System for secure face identification (SCIFI) and methods useful in conjunction therewith

A system for privacy-retaining face identification operative in association with a server side having a library of at least one target face to be identified and a client side having at least one input face whose resemblance to said at least one target face is to be determined, the system including:

• at least one face patcher dividing the input face into a first set of patches and dividing the target face into a second set of patches;
• a database including an assortment of patch profiles for each patch in said first and second sets of patches, each patch profile in said assortment being associated with a unique index thereby to define an assortment of unique indices;
• a discrete face analyzer finding, for each individual patch in the input face and in the target face, at least one patch profile within said assortment of patch profiles which most resembles said individual patch, thereby to define a first set of indices from among said assortment of unique indices whose corresponding patch profiles most resemble said input face's patches respectively and a second set of indices whose corresponding patch profiles most resemble said target face's patches respectively;
• and
• a privacy preserving computation machine operative to compare first and second functions of said first and second sets of indices respectively.

A computer program product, comprising a computer readable medium excluding intangible transitory media such as signals and carrier waves and having a computer readable program code embodied therein, said computer readable program code adapted to be executed to implement a method for privacy-retaining face identification comprising:

• dividing at least one input face into a first set of patches;
• providing an assortment of patch profiles for each patch in said first set of patches, each patch profile in said assortment being associated with a unique index thereby to define an assortment of unique indices;
• for each individual patch in the input face, finding at least one patch profile within said assortment of patch profiles which most resembles said individual patch, thereby to define a first set of indices from among said assortment of unique indices whose corresponding patch profiles most resemble said input face's patches respectively;
• and
• using a privacy preserving computation to generate a physical output indicative of a comparison of said input face and at least one target face by comparing first and second functions of said first set of indices and of a second set of indices respectively, said second set of indices corresponding to patch profiles which most resemble a second set of patches into which said target face has been divided.