Google patents on-device AI to scrub personal data from images before upload
Google describes a method where a phone or computer uses local AI models to remove personal details from images and text before sending them to a server. The system creates an anonymized version of the data on the device itself and checks it for any remaining private information before allowing it to leave the device.
In the filing’s own words
Implementations relate to depersonalizing and/or anonymizing generative model inputs and/or outputs to remove sensitive and/or private information, such as PII (personally identifiable information). In various implementations, a generative model input prompt may be retrieved from local memory of the edge computing device and further processed using one or more generative models to generate generative model output. The generative model input prompt may be submitted to an edge-based anonymization process including assembling, as an anonymization prompt and processing the anonymization prompt using one or more on-device generative models of the edge computing device to generate an anonymized version of the portion of the generative model input prompt that is stripped of PII. The anonymized version may further be inspected of any remaining PII and the fully anonymized version may be surfaced without concern of leaking PII.
What exactly they claim (claim 1)
1. A method implemented using one or more processors of an edge computing device, the method comprising: retrieving, from local memory of the edge computing device, a generative model input prompt that was processed using one or more generative models to generate generative model output; submitting the generative model input prompt to an edge-based anonymization process that includes: assembling, as an anonymization prompt, at least a portion of the generative model input prompt, wherein the portion comprises one or more images; processing the anonymization prompt using one or more on-device generative models of the edge computing device to generate an anonymized version of the portion of the generative model input prompt that is stripped of at least some personally identifiable information (PII), wherein at least one of the one or more on-device generative models comprises a vision language model (VLM) or an image generation model; inspecting the anonymized version for any remaining PII; and in response to a determination, based on the inspecting, that the anonymized version is free of any remaining PII, uploading the anonymized version from the edge computing device to a remote server.
Facts
- Company
- Google (GOOGLE LLC)
- Official title
- Data depersonalization using on-device generative models
- Patent number
- US12762276B2
- Application number
- 18926061
- Filed
- Oct 24, 2024
- Granted
- Oct 13, 2026
- Inventors
- 2
- Claims
- 17
Classified under
G06F 21/6245 Physics & computingMore from Google in Security & privacy
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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.