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GoogleGranted patentSecurity & privacyInterest 6/10

Google patents method to scramble personal data tables for privacy

This patent describes a way to protect sensitive information in databases by creating a scrambled version of the data. It rearranges rows and columns so that personal details are no longer linked to specific identifiers, while still allowing authorized users to access the original data.

Why it mattersIt offers a technical approach to preventing data breaches by ensuring that even if a database is accessed, the personal information remains disconnected from the people it belongs to.

In the filing’s own words

A method includes identifying, by a processing device, a data structure including cells to store data, wherein the cells are arranged within rows and columns of the initial data structure. A scrambled data structure is created in which at least a subset of cells of the initial data structure is rearranged such that each cell of the rearranged subset of cells is located in at least one of a different row or a different column of the initial data structure. Responsive to receiving a user request to access the data of the initial data structure, the processing device determines whether to provide the user with access to the initial data structure or the scrambled data structure.

What exactly they claim (claim 1)

1. A method comprising: identifying an initial data structure storing data comprising a plurality of personal data records each associated with a corresponding unique personal identifier of a plurality of personal identifiers, wherein the initial data structure comprises a plurality of cells arranged within a plurality of rows and a plurality of columns of the initial data structure; creating a scrambled data structure in which each of the plurality of personal data records is disassociated from the corresponding unique personal identifier by rearranging each personal data record to a different row than a row containing the corresponding unique personal identifier in the initial data structure, and wherein the rearranging further comprises rearranging at least a subset of cells of the plurality of cells of the initial data structure such that each cell of the at least a subset of cells is located in a different column of the plurality of columns of the initial data structure; and responsive to receiving a user request of a user to access the data of the initial data structure, determining, based on a user privilege level of the user, whether to provide the user with access to the initial data structure or the scrambled data structure, wherein a different user privilege level is required to provide the user with access to the initial data structure than to provide the user with access to the scrambled data structure.

Facts

Company
Google (Google LLC)
Official title
Systems and methods for scrambling cells of a data structure
Patent number
US12743538B2
Application number
18496471
Filed
Oct 27, 2023
Granted
Sep 22, 2026
Inventors
6
Claims
17

Classified under

G06F 21/6227 Physics & computingG06F 21/45 Physics & computingG06F 2221/2113 Physics & computing
Read the full filing (official PDF) ↗ Open in the Patent Tracker

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Summaries are simplified from the filing’s own abstract and first claim. A patent filing is not a product announcement.
Patent data and drawings: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Nebula is not affiliated with or endorsed by the USPTO.