Device and method for redacting records based on a contextual correlation with a previously redacted record
A process of redacting records based on a contextual correlation with a previously redacted record. In operation, an electronic computing device obtains redaction metadata associated with a previously redacted record and uses the redaction metadata to identify a segment within an unredacted record that was redacted to generate the previously redacted record. The device then processes the segment to detect characteristics of a person or the object captured in the unredacted record and further redacted in the redacted record. The device also determines a context in which the redacted person or object was captured within the segment of the unredacted record. The device then redacts a person or object captured in other unredacted records when such person or object is contextually related to the redacted person or object captured in the unredacted record corresponding to the previously redacted record.
1. A method of redacting records based on a contextual correlation with a previously redacted record, the method comprising:
obtaining, at an electronic computing device, redaction metadata associated with a previously redacted record, the redaction metadata identifying a segment within an unredacted record to which redaction was applied to generate the previously redacted record;
accessing, at the electronic computing device, from a records database, the unredacted record identified by the redaction metadata, the unredacted record including data in an unredacted form and further stored as a record that is separate from the previously redacted record;
processing, at the electronic computing device, the identified segment of the unredacted record to detect that a person or an object captured in an unredacted form within the identified segment of the unredacted record was redacted in the previously redacted record;
processing, at the electronic computing device, the identified segment of the unredacted record to detect characteristics of the person or the object;
obtaining, at the electronic computing device, at least one context attribute specifying a context in which the person or the object was captured in the unredacted form within the identified segment of the unredacted record;
identifying, at the electronic computing device, at least one other unredacted record that is associated with the unredacted record identified by the redaction metadata;
determining, at the electronic computing device, that characteristics of a person or an object captured in an unredacted form within at least one other segment of the at least one other unredacted record match with the characteristics of the person or the object captured in the unredacted form within the identified segment of the unredacted record;
obtaining, at the electronic computing device, at least one other context attribute specifying a context in which the person or the object was captured within the at least one other segment of the at least one other unredacted record;
determining, at the electronic computing device, a contextual correlation value based on a correlation between the at least one context attribute and the at least one other context attribute; and
when the contextual correlation value exceeds a correlation threshold, generating at least one other redacted record from the at least one other unredacted record by redacting the person or the object captured within the at least one other segment of the at least one other unredacted record.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the unredacted record is of a first record type and the at least one other unredacted record is of a second record type different from the first record type.
3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the first and second record types indicate one of audio record, video record, image record, or text record.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein processing comprises:
processing, at the electronic computing device, the identified segment of the unredacted record using an analytics engine.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the context attribute identifies one or more of: a geographical location at which the person or the object was captured in the unredacted record; a time at which the person or the object was captured in the unredacted record, an action performed by or in relation to the person or the object captured in the unredacted record, an interaction between the person or the object with another person or object captured in the unredacted record, an identity of the person or type of the object captured in the unredacted record, and a statement made in relation to the person or the object captured in the unredacted record.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein identifying comprises:
determining that the unredacted record is associated with the at least one other unredacted record when the unredacted record and the at least one other unredacted record are linked to one or more of: a same incident identifier, a same location, a same timestamp, or recording sources assigned to a same communication group.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the unredacted record is captured by a recording source assigned to a first agency and the at least one other unredacted record is captured by a recording source assigned to a second agency.
8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
transmitting, at the electronic computing device, to a communication device of an authorized user, a request for approval to redact the person or the object captured within the at least one other segment of the at least one other unredacted record,
wherein redacting the person or the object captured within the at least one other segment of the at least one other unredacted record to generate the at least one other redacted record only when a response indicating an approval to redact the person or the object is received from the communication device of the authorized user.
9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining, at the electronic computing device, that the person or the object captured in the unredacted record is related to at least one other person or object captured in the unredacted video;
determining, at the electronic computing device, characteristics of the at least one other person or object captured in the unredacted record; and
determining, at the electronic computing device, that the characteristics of the at least one other person or object captured in the unredacted record match with characteristics of at least one other person or object captured in the at least one other unredacted record;
wherein generating the at least one other redacted record comprises further redacting the at least one other person or object detected in the at least one other unredacted record.
10. The method of claim 9 , wherein determining that the person or object captured in the unredacted video is related to the at least one other person captured in the unredacted record comprises determining that the person or the object captured in the unredacted record has interacted with the at least one other person or object captured in the unredacted record.
11. The method of claim 9 , wherein determining that the person or object captured in the unredacted record is related to the at least one other person or object captured in the unredacted record comprises detecting a statement or display from the at least one other person or object revealing an identity of the person or the object captured in the unredacted record.
12. An electronic computing device, comprising:
a communications interface; and
an electronic processor communicatively coupled to the communications interface, the electronic processor is configured to:
obtain redaction metadata associated with a previously redacted record, the redaction metadata identifying a segment within an unredacted record to which redaction was applied to generate the previously redacted record;
access, from a records database, the unredacted record identified by the redaction metadata, the unredacted record including data in an unredacted form and further stored as a record that is separate from the previously redacted record;
process the identified segment of the unredacted record to detect that a person or an object captured in an unredacted form within the identified segment of the unredacted record was redacted in the redacted record;
process the identified segment of the unredacted record to detect characteristics of the person or the object;
obtain at least one context attribute specifying a context in which the person or the object was captured within the identified segment of the unredacted record;
identify at least one other unredacted record that is associated with the unredacted record identified by the redaction metadata;
determine that characteristics of a person or an object captured in an unredacted form within at least one other segment of the at least one other unredacted record match with the characteristics of the person or the object captured in the unredacted from within the identified segment of the unredacted record;
obtain at least one other context attribute specifying a context in which the person or the object was captured within the at least one other segment of the at least one other unredacted record;
determine a contextual correlation value based on a correlation between the at least one context attribute and the at least one other context attribute; and
generate at least one other redacted record from the at least one other unredacted record by redacting the person or the object captured within the at least one other segment of the at least one other unredacted record when the contextual correlation value exceeds a correlation threshold.
13. The electronic computing device of claim 12 , wherein the unredacted record is of a first record type and the at least one other unredacted record is of a second record type different from the first record type.
14. The electronic computing device of claim 13 , wherein the first and second record types indicate one of audio record, video record, image record, or text record.
15. The electronic computing device of claim 12 , wherein the electronic processor is configured to:
process the identified segment of the unredacted record using an analytics engine.
16. The electronic computing device of claim 12 , wherein the context attribute identifies one or more of: a geographical location at which the person or the object was captured in the unredacted record; a time at which the person or the object was captured in the unredacted record, an action performed by or in relation to the person or the object captured in the unredacted record, an interaction between the person or the object with another person or object captured in the unredacted record, an identity of the person or type of the object captured in the unredacted record, and a statement made in relation to the person or the object captured in the unredacted record.
17. The electronic computing device of claim 12 , wherein the electronic processor is configured to:
determine that the unredacted record is associated with the at least one other unredacted record when the unredacted record and the at least one other unredacted record are linked to one or more of: a same incident identifier, a same location, a same timestamp, or recording sources assigned to a same communication group.
18. The electronic computing device of claim 12 , wherein the unredacted record is captured by a recording source assigned to a first agency and the at least one other unredacted record is captured by a recording source assigned to a second agency.
19. The electronic computing device of claim 12 , wherein the electronic processor is configured to:
transmit, via the communications interface, to a communication device of an authorized user, a request for approval to redact the person or the object captured within the at least one other segment of the at least one other unredacted record; and
redact the person or the object captured within the at least one other segment of the at least one other unredacted record to generate the at least one other redacted record only when a response indicating an approval to redact the person or the object is received from the communication device of the authorized user.
20. The electronic computing device of claim 12 , wherein the electronic processor is configured to:
determine that the person or the object captured in the unredacted record is related to at least one other person or object captured in the unredacted video,
determine characteristics of the at least one other person or object captured in the unredacted record;
determine that the characteristics of the at least one other person or object captured in the unredacted record match with characteristics of at least one other person or object captured in the at least one other unredacted record; and
generate the at least one other redacted record by further redacting the at least one other person or object detected in the at least one other unredacted record.