WO2017085443A1

WO2017085443A1 - Accessing confidential or sensitive information associated with documents

Info

Publication number: WO2017085443A1
Application number: PCT/GB2016/000206
Authority: WO
Inventors: Alan Joseph Bell
Original assignee: Wessex Technology Optoelectronic Products Limited
Priority date: 2015-11-17
Filing date: 2016-11-17
Publication date: 2017-05-26
Also published as: GB201520241D0

Abstract

Systems are described which allow monitored secure access to information in or related to documents, which may be physical documents or documents shown on screen. By applying a unique coded marking to the document, possibly in substitution for sensitive information originally on the document, and storing the details of the document and associated material on a secure server, access may be secured by sending an image of the marking to the server, for example using a camera in a smart phone programmed with a suitable app.

Description

ACCESSING CONFIDENTIAL OR SENSITIVE INFORMATION

ASSOCIATED WITH DOCUMENTS

This invention relates to accessing confidential or sensitive information associated with documents. These may be written documents such as data sheets, invoices, instruction sheets, contracts or securities, or predominantly graphic material, such as plans or diagrams. In the description which follows, the term document may refer either to a physical document or to a document stored in digital form so it can be downloaded, for example as a pdf file, and then viewed by a person, whether on screen or by printing it on to paper.

In numerous industries, there is a need to provide drawings or diagrams, for example relating to mechanical, electrical or other arrangements, where such materials are necessary for review and use by a variety of people working on a particular project or system, and where the information is not publicly available. It is very often the case that accompanying the diagram, drawing, flow chart or the like there is information on the same, usually physically printed, data carrier which gives information relating to what is shown in the drawing or diagram. Such printed materials are potentially long-lived and, if they contain full information and come into the possession of someone not entitled to possess or to use that information, there is a possibility of misuse.

A typical example is the arrangement of sensors, closed-circuit television cameras, wiring and the like in connection with a secure building. Drawings or diagrams of such systems are very often annotated with information as to the location of the building, the date or issue number of the drawing concerned and much other detail besides. If such a drawing were to fall into the hands of, for example, someone wishing to tamper or interfere with the systems in the building, for example disabling an alarm system designed to foil illicit entry, substantial damage could result. Business documentation is a different area where there can be problems with checking authenticity, particularly in the case of invoices. A particularly pernicious fraud mechanism has been developed which relies on the fraudsters intercepting invoices, altering the bank details for payment on them to those of an account which they control, and then transmitting the altered invoices to the intended recipient. The recipient has no inkling that the data on the invoice is not legitimate, and transfers the money as requested. The fraudsters then collect the money, the supplier does not do so and, by the time this is discovered, it is all too late.

Another area of documentation which can benefit from protection against unauthorised access is, for example, documentation containing medical or criminal records data. According generally to the present invention, there is provided a system for authorising access to and/or validating documents which comprises a central server, a programme within the server adapted on request to issue a unique coded marking to the requestor, and to keep a record of such marking together with details of the requestor and associated data provided by the requestor, means for transmitting the coded marking to the requestor, means under the control of the requestor for applying the coded marking to a document, and means for capturing an image of the document, including the unique marking, sending that image to the central server and those means being adapted to receive from the central server data enabling the document to be verified or enabling its content to be validated or previously hidden parts of its content to be viewed, or enabling the central server to send associated data to the person sending the image of the document.

The associated data provided by the requestor may vary widely. For example, the requestor may place a time limit on the life of the marking so that while it may remain visible afterwards, once the time limit has been reached, the coded marking can no longer be used. A different factor is to limit the geographical area in which the marking can be activated.

An underlying concept of the system according to the invention is based on the proposition that in the case of many sensitive documents, they contain content which is useful only when all components of that content can be brought together. Thus, in the case of data referring to a building, there can be data referring to "how" something is arranged and data regarding "where" the building or part of it is. Likewise, for medical or criminal records, these may contain data about "who" the person is and "what" they may be suffering from. The system according to the invention splits the "how" and "where" or the "who" and "what", so rendering the document incapable of application until the two segregated types of data are brought together. Preferably the means for viewing the documents is an appropriately-enabled smartphone which has stored within it an app which sends an image of the document or part of the document showing the coded marking to the central server as well as data corresponding to the location of the smartphone at the time. If the document being viewed is being viewed on-screen, the app may additionally send data corresponding to the identity of the device on which the document is being viewed and also it may send, as an additional security measure, details of the specific smartphone being used, including at least the telephone number and possibly other identifying data to do with the smartphone unit itself as opposed to the SIM card inserted into it.

The use of mobile phone devices to view coded markings on or associated with an article, and to communicate with a central server mechanism in order to provide validation of the article in question is genuine, is described in Published Application WO 2012/149642. In accordance with the present invention, which uses many of the same components, the unique coded marking is not produced by a physical printing process, but rather by generating a digitised image which can be transmitted to someone who wishes to use that image to identify a document, and which can then be physically printed on to a physical document or simply "pasted in" to a digitally stored document. A typical type of marking is that shown in Figures 3 and 4 of WO 2012/149642 or that shown in Figures 12 and 13 of WO

2013/038207.

In one way of putting the invention into effect, the sensitive data which it is desired to protect from unauthorised access may be applied to a digital document using "cut and paste" where the sensitive data is cut and the unique coded marking is pasted in its place. This can be done by an appropriate programme in the central server, enabling an original document including the sensitive information to be uploaded and enabling the originator to download a corresponding document in which that sensitive information has been removed and replaced by the unique coded marking.

The document containing the sensitive information may then be sent or given to a desired recipient who may then, in order to see the sensitive information which was in or which is related to the content of the original document, use the app in their smartphone. If the originator of the document wants to restrict who can see the sensitive information, e.g. to a single individual or to those looking in a given geographical area, then that factor can be uploaded to the central server when the original document is uploaded, and the ability to view the document once it has been sent to the recipient will then depend upon whether the recipient fulfils whatever conditions have been attached by the originator/sender. Put very simply, by entering appropriate conditions when the original document is uploaded to the central server, the sender can decide who can view the original document, when they can do so and where they can do so. If such legitimate viewing takes place, the fact that viewing has taken place can be logged. It is conceivable that, once a document has been looked at by an authorised viewer, it is no longer viewable by anyone, even that original authorised viewer, i.e. it is a read once system. Unsuccessful attempts to view the document can likewise be logged.

Preferably the secure marking is one generated by digitally printing a dot matrix font code, preferably on one or two lines of alphanumeric "text". This may be of the type described in Published Application WO 2012/149642 in connection with a system for detecting counterfeit goods. The advantage of using a digital matrix font code is that the security marking may be human readable, and accordingly all or part of it can be transmitted if desired to an authorised user, for example using email or text messaging, so as to advise them to use a particular plan, diagram or the like.

The use of such a digital matrix font code provides substantial advantages compared with using e.g. a barcode or QR code, where the standard decoding apps available for use with smart phones simply direct the user's smartphone to send a message to a given fixed url, which then returns a message to all those who scan the barcode or QR code. This is insecure, and although such markings are widely used to provide information to those who scan them, the information is public domain information. A further disadvantage of QR codes is that they must have a fixed url referenced in them. The app for use in the present invention may access one of a plurality of secure servers, which one depending on the content of the encoded marking. A further problem with QR codes is that they do not work well onscreen unless they are very much enlarged in size, due to

interference between the raster size of the QR code itself and the screen resolution of the screen on which the plan or diagram is being viewed.

In a further development of the invention, if the smart phone has a second camera facing the user (as used for taking a selfie), the app may take a picture of the person viewing the document at the same time as processing and sending the security code image data, and send that to the secure server as well. If desired, face recognition software may be used to verify the identity of the person using the smart phone. This provides a further feature enabling the originator or publisher of the document to confirm, at a later point in time, that the phone and/or document has not been misappropriated, or if it has it provides evidence of the fact.

The system when in use may also be configured by appropriate

programming to make use of the functionality increasingly present in smart phone units of user identification, for example by requiring the user of the smart phone seeking to access full data to enter the unlocking code for the phone unit, or to use a fingerprint, iris or voice recognition feature as a step in the process of securing access.

As noted above, one area of use for the system in accordance with the present invention provides a secure system relates to plans and diagrams used in the construction and facilities maintenance industry for reducing the chances of misuse. The following example illustrates this:

In accordance with the invention, associated with the plan, diagram or the like, and at a visually identifiable location adjacent the graphic content of the plan or diagram, there is a security code marking, preferably unique to the particular plan or diagram (i.e. other copies of the plan or diagram have other security code markings on them so each copy of the plan or diagram has a unique identity), which can be visually identified as such and which is related to confidential or sensitive information associated with the plan or diagram. Such information is stored on a secure server, but can be accessed by transmitting information derived from an image of the security marking viewed using the camera in a smart phone. The smart phone is programmed with a dedicated app which analyses the components of the security marking and transmits to the secure server, details of the security marking and of the location at which it is being viewed by the smartphone, and of the

smartphone itself. The remote server is programmed to determine whether the smartphone being used is in the hands of an authorised user and preferably whether the user and the plan or diagram is being viewed in the, or at an, expected location. If so, and optionally subject to any further security checks, the secure server may provide the sensitive information to the smartphone enabling someone with legitimate access to the information to view it on the smartphone.

The provision of the sensitive information may be subject to conditions set by the originator or publisher of the plan or diagram, for example with respect to the time, smart phone identity or smart phone location, as well as to the plan or diagram being current or up to date. Instead of sending the sensitive information, in such a case the user's smart phone can display a message or emit an audible voice message telling the user that the plan or diagram in question is no longer valid, and suggesting it should be destroyed; it may direct the user to a source of an updated plan or diagram. Any danger which might arise as a result of using obsolete information is accordingly reduced.

Plans relating to a building or construction project are conventionally are provided in some form of standard drawing format with printed data, usually located in one or more corners of a rectangular sheet, identifying, for example, the location of the building, the nature of the drawing itself, the date, any revisions history and details concerning the origin of the drawing or diagram itself. All such data can be replaced in accordance with the present invention with a single digital security marking, for example by a series of alphanumeric characters printed using a dot matrix type font, and legitimate users, such as engineers, installation operatives and the like, can then access that information if they are authorised to do so. As a further security feature in connection with such a building or

construction project, a building identity security code marking may be displayed for example on a wall of the building or on a noticeboard directed to those working on the site, for example along with other materials such as site rules, licences, safety notices and the like. Those wishing to view the document may need, before the sensitive information will be released, to view such a security code beforehand. This can be used to confirm that the person was present at a particular time for time recording purposes, and if the smart phone also provides a selfie type photo of the person holding the phone, that can be used to confirm that the person who has gained admission to the site is recorded as the holder of the phone, rather than a colleague booking in on behalf of someone else.

The present invention, while it is primarily designed to be applicable to physical drawings, can be applied equally well to drawings, diagrams or the like which are downloadable from an appropriate source and which can be displayed on e.g. the screen of a portable computer such as a laptop or tablet computer. The security marking may be shown on screen and the smartphone positioned to view the security marking so displayed.

It is possible to limit access to the information, for example by way of time, so that the secure information relating to the diagram is only available for a certain period of time and, thereafter, cannot be accessed.

By operating in this way, the necessity of managing physical paperwork on a large scale may be rendered considerably less burdensome, and the danger of misuse of the information by someone into whose hands the physical paperwork falls, may be reduced. Also, if there is an attempt at unauthorised access, the location of the smartphone and its identity can be detected, so assisting the detection of actual or intended crime.

Separately, the originator or publisher of the plan or diagram may collect information as to the usage of the material by legitimate users, which may be analysed to provide information about usage, and thus assist in the management of a business or project. The system described above with respect to documents which carry construction plans or diagrams, may be applied analogously, in other circumstances where it is desired to separate material in the document from material relating to that document. For example, if it is desired to send a document containing medical records or data regarding a crime to someone, the data may be devoid of any reference to the patient or suspect, but carry a security code marking enabling the person to whom the document is sent to retrieve the data using a smart phone as described above, either by receiving an unexpurgated copy of the data or, for example, by receiving a text or voice message sent to the smart phone providing the missing data.

Claims

1. A system for authorising access to and/or validating documents which comprises a central server, a programme within the server adapted on request to issue a unique coded marking to the requestor, and to keep a record of such marking together with details of the requestor and associated data provided by the requestor, means for transmitting the coded marking to the requestor, means under the control of the requestor for applying the coded marking to a document, and means for capturing an image of the document, including the unique marking, sending that image to the central server and those means being adapted to receive from the central server data enabling the document to be verified or enabling its content to be validated or previously hidden parts of its content to be viewed, or enabling the central server to send associated data to the person sending the image of the document.

2. A system according to Claim 1 wherein the means for capturing the image of the coded marking is a smart phone with a camera which can be pointed at the coded marking and an app to send data relating to the marking to the central server.

3. A system according to Claim 1 or 2 where the unique coded marking is an alphanumeric marking which can be read by a human being.

4. A system according to any one of Claims 1 to 3 where the associated data determines the limits of time or place at which the image of the coded marking is being captured, so that any attempt to access or validate the document outside such limits is unsuccessful.

5. A system according to Claim 4 wherein the central server is

programmed to log any unsuccessful access attempts.