Embodiments are directed to a computer-implemented method for securely receiving user data. In one embodiment directed to a computer-implemented method for securely receiving user data, the method includes a computer associating a marker with a sensitive data field in a form. The method also includes the computer using the marker to facilitate secure entry of user data corresponding to the sensitive data field. The method further includes the computer entering the user data in the sensitive data field in the form. The marker is configured to refer to the sensitive data field without revealing additional information regarding the sensitive data field.
A further embodiment is also directed to a computer-implemented method for securely receiving user data. The method includes a computer associating a marker with a sensitive data category. The method also includes the computer using the marker to facilitate secure entry of user data corresponding to the sensitive data category. The marker is configured to refer to the sensitive data category without revealing additional information regarding the sensitive data category.
Another embodiment is directed to a computer-implemented method for securely entering user data into a form. The method includes a computer associating a marker with a sensitive data field in a form. The method also includes the computer receiving user confirmation of a marker—sensitive data field association. The method further includes the computer analyzing a user document to identify user data corresponding to the sensitive data field. Moreover, the method includes the computer receiving user confirmation of a user data—marker. In addition, the method includes the computer entering the user data in the sensitive data field in the form after receiving user confirmation of the marker—sensitive data field association and the user data—marker. The marker is configured to refer to the sensitive data field without revealing additional information regarding the sensitive data field.
Still another embodiment is directed to a computer-implemented method for securely receiving user data. The method includes a computer analyzing a previously completed form to identify sensitive user data. The method also includes the computer associating a marker with the identified sensitive user data, wherein the marker is configured to refer to the sensitive user data without revealing additional information regarding the sensitive data category. The method further includes the computer using the marker to facilitate secure entry of user data. The computer using the marker to facilitate secure entry of user data may also include the computer displaying the marker visually linked to the identified sensitive user data, the computer requesting user identification of sensitive user data, and the computer receiving user identification of sensitive user data.
In a single or multiple embodiments, the method may also include the computer identifying the sensitive data field in the form. The method may also include the computer associating the marker with the sensitive data field without user intervention to generate a marker—sensitive data field association. Alternatively, the method may also include the computer receiving user confirmation of the marker—sensitive data field association. The method may also include the computer receiving input identifying the sensitive data category before associating the marker therewith.
In a single or multiple embodiments, the method may include the computer analyzing the form to identify the sensitive data field therein. Further, the method may include the computer associating all sensitive data fields in a form with respective markers, where each marker is configured to refer to a respective sensitive data field without revealing additional information regarding the respective sensitive data field.
In a single or multiple embodiments, the method may also include the computer displaying a user interface configured to receive user confirmation of the marker—sensitive data field association. The method may also include the computer displaying a user interface configured to receive user confirmation of the user data—marker. The method may also include the computer displaying a user interface configured to receive the user data. The various user interfaces may include a graphical user interface and/or an audio user interface. The various user interfaces may also include a speech recognition interface and/or a gesture recognition interface.
Further embodiments are directed to articles of manufacture or computer program products comprising a non-transitory computer readable storage medium embodying one or more instructions executable by a computer to perform a process for securely receiving user data. One process includes a computer associating a marker with a sensitive data field in a form, the computer using the marker to facilitate secure entry of user data corresponding to the sensitive data field, and the computer entering the user data in the sensitive data field in the form, where the marker is configured to refer to the sensitive data field without revealing additional information regarding the sensitive data field.
Another process includes a computer associating a marker with a sensitive data category, and the computer using the marker to facilitate secure entry of user data corresponding to the sensitive data category, where the marker is configured to refer to the sensitive data category without revealing additional information regarding the sensitive data category.
Still another process is a process for securely entering user data into a form, and includes a computer associating a marker with a sensitive data field in a form, the computer receiving user confirmation of a marker—sensitive data field association, the computer analyzing a user document to identify user data corresponding to the sensitive data field, the computer receiving user confirmation of a user data—marker, and the computer entering the user data in the sensitive data field in the form after receiving user confirmation of the marker—sensitive data field association and the user data—marker, where the marker is configured to refer to the sensitive data field without revealing additional information regarding the sensitive data field.
The foregoing and other aspects of embodiments are described in further detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which the same elements in different figures are referred to by common reference numerals, wherein:
In order to better appreciate how to obtain the above-recited and other advantages and objects of various embodiments, a more detailed description of embodiments is provided with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be noted that the drawings are not drawn to scale and that elements of similar structures or functions are represented by like reference numerals throughout. It will be understood that these drawings depict only certain illustrated embodiments and are not therefore to be considered limiting of scope of embodiments.
Embodiments are directed to populating an electronic document with data by use of a marker or reference associated with the data such that the data can be communicated more securely. For example, rather than a system asking a user “What is your Social Security number” during preparation of an electronic tax return with a tax return preparation program such as TURBOTAX tax return preparation program, the system 100 can receive a document or form, such as an electronic copy or version of a tax document, determine fields of the form, e.g., by use of optical character recognition, and identify or select fields that involve pre-determined types of data such as pre-determined types or categories of sensitive user data. The system associates a marker, reference or placeholder with the identified or selected fields so that when referring to a type or category of sensitive information (such as Social Security number), the system can instead refer to an assigned marker “Alpha.” This allows the system to refer to sensitive data fields by referring to the markers while requesting user data entry, without revealing additional information regarding the sensitive data that is requested. Thus, for example, instead of asking the user “What is your Social Security number,” the system 100 can ask the user “What is the value of Alpha?” to provide increased security and reduce or prevent malicious user data capture, thus providing a substantial improvement to existing data entry systems and processes.
Embodiments are particularly useful for entry of sensitive data. As used in this application, “sensitive data” includes, but is not limited to, information, the uncontrolled dissemination whereof would lead to negative consequences for the owner of the information. Such data includes identifying information (e.g., Social Security number) and financial information (e.g., total wages). Uncontrolled dissemination of such sensitive data can lead to identity theft.
As used in this application, “computer” includes, but is not limited to, a computer (laptop or desktop) and a computer or computing device of a mobile communication device, smartphone and tablet computing device such as an iPad®.
Referring to
The secure data entry system 100 can be integrated into a tax preparation system, such as TURBOTAX® or a financial management system, such as QUICKBOOKS® financial management system, or hosts thereof. TURBOTAX® and QUICKBOOKS® are available from Intuit Inc., Mountain View, Calif. TURBOTAX® and QUICKBOOKS® are registered trademarks of Intuit Inc. Alternatively, the secure data entry system 100 may be a separate program connected to a tax preparation system or a financial management system via a network.
In the embodiment depicted in
The form analysis module 102 is configured to analyze forms presented to the system 100 to extract information on those forms. The form analysis module 102 may include optical character recognition (“OCR”) functions. The marker association module 104 is configured to generate markers/placeholders and to associate the markers/placeholders with fields on the forms. The user interface 106 is configured to enable entry of user information and to display marker—field associations.
While the exemplary system 100 depicted in
Computer-implemented method embodiments or certain steps thereof, some of which may be loaded on certain system components, computers or servers, and others of which may be loaded and executed on other system components, computers or servers, may also be embodied in, or readable from, a non-transitory, tangible medium or computer-readable medium or carrier, e.g., one or more of the fixed and/or removable data storage data devices and/or data communications devices connected to a computer. Carriers may be, for example, magnetic storage medium, optical storage medium and magneto-optical storage medium. Examples of carriers include, but are not limited to, a floppy diskette, a memory stick or a flash drive, CD-R, CD-RW, CD-ROM, DVD-R, DVD-RW, or other carrier now known or later developed capable of storing data. The processor 220 performs steps or executes program instructions 212 within memory 210 and/or embodied on the carrier to implement method embodiments.
Having described various aspects of embodiments of the secure data entry system 100, computer-implemented methods for securely receiving sensitive user data using the systems 100 will now be described.
The user data entry systems 100 described herein facilitate secure user entry of sensitive data and secure reception of sensitive user data by a computer. In one embodiment of a method 700 for secure reception of sensitive user data by a computer depicted in
At step 706, the system 100 then associates a marker/placeholder 318a, 318b, 318c (e.g., “Alpha” 318a) with a sensitive data field (e.g., Social Security number 312), as shown in
This substitution of a marker 318a for a sensitive data field 312 is compatible with many different types of user interfaces. For instance, a graphical user interface may display the question “What is the value of Alpha?” On the other hand, an audio user interface may generate speech to audibly ask the question “What is the value of Alpha?” In response to either of these questions, the user may transmit the value of Alpha 318a (i.e., Social Security number 312) to the computer using various input devices, including a keyboard, touchpad, speech recognition, and gesture recognition (i.e., head movement, hand movement or eye movement via Google Glass®). While graphical user interfaces are susceptible to malicious capture of sensitive user data by visual spying, audio user interfaces are even more susceptible to eavesdropping. Similarly, speech recognition input devices are also susceptible to eavesdropping. The disclosed systems and methods address this malicious capture problem by using markers 318a, 318b, 318c to mask the identity of requested data.
In some embodiments, the system 100 automatically associates markers 318a, 318b, 318c with each sensitive data field 312, 314, 316. After all of the sensitive data fields 312, 314, 316 have been associated with their respective markers 318a, 318b, 318c, the system 100 can confirm the marker 318a, 318b, 318c—sensitive data field 312, 314, 316 associations with the user. For instance, the system 100 may display the form 310 with markers 318a, 318b, 318c visually linked to respective sensitive data fields 312, 314, 316, as shown in
The system 100 offers the user the option of identifying additional sensitive data fields for association with markers. After the user has identified an additional sensitive data field, the system 100 automatically associates a marker with the additional sensitive data field. In other embodiments, instead of automatically associating markers with sensitive data fields, the system 100 asks the user to identify sensitive data fields for association with markers. Various user interfaces can be used to facilitate user identification of sensitive data fields. For instance, the system 100 may analyze a form 310 and identify all fields in that form with numbers. The form 310 may then be displayed on the graphical user interface with field numbers visually linked thereto. The user can then identify a sensitive data field by saying, “Associate field ‘1’ with marker ‘Alpha.’” Alternatively, the user can read the form 310 and identify sensitive data field by saying, “Associate Social Security number with marker ‘Alpha.’” The system 100 will then attempt to identify the Social Security number field and associate it with the marker “Alpha.” The system 100 can confirm each such association as described above.
In other embodiments, the system 100 can ask the user to “Please identify field 1.” In still other embodiments, the system 100 can ask the user to “Please identify Social Security number.” In response to either of these system requests, the user can reply “Alpha.”
In another embodiment of a method 800 for secure reception of sensitive user data by a computer depicted in
At step 806, the system 100 receives a user document 450 containing user data 452 corresponding to the sensitive data field 412 (e.g., ordinary dividends). For example, the user document 450 may be a Form 1099, as shown in
At step 810, the system 100 then associates the marker 418 corresponding to the sensitive data field 412 with the sensitive user data 452, as shown in
In yet another embodiment of a method 900 for secure reception of sensitive user data by a computer depicted in
Either directly after communicating the association to the user, or after communicating a plurality of marker 318—sensitive data category 312 associations to the user, the system 100 uses the marker(s) 318 to facilitate user to entry of sensitive data while minimizing the opportunity for malicious capture of the sensitive data, at step 906. For instance, a graphical user interfaces may display the question “What is the value of Alpha?” Alternatively, an audio user interface may generate speech to ask the question “What is the value of Alpha?” In response to either of these prompts, the user may more securely transmit the value of Alpha 318 (i.e., Social Security number) to the computer using various input devices, including a keyboard, touchpad, speech recognition, and gesture recognition (i.e., via Google Glass®), as described above.
For categories that have not been identified as “sensitive,” the system 100 will request user input using the category names. However, the user can override the system 100 and request that a certain data category be identified as “sensitive.” For instance, the 100 system may ask the user to “Please provide your telephone number.” If the user considers his telephone number to be sensitive data, the user can respond to that request by stating, “Please categorize telephone number as sensitive data.” The system 100 will then associate the user's telephone number with a marker 18 and proceed as described above.
The previously completed form 1100 may be in electronic form, such as a PDF, or a hard copy form. If the previously completed form 1100 is provided in hard copy, the system 100 converts the completed form 1100 into electronic data by scanning and optical character recognition (“OCR”). At step 1004, the system 100 analyzes the completed form 1100 to identify the sensitive user data 1112, 1114 (e.g., Social Security number and spouse's Social Security number), as shown in
At step 1006, the system 100 associates marker/placeholders 1118 (e.g., “Alpha” 1118A and “Beta” 1118B) with each identified sensitive user data (e.g., Social Security number 1112 and spouse's Social Security number 1114), as shown in
At step 1010, the system 100 requests user identification of sensitive user data using the markers 1118A, 1118B associated with the sensitive user data 1112, 1114. For instance, the system 100 may simultaneously display, on a second screen or on a portion of the screen displaying the markers 1118A, 1118B and sensitive user data 1112, 1114, the question depicted in
After the system 100 has received user identification of sensitive user data, the system 100 can enters the sensitive user data 1112, 1114 into a form or system requiring such information at step 1014.
While the markers 318, 418, 518 in the embodiments described above are Greek letters, markers can be any identifiers such as text, colors, and glyphs. Further, the markers can be assigned in random order and can be of different types. After a marker 318, 418, 518—sensitive data field association has been made (and optionally confirmed) the marker 318, 418, 518 will be used in all displays and/or speech to facilitate securely receiving sensitive user data. While specific phrases have been provided as examples for user interfaces, the system can be configured to recognize a variety of phrases having the same meanings.
Although particular embodiments have been shown and described, it should be understood that the above discussion is not intended to limit the scope of these embodiments. While embodiments and variations of the many aspects of the invention have been disclosed and described herein, such disclosure is provided for purposes of explanation and illustration only. Thus, various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the claims.
While multiple embodiments and variations of aspects of the invention have been disclosed herein, such disclosure is provided for purposes of illustration only. Where methods and steps described above indicate certain events occurring in certain order, those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of this disclosure would recognize that the ordering of certain steps may be modified and that such modifications are in accordance with the variations of the invention. Additionally, certain of the steps may be performed concurrently in a parallel process as well as performed sequentially. Thus, the methods shown in various flow diagrams are not intended to be limited to a particular sequential order, particularly in instances in which certain steps may or may not be performed. Accordingly, embodiments are intended to exemplify alternatives, modifications, and equivalents that may fall within the scope of the claims.
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LastPass Manual Mar. 13, 2013. |