Limiting storage or transmission of visual information using optical character recognition

1. A method carried out at a user device, of limiting visual information that can be stored or transmitted using a transmitter, comprising:

capturing a visual image;

detecting a control signal at the user device, the control signal being indicative that the user device is at a location ib which imaging is restricted;

responsive to receiving the control signal performing an optical symbol recognition routine on the image,

comparing symbols generated by the optical symbol recognition routine to a predetermined set of symbols, and

responsive to a symbol match generated by the optical symbol recognition in the image to one or more predetermined symbols, obscuring at least a portion of the visual image to produce an obscured visual image.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the control signal comprises a manual code entry.

3. The method according to claim 1 , where the control signal comprises a preprogrammed setting.

4. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising storing the obscured visual image.

5. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising transmitting the obscured visual image.

6. A method according to claim 1 , wherein the visual image comprises a still image.

7. The method in according to claim 1 , wherein the visual image comprises a moving video image.

8. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the obscuring comprises reducing resolution of at least a portion of the visual image to produce the obscured visual image.

9. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the obscuring comprises one of blurring and distorting a portion of the image.

10. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the obscuring comprises:

detecting confidential symbols; and

reducing resolution of at least a portion of the visual image to produce the obscured visual image.

11. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the obscuring comprises replacing at least a portion of the visual image with a substitute image to produce the obscured visual image.

12. The method according to claim 11 , wherein the substitute image includes a warning message of confidentiality of the document.

13. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the optical symbol recognition is Matrix Matching.

14. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the optical symbol recognition is Feature Extraction.

15. The method according to claim 1 further comprising determining a user parameter, and wherein the obscuring is carried out if required by the user parameter.

16. The method according to claim 15 , wherein the user parameter comprises at least one of a user location, user connectivity to particular network or network node, assigned rights, user ID and a user profile.

17. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the control signal controls the image coding of images for all wireless protocols and image storage formats supported by the transmitter.

18. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising transmitting the visual image to a network service provider, and wherein the obscuring is carried out by the network service provider.

19. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the control signal comprises a wireless signal received at the transmitter.

20. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the control signal comprises a manual code entry.

21. The method according to claim 1 , where the control signal comprises a preprogrammed setting in the device.

22. A method carried out at a device having a transmitter, of limiting visual information that can be stored or transmitted using the transmitter, comprising:

capturing a visual image;

detecting a control signal at the user device, the control signal being indicative that the user device is at a location in which imaging is restricted;

responsive to receiving the control signal performing an optical symbol recognition routine on the image,

comparing symbols generated by the optical symbol recognition routine to a one or more predetermined symbols,

responsive to a symbol match generated by the optical symbol recognition in the image to one or more predetermined symbols, obscuring at least a portion of the visual image to produce an obscured visual image, and

transmitting the obscured visual image.

23. The method according to claim 1 , farther comprising sending a notification message that a confidential message has been wrongfully copied and attempted to be transmitted.

24. The method according to claim 23 , where the notification message contains sender ID, level of security, location, and document ID.

25. An apparatus for capture and storage or transmission of a visual image, comprising:

an image capture transducer that captures a visual image;

a means for Optical Character Recognition;

an encoder receiving an output of the image capture transducer;

means for receiving a control signal indicative that the user device is at a location in which imaging is restricted

means for receiving a control signal that determines how a captured image is to be encoded; and

an image coding control that controls the encoding of the visual image at the encoder based upon the control signal such that at least a portion of the image can be selectively obscured under control of the control signal.

26. The apparatus of claim 25 , further comprising a memory for storing the image that is selectively obscured.

27. The apparatus of claim 25 , further comprising a transmitter for transmitting the image that is selectively obscured.

28. The apparatus of claim 25 , wherein the means for receiving comprises a receiver that receives a wireless transmission of the control signal.