designated destination, and the like can be given. In addition, as an example of the reference image data, image data whose secret setting information is ON can be given.

  The communication terminal according to the present invention preferably further includes a feature point extraction unit that extracts feature point information of authentication target information included in the reference image data and registers the extracted feature point information in the feature point storage unit. . By this feature point extraction unit, the feature point information of the authentication target information included in the reference image data can be extracted, and the extracted feature point information can be registered in advance in the feature point storage unit.

  The communication terminal according to the present invention further includes a terminal operation unit for setting parameter information used for collation of image data, and the parameter storage unit is provided by the terminal operation unit in addition to the predetermined default parameter information. The set parameter information is stored, and the reading unit preferably reads the set parameter information from the parameter storage unit with priority over the default parameter information. In this case, the user of the communication terminal can freely set parameter information used for collation of image data from the terminal operation unit and store it in the parameter storage unit. Also, the parameter information set by the user is read from the parameter storage unit in preference to the default parameter information and used for collation of image data.

  The communication terminal according to the present invention further includes a camera unit for capturing an image, and the image storage unit stores an image database storing image data obtained by capturing by the camera unit, and image data of a communication partner. And a stored phone book database. In this case, together with the image data stored in the telephone directory database, the image data obtained by photographing with the camera unit and stored in the image database can be the protection target.

  Various information can be adopted as the authentication target information and the parameter information. For example, the authentication target information is face information, the parameter information includes a minimum value and a maximum value of the number of faces included in the image data, and the collating unit includes a number of faces included in the image data that is greater than or equal to the minimum value and The above collation may be performed by adding a condition that the value is equal to or less than the maximum value. In this case, it is possible to protect the image data by limiting the number of faces included in the image data to the minimum value or more and the maximum value.

  At this time, the parameter information further includes a maximum value of the distance between the faces included in the image data, and the collation unit further satisfies a condition that the distance between the faces included in the image data is equal to or less than the maximum value. In addition, the above verification may be performed. In this case, it is possible to protect the image data by limiting the distance between the faces included in the image data to a maximum value or less.

  By the way, the invention related to the communication terminal described above can be regarded as an invention related to an image data protection method executed by the communication terminal, and can be described as follows.

  An image data protection method according to the present invention includes an image storage unit that stores a plurality of pieces of image data and secret setting information of each image data in association with each other, and feature point information of authentication target information included in the reference image data An image data protection method executed by a communication terminal comprising: a feature point storage unit that stores the parameter points; and a parameter storage unit that stores parameter information used for collation of the image data. Based on the read-out parameter information, the read-out step of reading out the feature point information stored in the feature point storage unit, the parameter information stored in the parameter storage unit, and the read-out parameter information A collation step for collating the point information with the target image data, and a collation result indicating that the feature point information matches the target image data, the target The image data and a protection processing step of executing a predetermined protection process. The invention relating to such an image data protection method also has the same operations and effects as the invention relating to the communication terminal.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to reliably protect image data without omission while making a complicated operation unnecessary.

It is a figure which shows the function structure of the communication terminal which concerns on embodiment. It is a figure which shows the hardware constitutions of the communication terminal shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the information memorize | stored in the image database. It is a figure which shows an example of the information memorize | stored in the telephone directory database. It is a figure which shows an example of the information memorize | stored in the feature point memory | storage part. It is a figure which shows an example of the information memorize | stored in the parameter memory | storage part. It is a flowchart which shows a feature information template creation process. It is a flowchart which shows an image data protection process.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the attached screen. In the description of the drawings, the same or equivalent elements are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description is omitted.

[Configuration of communication terminal]
FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of a communication terminal 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Examples of the communication terminal 10 include a mobile phone and a portable information terminal, but the type of the communication terminal 10 is not limited to these. As shown in FIG. 1, the communication terminal 10 includes an image storage unit 11, a feature point storage unit 12, a parameter storage unit 13, a control unit 14, a camera unit 15, a terminal operation unit 16, and feature point extraction as functional components. A unit 17 and a display unit 18 are provided.

  As shown in FIG. 2, for example, the communication terminal 10 includes a CPU 101 that executes an operating system, an application program, a main storage unit 102 including a ROM and a RAM, a memory, and the like. An auxiliary storage unit 103, a communication control unit 104 for establishing a call and data communication, an operation unit 105 including keys for character input, and an output unit 106 including a monitor and a speaker. Yes. Each function of the communication terminal 10 illustrated in FIG. 1 reads predetermined software on the CPU 101 and the main storage unit 102, and reads / writes data from / to the main storage unit 102 and the auxiliary storage unit 103 under the control of the CPU 101. This is realized by executing the above software while performing it.

  Hereinafter, each functional block in FIG. 1 will be described.

  The image storage unit 11 is a part that stores a plurality of image data and secret setting information of each image data in association with each other. The image storage unit 11 stores an image database 11B that stores image data (for example, image data obtained by photographing by the camera unit 15), and a telephone book that stores telephone directory information including image data of the other party. Book database 11A. Among these, the image database 11B stores, for example, a plurality of image data identified by image file names as shown in FIG. 3 and secret setting information of each image data in association with each other. The telephone directory database 11A stores, together with the name of the other party and the telephone number, image data identified by an image file name as shown in FIG. 4, for example, and associated secret setting information. However, there is a case where image data is not stored as in the example of “Jiro Yamamoto” in FIG. 4. In this case, the default setting (OFF) is set in the secret setting information.

  The feature point storage unit 12 is a part that stores feature point information of authentication target information included in the reference image data. In this embodiment, image data whose secret setting information is ON is used as the reference image data, and face information is used as the authentication target information. However, what is adopted as the reference image data is arbitrary, and is not limited to the above example. Similarly, what is adopted as the authentication target information is arbitrary, and is not limited to the above example. As shown in FIG. 5, for example, when the reference image data “002.jpg” is recognized as including two pieces of face information, the feature point information of each face is stored in the feature point storage unit 12.

  The parameter storage unit 13 is a part that stores parameter information used for collation of image data. Details will be described later with reference to FIG.

  The control unit 14 is a part that controls various processes related to image data protection, which will be described later, and monitors and controls the operation of each unit of the communication terminal 10. The control unit 14 reads a target image data stored in the image storage unit 11, feature point information stored in the feature point storage unit 12, and parameter information stored in the parameter storage unit 13, and a reading unit 14A. When a collation unit 14B that collates the feature point information with the target image data based on the read parameter information and a collation result that the feature point information matches the target image data are obtained, a predetermined protection is obtained. Setting update for executing processing (in this embodiment, as an example, processing for updating the secret setting information of the target image data stored in the image storage unit 11 so that the secret setting information of the target image data is turned on) 14C. As the protection process, a process for deleting the target image data, a process for automatically transmitting the target image data to the designated destination, or the like may be employed, and the process is limited to the update process for the secret setting information. is not. The setting update unit 14C corresponds to a “protection processing unit” recited in the claims.

  The camera unit 15 is a part for the user to take an image.

  The terminal operation unit 16 is a part for the user to set parameter information used for collation of image data.

  The feature point extraction unit 17 is a part that extracts the feature point information of the authentication target information included in the reference image data and registers the extracted feature point information in the feature point storage unit 12. As described above, in the present embodiment, image data with the secret setting information on is used as the reference image data, but it is arbitrary from which image data the feature point information is extracted. In the present embodiment, since the face information is adopted as the authentication target information, the feature point extraction unit 17 extracts the feature point information of the face information included in the image data whose secret setting information is ON, and the extracted feature points Information is registered in the feature point storage unit 12. However, the extraction of the feature point information of the face information is merely an example, and the feature point information can be extracted using another image authentication technique.

  The display unit 18 is a part that displays image data with updated secret setting information as a list or thumbnail display.

  The parameter information stored in the parameter storage unit 13 includes, as an example, the minimum value M and the maximum value N of the number of faces included in the image data, and the face information included in the image data as shown in FIG. The maximum value D of the distance between the parameters is given, and for each parameter, parameter information (user setting value) set by the user from the terminal operation unit 16 is stored in the parameter in addition to predetermined default parameter information (default value). Stored in the unit 13. The reading unit 14 </ b> A reads the user setting value from the parameter storage unit 13 with priority over the default value. Thereby, the user of the communication terminal 10 can freely set the parameter information used for collation of the image data from the terminal operation unit 16 and store the parameter information in the parameter storage unit. The parameter information set by the user in this way is read from the parameter storage unit 13 in preference to the default parameter information, and is used for collation of image data.

  Although the details will be described later, the collation unit 14B determines that the number of faces included in the image data is not less than the minimum value M and not more than the maximum value N, and the number of faces included in the image data. The collation process is performed by adding a condition that the distance between them is not more than the maximum value D.

[Processing related to image data protection method]
FIG. 7 is a flowchart of the feature information template creation process executed in the communication terminal 10, and FIG. 8 is a flowchart of the image data protection process executed in the communication terminal 10. Among these, the feature information template creation process of FIG. 7 is a process for extracting the feature point information of the face information included in the image data in which the secret setting information is turned on and registering it in the feature point storage unit 12. The feature point information registered in the feature point storage unit 12 in this process is called a “feature information template” in the sense of reference feature point information used in the subsequent matching process. On the other hand, the image data protection process in FIG. 8 automatically determines whether or not image data obtained by shooting or image retrieval should be protected in accordance with predetermined parameters. This is a process of protecting the image data (here, the secret setting information of the image data is updated to ON).

  First, the feature information template creation process will be described with reference to FIG. For example, when the secret setting information of certain image data is turned on, execution of the feature information template creation process of FIG. 7 is started. First, in step S1 of FIG. 7, the feature point extraction unit 17 extracts feature point information of face information included in the image data. The extraction here is performed using a conventional face recognition technique. When the image data includes a plurality of face information, feature point information of the plurality of face information is extracted. In the next step S <b> 2, the feature point extraction unit 17 creates a feature information template from the extraction result of step S <b> 1 and registers it in the feature point storage unit 12. For example, when feature point information of two pieces of face information is extracted from the image data “002.jpg” in step S1, the feature point extraction unit 17 performs each face information for each piece of face information as shown in FIG. A feature information template including the feature point information is created and registered in the feature point storage unit 12. The feature information template for each face information is registered in the feature point storage unit 12 as described above. In this way, the feature information template for each face information can be registered in advance in the feature point storage unit 12.

  Next, image data protection processing will be described with reference to FIG. For example, the control unit 14 starts executing the image data protection process in FIG. 8 when the user has taken an image with the camera unit 15 or the user has executed an image search function from the terminal operation unit 16 as a trigger. . At this time, image data obtained by photographing and image data obtained by the image search function are temporarily stored in the image storage unit 11.

  First, in step S <b> 11 of FIG. 8, the reading unit 14 </ b> A stores the target image data temporarily stored in the image storage unit 11, the feature information template stored in the feature point storage unit 12, and the parameter storage unit 13. Each stored parameter information is read out. This step S11 corresponds to a reading step according to the present invention. Here, since both the default value and the user setting value are stored in the parameter storage unit 13 as shown in FIG. 6, the reading unit 14A gives priority to the user setting value over the default value, and the number of faces “3” is read from the parameter storage unit 13 as “3” as the minimum value M, “5” as the maximum value N of the number of faces, and “20” as the maximum value D of the distance between the faces.

  Next, in step S12, the collation unit 14B extracts the face information included in the target image data based on the conventional face recognition technology, collates the obtained face information and the feature information template, and the two match. Determine whether or not. If they do not match, the process proceeds to step S16 to be described later, whereas if they match, the process proceeds to step S13.

  In step S13, the collation unit 14B determines whether the number of faces included in the target image data is the minimum value M or more and the maximum value N or less (here, 3 or more and 5 or less) based on the conventional face recognition technology. Judge whether or not. If they do not match, the process proceeds to step S16 to be described later, whereas if they match, the process proceeds to step S14.

  In step S14, the collation unit 14B determines whether the distance between the faces included in the target image data is equal to or less than the maximum value D (here, 20 cm or less) based on the conventional face recognition technology and distance estimation technology (that is, 20 cm or less here). Whether or not a plurality of faces whose distance between faces is 20 cm or less is included). If they do not match, the process proceeds to step S16 to be described later, whereas if they match, the process proceeds to step S15.

  As a collation result in steps S12 to S14, the face information matches the feature information template, the number of faces is not less than the minimum value M and not more than the maximum value N, and the distance between the faces is not more than the maximum value D. Data will be extracted. Specifically, image data including a plurality of faces whose face information matches the feature information template, the number of faces is 3 or more and 5 or less, and the distance between the faces is 20 cm or less is extracted. The In this example, a face having a feature point that matches the feature information template is included, and there are three or more faces and five or less faces, and the distance between the faces is very close (20 cm or less). Image data including a plurality of faces is extracted and set as image data to be protected. Steps S12 to S14 correspond to a collation step according to the present invention.

  The image data extracted in steps S12 to S14 (that is, the face information matches the feature information template, the number of faces is not less than the minimum value M and not more than the maximum value N, and the distance between faces is not more than the maximum value D). Since certain image data) can be determined as image data to be protected, in step S15, the setting update unit 14C updates the secret setting information on the image data extracted in steps S12 to S14. This step S15 corresponds to a setting update step according to the present invention.

  On the other hand, since it can be determined that the image data that has been negatively determined in any of steps S12 to S14 does not correspond to the image data to be protected, updating the secret setting information of such image data to ON is avoided, and the secret The setting information remains off (step S16).

  As described above, the communication terminal 10 automatically collates the target image data with the feature point information stored in advance based on the parameter information stored in advance, and obtains a matching result that matches. The secret setting information of the target image data is automatically updated to turn on. In this way, the secret setting for the target image data is automatically performed according to the result of automatic matching with the feature point information without having to operate each time for each image data, thus eliminating the need for complicated operations. The image data can be reliably protected without omission.

  Note that after the processing in FIG. 8 is completed, the display unit 18 automatically displays a list or thumbnail display of the image data with the secret setting information updated to ON. Thereby, the user can confirm the image data in which the secret setting information is updated to ON.

  The present invention has been described in detail based on the embodiments. However, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. The present invention can be modified in various ways as described below without departing from the scope of the invention.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Communication terminal, 11 ... Image storage part, 11A ... Phonebook database, 11B ... Image database, 12 ... Feature point storage part, 13 ... Parameter storage part, 14 ... Control part, 14A ... Reading part, 14B ... Collation part, 14C ... Setting update unit (protection processing unit), 15 ... Camera unit, 16 ... Terminal operation unit, 17 ... Feature point extraction unit, 18 ... Display unit, 101 ... CPU, 102 ... Main storage unit, 103 ... Auxiliary storage unit, 104: Communication control unit, 105: Operation unit, 106: Output unit.

Claims (9)

An image storage unit that stores a plurality of pieces of image data and secret setting information of each image data in association with each other;
A feature point storage unit that stores feature point information of authentication target information included in the reference image data;
A parameter storage unit storing parameter information used for matching image data;
A reading unit that reads out target image data stored in the image storage unit, feature point information stored in the feature point storage unit, and parameter information stored in the parameter storage unit;
A collation unit that collates the feature point information with the target image data based on the read parameter information;
When a collation result is obtained that the feature point information and the target image data match, a protection processing unit that performs a predetermined protection process on the target image data;
A communication terminal comprising: A feature point extraction unit that extracts feature point information of authentication target information included in the reference image data and registers the extracted feature point information in the feature point storage unit;
The communication terminal according to claim 1, further comprising: The communication terminal further includes a terminal operation unit for setting parameter information used for collation of image data,
The parameter storage unit stores parameter information set by the terminal operation unit in addition to predetermined default parameter information,
The reading unit reads the set parameter information from the parameter storage unit in preference to default parameter information.
The communication terminal according to claim 1 or 2. The communication terminal further includes a camera unit for taking an image,
The image storage unit includes an image database that stores image data obtained by photographing with the camera unit, and a telephone directory database that stores image data of a call partner.
The communication terminal according to any one of claims 1 to 3. The predetermined protection process is:
Updating secret setting information of the target image data stored in the image storage unit so that secret setting information of the target image data is turned on.
The communication terminal according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein: The reference image data is image data whose secret setting information is on.
The communication terminal according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein: The authentication target information is face information;
The parameter information includes a minimum value and a maximum value of the number of faces included in the image data,
The collation unit performs the collation by adding a condition that the number of faces included in the image data is not less than the minimum value and not more than the maximum value.
The communication terminal according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein: The parameter information further includes a maximum value of the distance between faces included in the image data,
The collation unit further performs the collation by further adding a condition that a distance between faces included in the image data is equal to or less than the maximum value.
The communication terminal according to claim 7. An image storage unit that stores a plurality of image data and secret setting information of each image data in association with each other, and a feature point storage unit that stores feature point information of authentication target information included in the reference image data An image data protection method executed by a communication terminal comprising a parameter storage unit that stores parameter information used for collation of image data,
A step of reading out the target image data stored in the image storage unit, the feature point information stored in the feature point storage unit, and the parameter information stored in the parameter storage unit;
A collation step of collating the feature point information with the target image data based on the read parameter information;
A protection processing step of performing a predetermined protection process on the target image data when a matching result is obtained that the feature point information and the target image data match;
An image data protection method comprising:

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