U.S. patent application number 17/226326 was filed with the patent office on 2021-07-22 for point of scan/copy redaction.
This patent application is currently assigned to TeraDact Acquisition, LLC. The applicant listed for this patent is TeraDact Acquisition, LLC. Invention is credited to Christopher K. SCHRICHTE.
Application Number | 20210224748 17/226326 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 1000005507247 |
Filed Date | 2021-07-22 |
United States Patent
Application |
20210224748 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
SCHRICHTE; Christopher K. |
July 22, 2021 |
Point of Scan/Copy Redaction
Abstract
A method including scanning a document by a scanner to form a
scanned document; determining a form of the document; and redacting
a cell of the scanned document based upon the determined form of
the document to thereby form a scanned redacted document.
Inventors: |
SCHRICHTE; Christopher K.;
(Missoula, MT) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
TeraDact Acquisition, LLC |
Missoula |
MT |
US |
|
|
Assignee: |
TeraDact Acquisition, LLC
|
Family ID: |
1000005507247 |
Appl. No.: |
17/226326 |
Filed: |
April 9, 2021 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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12454561 |
May 18, 2009 |
10977614 |
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17226326 |
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61127869 |
May 16, 2008 |
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61127868 |
May 16, 2008 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06Q 10/10 20130101 |
International
Class: |
G06Q 10/10 20060101
G06Q010/10 |
Claims
1-20. (canceled)
21. A method comprising: scanning a document to form a new
electronic scanned document; determining a form of the document
which has been scanned, where the form is determined based, at
least partially, upon the scanning of the document; and based upon
an initial opening event of the new electronic scanned document
transitioning from a non-opened state to an open state, redacting a
portion of the new electronic scanned document at a time in which
the initial opening event occurs to form a redacted document, where
the redacting is based, at least partially, upon the determined
form of the document.
22. A method as in claim 21 further comprising printing a copy of
the redacted document with the portion redacted on the copy.
23. A method as in claim 21 wherein the redacted document comprises
an electronic file.
24. A method as in claim 21 further comprising electronically
storing the redacted document in a memory.
25. A method as in claim 24 further comprising electronically
storing the scanned document in a memory.
26. A method as in claim 21 further comprising electronically
storing the scanned document in a memory.
27. A method at in claim 21 further comprising: creating web
automated collection parameters and prioritization parameters;
collecting data from information locations; assembling collected
data as results with prioritization; and making prioritized results
available via fee for service online access as assembled virtual
portal access on a server.
28. A method as in claim 27 wherein the collecting of data from
information locations comprises redacting information from the
scanned document.
29. A method as in claim 21 where the initial opening event
comprises an instruction to open the at least one new electronic
scanned document.
30. A method comprising: receiving an instruction to open an
electronic non-redacted scanned version of a document with a
computer; and at an occurrence of an opening event of when the
electronic non-redacted scanned version of the document is at a
time of transition from a non-opened state to an open state,
automatically redacting a portion of the electronic non-redacted
scanned version of the document, based at least partially upon the
occurrence of the opening event, to automatically create a redacted
version of the document.
31. A method as in claim 30 wherein redacting the portion of the
electronic non-redacted scanned version of the document occurs in a
visual editor software program on a client computer.
32. A method as in claim 30 wherein the electronic non-redacted
scanned version of the document is obtained by a client computer
from a server through a virtual redaction portal.
33. A method as in claim 30 further comprising printing a copy of
the electronic non-redacted scanned version of the document with
the portion redacted on the copy.
34. A method as in claim 30 further comprising: scanning a document
to form the electronic non-redacted scanned version of the
document; and determining a form of the document based at least
partially upon the scanning; wherein the redacting of the portion
of the electronic non-redacted scanned version of the document is
based, at least partially, upon the determined form of the
document.
35. A method as in claim 30 further comprising electronically
storing the electronic non-redacted scanned version of the document
in a memory, and storing the redacted version of the document in
the memory after the occurrence of the opening event.
36. A method as in claim 30 further comprising electronically
storing the electronic non-redacted scanned version of the document
in a memory at about a same time as the redacted version of the
document is stored in the memory.
37. A method comprising: storing information obtained from a first
scanned document in a memory; creating a first redacted portion for
at least one of the information obtained from the first scanned
document, and storing the first redacted portion in the memory;
receiving a request from a user for desired information, where the
desired information comprises at least some of the information from
the first scanned document, where the desired information is less
than all of the information of the first scanned document; and
transmitting a portion of the desired information with the first
redacted portion to the user, where the redacted portion replaces
at least one portion of the desired information, and where the
transmitted information excludes at least some information of the
first scanned document not identified as the desired
information.
38. The method of claim 37 further comprising: storing information
obtained from a second scanned document in the memory; creating a
second redacted portion for at least one of the information
obtained from the second scanned document, and storing the second
redacted portion in the memory, where the first redacted portion is
the same as the second redacted portion; and assembling the desired
information from the first scanned document with at least some of
the information from the second scanned document, and with the same
redacted portion into an assembled document, where the transmitting
comprises transmitting the assembled document to the user.
Description
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation of copending U.S.
application Ser. No. 12/454,561 filed May 18, 2009, U.S. Pat. No.
10,977,614, which claims priority under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) on U.S.
provisional patent application No. 61/127,869 filed May 16, 2008
and U.S. provisional patent application No. 61/127,868 filed May
16, 2008 which are hereby incorporated by reference in their
entireties.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Field of the Invention
[0002] The invention relates to a system, method and computer
program product for creating redacted documents and, more
particularly, to an automated redaction system, method and computer
program product. The invention also relates to collecting and
disseminating information and, more particularly, to information
assembled from over the Internet.
Brief Description of Prior Developments
[0003] U.S. Pat. No. 6,889,205, which is hereby incorporated by
reference in its entirety, discloses a system and method for
preparing a redacted statement, message or file from an electronic
statement, message or file and sending it to a party. U.S. Patent
Publication Nos. 2002/0158864, 2004/0075692, and 2005/0027495,
which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties,
describe automatic creation of graphical representations, and
intelligent agents for integrating information access over extended
networks.
[0004] Businesses as well as Federal, State and Local government
agencies must share information. Examples include case files,
arrest reports, subpoenaed documents (e.g., Freedom of Information
Act--FOIA, Law Enforcement Information Sharing Program--LEISP,
etc.) Redacting classified, confidential or secret information from
documents can be labor intensive. No effective means of automating
the process of removing sensitive information from documents
exists. There is a need for a system and method for automatically
removing sensitive information from documents; especially a system
which can work with different document types.
[0005] Information, which is used for marketing products and
services, is sometimes gathered from sources on the Internet.
Marketing, advertising and sales companies and departments use this
information to prepare various reports. However, gathering of this
type of product/service information is very time consuming and
individualized. There are "data mining" programs which are overly
broad in gathering data. There is a need for a more focused, and
less labor intensive system and method for gathering
product/service/issue related information from sources via the
Internet.
SUMMARY
[0006] The following summary is merely intended to be exemplary.
The summary is not intended to limit the scope of the claimed
invention.
[0007] In accordance with one aspect of the invention, a method is
provided including scanning a document by a scanner to form a
scanned document; determining a form of the document; and redacting
a cell of the scanned document based upon the determined form of
the document to thereby form a scanned redacted document.
[0008] In accordance with another aspect of the invention, a method
comprising opening an electronic scanned version of a document by a
computer; and when the electronic scanned version of the document
is opened, automatically redacting a cell of the opened electronic
scanned version of the document.
[0009] In accordance with another aspect of the invention, a method
is provided comprising creating web automated collection parameters
and prioritization parameters; collecting data from information
locations; assembling collected data as results with
prioritization; and making prioritized results available via fee
for service online access as assembled virtual portal access on a
server.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0010] The foregoing aspects and other features of the invention
are explained in the following description, taken in connection
with the accompanying drawings, wherein:
[0011] FIG. 1 is a block diagram depicting a redaction system
configured to operate in accordance with one example of the
invention;
[0012] FIG. 2 depicts a document to be redacted by a system
operating in accordance with one example of the invention;
[0013] FIG. 3 depicts the document of FIG. 2 in a redacted form
generated by a system operating in accordance with one example of
the invention;
[0014] FIG. 4 is a block diagram depicting components of the
redaction system comprising an example embodiment of the invention
depicted in FIG. 1;
[0015] FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating steps of one embodiment
of the invention;
[0016] FIG. 6 is a flow chart illustrating steps of one embodiment
of the invention;
[0017] FIG. 7 is a diagram illustration connection of various
devices;
[0018] FIG. 7A is a flow chart of some steps of one example of the
invention;
[0019] FIG. 7B is a flow chart of some steps of one example of the
invention;
[0020] FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating some components in one
example of a virtual portal;
[0021] FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating some components of a
service provider server(s) in one example of the invention;
[0022] FIG. 10 is a flow chart of steps used in one example
embodiment of the invention; and
[0023] FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating components of one example
embodiment of the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS
[0024] System and methods for redacting documents are described in
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/544,685 filed Oct. 6, 2006
(U.S. Publication No. 2007/0094594 A1) which claims priority on
U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/724,986 filed Oct. 6,
2005 which are hereby incorporated by reference in their
entireties.
[0025] Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown a block diagram of a
redaction system 10 incorporating features of the invention.
Although the invention will be described with reference to the
example embodiments shown in the drawings, it should be understood
that the invention can be embodied in many alternate
embodiments.
[0026] The redaction system 10 is adapted to process a document 12
to create a modified document 14 with one or more redactions. The
document 12 is a physical document, such as a paper form. The
modified document 14 is a copy of the document 12, but with one or
more portions (such as cells of a form) redacted. The modified
document 14 could be a physical paper document or in an electronic
form, such as a PDF for example. An example is shown with reference
to FIGS. 2 and 3. FIG. 2 shows a portion of an arrest report 16.
The arrest report 16 comprises cells 18-29. The cells of a document
could be pre-established with borders such as is shown in FIG. 2,
or could be established with the software of the invention. As seen
with reference to FIG. 3, one or more of the cells or information
in the cells can be redacted in a computer generated modified
document 14 of the arrest report 16.
[0027] Referring also to FIG. 4, the redaction system 10 can
comprise a redaction engine 30, a memory 31 having a rule set 32,
an optical scanner 34, a printer 36 and a data output 38. The
system 10 is preferably a multifunction document machine capable of
printing, copying, scanning and faxing. As is know in the art, a
multifunction document machine has an internal hard drive 40 and a
controller 42, such as a microprocessor, similar to a computer.
Features of the invention can be stored as software or a computer
program on the multifunction machine. However, features of the
invention could be used in a single function machine, such as a
digital copier or digital scanner. Features of the invention could
also be in a computer or server connected to a digital copier or
digital scanner. In a preferred embodiment, the controller 42 is
part of the redaction engine.
[0028] The redaction engine 30 is adapted to take a scanned version
of the document 12, and remove or redact information in the
document using rules accessed from the rule set 32 to produce the
modified document 14. The rule set 32 comprises a set of rules
and/or process models to be applied by the redaction engine 30. In
this example embodiment the invention is particularly configured to
work with pre-existing physical documents which are in a
standardized specific "form" layout. For example, the arrest report
form shown in FIG. 2 has specific predefined size and location
parameters for each of the cells 18-29. These size and location
parameters do not change. The invention uses these fixed cell size
and location parameters to assist in redaction.
[0029] Referring also to FIG. 5, one example of creation of a rules
set 32 includes identification of a form as indicated by block 44.
Most forms have a form identifier which can be used for this
purpose. For example, form "DD-1351" is a U.S. government travel
voucher form. The size and location of each pertinent cell (which
might be subsequently desired to be redacted) in the form is
identified as indicated by block 46. The identified size and
location of the cells to be redacted can be stored in the memory 31
as part of the rules set 32 with the document form identification
as indicated by block 48. Different forms will obviously have
different pertinent cells or pertinent cell sizes and locations.
For example, if the document 12 is a form "A" document it might
have only one cell which needs to be redacted if the document 12 is
scanned or copied. However, if the document 12 is a form "B"
document it might have two cells which need to be redacted if the
document 12 is scanned or copied. The process noted with regard to
FIG. 5 can be repeated for each form. The stored information of the
rules set can be stored in the memory 31 as a look-up table for
example.
[0030] When a user desires to copy or scan the original document
12, the user uses the optical scanner 34 to first scan or read the
document. In order for the redaction system to operate properly,
the document scanned by the user is preferably referenced to one of
the stored rules in the rule set 32. The invention uses the stored
information link (such as a lookup table for example) between the
form identification (44) and the pertinent cell identification (46)
to automatically determine which cell(s) of the document 12 should
be redacted in the subsequently produced redacted document 14.
[0031] Referring also to FIG. 6, as indicated by block 50, the form
of the document being scanned by the optical scanner 34 is
identified. For example, the document being scanned could be
identified as a "DD-1351" form. Input of the "form" identification
of the document 12 into the redaction system 10 can be manual by a
user or automatic. For example, for manual identification of which
form the document 12 corresponds to, the user of the machine can
input a document form number of the document being read by the
scanner 34 into a user input panel of the machine. For automatic
document identification, the machine could use OCR (optical
character recognition) or identification of a watermark or other
indication on the document 12 being read by the scanner 34 to
automatically identify the "form" which the document corresponds
to.
[0032] With the document 12 having been read or scanned by the
scanner 34, and the redaction system now knowing the identified 50
the "form" of the scanned document 12, the redaction system can
then create the redacted document 14 with the predetermined
pertinent cells redacted. As indicated by block 52, the redaction
engine uses the rule set to identify which cells of the scanned
document 12 should be redacted; based upon the "form" identity of
the document 12. The redaction engine then redacts the information
in the identified cells as indicated by block 54 and a redacted
document 14 is then formed as indicated by block 56. The creation
56 of the redacted document 14 can comprise printing the redacted
document by the printer section 36 of the machine as a redacted
copy of the document 12 and/or creating an electronic redacted copy
of the document 12; both having the pertinent cells redacted.
[0033] For example, U.S. government travel vouchers are a form
DD-1351. The form includes cells for a person to sign the voucher
and a cell having the government employee's social security number.
With use of the invention, if the travel voucher is copied or
scanned, the signature cell and the social security number cell can
be redacted at the time of copying or scanning. Thus, there is less
risk that the copy (physical or electronic) will be released still
having the employee's signature or social security number on it. As
another example, medical forms have private information cells which
can be automatically redacted at the point of creation of a copy
(physical or electronic) of the original physical document. Thus,
in one type of automatic redaction, a person's name and address
could be redacted. In another type of redaction for the same form,
a person's social security number could merely be redacted. The
system, by using more than one rule set, could create more than one
redacted document at the same time (electronic document and/or
non-electronic document); each redacted document having at least
one different cell redacted or not redacted. This can help an
organization comply with HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and
Accountability Act) regulations and other privacy act
requirements.
[0034] One of the features of the invention is the ability to
create redacted copies of documents at the point in time of
creation of the copy. When the copy is an electronic copy, this
allows the redacted copy to be easily "pushed" into a document
management system. For example, in a doctor's office, after a
document is created based upon a form, it can be scanned into a
document management system in the doctor's office as a redacted
document. If desired, a non-redacted copy of the document could
also be stored in a secured location in the document management
system which would only be accessible when certain additional
security checks are made. Thus, by scanning the document 12 once,
both a redacted document copy and a non-redacted document copy
could be formed and stored in separate electronic locations.
[0035] Referring also to FIG. 7, a diagram illustrating some of the
features of the invention is shown regarding registration and usage
of one possible commercial redaction system which forms a virtual
redaction portal (VRP). A client 60 can connect via encryption
software, such as PKI or PGP keys as indicated by 62, but would be
otherwise blocked as indicated by 64. As indicated by 66, real time
communications can be provided via a proxy 68 which can be
connected to an E-commerce provider 70, such as PAYPAL.TM. for
example.
[0036] The client 60 can register with the service provider, and
can pay an initial fee. After registration, the client 60 can
download a visual editor software program or plug-in, such as
TERADACTOR VISUAL EDITOR.TM. (TVE) for example. As another example,
the plug-in could be a word processing tool which is used on-demand
via a session. The visual editor software program can stay
resident, but inoperable, on the client computer until a work
session is activated. This software can connect via the web 72 to
one or more applications 74 of the VRP which are connected to a
database 76 having redacted documents.
[0037] A client work session can initially start with the client
connecting and authenticating to the VRP. The client can submit one
or more documents from the computer to the VRP for redaction
services by the VRP. The client can enter redaction requirements
via a rule set graphical user interface (GUI) for example. The
redaction request can be processed by the VRP and results returned
for the client review and retrieval.
[0038] In an alternate scenario, the client can request that a copy
of the document be maintained in a document store 76 or available
via connection to a government agency 78 for example. Redactions
can be performed based upon one or more prior defined rule set. The
document can then be processed and delivered for review and
retrieval.
[0039] In an alternate scenario, a commercial business 80 or
government agency 78 can submit documents for redaction via paper
or electronic media. The rules sets can be developed based upon
client requirements. Redactions can be processed and then reviewed
at the VRP. Samples or the entire output can be made available to
the client for review and approval. The redacted documents can be
delivered and originals might be destroyed.
[0040] As seen with FIG. 7A, an example method of the invention can
comprise scanning a document as indicated by block 82, and doing an
automatic redaction as indicated by block 83. After scanning, an
un-redacted version can be stored as indicated by block 84. The
redaction step 83 can comprise automatic form recognition 85 and/or
manual redaction instructions 86. The resultant redacted version of
the document can be stored 87 and/or printed 88.
[0041] Referring also to FIG. 7B, an example method of the
invention can comprise scanning a document as indicated by block
82, storing an un-redacted version of the document without any
redaction instruction information as indicated by block 90 and/or
storing an un-redacted version of the document as a file with
redaction instruction information as indicated by block 91. The
redaction instruction information could be a software tag for
example, or the file could be stored as a specific form of file
which could only be opened with specific software. As an analogy, a
PDF must be opened with PDF software or a PDF plug-in. When there
is an instruction to open the file as indicated by block 92, as
indicated by block 93 the redaction instruction information can be
read, redaction can be automatically applied to the stored
un-redacted version of the document, and a resultant redacted
version of the document will open. This method is well suited to
the system shown in FIG. 7.
[0042] Business Intelligence Portal
[0043] Referring to FIG. 8, there is shown a diagram of a system
110 incorporating features of the invention. The system 110 is
adapted to provide an assembled information virtual portal between
an end user computer 112 and information locations 114. The end
user computer 112 could be at a marketing department of a company
for example. The information locations 114 can include web
locations such as Blog sites, news sites, competitor web sites,
consumer information or advocacy web sites, social network web
sites, or specialty web portals for example. The locations 114 are
accessible via the Internet 116 or other suitable data
connection.
[0044] The assembled information virtual portal comprises a service
provider 118. Referring also to FIG. 9, the service provider
comprises one or more computer servers 120. The server 20 includes
a controller 122, an input/output section 124 and a billing section
126. The input/output section 124 connects the server 120 to the
Internet 116 and to a connection 128 (see FIG. 8) to the end user
computer 112. The connection 128 could be the Internet or any other
suitable data connection link(s). The controller 122 includes a
search engine section 130, a memory section 132 and an access
control section 134. It should be noted that portions of these
sections could be common to one another and are not necessarily
totally separate.
[0045] The service provided by the service provider 118 is
preferably a fee for service type of service. The end user will pay
the service provider 118 for the virtual portal and other services
which the service provider 118 will make available to the end user
computer 112 via the link 128. Access control 134 can limit access
to the viewable/downloadable results based upon data from the
billing section 126. One of the services provided by the service
provider is the searching of the information locations 114 for
targeted type of data, assembly of that data in a prioritized or
organized fashion, and making the data available to the end user's
computer 112 as a virtual portal to the information locations 114;
the virtual portal providing access to screened and prioritized
data on the information locations 114.
[0046] Initially, the end user will identify, to the service
provider, the type of information it is looking for. For example,
if the end user is a company which sells widgets, the end user
might ask for all information which the service provider can find
relating to widgets. As another example, if the end user is a
company which sells a specific model "A" car, the end user might
ask for all information which the service provider can find
relating to model "A" car, such as news reports, Blog entries,
competitor's comments, etc. Similarly, if a competitor sells the
model "A" car, the end user might ask for all information which the
service provider can find relating to the competitor's model "A"
car, such as news reports, Blog entries, complaints, pro/cons, etc.
As another example, if the end user is a consumer group relating to
adult medical home care, the end user might ask for all information
which the service provider can find relating to adult medical home
care costs.
[0047] Referring also to FIG. 10, once the service provider knows
what type of information the end user desires, the service provider
118 will create web automated collection parameters and
prioritization parameters as indicated by block 136. The collection
parameters will be specific to the type of information which the
end user desires; widgets, model "A" cars, etc. The service
provider will also identify specific information locations 114 for
these collection parameters to be used. Thus, the search can
exclude information locations not identified as desired information
locations. Alternatively, all information locations could be
included, but the identified targeted locations could be given a
higher prioritization in the results made available to the end
user.
[0048] Prioritization parameters can include, for example, targeted
information location(s) as noted above and identified
organizational parameters. The identified organizational parameters
can be used to organize the collected data into different
categories for viewing by the end user. The categories can include,
for example, competitors products roughly equivalent to the end
user's product, negative information or complaints regarding the
user's product, positive comments regarding the user's product,
negative information or complaints regarding a competitor's
product, positive comments regarding the competitor's product, etc.
For example, if a news article relating to the end user's product
contains the word "good", the article or a predetermined portion of
the article could be listed under positive comments. Likewise, if a
blog article relating to the end user's product contains the word
"bad" or "poor", the article or a predetermined portion of the
article could be listed under negative comments. An article or
portions of an article could be listed under multiple
categories.
[0049] The collection parameters and prioritization parameters are
then stored in the memory 132 and used by the search engine 130 to
accomplish searching. Searching could be preformed only once, but
in a preferred embodiment searching by the search engine 130 is
accomplished periodically, such as daily, weekly or even several
times each day. In a preferred embodiment, the less interval
between searches, the greater the fee charged to the end user. As
indicated by block 138, the information is collected by the search
and is stored at the service provider. This might include links to
the information locations where the data was obtained.
[0050] As indicated by block 140, the service provider is able to
assemble the collected data as results with the results being
prioritized and/or organized as specified by the prioritization
parameters. This is accomplished by the controller 122 for
subsequent viewing by the end user.
[0051] As indicated by block 142, the assembled prioritized results
are made available via a "fee for service" online access as an
assembled virtual portal access to the information in the
information locations 114. This can provide almost real time access
to information and data on the information locations 114 to the end
user computer 112 via one link to the service provider 118. The fee
charged to the end user by the service provider could be a flat
period fee, such as a monthly fee or annual fee for example, or a
per results viewing fee for example.
[0052] The targeted information location identifications could be
updated weekly for example. Thus, the search collection parameters
and prioritization parameters need not be static. Any suitable
presentation and analysis tools could be used to present the
information to the end user. There could be a highlighted index or
a relationship link analysis for the search and display of results.
The display of the information could be a spread sheet or pie
chart, for example. For example, positive comments about a product
could be charted relative to negative comments about the same
product, wherein the software of the search engine is adapted to
determine if there are positive and negative comments about a
product in an article or web page or blog.
[0053] Unlike data mining, the invention can prioritize collected
information and organize the collected information in any suitable
organization scheme rather than mere results of data mining. Thus,
a type of assembled and organized entity extraction from multiple
different locations can be provided, and this can be continuously
updated by repeating the same search (or a slightly updated search)
over and over again. Thus, intelligent information can be provided
to the end user which comprises informational intelligence from its
automated gathering and assembly into the results shown to the end
user. This provides a business intelligence portal, supplied by the
service provider to the end user, that has previously not been
available.
[0054] Referring also to FIG. 11, a diagram illustrating one type
of virtual intelligent information portal workflow is shown. A user
150 can register for a service provided by the service provider.
The user can provide information criteria and result requirements,
such as: [0055] A redacted document; [0056] An extracted
information file; [0057] Business intelligence, such as performance
metrics and/or competitor marketing analysis; and [0058] Business
analytics, such as linkage analysis and/or timeline analysis.
[0059] The results can then be passed back to the user. User
requested products can comprise any suitable type of data files
including a MS Word file or an MS Excel spread sheet for example.
The individual user 50 can have suitable desktop tools on his
computer, and the user could be a commercial business 152 or a
government agency 154.
[0060] Access to the service provider can be through a secure web
portal 156. The user can connect via encryption software, such as
PKI or PGP keys as indicated by 162, but would be otherwise blocked
as indicated by 158. As indicated by 166, real time communications
can be provided via a proxy 168 which can be connected to an
E-commerce provider 170, such as PAYPAL.TM. for example.
[0061] The user can connect via the Internet 172 to one or more
servers 174 of the service provider having applications and which
is connected to a database 176 having stored documents. The
application servers can also be connected to a streaming media
server(s) 178 and a content management server(s) 180. The
application servers 174 are connected to the Internet or the World
Wide Web 116 and information location by suitable software and can
use software such as WEBAUTOMATOR.TM., CELWARE.TM., and
TERADACTOR.TM. provided by CelCorp Inc. to extract and present the
desired information/data to the user. The software tool can use
redaction software to filter the collected information, as well as
business intelligence software and business analytics software.
This can provide a virtual intelligent information portal workflow
to the user by the service provider.
[0062] One aspect of the invention could comprise creating a file
based upon the assembled and organized results, and then redacting
portions to form a redacted document (electronic document or
non-electronic document). For example, if the file has areas cells
or areas A, B and C with different information, automatic redaction
rules might to applied based upon the service paid for by the
customer. For example, if the customer paid for a premium service,
all three cells or areas could be viewed. If the customer paid for
an intermediate service, only cells A and B could be viewed; area C
being redacted. If the customer paid for a low cost service, only
cell A could be viewed; areas B and C being redacted. Thus, only
one file needs to be created, but different redaction rules can be
applied. The customer, upon seeing that redacted areas exist (and
perhaps their size), might then agree to pay for the higher cost
service.
[0063] One aspect of the invention could comprise creating a file
based upon the assembled and organized results wherein the results
include redacted documents, wherein the redacted documents are
obtained by the service provider by one of the redaction processes
noted above. Thus, as part of the business intelligence portal, the
customer can have access to automatically redacted versions of
documents obtained or created by the service provider's interaction
with another agency, such as a government or government agency for
example.
[0064] It should be noted that a document need not be a paper-type
of scanned document for the invention to be used. The invention
could be used with a document which is initially created as an
electronic document. Thus, the process step 82 shown in FIGS. 7A
and 7B might be "creation of an electronic un-redacted form of a
document" rather than "scan". For example, a document might be
originally created on a person's computer wherein the document has
information (for example a home address or social security number)
which might be desired to be redacted in some circumstances. When
the electronic document is saved, the software could be configured
to save a redacted version of the document as well as a
non-redacted version of the document, and/or a non-redacted version
of the document but which is modified to include redaction
instruction information for certain fields/areas when the document
is opened, copied or downloaded for example.
[0065] As another example, a patient's medical chart might be
entirely electronic in a hospital or doctor's office (only an
electronic version of the chart/document exists); never having been
a physical paper document. This electronic only document/chart
could be saved when it is created as a redacted version of the
document as well as a non-redacted version of the document, and/or
a non-redacted version of the document but which is modified to
include redaction instruction information for certain fields/areas
when (under certain circumstances) the document is opened, copied
or downloaded for example.
[0066] When the chart (or a portion of the chart) is downloaded or
sent to an insurance company, only the previously saved redacted
version might be sent, or the un-redacted version might then have
certain areas or cells automatically redacted at that time such
that certain information is not downloaded or sent to the insurance
company. In this "electronic original document version" of the
invention, the rules set would be programmed based upon
locations/fields in the electronic original document, and what
information is contained/input into those locations/fields. For
example, the rules set could identify a "social security number"
field for redaction when the electronic original document is
printed, copied or downloaded/sent to an entity other than the
original owner of the electronic original document.
[0067] It should be understood that the foregoing description is
only illustrative of the invention. Various alternatives and
modifications can be devised by those skilled in the art without
departing from the invention. For example, features recited in the
various claims (dependent claim(s) and/or independent claim(s))
could be combined with each other in any suitable combination(s).
In addition, features from different embodiments described above
could be selectively combined into a new embodiment. Accordingly,
the invention is intended to embrace all such alternatives,
modifications and variances which fall within the scope of the
appended claims.
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