Patent Publication Number: US-2013254899-A1

Title: Data protecting system and protecting method

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     1. Technical Field 
     The present disclosure relates to a data protecting system and a protecting method used by the data protecting system. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     Mobile phones and tablet PCs are often used as portable storage devices, which record important documents and personal information. However, mobile phones and tablet PCs only use password to protect the important documents and personal information. If the password is cracked, the important documents and personal information can be accessed by others, which is disadvantageous and may result in great loss. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Many aspects of the present embodiments can be better understood with reference to the drawings. The components in the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale, the emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the present embodiments. Moreover, in the drawings, all the views are schematic, and like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several views. 
         FIG. 1  is a block diagram of an embodiment of a data protecting system, in accordance with the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 2  is a flowchart of an embodiment of data protecting method implemented by the data protecting system in  FIG. 1 , in accordance with the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 3  is a flowchart of an embodiment of data protecting procedure of step S 25  in  FIG. 2 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. 
       FIG. 1  is a block diagram of an embodiment of a data protecting system, in accordance with the present disclosure. The data protecting system can be run on an electronic device  10 . The electronic device  10  may be a mobile phone or a tablet PC. The electronic device  10  includes a display  100 , an environmental characteristic obtaining unit  200 , a memory  300 , a user characteristic obtaining unit  400 , a processing unit  500 , an interface  600 , and an input unit  700 . 
     The display  100  is used to display a number of multimedia files. 
     The environmental characteristic obtaining unit  200  is set in the electronic device  10 , for periodically obtain current environmental characteristics around the electronic device  10 , such as levels of ambient light, and store the current environmental characteristics in the memory  300 . The environmental characteristic obtaining unit  200  may be a brightness obtaining unit to detect the current levels of ambient light, and store the current levels of ambient light in the memory  300 . 
     The memory  300  is configured to supply space to store displayable media such as audio files and text. 
     The user characteristic obtaining unit  400  is used to obtain user characteristics of a user such as fingerprints and/or facial features when the environmental characteristic changes. The user characteristic obtaining unit  400  may be a camera, for shooting images of the user&#39;s fingerprint and/or facial features. The memory  300  is also used to store a number of authorized users&#39; user characteristics such as the fingerprints and/or facial features. 
     The interface  600  can be a wired interface (such as the USB interface, etc.) or a wireless interface (such as a wireless communication module) to realize the connection between the electronic device  10  and other electronic devices. 
     The input unit  700  is configured to receive user input. The user input unit  80  can be input keys/buttons, knobs, and the like. 
     The processing unit  500  compares the current environmental characteristics with previously environmental characteristics to determine whether the current environmental characteristics have changed, controls the user characteristic obtaining unit  400  to obtain user characteristics of the user when the environmental characteristics have changed, compares the user characteristics with authorized users&#39; user characteristics stored in the memory  300  to determine if the user is authorized, and implements data protection when the user is unauthorized. In another embodiment, the authorized users&#39; user characteristics can also be stored in a network server which can be obtained via network. For example, supposing the user characteristics are fingerprints, and the authorized users&#39; fingerprints are pre-stored in the memory  300 , the processing unit  500  obtains the fingerprints of the user, compares the fingerprints of the user with the authorized users&#39; fingerprints which are pre-stored in the memory, if the fingerprints of the user is consistent with the authorized users&#39; fingerprints, the user is determined to be authorized, otherwise the user is determined to be unauthorized. 
     The processing unit  500  includes an environmental characteristic determining module  5001 , a user verifying module  5002  and a data protecting module  5003 . The functions of the modules will be described with reference to  FIG. 2 . 
       FIG. 2  is a flowchart of an embodiment of data protecting method implemented by the data protecting system in  FIG. 1 , in accordance with the present disclosure. 
     In step S 21 , the environmental characteristic obtaining unit  200  periodically obtains current environmental characteristics around the electronic device  10 , such as the current levels of ambient light, and stores the current environmental characteristics in the memory  300 . 
     In step S 22 , the environmental characteristic determining module  5001  compares the current environmental characteristics with previously environmental characteristics to determine whether the current environmental characteristics have changed. If yes, the procedure ends, if no, the procedure goes to S 23 . 
     In step S 23 , the user characteristic obtaining unit  400  obtains user characteristics of the user such as fingerprints and/or facial features. 
     In step S 24 , the user verifying module  5002  compares the obtained user characteristics with authorized users&#39; user characteristics stored in the memory  300  to determine if the user is authorized. If yes, the procedure ends, if no, the procedure goes to S 25 . 
     In step S 25 , the data protecting module  5003  implements data protection. 
       FIG. 3  is a flowchart of an embodiment of performing data protecting procedure of step S 25  in  FIG. 2 . 
     In step S 251 , the data protecting module  5003  locks the display  100  and/or the input unit  700  such as keys/buttons to prevent any operation by the user. 
     In step S 252 , the data protecting module  5003  determines if any external device is connected with the interface  600 , if yes, the procedure goes to step S 253 , if no, the procedure ends. 
     In step S 253 , the data protecting module  5003  deletes the data in the memory  300  or performs read and write protection of the data in the memory  300 , then the procedure ends. 
     Though above system and method, the electronic device  10  determines if the user can be regarded as authorized when the current environmental characteristics change, and protects the data in memory  300  when the user is regarded as unauthorized, which is effective and easy to implement. 
     Although the features and elements of the present disclosure are described as embodiments in particular combinations, each feature or element can be used alone or in other various combinations within the principles of the present disclosure to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed.