Patent Issued for Selectively obscuring and/or revealing sensitive information in a display of a computing device (USPTO 11550936): State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company

2023 JAN 30 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- According to news reporting originating from Alexandria, Virginia, by NewsRx journalists, a patent by the inventors Austin, Michael Paul (Bloomington, IL, US), Hadsall, Jacob L. (Bloomington, IL, US), Knittel, Erika (Heyworth, IL, US), filed on October 12, 2020, was published online on January 10, 2023.

The assignee for this patent, patent number 11550936, is State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company (Bloomington, Illinois, United States).

Reporters obtained the following quote from the background information supplied by the inventors: “Increasingly, individuals use mobile/portable computing devices to view their personal information online. For example, individuals use their smartphones, tablets, phablets, etc., to access online bank accounts containing account numbers, account balances and/or credit card numbers, online insurance accounts/policies containing policy numbers, coverage levels and/or social security numbers, and so on. Typically, all information is presented on the screen of the computing device in the same manner once a user is authenticated (e.g., enters a login and password), even though the user may only need to see the sensitive portions of the information for a relatively brief time period. As a result, other individuals in the vicinity of the user may easily see the sensitive information, increasing the risk of unauthorized use of the information (e.g., identity theft). Moreover, the size of the computer screens on which information is displayed to mobile users (e.g., tablet, phablet or smartphone touch screens) have generally been increasing in size, which may cause the displayed information to be larger and more easily seen by others in the vicinity of the screen, and/or may cause more sensitive information to be displayed at one time. Furthermore, the proliferation of camera devices (e.g., smartphone cameras) increases the risk that someone will capture an image of a display screen, and later view the image to identify any sensitive information contained therein.

“Some conventional techniques require physically positioning a filter or lenticular film over a laptop computer screen such that information on the screen may only be read within a narrow viewing angle. Other conventional techniques do not require purchasing and positioning a physical filter or film, but have other drawbacks. For example, some applications allow a user to hide his or her password by replacing the typed password characters with asterisks or other characters/shapes (e.g., “••••••”), and further allow the user to selectively show or hide the password characters by clicking a virtual control box located next to the password field. These conventional techniques generally fail to provide a security mechanism that is user friendly. For example, the technique for hiding passwords described above requires that the user locate and activate a dedicated control positioned near the password field on the display (e.g., a clickable “SHOW” or “HIDE” text in the vicinity of the password field). As a result, the user may forget or otherwise neglect to obscure sensitive information after viewing. Moreover, the conventional techniques are restricted to hiding/showing the single field associated with the control (i.e., the password field).”

In addition to obtaining background information on this patent, NewsRx editors also obtained the inventors’ summary information for this patent: “The present embodiments may, inter alia, enable a user to easily and intuitively obscure and/or reveal sensitive information within a display of the user’s computing device, which may in turn reduce the likelihood that other, nearby individuals will see or capture (e.g., photograph) the sensitive information and use the information for unauthorized purposes. In one embodiment, the user, by taking certain actions, may hide sensitive information on demand, and then return that information to being visible when desired, or vice versa.

“In one aspect, a computer-implemented method of selectively obscuring sensitive information on a display screen of a computing device includes: (1) providing, on the display screen of the computing device, a display that obscures a first item of information in a first secure field of one or more fields in a display layout without obscuring an entirety of the display; (2) detecting, using at least a camera of the computing device, a change in orientation of a user of the computing device relative to the computing device; (3) in response to the change in orientation, causing the display to show the first item of information in the first secure field; and/or (4) after causing the display to show the first item of information in the first secure field, (i) detecting, using at least the camera, a subsequent change in the orientation of the user relative to the computing device, and (ii) in response to detecting the subsequent change in the orientation of the user, causing the display to again obscure the first item of information in the first secure field without obscuring the entirety of the display.

“In another aspect, a computer device configured to selectively obscure sensitive information on a display screen includes the display screen, a camera, one or more processors, and a non-transitory, computer-readable memory storing instructions. The instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the computing device to: (1) provide, on the display screen of the computing device, a display that obscures a first item of information in a first secure field of one or more fields in a display layout without obscuring an entirety of the display; (2) detect, using at least the camera, a change in orientation of a user of the computing device relative to the computing device; (3) in response to the change in orientation, cause the display to show the first item of information in the first secure field; and/or (4) after causing the display to show the first item of information in the first secure field, (i) detect, using at least the camera, a subsequent change in the orientation of the user relative to the computing device, and (ii) in response to detecting the subsequent change in the orientation of the user, cause the display to again obscure the first item of information in the first secure field without obscuring the entirety of the display.

“In another aspect, a non-transitory, computer-readable medium stores instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to: (1) provide, on a display screen of a computing device, a display that obscures a first item of information in a first secure field of one or more fields in a display layout without obscuring an entirety of the display; (2) detect, using at least a camera, a change in orientation of a user of the computing device relative to the computing device; (3) in response to the change in orientation, cause the display to show the first item of information in the first secure field; and/or (4) after causing the display to show the first item of information in the first secure field, (i) detect, using at least the camera, a subsequent change in the orientation of the user relative to the computing device, and (ii) in response to detecting the subsequent change in the orientation of the user, cause the display to again obscure the first item of information in the first secure field without obscuring the entirety of the display.”

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“1. A computer-implemented method of selectively obscuring sensitive information on a display screen of a computing device, the method comprising: providing, on the display screen of the computing device, a display that obscures a first item of information in a first secure field of one or more fields in a display layout without obscuring an entirety of the display; detecting, using at least a camera of the computing device, a change in orientation of a user of the computing device relative to the computing device; in response to the change in orientation, causing the display to show the first item of information in the first secure field; and after causing the display to show the first item of information in the first secure field, (i) detecting, using at least the camera, a subsequent change in the orientation of the user relative to the computing device, and (ii) in response to detecting the subsequent change in the orientation of the user, causing the display to again obscure the first item of information in the first secure field without obscuring the entirety of the display.

“2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein detecting the change in the orientation of the user includes detecting that the user is looking at the display screen.

“3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein detecting that the user is looking at the display screen includes detecting a direction or focus of the user’s gaze.

“4. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein detecting that the user is looking at the display screen includes detecting a position of the user’s head and/or shoulders.

“5. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein detecting the subsequent change in the orientation of the user includes detecting that the user is no longer looking at the display screen.

“6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein providing a display that obscures the first item of information in the first secure field in the display layout without obscuring the entirety of the display includes: providing a display that obscures the first item of information in the first secure field in the display layout without obscuring one or more other fields in the display layout.

“7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising: generating or receiving, at the computing device, one or more items of information, wherein each item of information (i) is to be displayed in a respective field of the one or more fields, and (ii) has an associated data flag that designates whether the item of information is sensitive.

“8. The computer-implemented method of claim 7, further comprising: determining one or more secure fields, at least by, for each field of the one or more fields, processing the data flag associated with the item of information to be displayed in the field, and if the data flag designates that the item of information is sensitive, designating the field as a secure field.

“9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving, at the computing device, user authentication data entered by the user of the computing device and associated with an account, wherein providing the display is in response to receiving the user authentication data, and wherein the one or more fields are for displaying information associated with the account.

“10. A computer device configured to selectively obscure sensitive information on a display screen, the computer device comprising: the display screen; a camera; one or more processors; and a non-transitory, computer-readable memory storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the computing device to provide, on the display screen of the computing device, a display that obscures a first item of information in a first secure field of one or more fields in a display layout without obscuring an entirety of the display, detect, using at least the camera, a change in orientation of a user of the computing device relative to the computing device, in response to the change in orientation, cause the display to show the first item of information in the first secure field, and after causing the display to show the first item of information in the first secure field, (i) detect, using at least the camera, a subsequent change in the orientation of the user relative to the computing device, and (ii) in response to detecting the subsequent change in the orientation of the user, cause the display to again obscure the first item of information in the first secure field without obscuring the entirety of the display.

“11. The computer device of claim 10, wherein detecting the change in the orientation of the user includes detecting that the user is looking at the display screen.

“12. The computer device of claim 11, wherein detecting that the user is looking at the display screen includes detecting a direction or focus of the user’s gaze.

“13. The computer device of claim 11, wherein detecting that the user is looking at the display screen includes detecting a position of the user’s head and/or shoulders.

“14. The computer device of claim 11, wherein detecting the subsequent change in the orientation of the user includes detecting that the user is no longer looking at the display screen.

“15. The computer device of claim 10, wherein providing a display that obscures the first item of information in the first secure field in the display layout without obscuring the entirety of the display includes: providing a display that obscures the first item of information in the first secure field in the display layout without obscuring one or more other fields in the display layout.

“16. The computer device of claim 10, wherein the instructions further cause the computing device to: generate or receive one or more items of information, wherein each item of information (i) is to be displayed in a respective field of the one or more fields, and (ii) has an associated data flag that designates whether the item of information is sensitive.

“17. The computer device of claim 16, wherein the instructions further cause the computing device to: determine one or more secure fields, at least by, for each field of the one or more fields, processing the data flag associated with the item of information to be displayed in the field, and if the data flag designates that the item of information is sensitive, designating the field as a secure field.

“18. The computer device of claim 1, wherein the instructions further cause the computing device to: receive user authentication data entered by the user of the computing device and associated with an account, wherein providing the display is in response to receiving the user authentication data, and wherein the one or more fields are for displaying information associated with the account.

“19. A non-transitory, computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to: provide, on a display screen of a computing device, a display that obscures a first item of information in a first secure field of one or more fields in a display layout without obscuring an entirety of the display; detect, using at least a camera, a change in orientation of a user of the computing device relative to the computing device; in response to the change in orientation, cause the display to show the first item of information in the first secure field; and after causing the display to show the first item of information in the first secure field, (i) detect, using at least the camera, a subsequent change in the orientation of the user relative to the computing device, and (ii) in response to detecting the subsequent change in the orientation of the user, cause the display to again obscure the first item of information in the first secure field without obscuring the entirety of the display.

“20. The computer device of claim 19, wherein detecting the change in the orientation of the user includes detecting that the user is looking at the display screen.”

For more information, see this patent: Austin, Michael Paul. Selectively obscuring and/or revealing sensitive information in a display of a computing device. U.S. Patent Number 11550936, filed October 12, 2020, and published online on January 10, 2023. Patent URL (for desktop use only): https://ppubs.uspto.gov/pubwebapp/external.html?q=(11550936)&db=USPAT&type=ids

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