Preserving image privacy when manipulated by cloud services

A method for preserving image privacy, comprising:

• receiving an image;
• dividing the image into a plurality of N blocks, each block including a plurality of pixels;
• selecting a permutation from a factorial of N permutations;
• and
• permutating the plurality of N blocks of the image based on the selected permutation.

An middleware apparatus, comprising:

• a splitter configured to split an original image into first and second sub-images;
• an encrypt section configured to:
• add each of a plurality of pixel values of the first sub-image to a corresponding keystream value selected from a plurality of keystream values;
• produce a first encrypted sub-image;
• add each of a plurality of pixel values of the second sub-image to a corresponding keystream value selected from the plurality of keystream values;
• and
• produce a second encrypted sub-image.

A method for preserving image privacy, comprising:

• producing a master key;
• storing the master key in a database;
• generating a keystream based on the master key;
• encrypting an image using the keystream;
• printing the image on physical media;
• and
• affixing the printed image to a physical object.