Patent Publication Number: US-2015081564-A1

Title: Privacy preserving content analysis

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This is a continuation application that claims the benefit of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/027,388 filed Sep. 16, 2013, the contents of which are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND 
     The present invention relates to business-to-business systems and, more specifically, to privacy preserving content analysis for a business-to-business transaction gateway in a business-to-business system. 
     Business-to-business systems provide a file gateway for businesses to exchange information, requests, and responses in a trusted environment. Applying analytics to transactions at a business-to-business file gateway can be challenging, since businesses typically do not want to expose sensitive data for analysis. For example, even though businesses may desire to acquire data from analytics, they also desire to keep identity and confidential information from being exposed to providers of third-party analytics engines that perform the analysis. Accordingly, these businesses must strike a balance between the amount and quality of sensitive data shared with analytics engine providers and risks associated with sharing sensitive data. 
     Business-to-business systems can use standardized information exchange formats for e-commerce. One example is electronic data interchange (EDI) to send orders to warehouses or perform order tracking. EDI data can be partitioned into an outside envelope with higher-level information and an internal envelope with lower-level information. EDI data is typically encoded but not encrypted when using standard translation, such as an X12-850 purchase order sent via EDI. Businesses seeking to employ analytics may desire to retain compatibility with industry standard protocols while also addressing concerns with maintaining confidentiality of the data with respect to third parties. 
     SUMMARY 
     According to one embodiment of the present invention, a method for privacy preserving content analysis is provided. The method includes performing a recoverable hash operation on text information to produce hashed text information in a business-to-business system. The business-to-business system includes a business-to-business transaction gateway coupled to a plurality of enterprise computer systems. A non-recoverable hash operation is performed on numerical information to produce hashed numerical information in the business-to-business system. The hashed text information and the hashed numerical information are provided from the business-to-business transaction gateway to an analytics engine to perform encrypted content analysis. The text information and the numerical information are provided from one of the enterprise computer systems as a producer system to another of the enterprise computer systems as a consumer system through the business-to-business transaction gateway. 
     According to another embodiment of the present invention, a business-to-business system includes a business-to-business transaction gateway configured to communicate with a plurality of enterprise computer systems. A recoverable hash operation engine is configured to perform a recoverable hash operation on text information exchanged between the plurality of enterprise computer systems to produce hashed text information. A non-recoverable hash operation engine is configured to perform a non-recoverable hash operation on numerical information exchanged between the plurality of enterprise computer systems to produce hashed numerical information. An analytics engine interface is configured to provide the hashed text information and the hashed numerical information from the business-to-business transaction gateway to an analytics engine to perform encrypted content analysis. 
     According to a further embodiment of the present invention, a computer program product for privacy preserving content analysis is provided. The computer program product includes a storage medium embodied with machine-readable program instructions, which when executed by a computer causes the computer to implement a method. The method includes performing a recoverable hash operation on text information to produce hashed text information in a business-to-business system. The business-to-business system includes a business-to-business transaction gateway coupled to a plurality of enterprise computer systems. A non-recoverable hash operation is performed on numerical information to produce hashed numerical information in the business-to-business system. The hashed text information and the hashed numerical information are provided from the business-to-business transaction gateway to an analytics engine to perform encrypted content analysis. The text information and the numerical information are provided from one of the enterprise computer systems as a producer system to another of the enterprise computer systems as a consumer system through the business-to-business transaction gateway. 
     Additional features and advantages are realized through the techniques of the present invention. Other embodiments and aspects of the invention are described in detail herein and are considered a part of the claimed invention. For a better understanding of the invention with the advantages and the features, refer to the description and to the drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The subject matter which is regarded as the invention is particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed in the claims at the conclusion of the specification. The forgoing and other features, and advantages of the invention are apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which: 
         FIG. 1  depicts a block diagram of a business-to-business system upon which privacy preserving content analysis may be implemented according to an embodiment; 
         FIG. 2  depicts another view of a block diagram of the business-to-business system of  FIG. 1  upon which privacy preserving content analysis may be implemented according to an embodiment; 
         FIG. 3  depicts an example of an electronic data interchange file format according to an embodiment; 
         FIG. 4  depicts a process for privacy preserving content analysis according to an embodiment; and 
         FIG. 5  depicts a computer system for privacy preserving content analysis according to an embodiment. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Exemplary embodiments provide privacy preserving content analysis for a business-to-business transaction gateway in a business-to-business system. Embodiments can operate on electronic business transactions and data from multiple enterprise computer systems. In exemplary embodiments, hashing is used as an encryption tool and can be interpreted as a mapping of content to make human-readable information unreadable. Embodiments use different hashing methods for text and numerical values. For example, cryptographic hashing can be used for text information, while locality sensitive hashing can be used for arrays of numerical information. Arbitrary sized blocks of data that include text or numbers may be processed and returned as a fixed-size bit string as the hash value, i.e., encrypted data. In embodiments, a text string and its hash value have a one-to-one correspondence. The text hashing is a reversible and recoverable operation such that text is hashed to a bit string, and the text can be determined from the bit string. To more thoroughly protect numerical values, a non-recoverable hash operation is used such that even if a reverse hash is applied, the exact numerical values cannot be recovered. 
     Turning now to  FIG. 1 , a business-to-business system  100  upon which privacy preserving content analysis may be implemented will now be described in an exemplary embodiment. Although described in terms of a business-to-business system  100  in  FIG. 1 , it will be understood that privacy preserving content analysis can be applied to any system configured to perform analytics while maintaining privacy of at least a portion of the data being analyzed. As depicted in  FIG. 1 , the business-to-business system  100  includes a business-to-business transaction gateway  102  configured to communicate with a plurality of enterprise computer systems  104 . The business-to-business transaction gateway  102  may be a server computer system in a cloud or network system that securely routes data between the enterprise computer systems  104 . 
     In the simplified example of  FIG. 1 , one of the enterprise computer systems  104  is a shop computer system  106  and another of the enterprise computer systems  104  is a factory computer system  108 . When the shop computer system  106  is to place an order with the factory computer system  108 , the shop computer system  106  generates an original file  110  that may be formatted as a purchase order including text information and numerical information. Accordingly, the shop computer system  106  acts as a producer system in this example and the factory computer system  108  acts as a consumer system with respect to data in the original file  110 . 
     The shop computer system  106  interfaces with the business-to-business transaction gateway  102  through a business-to-business communication channel  112 . The factory computer system  108  interfaces with the business-to-business transaction gateway  102  through a business-to-business communication channel  114 . The business-to-business transaction gateway  102  also communicates with an analytics engine  116  through an analytics engine interface  118  and an analytics engine communication channel  120 . 
     A recoverable hash operation engine  122  can be used in the business-to-business system  100  to convert the original file  110  into a hashed file  124 . The shop computer system  106  and the factory computer system  108  can each include instances of the recoverable hash operation engine  122  such that they can each produce the hashed file  124  from the original file  110  and/or perform an inverse hash operation to produce the original file  110  from the hashed file  124 . Where hashing is performed by the shop computer system  106  and the factory computer system  108 , a hash key  126  can be exchanged on a communication channel  128  between the shop computer system  106  and the factory computer system  108 . The hash key  126  can represent both a forward and an inverse hash key to hash or inverse hash files. Alternatively, the recoverable hash operation engine  122  can be incorporated in the business-to-business transaction gateway  102  such that hashing is only applied prior to sending data to the analytics engine  116 . 
     In an exemplary embodiment, the recoverable hash operation engine  122  performs a recoverable hash operation on text information in the original file  110  to produce hashed text information. The recoverable hash operation may only be applied to a portion of text information in the original file that is considered sensitive or confidential. The recoverable hash operation engine  122  may apply a cryptographic hash to the original file  110  to produce a fixed-size hash value regardless of a number of characters in the text information. For example, a three character text string and a fifteen character text string may both be hashed into 160-bit values. 
     To further enhance privacy of content, the business-to-business transaction gateway  102  can include a non-recoverable hash operation engine  130 . The non-recoverable hash operation engine  130  performs a non-recoverable hash operation on numerical information to produce hashed numerical information in the business-to-business system  100 . The non-recoverable hash operation engine  130  can operate upon the hashed file  124  or the original file  110  to produce hashed file  132 . The analytics engine interface  118  provides the hashed file  132 , including hashed text information and hashed numerical information, from the business-to-business transaction gateway  102  to the analytics engine  116  to perform encrypted content analysis. Similar to the recoverable hash operation engine  122 , the non-recoverable hash operation engine  130  may only operate on a portion of available data. Since the non-recoverable hash operation engine  130  only operates upon numerical information, it can use either the hashed file  124  or the original file  110  as input information. 
     In an exemplary embodiment, the non-recoverable hash operation performed by the non-recoverable hash operation engine  130  is a locality-sensitive hashing operation configured to substantially but not completely preserve locality properties of numerical information. The non-recoverable hash operation can include mapping input items based on the numerical information into a plurality of buckets to form a binary vector of the hashed numerical information having a reduced dimension relative to the numerical information as an approximation of the numerical information. A binary vector, b, can be formed for input items, x, according to equation 1. 
     
       
         
           
             
               
                 
                   
                     
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     Here, an arg max function provides a set of points for an argument for which the given function attains a maximum value for a transpose of b multiplied by x, divided by the absolute value of b multiplied by the absolute value of x. The underlying objective of equation 1 is to find a binary vector b that has the smallest (compared with all other binary vectors) angle distance to a real-valued vector x, such that original mathematical properties of the input data can be largely preserved after hashing. The value b is a binary element, i.e., 0 or 1, representing a bucket with a size defined by dimension d. The dimension d can be reduced from an original dimension of the input data to enhance security. For example, numerical information with a dimension d of about 100 may be considered more secure if reduced to about 80 and even more secure if reduced to about 60. A level of security may be a definable attribute when sending a file through the non-recoverable hash operation engine  130 . 
     As one example of a simple greedy algorithm for the non-recoverable hash operation engine  130  to solve for locality sensitive hashing is provided as follows. 
                                                    Input: Hyperplane normal vector w (non-negative)               Preprocess: Sort entries of w in ascending order               as w (1) , . . . , w (d) ; Set b k   i  = 0 for ∀ j, k = 1, . . . , d;               α k  = 0 for ∀ k = 1, . . . , d.                1: for i = 1, . . . , d do                2:   b k   i  = 1 for k = 1, . . . , i;                3:  
           α   i     =         ∑     k   =   1     i          w     (   k   )           i         ;       
                4: end for                5: return b j″  corresponding to j* = arg min j (α j )               Postprocess: Reorder b w.r.t. the original ordering of w               Output: Binary vector b (most perpendicular to w)                        
Here, a cosine angle of vectors is used to maximize a cosine angle between vectors and minimize an angle between the vectors. In this example, w is a dimension reduced version of the input items of the numerical information that are sorted in ascending order. The binary vector b is reordered to align with original ordering of w and form hashed numerical information. This results in a distribution of b values that approximates that of the original numerical information, but if this is reversed, the actual values of the original numerical information cannot be recovered.
 
     To further enhance privacy, additional operations can be performed on the hashed numerical information, b. Operations such as performing a rotation, rescale, and translation of the hashed numerical information maintain relative locality of distribution of the hashed numerical information while further modifying it. For example, consider a simple two dimensional plane where the hashed numerical information is represented as a collection of points forming a shape. If this shape is rescaled to enlarge or reduce the overall shape, the shape remains intact but the original distance between points in the two-dimensional space is not apparent from the rescaled shape itself. Further, the shape in two-dimensional space can be rotated about its central axis or about an origin of the two-dimensional space. Further, translation can shift a distance between the shape and the origin of the two-dimensional space as an additional modification. 
     The analytics engine  116  receives the hashed file  132  that includes hashed text information and the hashed numerical information after applying the recoverable and non-recoverable hash operations. The analytics engine  116  does not receive the hash key  126 . While hashed details in the hashed file  132  remain private, the analytics engine  116  can perform analytics to look for patterns in the business-to-business system  100 . For example, timing and frequency of messages or files can provide useful information and non-hashed data in the hashed file  132  can be directly accessible to the analytics engine  116 . Additionally, since relative locality of data points may be maintained in the hashed file  132 , this can also be used to approximate patterns without knowing the actual underlying details of the hashed data itself. 
     Although the business-to-business system  100  is depicted in  FIG. 1  including a limited number of elements and connections between elements, the scope of embodiments is not so limited. There may be any number of instances of the business-to-business transaction gateway  102 , enterprise computer systems  104 , and analytics engine  116  supporting a number of file and hashing formats. Additional elements can be added, removed, or combined. Moreover, the analytics engine interface  118 , recoverable hash operation engine  122 , and the non-recoverable hash operation engine  130  can be distributed in multiple computer systems and can access other networks and/or data sources (not depicted). Additional features to ensure integrity of the files exchanged in the business-to-business system  100  of  FIG. 1  can include application of redundant bits and self-correction coding in hashed messages including one or more of the hashed text information and the hashed numerical information. 
       FIG. 2  depicts another view of a block diagram of the business-to-business system  100  of  FIG. 1  upon which privacy preserving content analysis may be implemented according to an embodiment. In this example, the business-to-business transaction gateway  102  is coupled to a plurality of enterprise computer systems  104 , where company enterprise computer system  202  and company enterprise computer system  204  are both producer systems  206 , and company enterprise computer system  208  and company enterprise computer system  210  are both consumer systems  212 . A recoverable hash operation  214  using a hash key  216  is performed on text information sent from the company enterprise computer system  202  to the business-to-business transaction gateway  102  to produce hashed text information. An inverse recoverable hash operation  218  can be applied to the hashed text information using an inverse hash key  220  provided by the company enterprise computer system  202 , such that the company enterprise computer system  208  can receive and consume the text information in an unencrypted format. 
     Similarly, a recoverable hash operation  222  using a hash key  224  is performed on text information sent from the company enterprise computer system  204  to the business-to-business transaction gateway  102  to produce hashed text information. An inverse recoverable hash operation  226  can be applied to the hashed text information using an inverse hash key  228  provided by the company enterprise computer system  204 , such that the company enterprise computer system  210  can receive and consume the text information in an unencrypted format. Before hashed text information from the producer systems  206  is provided to the analytics engine  116 , a non-recoverable hash operation  230  is applied to numerical information to produce hashed numerical information. Therefore, the analytics engine  116  is configured to perform encrypted content analysis of the hashed text information and the hashed numerical information, thus resulting in privacy preserving content analysis. 
       FIG. 3  depicts an example of an electronic data interchange file format  300  according to an embodiment. In the example of  FIG. 3 , the electronic data interchange file format  300  includes an outside envelope  302  and an inside envelope  304 . A portion of data in the inside envelope  304  may be considered sensitive or confidential. A recoverable hash operation, such as the recoverable hash operation  214  or  222  of  FIG. 2  may be applied by the recoverable hash operation engine  122  of  FIG. 1  to text information  306  in the inside envelope  304  to produce hashed text information  308 . Similarly, a non-recoverable hash operation, such as the non-recoverable hash operation  230  of  FIG. 2  may be applied by the non-recoverable hash operation engine  130  of  FIG. 1  to numerical information  310  in the inside envelope  304  to produce hashed numerical information  312 . Accordingly, when the original file  110  of  FIG. 1  complies with the electronic data interchange file format  300 , the hashed file  124  of  FIG. 1  may be equivalent to the electronic data interchange file format  300  with the text information  306  replaced by the hashed text information  308 . The hashed file  132  of  FIG. 1  may be equivalent to the electronic data interchange file format  300  with the text information  306  replaced by the hashed text information  308  and the numerical information  310  replaced by the hashed numerical information  312 . 
       FIG. 4  depicts a process  400  for privacy preserving content analysis in accordance with an embodiment. The process  400  is described in reference to  FIGS. 1-4  and need not be performed in the precise order as depicted in  FIG. 4 . The process  400  can be performed by the business-to-business system  100  of  FIG. 1 . More specifically, one or more computer processors in the business-to-business transaction gateway  102  and/or the enterprise computer systems  104  can implement the process  400 . For simplicity, the process  400  is described relative to the recoverable hash operation  214  of  FIG. 2  and the non-recoverable hash operation  230  of  FIG. 2 . 
     At block  402 , a recoverable hash operation  214  is performed on text information  306  to produce hashed text information  308  in a business-to-business system  100 . The recoverable hash operation  214  may be performed by the recoverable hash operation engine  122  of  FIG. 1  in one of the enterprise computer systems  104  or in the business-to-business transaction gateway  102 . The recoverable hash operation  214  can be a cryptographic hash configured to produce a fixed-size hash value regardless of a number of characters in the text information  306 . 
     At block  404 , a non-recoverable hash operation  230  is performed on numerical information  310  to produce hashed numerical information  312  in the business-to-business system  100 . The non-recoverable hash operation  230  may be performed by a non-recoverable hash operation engine  130  in the business-to-business transaction gateway  102 . The non-recoverable hash operation  230  can be a locality-sensitive hashing operation configured to substantially but not completely preserve locality properties of the numerical information  310 . The non-recoverable hash operation  230  can include mapping input items based on the numerical information  310  into a plurality of buckets to form a binary vector of the hashed numerical information  312  having a reduced dimension relative to the numerical information  310  as an approximation of the numerical information  310 . The non-recoverable hash operation  230  can also include performing a rotation, rescale, and translation of the hashed numerical information  312 . 
     At block  406 , the hashed text information  308  and the hashed numerical information  312  are provided from the business-to-business transaction gateway  102  to an analytics engine  116  to perform encrypted content analysis. The hashed text information  308  and the hashed numerical information  312  may be provided in the hashed file  132  via the analytics engine interface  118 . 
     At block  408 , the text information  306  and the numerical information  310  are provided from one of the enterprise computer systems  104  as a producer system  206  to another of the enterprise computer systems  104  as a consumer system  212  through the business-to-business transaction gateway  102 . The text information  306  may be provided based on applying the inverse recoverable hash operation  218  to the hashed text information  308 . Data exchanged between the enterprise computer systems  104  can be in an electronic data interchange file format, such as electronic data interchange file format  300  including an outside envelope  302  and an inside envelope  304 . The recoverable hash operation  214  and the non-recoverable hash operation  230  can be applied to at least a portion of data in the inside envelope  304 . 
     As previously described, in various embodiments the recoverable hash operation  214  can be performed by different elements in the business-to-business system  100 . In one example, the recoverable hash operation  214  is performed by a producer system  206  using a hash key  216 , where the hash key  216  (or inverse hash key  220 ) is provided to the consumer system  212 . The non-recoverable hash operation  230  may be performed by the business-to-business transaction gateway  102 , and the hashed text information  308  and the numerical information  310  are provided from the business-to-business transaction gateway  102  to the consumer system  212 . An inverse recoverable hash operation  218  can be applied by the consumer system  212  using the hash key  216  (or inverse hash key  220 ) to recover the text information  306 . In another embodiment, the business-to-business transaction gateway  102  performs both the recoverable hash operation  214  and the non-recoverable hash operation  230 . 
     To further enhance error tolerance, redundant bits and self-correction coding can be included in hashed messages including one or more of the hashed text information  308  and the hashed numerical information  312 . 
     Referring now to  FIG. 5 , a schematic of an example of a computer system  554  in an environment  510  is shown. The computer system  554  is only one example of a suitable computer system and is not intended to suggest any limitation as to the scope of use or functionality of embodiments described herein. Regardless, computer system  554  is capable of being implemented and/or performing any of the functionality set forth hereinabove. The computer system  554  may be an embodiment of the business-to-business transaction gateway  102  of  FIG. 1  and/or one of the enterprise computer systems  104  of  FIG. 1 . 
     In the environment  510 , the computer system  554  is operational with numerous other general purpose or special purpose computing systems or configurations. Examples of well-known computing systems, environments, and/or configurations that may be suitable as embodiments of the computer system  554  include, but are not limited to, personal computer systems, server computer systems, cellular telephones, thin clients, thick clients, hand-held or laptop devices, multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based systems, set top boxes, programmable consumer electronics, network personal computer (PCs), minicomputer systems, mainframe computer systems, and distributed cloud computing environments that include any of the above systems or devices, and the like. 
     Computer system  554  may be described in the general context of computer system-executable instructions, such as program modules, being executed by one or more processors of the computer system  554 . Generally, program modules may include routines, programs, objects, components, logic, data structures, and so on that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. Computer system  554  may be practiced in distributed computing environments, such as cloud computing environments, where tasks are performed by remote processing devices that are linked through a communications network. In a distributed computing environment, program modules may be located in both local and remote computer system storage media including memory storage devices. 
     As shown in  FIG. 5 , computer system  554  is shown in the form of a general-purpose computing device. The components of computer system  554  may include, but are not limited to, one or more computer processing circuits (e.g., processors) or processing units  516 , a system memory  528 , and a bus  518  that couples various system components including system memory  528  to processor  516 . When embodied as the business-to-business transaction gateway  102  of  FIG. 1 , the processor  516  is communicatively coupled to the enterprise computer systems  104  of  FIG. 1  and the analytics engine  116  of  FIG. 1  via network adapter  520 . 
     Bus  518  represents one or more of any of several types of bus structures, including a memory bus or memory controller, a peripheral bus, an accelerated graphics port, and a processor or local bus using any of a variety of bus architectures. By way of example, and not limitation, such architectures include Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) bus, Micro Channel Architecture (MCA) bus, Enhanced ISA (EISA) bus, Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) local bus, and Peripheral Component Interconnects (PCI) bus. 
     Computer system  554  typically includes a variety of computer system readable media. Such media may be any available media that is accessible by computer system  554 , and it includes both volatile and non-volatile media, removable and non-removable media. 
     System memory  528  can include computer system readable media in the form of volatile memory, such as random access memory (RAM)  530  and/or cache memory  532 . Computer system  554  may further include other removable/non-removable, volatile/non-volatile computer system storage media. By way of example only, storage system  534  can be provided for reading from and writing to a non-removable, non-volatile magnetic media (not shown and typically called a “hard drive”). Although not shown, a magnetic disk drive for reading from and writing to a removable, non-volatile magnetic disk (e.g., a “floppy disk”), and an optical disk drive for reading from or writing to a removable, non-volatile optical disk such as a CD-ROM, DVD-ROM or other optical media can be provided. In such instances, each can be connected to bus  518  by one or more data media interfaces. As will be further depicted and described below, memory  528  may include at least one program product having a set (e.g., at least one) of program modules that are configured to carry out the functions of embodiments of the invention. 
     Program/utility  540 , having a set (at least one) of program modules  542 , may be stored in memory  528  by way of example, and not limitation, as well as an operating system, one or more application programs, other program modules, and program data. Each of the operating system, one or more application programs, other program modules, and program data or some combination thereof, may include an implementation of a networking environment. Program modules  542  generally carry out the functions and/or methodologies of embodiments of the invention as described herein. Example application programs or modules are depicted in  FIG. 5  as the recoverable hash operation engine  122 , the non-recoverable hash operation engine  130 , and the analytics engine interface  118 . Although the recoverable hash operation engine  122 , the non-recoverable hash operation engine  130 , and the analytics engine interface  118  are depicted separately, they can be combined and/or incorporated in any application or module. The recoverable hash operation engine  122 , the non-recoverable hash operation engine  130 , and the analytics engine interface  118  can be stored directly in the memory  528  or can be accessible by the processor  516  from a location external to the computer system  554 . 
     Computer system  554  may also communicate with one or more external devices  514  such as a keyboard, a pointing device, a display device  524 , etc.; one or more devices that enable a user to interact with computer system  554 ; and/or any devices (e.g., network card, modem, etc.) that enable computer system  554  to communicate with one or more other computing devices. Such communication can occur via input/output (I/O) interfaces  522 . Still yet, computer system  554  can communicate with one or more networks such as a local area network (LAN), a general wide area network (WAN), and/or a public network (e.g., the Internet) via network adapter  520 . As depicted, network adapter  520  communicates with the other components of computer system  554  via bus  518 . It should be understood that although not shown, other hardware and/or software components could be used in conjunction with computer system  554 . Examples, include, but are not limited to: microcode, device drivers, redundant processing units, external disk drive arrays, redundant array of independent disk (RAID) systems, tape drives, and data archival storage systems, etc. 
     It is understood in advance that although this disclosure includes a detailed description on a particular computing environment, implementation of the teachings recited herein are not limited to the depicted computing environment. Rather, embodiments are capable of being implemented in conjunction with any other type of computing environment now known or later developed (e.g., any client-server model, cloud-computing model, etc.). 
     Technical effects and benefits include privacy preserving content analysis for a business-to-business transaction gateway in a business-to-business system. Sensitive information is selectively encrypted using a recoverable hash operation on text information and a non-recoverable hash operation on numerical information. Encryption enables performance of analytics or data sets that include sensitive data, while ensuring that the sensitive data remains private. Incorporating the hashing into a business-to-business transaction gateway results in little to no impact for enterprise computer systems communicating via the business-to-business transaction gateway. Redundant bits and self-correcting codes, e.g., error correcting codes (ECC), tolerate and correct transmission errors and verify integrity of hashed messages. 
     As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, aspects of the present invention may be embodied as a system, method or computer program product. Accordingly, aspects of the present invention may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment (including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects that may all generally be referred to herein as a “circuit,” “module” or “system.” Furthermore, aspects of the present invention may take the form of a computer program product embodied in one or more computer readable medium(s) having computer readable program code embodied thereon. 
     Any combination of one or more computer readable medium(s) may be utilized. The computer readable medium may be a computer readable signal medium or a computer readable storage medium. A computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of the computer readable storage medium would include the following: an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. In the context of this document, a computer readable storage medium may be any tangible medium that can contain, or store a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. 
     A computer readable signal medium may include a propagated data signal with computer readable program code embodied therein, for example, in baseband or as part of a carrier wave. Such a propagated signal may take any of a variety of forms, including, but not limited to, electro-magnetic, optical, or any suitable combination thereof. A computer readable signal medium may be any computer readable medium that is not a computer readable storage medium and that can communicate, propagate, or transport a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. 
     Program code embodied on a computer readable medium may be transmitted using any appropriate medium, including but not limited to wireless, wireline, optical fiber cable, RF, etc., or any suitable combination of the foregoing. 
     Computer program code for carrying out operations for aspects of the present invention may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including an object oriented programming language such as Java, Smalltalk, C++ or the like and conventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C” programming language or similar programming languages. The program code may execute entirely on the user&#39;s computer, partly on the user&#39;s computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user&#39;s computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user&#39;s computer through any type of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider). 
     Aspects of the present invention are described below with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems) and computer program products according to embodiments of the invention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks. 
     These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer readable medium that can direct a computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other devices to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer readable medium produce an article of manufacture including instructions which implement the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks. 
     The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other devices to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer, other programmable apparatus or other devices to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide processes for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks. 
     The flowchart and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate the architecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementations of systems, methods and computer program products according to various embodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in the flowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portion of code, which comprises one or more executable instructions for implementing the specified logical function(s). It should also be noted that, in some alternative implementations, the functions noted in the block may occur out of the order noted in the figures. For example, two blocks shown in succession may, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implemented by special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specified functions or acts, or combinations of special purpose hardware and computer instructions. 
     The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one more other features, integers, steps, operations, element components, and/or groups thereof. 
     The corresponding structures, materials, acts, and equivalents of all means or step plus function elements in the claims below are intended to include any structure, material, or act for performing the function in combination with other claimed elements as specifically claimed. The description of the present invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive or limited to the invention in the form disclosed. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. The embodiment was chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention and the practical application, and to enable others of ordinary skill in the art to understand the invention for various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. 
     The flow diagrams depicted herein are just one example. There may be many variations to this diagram or the steps (or operations) described therein without departing from the spirit of the invention. For instance, the steps may be performed in a differing order or steps may be added, deleted or modified. All of these variations are considered a part of the claimed invention. 
     While the preferred embodiment to the invention had been described, it will be understood that those skilled in the art, both now and in the future, may make various improvements and enhancements which fall within the scope of the claims which follow. These claims should be construed to maintain the proper protection for the invention first described.