# US 2010/0169980 A1 · Personal information providing apparatus and method > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2010/0169980 A1 - Document ID: US20100169980A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 12/545,816 - Filed: 2009-08-22 - Published: 2010-07-01 - Earliest claimed: 2008-12-29 - Assignees: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. - Inventors: Hwan Joon KIM; Weon Il JIN - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20100169980A1 ## CPC - G06F 21/6245: {Protecting personal data, e.g. for financial or medical purposes} - G06T 1/0021: {Image watermarking} - G06F: ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING (computer systems based on specific computational models G06N) - G06T: IMAGE DATA PROCESSING OR GENERATION, IN GENERAL ## Abstract A personal information providing method and apparatus is provided. The personal information providing apparatus may extract personal information about at least one characteristic corresponding to a predetermined standard from a database storing personal information of a plurality of characteristics, embed the personal information about the at least one characteristic in a predetermined image, generate a personal information image, generate a watermark having trace information embedded, and embed the watermark in the personal information image. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A personal information providing apparatus, comprising: a database to store personal information of a plurality of characteristics; a personal information extraction unit to extract personal information from the database regarding at least one characteristic corresponding to a predetermined standard; an image generation unit to embed the extracted personal information about the at least one characteristic in a predetermined image and generate a personal information image; a watermark generation unit to generate a watermark having trace information embedded therein, the trace information configured to trace generation of the personal information image; and a merging unit to embed the watermark in the personal information image. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The personal information providing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the predetermined standard includes at least one of a type and a level of access to the personal information. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The personal information providing apparatus of claim 1, further comprising: a random code generation unit to generate at least one Pseudo Random Noise (PN) code, wherein the merging unit embeds the at least one PN code in the personal information image. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The personal information providing apparatus of claim 1, further comprising: a receiving unit to receive a personal information request from a personal information requesting terminal; an analysis unit to analyze the personal information request and determine the predetermined standard; and a transmission unit to transmit the personal information image to the personal information requesting terminal. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The personal information providing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the personal information extraction unit extracts the personal information about the at least one characteristic based on a level of access to personal information corresponding to the predetermined standard. ### Claim 6 (depends on 5) The personal information providing apparatus of claim 5, wherein the image generation unit applies an access control factor, determined based on the level of access to the personal information, to the personal information about the at least one characteristic to generate the personal information image. ### Claim 7 (depends on 4) The personal information providing apparatus of claim 4, wherein the trace information includes information about at least one of a generation time of the personal information image, a transmission time of the personal information image, and the personal information requesting terminal. ### Claim 8 (depends on 7) The personal information providing apparatus of claim 7, further comprising: a watermark extraction unit to extract the watermark from the personal information image; and a trace information extraction unit to extract the trace information from the watermark. ### Claim 9 A personal information providing method, comprising: extracting personal information about at least one characteristic corresponding to a predetermined standard from a database storing personal information of a plurality of characteristics; embedding the personal information about the at least one characteristic in a predetermined image and generating a personal information image; generating a watermark having trace information embedded configured to trace the generation of the personal information image; and embedding the watermark in the personal information image. ### Claim 10 (depends on 9) The personal information providing method of claim 9, further comprising: generating at least one Pseudo Random Noise (PN) code; and embedding the at least one PN code in the personal information image. ### Claim 11 (depends on 9) The personal information providing method of claim 9, further comprising: receiving a personal information request from a personal information requesting terminal; analyzing the personal information request and determining the predetermined standard; and transmitting the personal information image to the personal information requesting terminal. ### Claim 12 (depends on 9) The personal information providing method of claim 9, wherein extracting personal information includes extracting the personal information about the at least one characteristic based on a level of access to f personal information corresponding to the predetermined standard. ### Claim 13 (depends on 12) The personal information providing method of claim 12, wherein generating of the personal information image including applying an access control factor, determined based on the level of access to the personal information, to the personal information about the at least one characteristic to generate the personal information image. ### Claim 14 (depends on 13) The personal information providing method of claim 13, further comprising: receiving the personal information image at a personal information requesting terminal; generating a second personal information image by referring to a table of the personal information requesting terminal storing predetermined personal information; and calculating a correlation between the personal information image and the second personal information image. ### Claim 15 A computer-readable recording medium storing a program for implementing a personal information providing method including instructions to cause a processor to: extract personal information about at least one characteristic corresponding to a predetermined standard from a database storing personal information of a plurality of characteristics; embed the personal information about the at least one characteristic in a predetermined image and generating a personal information image; generate a watermark having trace information embedded therein configured to trace generation of the personal information image; and embed the watermark in the personal information image. ### Claim 16 A personal information providing system, comprising: a personal information requesting terminal to generate a personal information request; a personal information providing apparatus including: a receiving unit to receive the personal information request from the personal information requesting terminal a database to store personal information of a plurality of characteristics; a personal information extraction unit to extract personal information from the database regarding at least one characteristic corresponding to a predetermined standard; an image generation unit to embed the extracted personal information about the at least one characteristic in a predetermined image and generate a personal information image; a watermark generation unit to generate a watermark having trace information embedded, the trace information configured to trace generation of the personal information image; a merging unit to embed the watermark in the personal information image; and a transmission unit to transmit the personal information image to the personal information requesting terminal. ### Claim 17 (depends on 16) The personal information providing system of claim 16, wherein the personal information requesting terminal is configured to generate a second personal information image when the personal information image is received by referring to a table storing predetermined personal information, and to calculate a correlation between the personal information image and the second personal information image. ### Claim 18 (depends on 16) The personal information providing system of claim 16, wherein the personal information extraction unit extracts the personal information about the at least one characteristic based on a level of access to personal information corresponding to the predetermined standard. ### Claim 19 (depends on 18) The personal information providing system of claim 18, wherein the image generation unit applies an access control factor, determined based on the level of access to the personal information, to the personal information about the at least one characteristic to generate the personal information image. ### Claim 20 (depends on 16) The personal information providing system of claim 16, wherein the trace information includes information about at least one of a generation time of the personal information image, a transmission time of the personal information image, and the personal information requesting terminal. ### Claim 21 (depends on 20) The personal information providing system of claim 20, wherein the personal information providing apparatus further comprises: a watermark extraction unit to extract the watermark from the personal information image; and a trace information extraction unit to extract the trace information from the watermark.