Patent Issued for System and method for on-demand data cleansing (USPTO 11921685): Myndshft Technologies Inc.

2024 MAR 27 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- From Alexandria, Virginia, NewsRx journalists report that a patent by the inventors Downs, Brian J. (Scottsdale, AZ, US), Iniguez, Antonio (Phoenix, AZ, US), Moore, John K. (Phoenix, AZ, US), filed on November 30, 2022, was published online on March 5, 2024.

The patent’s assignee for patent number 11921685 is Myndshft Technologies Inc. (Dover, Delaware, United States).

News editors obtained the following quote from the background information supplied by the inventors: “Advances in technologies such as machine learning and artificial intelligence have made data more valuable than ever. This increased value has been accompanied by an increase in the amount of data being captured and stored. The benefits available from collecting and analyzing this data, particularly sensitive data, are unfortunately accompanied by increased opportunity for abuse. Efforts have been made to mandate the protection of particularly sensitive information, such as health related data. For example, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) dictates how sensitive data such as personally identifiable information (PII) and protected health information (PHI) is to be handled, what portion of that data can be shared, and who it can be shared with. Similarly, General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in the European Union (EU) dictates how sensitive data may be used, handled, or both, in the EU.

“Compliance with regulations such as HIPAA and GDPR, as well as a growing uneasiness in the public regarding the sharing and use of personal information, stands as a barrier that slows and sometimes completely halts the beneficial use of the collected data. Having to redact portions of records before sharing them increases the cost of creating models and performing research, and also increases the overhead for monetization of the information.”

As a supplement to the background information on this patent, NewsRx correspondents also obtained the inventors’ summary information for this patent: “According to an aspect, a system for on-demand data cleansing, may comprise a processor, and a volatile memory communicatively coupled to the processor and comprising a data object having a plurality of data fields, each field having a tag and a value. A cleansing module may be stored in the volatile memory and executed by the processor. The cleansing module may comprise a library having a plurality of tag-operation pairs, each tag-operation pair comprising a library tag and an associated operation, the cleansing module configured to receive a pointer locating the data object within volatile memory. Each data field of the plurality of data fields may be further configured to: look up the tag of the data field among the library tags of the plurality of tag-operation pairs of the library, and execute the operation paired with the matching library tag on the value of the data field, modifying the value of the data field while it is stored in volatile memory. For each tag-operation pair of the library, the operation may define logic whose execution will bring information described by the paired library tag into compliance with a policy. The cleansing module may be configured to execute the operation by evaluating, at runtime, a string defining operation logic and stored in the tag-operation pair. The looking up of the tag within the library, and the executing of the operation may be performed in near real-time.

“The system for on-demand data cleansing may further comprise one or more features, such as wherein executing the operation on the value of the data field comprises one of overwriting at least some of the value within the volatile memory and replacing the value within the data object with a reformatted value. Executing the operation on the value of the data field may comprise: generating a new value based upon the value yet having less specificity, and replacing the value with the new value within the data object stored in volatile memory. The value may comprise an image, and generating the new value based upon the value may comprise using machine vision to detect any faces within the image, and generating a new image having all detected faces obscured. The value may comprise a geolocation, and generating the new value based upon the value may comprise resolving the geolocation within a geographic information system and generating a geographic descriptor of lesser specificity than the geolocation. A network interface may be communicatively coupled to the processor and a network, an API may be configured to receive instructions through the network interface, wherein the API may be configured to receive a new tag-operation pair through the network interface, and the new tag-operation pair may be stored within the library. The API may be further configured to receive the data object through the network interface, store the data object in the volatile memory, and pass the pointer locating the data object within the volatile memory to the cleansing module. The cleansing module may be further configured to select one library from a plurality of libraries, each library implementing a different policy.

“According to another aspect, a system for on-demand data cleansing, may comprise receiving a pointer locating a data object within a volatile memory, the data object comprising a plurality of data fields, each data field having a tag and a value. For each data field of the plurality of data fields of the data object, the following may occur: looking up the tag of the data field within a library stored in the volatile memory, the library comprising a plurality of tag-operation pairs each having a library tag and an associated operation; finding the tag-operation pair having a matching library tag; and executing the operation stored in the library and paired with the matching library tag on the value of the data field, and modifying the value of the data field while the value is stored in volatile memory. For each tag-operation pair of the library, the operation may define logic whose execution brings information described by the paired library tag into compliance with a policy.

“The system for on-demand data cleansing may further comprise one or more of the following. Wherein the executing the operation comprises evaluating, at runtime, a string defining operation logic and stored in the tag-operation pair. Wherein the looking up of the tag within the library, the finding of the tag-operation pair, and the executing of the operation is performed in near real-time. Wherein executing the operation on the value of the data field comprises one of overwriting at least some of the value within the volatile memory and replacing the value within the data object with a reformatted value. Wherein executing the operation on the value of the data field comprises generating a new value based upon the value yet having less specificity, and replacing the value with the new value within the data object stored in volatile memory. Wherein the value comprises an image, and wherein generating the new value based upon the value comprises using machine vision to detect any faces within the image, and generating a new image having all detected faces obscured. Wherein the value comprises a geolocation, and wherein generating the new value based upon the value comprises resolving the geolocation within a geographic information system and determining a geographic descriptor of lesser specificity than the geolocation. The system may further comprise receiving a new tag-operation pair through an API, and storing the new tag-operation pair within the library. The system may further comprise receiving the data object through an API and storing the data object in the volatile memory, wherein the pointer is received in response to the data object being received through the API. The policy may be HIPAA. The system may further comprise selecting one library from a plurality of libraries, each library implementing a different policy.

“Aspects and applications of the disclosure presented here are described below in the drawings and detailed description. Unless specifically noted, it is intended that the words and phrases in the specification and the claims be given their plain, ordinary, and accustomed meaning to those of ordinary skill in the applicable arts. The inventors are fully aware that they can be their own lexicographers if desired. The inventors expressly elect, as their own lexicographers, to use only the plain and ordinary meaning of terms in the specification and claims unless they clearly state otherwise and then further, expressly set forth the “special” definition of that term and explain how it differs from the plain and ordinary meaning. Absent such clear statements of intent to apply a “special” definition, it is the inventors’ intent and desire that the simple, plain and ordinary meaning to the terms be applied to the interpretation of the specification and claims.”

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“1. A system for on-demand data cleansing, comprising: a processor; a memory communicatively coupled to the processor and comprising a data object having a plurality of data fields, each field having a tag and a value; a cleansing module stored in the memory and executed by the processor, the cleansing module comprising a library having a plurality of tag-operation pairs, each tag-operation pair comprising a library tag and an associated operation, the cleansing module configured to, for each data field of the plurality of data fields: look up the tag of the data field among the library tags of the plurality of tag-operation pairs of the library; and execute the operation paired with the matching library tag on the value of the data field such that the value of the data field is modified to comply with a policy while it is stored in the memory.

“2. The system of claim 1, wherein executing the operation on the value of the data field comprises overwriting at least some of the value of the data field, replacing the value of the data field-with a reformatted value, or replacing the value of the data field with a new value based on the value of the data field yet having less specificity.

“3. The system of claim 1, wherein the policy is HIPAA.

“4. The system of claim 1, wherein the library is a HIPAA library and the plurality of tag-operation pairs are configured to ensure the data object complies with HIPAA, wherein the cleansing module further comprises a custom library stored in the memory, the custom library comprising a plurality of custom tag-operation pairs, and wherein the custom library is configured to supersede the HIPAA library for at least one of the plurality of data fields.

“5. The system of claim 1, wherein the cleansing module comprises at least one additional library such that the cleansing module comprises a plurality of libraries, each library implementing a different policy regarding data, and wherein the cleansing module is configured to select one of the plurality of libraries based on at least one of an identity of a party requesting data contained in the data object, a geolocation of an IP address associated with a request for the data of the data object, an identity of a source of the data contained in the data object, and a nature of the data of the data object.

“6. The system of claim 1, wherein the library is configured to be modified by modifying an operation of the plurality of tag-operation pairs.

“7. A method for on-demand data cleansing, comprising: storing a data object within a memory, the data object comprising a plurality of data fields, each data field having a tag and a value; for each data field of the plurality of data fields of the data object: looking up the tag of the data field within a library stored in the memory, the library comprising a plurality of tag-operation pairs each having a library tag and an associated operation; finding the tag-operation pair having a library tag that matches the tag of the data field; and executing the operation stored in the library and paired with the matching library tag on the value of the data field such that the value of the data field is modified to comply with a policy while the value is stored in the memory.

“8. The method of claim 7, wherein executing the operation on the value of the data field comprises overwriting at least some of the value of the data field, replacing the value of the data field-with a reformatted value, or replacing the value of the data field with a new value based on the valued of the data field yet having less specificity.

“9. The method of claim 7, wherein the policy is HIPAA.

“10. The method of claim 7, wherein the library is a HIPAA library and the plurality of tag-operation pairs are configured to ensure the data object complies with HIPAA, the method further comprising, for at least one of the plurality of data fields of the data object: looking up the tag of the data field within a custom library stored in the memory, the custom library different than the HIPAA library and comprising a plurality of custom tag-operation pairs; finding the custom tag-operation pair having a library tag that matches the tag of the data field; and executing a custom operation stored in the custom library and paired with the matching library tag on the value of the data field, such that the custom library is configured to supersede the HIPAA library for the at least one of the plurality of data fields of the data object.

“11. The method of claim 7, further comprising selecting the library from a plurality of libraries stored in the memory, each library implementing a different policy regarding data, wherein the selecting is based on at least one of an identity of a party requesting data contained in the data object, a geolocation of an IP address associated with a request for the data of the data object, an identity of a source of the data contained in the data object, and a nature of the data of the data object.

“12. The method of claim 7, further comprising modifying an operation of the plurality of tag-operation pairs.

“13. A method for on-demand data cleansing, comprising: receiving data from an authorized party at a trusted computing environment; storing the data in a memory of the trusted computing environment as a data object having a plurality of data fields, each field having a tag and a value; detecting a trigger event, wherein the trigger event is a request for the data from a requesting entity; cleansing the data by, for each data field of the plurality of data fields of the object: looking up the tag of the data field within a library stored in the memory, the library comprising a plurality of tag-operation pairs each having a library tag and an associated operation; finding the tag-operation pair having a library tag that matches the tag of the data field; and executing the operation stored in the library and paired with the matching library tag on the value of the data field such that the value of the data field is modified while the value is stored in the memory; sending the cleansed data to the requesting entity.

“14. The method of claim 13, wherein the data is received with field tags already in place.

“15. The method of claim 13, further comprising tagging the data after the data is received.

“16. The method of claim 13, wherein the data comprises sensitive health data.

“17. The method of claim 13, wherein the data comprises sensitive personal data.

“18. The method of claim 13, wherein executing the operation modifies the value of the data field to comply with HIPAA.

“19. The method of claim 13, wherein the data comprises financial data, research data, commercial data, personal activity data, or demographic data.

“20. The method of claim 13, wherein executing the operation modifies the value of the data field to provide a level of access to the data based on a price paid by the requesting entity.”

For additional information on this patent, see: Downs, Brian J. System and method for on-demand data cleansing. U.S. Patent Number 11921685, filed November 30, 2022, and published online on March 5, 2024. Patent URL (for desktop use only): https://ppubs.uspto.gov/pubwebapp/external.html?q=(11921685)&db=USPAT&type=ids

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