IP Library Granted Patent US 11,790,113
Granted Patent B2
US 11,790,113 · App. 17/343,358 · Granted Oct 17, 2023

Secure storage and retrieval of sensitive information

Inventors: Pablo Antonio Gonzalez Cervantes (Cupertino, CA); Mohan Singh Randhava (San Carlos, CA); Jorge F. Pozas Trevino (San Mateo, CA); Samuel A. Mussell (Mountain View, CA); Isaac Pinol Catadau (Jamaica Plain, MA); Steven A. Myers (San Jose, CA); Dongsheng Zhang (Santa Clara, CA); Suhail Ahmad (Palo Alto, CA); Zhengjun Jiang (San Jose, CA); Yannick L. Sierra (San Francisco, CA); Amir H. Jadidi (San Jose, CA)
Assignee: Apple Inc.
G06F21/6245G16H10/60H04L9/0825H04L9/0866H04L9/14
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 11,790,113
App. No.
17/343,358
Filed
Jun 9, 2021
Granted
Oct 17, 2023
Kind
B2
Art Unit
2498
USPC
713/171
Abstract

A user device may share encrypted health data with an electronic health record (EHR) system associated with a health institution. A unique data identifier that identifies a portion of the health data and a cryptographic key may be shared with the EHR system. The encrypted health may be shared with a service provider and a unique data identifier. To access the health data, the EHR system may query the service provider with the unique data identifier.

Claims (60)

1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

encrypting, by a mobile user device using a plurality of cryptographic keys, health data associated with a user account of the mobile user device;

storing the encrypted health data on the mobile user device using a multi-node data storage structure, with each node of the multi-node data storage structure being identified by a unique data identifier, wherein the encrypted health data is organized into a plurality of categories;

sending the encrypted health data to a service provider that stores the encrypted health data according to the multi-node data storage structure, the unique data identifier identifying at least one node of the multi-node data storage structure;

receiving a selection of a health institution to receive at least a portion of the health data, wherein the multi-node data storage structure comprises a root node that represents the health institution and a plurality of branch nodes corresponding to each of the plurality of categories; and

based at least in part on the selection, sending at least one cryptographic key of the plurality of cryptographic keys and a data identifier corresponding to the multi-node data storage structure to an electronic health record system associated with the health institution, the electronic health record system enabled to use the at least one cryptographic key and the data identifier to access and decrypt the portion of the health data from the service provider.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein encrypting the health data, storing the encrypted health data, and sending the encrypted health data are responsive to receiving the selection of the health institution, the selection representing a request to share the portion of the health data with the health institution.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein encrypting the health data comprises encrypting each node of the multi-node data storage structure using a unique cryptographic key of the plurality of cryptographic keys.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the health data comprises clinical health record data and sensor data.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 4 , wherein the clinical health record data is received from the electronic health record system or from a different health record system associated with a different health institution, and the sensor data is generated by a sensor of the mobile user device or received from a different user device associated with the mobile user device.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein a first portion of the health data is obtained by the mobile user device from the electronic health record system.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 6 , wherein a second portion of the health data is obtained by the mobile user device from a different electronic health record system associated with a different health institution.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving, as a user input, information identifying a category of the health data; and

determining the portion of the health data based at least in part on the category.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the data identifier is unique to the health institution.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the data identifier is a first data identifier of a plurality of data identifiers maintained by the mobile user device and corresponding to the multi-node data storage structure, and wherein individual data identifiers of the plurality of data identifiers are associated with at least one of a particular health institution, a particular category of health data, or a predefined data range corresponding to a respective category of health data.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein individual cryptographic keys of the plurality of cryptographic keys are associated with at least one of a particular health institution, a particular category of health data, or a predefined range corresponding to a respective category of health data.

12. An apparatus, comprising:

a memory comprising computer-executable instructions; and

one or more processors in communication with the memory and configured to access the memory and execute the computer-executable instructions to at least:

encrypt, using a plurality of cryptographic keys, health data associated with a user account;

store the encrypted health data using a multi-node data storage structure, with each node of the multi-node data storage structure being identified by a unique data identifier, wherein the encrypted health data is organized into a plurality of categories;

send the encrypted health data to a service provider that stores the encrypted health data according to the multi-node data storage structure, the unique data identifier identifying at least one node of the multi-node data storage structure;

receive a selection of a health institution to receive at least a portion of the health data, wherein the multi-node data storage structure comprises a root node that represents the health institution and a plurality of branch nodes corresponding to each of the plurality of categories; and

based at least in part on the selection, send at least one cryptographic key of the plurality of cryptographic keys and a data identifier corresponding to the multi-node data storage structure to an electronic health record system associated with the health institution, the at least one cryptographic key and the data identifier configured to enable the electronic health record system to use the at least one cryptographic key and the data identifier to access and decrypt the portion of the health data from the service provider.

13. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein encrypting the health data, storing the encrypted health data, and sending the encrypted health data are responsive to receiving the selection of the health institution, the selection representing a request to share the portion of the health data with the health institution.

14. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein encrypting the health data comprises encrypting each node of the multi-node data storage structure using a unique cryptographic key of the plurality of cryptographic keys.

15. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the health data comprises clinical health record data and sensor data.

16. The apparatus of claim 15 , wherein the clinical health record data is received from the electronic health record system or from a different health record system associated with a different health institution, and the sensor data is generated by a sensor of a mobile user device or received from a different user device associated with the mobile user device.

17. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein a first portion of the health data is obtained by the apparatus from the electronic health record system.

18. The apparatus of claim 17 , wherein a second portion of the health data is obtained by the apparatus from a different electronic health record system associated with a different health institution.

19. One or more computer-readable storage devices comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:

encrypting, using a plurality of cryptographic keys, health data associated with a user account of a mobile user device;

storing the encrypted health data using a multi-node data storage structure, with each node of the multi-node data storage structure being identified by a unique data identifier, wherein the encrypted health data is organized into a plurality of categories;

sending the encrypted health data to a service provider that stores the encrypted health data according to the multi-node data storage structure, the unique data identifier identifying at least one node of the multi-node data storage structure;

receiving a selection of a health institution to receive at least a portion of the health data, wherein the multi-node data storage structure comprises a root node that represents the health institution and a plurality of branch nodes corresponding to each of the plurality of categories; and

based at least in part on the selection, sending at least one cryptographic key of the plurality of cryptographic keys and a data identifier corresponding to the multi-node data storage structure to an electronic health record system associated with the health institution, the electronic health record system enabled to use the at least one cryptographic key and the data identifier to access and decrypt the portion of the health data from the service provider.

20. The one or more computer-readable storage devices of claim 19 , wherein the operations further comprise:

receiving, as a user input, information identifying a category of the health data; and

determining the portion of the health data based at least in part on the category.

21. The one or more computer-readable storage devices of claim 19 , wherein the data identifier is unique to the health institution.

22. The one or more computer-readable storage devices of claim 19 , wherein the data identifier is a first data identifier of a plurality of data identifiers maintained by a mobile user device and corresponding to the multi-node data storage structure, and wherein individual data identifiers of the plurality of data identifiers are associated with at least one of a particular health institution, a particular category of health data, or a predefined data range corresponding to a respective category of health data.

23. The one or more computer-readable storage devices of claim 19 , wherein individual cryptographic keys of the plurality of cryptographic keys are associated with at least one of a particular health institution, a particular category of health data, or a predefined range corresponding to a respective category of health data.

24. A mobile user device, comprising:

a memory comprising computer-executable instructions; and

a processor configured to access the memory and execute the computer-executable instructions to at least:

send encrypted health data to a service provider that stores the encrypted health data according to a multi-node data storage structure, the encrypted health data stored on the mobile user device according to a first version of the multi-node data storage structure, wherein the encrypted health data is organized into a plurality of categories;

receive a selection of a health institution to receive at least a portion of the health data, wherein the multi-node data storage structure comprises a root node that represents the health institution and a plurality of branch nodes corresponding to each of the plurality of categories; and

based at least in part on the selection, send a cryptographic key and a data identifier that identifies a storage node of the first version of the multi-node data storage structure to an electronic health record system associated with the health institution, the electronic health record system enabled to use the cryptographic key and the data identifier to access and decrypt the portion of the health data stored by the service provider at the storage node.

25. The mobile user device of claim 24 , wherein the storage node stores a plurality of other cryptographic keys and a plurality of other unique data identifiers.

26. The mobile user device of claim 25 , wherein the plurality of other unique data identifiers correspond to a plurality of categories of health data, each of which has its own node in the first and second versions of the multi-node data storage structure.

27. The mobile user device of claim 24 , further comprising a display, and wherein the memory comprises additional computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, provide a user interface for presentation at the display, the user interface presenting a list of health institutions including the health institution.

28. The mobile user device of claim 27 , wherein receiving the selection comprises receiving, via the user interface, a user selection of the health institution from the list of health institutions.

29. The mobile user device of claim 24 , wherein the memory comprises additional computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, encrypt, prior to sending the encrypted health data, the health data using the cryptographic key.

30. The mobile user device of claim 24 , wherein sending the cryptographic key to the electronic health record system comprises sending the cryptographic key to the electronic health record system without sharing the cryptographic key with the service provider.

31. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

sending encrypted health data to a service provider that stores the encrypted health data according to a multi-node data storage structure, the encrypted health data stored on a mobile user device according to a first version of the multi-node data storage structure, wherein the encrypted health data is organized into a plurality of categories;

receiving a selection of a health institution to receive at least a portion of the health data, wherein the multi-node data storage structure comprises a root node that represents the health institution and a plurality of branch nodes corresponding to each of the plurality of categories; and

based at least in part on the selection, sending a cryptographic key and a data identifier that identifies a storage node of the first version of the multi-node data storage structure to an electronic health record system associated with the health institution, the electronic health record system enabled to use the cryptographic key and the data identifier to access and decrypt the portion of the health data stored by the service provider at the storage node.

Assignments (2)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jun 17, 2021
From: AHMAD, SUHAIL; JIANG, ZHENGJUN; SIERRA, YANNICK L.; JADIDI, AMIR H.
To: APPLE INC.
Reel/Frame 056573/0564 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jun 10, 2021
From: GONZALEZ CERVANTES, PABLO ANTONIO; RANDHAVA, MOHAN SINGH; POZAS TREVINO, JORGE F.; MUSSELL, SAMUEL A.; CATADAU, ISAAC PINOL; MYERS, STEVEN A.; ZHANG, DONGSHENG
To: APPLE INC.
Reel/Frame 056498/0635 →
Continuity (2)
Provisional Application 63064811 · Aug 12, 2020
Related Publication 20220052847A1 · Feb 17, 2022
Cited By (1)
US 12,395,329