# US 12,114,101 B2 · Dynamic video exclusion zones for privacy

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- Number: US 12,114,101 B2
- Document ID: US12114101B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 17/890,644
- Filed: 2022-08-18
- Published: 2022-12-08
- Granted: 2024-10-08
- Earliest claimed: 2019-06-24
- Assignees: Alarm.com Incorporated
- Applicants: Alarm.com Incorporated
- Inventors: Stephen Scott Trundle; Daniel Todd Kerzner; Donald Gerard Madden; Benjamin Asher Berg
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12114101B2

## CPC

- H04N 7/18: Closed-circuit television [CCTV] systems, i.e. systems in which the video signal is not broadcast
- H04N 7/185: {from a mobile camera, e.g. for remote control}
- G06F 21/6245: {Protecting personal data, e.g. for financial or medical purposes}
- G06F 21/84: output devices, e.g. displays or monitors
- G06T 7/0002: {Inspection of images, e.g. flaw detection}
- G06V 20/52: Surveillance or monitoring of activities, e.g. for recognising suspicious objects (recognising microscopic objects G06V20/69)
- G08B 13/19686: {Interfaces masking personal details for privacy, e.g. blurring faces, vehicle license plates}
- H04N 5/272: Means for inserting a foreground image in a background image, i.e. inlay, outlay
- H04N 5/77: between a recording apparatus and a television camera
- H04N 5/91: Television signal processing therefor
- H04N 5/913: for scrambling {; for copy protection}
- H04N 21/45455: {applied to a region of the image}
- H04N 23/611: where the recognised objects include parts of the human body
- H04N 23/635: {Region indicators; Field of view indicators}
- H04N 23/64: {Computer-aided capture of images, e.g. transfer from script file into camera, check of taken image quality, advice or proposal for image composition or decision on when to take image}
- H04N 23/65: Control of camera operation in relation to power supply
- H04N 23/661: Transmitting camera control signals through networks, e.g. control via the Internet
- H04N 23/667: Camera operation mode switching, e.g. between still and video, sport and normal or high- and low-resolution modes
- H04N 23/80: Camera processing pipelines; Components thereof
- G06T 2207/10016: Video; Image sequence
- H04N: PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
- G06F: ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING (computer systems based on specific computational models G06N)
- G06T: IMAGE DATA PROCESSING OR GENERATION, IN GENERAL
- G06V: IMAGE OR VIDEO RECOGNITION OR UNDERSTANDING
- G08B: SIGNALLING SYSTEMS, e.g. PERSONAL CALLING SYSTEMS; ORDER TELEGRAPHS; ALARM SYSTEMS

## Abstract

Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for preserving privacy in surveillance. The methods, systems, and apparatus include actions of determining a state of a monitoring system, determining an exclusion zone that is shown in a video, determining whether to obfuscate at least a portion of the video based on the exclusion zone and the state of the monitoring system, and obfuscating at least the portion of the video.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A computer-implemented method comprising:
determining, from a plurality of states at least some of which are associated with corresponding obfuscation criteria, a state of a monitoring system of a property;
determining, using one or more obfuscation criteria for the state of the monitoring system, whether to obfuscate at least a portion of an exclusion zone represented by one or more portions of sensor data captured by a sensor at the property;
in response to determining to obfuscate at least the portion of the exclusion zone represented by the one or more portions of the sensor data, obfuscating, using at least some of the one or more obfuscation criteria for the state, at least the portion of the exclusion zone represented by the one or more portions of the sensor data; and
storing data for at least the obfuscated portion of the exclusion zone represented by the one or more portions of the sensor data.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the sensor data comprises a video sequence with one or more frames captured by a camera at the property, the method comprising:
identifying the exclusion zone in the one or more frames of the video sequence using a map of the property.

### Claim 3 (depends on 2)

The method of claim 2, wherein identifying the exclusion zone in the one or more frames of the video sequence using the map of the property comprises:
matching the one or more frames of the video sequence to the map of the property.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, comprising:
accessing depth data for an area within a threshold distance of a physical region represented by the exclusion zone;
detecting, using the depth data, movement of an object into the physical region represented by the exclusion zone; and
obfuscating, in at least some of the sensor data, the representation of the object, wherein the one or more portions of the sensor data encode data of the object moving into the exclusion zone.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, comprising:
maintaining, as at least some of the one or more obfuscation criteria, providing exclusion zone rules that indicate areas, objects, or activities to be excluded; and
providing, to one or more sensors that have access to the property, data for the exclusion zone rules to cause the sensors to determine, using the exclusion zone rules, to skip capture of data representing the indicated areas, objects, or activities.

### Claim 6 (depends on 5)

The method of claim 5, comprising:
obtaining the sensor data captured by a visiting sensor with access to the property; and
providing a notification about the exclusion zone to a device using the sensor data captured by the visiting sensor.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, comprising:
providing, to a device, one or more first instructions to cause the device to present the obfuscated portion of the exclusion zone; and
providing, to the device, one or more second instructions to cause the device to present information overlaid in the sensor data indicating elements of the obfuscated portion of the exclusion zone.

### Claim 8 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein:
the sensor data comprises a video sequence; and
obfuscating at least the portion of the exclusion zone comprises obfuscating, non-visual data stored in one or more frames of the video sequence.

### Claim 9 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein determining whether to obfuscate at least the portion of the exclusion zone comprises:
receiving, from an exclusion zone definition database, an exclusion zone definition that specifies the exclusion zone; and
determining, based on the exclusion zone definition, that the one or more portions of the sensor data represent the exclusion zone and to obfuscate at least the portion of the exclusion zone.

### Claim 10 (depends on 9)

The method of claim 9, wherein the exclusion zone definition specifies that a particular room at the property is to be obfuscated when the monitoring system is in a particular state and not obfuscated when the monitoring system is not in the particular state.

### Claim 11 (depends on 10)

The method of claim 10, wherein the particular room comprises a bathroom and the particular state comprises unarmed.

### Claim 12 (depends on 9)

The method of claim 9, wherein the exclusion zone definition specifies that in a living room, sensor data for humans are always to be obfuscated, and when the state of the monitoring system is unarmed, an entirety of the living room is to be obfuscated.

### Claim 13 (depends on 9)

The method of claim 9, comprising:
determining that the exclusion zone definition specifies that only humans are to be obfuscated in the exclusion zone during a particular arming state, wherein:
obfuscating comprises obfuscating only humans in the exclusion zone during the particular arming state.

### Claim 14 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein determining the state of the monitoring system comprises:
receiving, from a control unit of the monitoring system, an indication that the monitoring system is unarmed.

### Claim 15 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein obfuscating at least the portion of the exclusion zone comprises:
adjusting, for a video sequence as the sensor data, pixels in one or more frames of the video sequence.

### Claim 16 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein obfuscating at least the portion of the exclusion zone comprises:
adjusting, for a video sequence as the sensor data, pixels in one or more frames of the video sequence that correspond to a human in the exclusion zone.

### Claim 17 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein obfuscating at least the portion of the exclusion zone comprises:
generating, for the sensor data, metadata that specifies which portions of the sensor data should be obscured for which types of user accounts users when the sensor data is presented.

### Claim 18 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein: determining whether to obfuscate at least the portion of the exclusion zone comprises determining, using the one or more obfuscation criteria for the state of the monitoring system of the property, whether to obfuscate at least the portion of the exclusion zone represented by the one or more portions of the sensor data captured by a sensor at the property or to skip obfuscation of the portion of the exclusion zone.

### Claim 19

A system comprising:
one or more computers and one or more storage devices storing instructions that are operable, when executed by the one or more computers, to cause the one or more computers to perform operations comprising:
determining, from a plurality of states at least some of which are associated with corresponding obfuscation criteria, a state of a monitoring system of a property;
determining, using one or more obfuscation criteria for the state of the monitoring system, whether to obfuscate at least a portion of an exclusion zone represented by one or more portions of sensor data captured by a sensor at the property;
in response to determining to obfuscate at least the portion of the exclusion zone represented by the one or more portions of the sensor data, obfuscating, using at least some of the one or more obfuscation criteria for the state, at least the portion of the exclusion zone represented by the one or more portions of the sensor data; and
storing data for at least the obfuscated portion of the exclusion zone represented by the one or more portions of the sensor data.

### Claim 20

A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing software comprising instructions executable by one or more computers which, upon such execution, cause the one or more computers to perform operations comprising:
determining, from a plurality of states at least some of which are associated with corresponding obfuscation criteria, a state of a monitoring system of a property;
determining, using one or more obfuscation criteria for the state of the monitoring system, whether to obfuscate at least a portion of an exclusion zone represented by one or more portions of sensor data captured by a sensor at the property;
in response to determining to obfuscate at least the portion of the exclusion zone represented by the one or more portions of the sensor data, obfuscating, using at least some of the one or more obfuscation criteria for the state, at least the portion of the exclusion zone represented by the one or more portions of the sensor data; and
storing data for at least the obfuscated portion of the exclusion zone represented by the one or more portions of the sensor data.