Granted Patent B2

US 12,572,631 · App. 17/898,829 · Granted Mar 10, 2026

Inventors: William Francis Ganong, III (Brookline, MA); Ljubomir Milanovic (Vienna, AT); Dushyant Sharma (Tracy, CA); Uwe Helmut Jost (Groton, MA); Patrick Aubrey Naylor (Reading, GB)

Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC.

G06F21/16H04L9/30H04L2209/608

Abstract

Claims (34)

1 . A computer-implemented method, executed on a computing device, comprising:

storing data on a storage device, the data including an encrypted audio file;

receiving, from an authorized requesting party, a request to access the data from the storage device;

determining identity information associated with the authorized requesting party;

generating a bespoke identity-based watermark for the authorized requesting party by applying a hash function to a payload containing the identity information associated with the authorized requesting party, wherein the payload further contains a timestamp associated with the request received from the authorized requesting party, and wherein the bespoke identity-based watermark identifies the timestamp of the request in addition to the authorized requesting party;

encoding the bespoke identity-based watermark into the data to obtain encoded watermarked data identifying the authorized requesting party, wherein encoding the bespoke identity-based watermark into the data comprises decrypting the encrypted audio file using a private key and encoding the bespoke identity-based watermark as an inaudible audio signal within the decrypted audio file, the inaudible audio signal being outside of human hearing;

providing the encoded watermarked data to the authorized requesting party; and

upon detection of a data leak in which a copy of the data has been accessed by, or otherwise made accessible to, an unauthorized party, detecting the bespoke identity-based watermark within the copy of the data, wherein the bespoke identity-based watermark is used to trace access of the data from the timestamp of the request and to identify the authorized requesting party as a potential source of the data leak.

2 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the encrypted audio file was encrypted using a public key corresponding to the private key.

3 . The computer implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the encrypted audio data is recorded by an Ambient Cooperative Intelligence (ACI) system monitoring a private meeting between participants.

4 . A computing system comprising:

one or more processors; and

a memory storing programming instructions for execution by the one or more processors, the programming instructions, upon execution by the one or more processors, causing the computing system to perform the following operations:

storing data on a storage device, the data including an encrypted audio file;

receiving, from an authorized requesting party, a request to access the data from the storage device;

determining identity information associated with the authorized requesting party;

generating a bespoke identity-based watermark for the authorized requesting party by applying a hash function to a payload containing the identity information associated with the authorized requesting party, wherein the payload further contains a timestamp associated with the request received from the authorized requesting party, and wherein the bespoke identity-based watermark identifies the timestamp of the request in addition to the authorized requesting party;

encoding the bespoke identity-based watermark into the data to obtain encoded watermarked data identifying the authorized requesting party, wherein encoding the bespoke identity-based watermark into the data comprises decrypting the encrypted audio file using a private key and encoding the bespoke identity-based watermark as an inaudible audio signal within the decrypted audio file, the inaudible audio signal being outside of human hearing;

providing the encoded watermarked data to the authorized requesting party; and

upon detection of a data leak in which a copy of the data has been accessed by, or otherwise made accessible to, an unauthorized party, detecting the bespoke identity-based watermark within the copy of the data, wherein the bespoke identity-based watermark is used to trace access of the data from the timestamp of the request and to identify the authorized requesting party as a potential source of the data leak.

5 . The computing system of claim 4 , wherein the data includes automated speech recognition (ASR) training data.

6 . The computing system of claim 4 , wherein the encrypted audio file was encrypted using a public key corresponding to the private key.

7 . The computing system of claim 4 , wherein the encrypted audio data is recorded by an Ambient Cooperative Intelligence (ACI) system monitoring a private meeting between participants.

8 . A computer program product residing on a non-transitory computer readable medium having programming instructions stored thereon which, when executed by one or more processors of a computing system, cause the computing system to perform the following operations:

storing data on a storage device, the data including an encrypted audio file;

receiving, from an authorized requesting party, a request to access the data from the storage device;

determining identity information associated with the authorized requesting party;

generating a bespoke identity-based watermark for the authorized requesting party by applying a hash function to a payload containing the identity information associated with the authorized requesting party, wherein the payload further contains a timestamp associated with the request received from the authorized requesting party, and wherein the bespoke identity-based watermark identifies the timestamp of the request in addition to the authorized requesting party;

encoding the bespoke identity-based watermark into the data to obtain encoded watermarked data identifying the authorized requesting party, wherein encoding the bespoke identity-based watermark into the data comprises decrypting the encrypted audio file using a private key and encoding the bespoke identity-based watermark as an inaudible audio signal within the decrypted audio file, the inaudible audio signal being outside of human hearing;

providing the encoded watermarked data to the authorized requesting party; and

upon detection of a data leak in which a copy of the data has been accessed by, or otherwise made accessible to, an unauthorized party, detecting the bespoke identity-based watermark within the copy of the data, wherein the bespoke identity-based watermark is used to trace access of the data from the timestamp of the request and to identify the authorized requesting party as a potential source of the data leak.

9 . The computer program product of claim 8 , wherein the data includes automated speech recognition (ASR) training data.

10 . The computer program product of claim 8 , wherein the encrypted audio file was encrypted using a public key corresponding to the private key.

11 . The computer program product of claim 8 , wherein the encrypted audio data is recorded by an Ambient Cooperative Intelligence (ACI) system monitoring a private meeting between participants.

Assignments (3)

Continuity (1)

References Cited (32)