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Method and apparatus for safe ontology reasoningRelated Patent Categories: Data Processing: Artificial Intelligence, Knowledge Processing System, Knowledge Representation And Reasoning Technique, Ruled-based Reasoning SystemMethod and apparatus for safe ontology reasoning description/claimsThe Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20070198449, Method and apparatus for safe ontology reasoning. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
BACKGROUND [0001] The invention relates generally to ontology processing, and relates more particularly to ontology security. [0002] A central issue under consideration by the World Wide Web Consortium is ontology security and privacy. In particular, as ontologies proliferate and automatic reasoners become more powerful, it becomes more difficult to protect sensitive information. That is, as facts can be inferred from other facts, it becomes increasingly likely that information included in an ontology, while not sensitive itself, may nevertheless enable inference of information that is deemed sensitive. [0003] A competing concern, on the other hand, is the ability to provide an adequate or useful amount of information for ontology processing applications such as querying, navigating and reasoning. This concern is often at odds with the desire to limit or prevent access to information that may contribute to the inference of sensitive information. [0004] Thus, there is a need for a method and apparatus for safe ontology reasoning. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0005] The present invention is a method and apparatus for safe ontology reasoning, where the "safety" of an ontology encompasses both privacy concerns and security concerns. In one embodiment, a method for building safe sub-ontology that includes one or more elements of a given ontology includes designating at least one the elements as a sensitive element, where a sensitive element is an element not to be revealed. The method then designates a safe sub-ontology such that the safe sub-ontology does not include any elements that, alone or in combination, allow inference of a sensitive element, in accordance with one or more given inference rules. In another embodiment, a method for building a potential sub-ontology includes designating at least one of the elements as a sensitive element and including a maximal number of the elements in the potential sub-ontology, wherein the maximal number includes the greatest number of elements that can be revealed, cumulatively, without allowing inference of a sensitive element, in accordance with one or more given inference rules. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0006] So that the manner in which the above recited embodiments of the invention are attained and can be understood in detail, a more particular description of the invention, briefly summarized above, may be obtained by reference to the embodiments thereof which are illustrated in the appended drawings. It is to be noted, however, that the appended drawings illustrate only typical embodiments of this invention and are therefore not to be considered limiting of its scope, for the invention may admit to other equally effective embodiments. [0007] FIG. 1 is a flow diagram illustrating one embodiment of a method for testing a subset of an ontology for "safeness", according to the present invention; [0008] FIG. 2 is a flow diagram illustrating one embodiment of a method for determining a "best" safe ontology, according to the present invention; [0009] FIG. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating one embodiment of a method for reducing a multi-matroid problem to a three-matroid problem; and [0010] FIG. 4 is a high level block diagram of the present ontology testing method that is implemented using a general purpose computing device. [0011] To facilitate understanding, identical reference numerals have been used, where possible, to designate identical elements that are common to the figures. DETAILED DESCRIPTION [0012] In one embodiment, the present invention is method and apparatus for safe ontology reasoning. Within the context of the present invention, the "safety" of an ontology refers to the ontology's ability to address both privacy concerns and security concerns. Embodiments of the present invention preserve the integrity of sensitive information in an ontology framework by verifying the safety of a sub-ontology made available for querying, navigating, reasoning and other ontology processing applications. In particular, the present invention verifies not only that sensitive information is not included in the sub-ontologies, but also that information from which the sensitive information can be inferred is not included in the sub-ontologies. This substantially reduces the likelihood of sensitive information being even inadvertently revealed. Moreover, the present invention maximizes the amount of information that is provided in the safe ontology, so that the ontology can provide as much useful information as possible while still remaining "safe" with respect to the sensitive information. [0013] Within the context of the present invention, a "safe" or "secure" ontology (or sub-ontology) is defined as one that does not contain any information that may be used to derive sensitive facts, given a collection of inference rules. [0014] Embodiments of the present invention define an ontology, O, as a tuple {I, R, M} comprising a finite set of concepts, where I is a finite set of individuals, R is a finite set of relationships and M is a finite set of metadata (which may include characteristics of relations, such as symmetry or transitivity, or constraints on relationships, such as restrictions of the number of relationships of a given type that can exist between individuals). [0015] A relationship, r, in the set R is expressed as a set of triples in the form: [0016] (subject, property, object) where "subject" is an individual (e.g., i in the set I), "property" is a specific type of relationship, and "object" is an expression composed of individuals and the logical operators AND, OR and NOT. For example, the relationships (Jim isMemberOf man), (man isEquivalentTo (person AND male)) and (American is SubsetOf person) are all expressed as sets of triples. [0017] Pieces, m, of metadata in M are also expressed as triples. Specifically, a piece, m, of metadata is expressed as: [0018] (property, constraint, value) where "property" corresponds to the specific type of relationship (e.g., the middle member of a relationship triple, such as isMemberOf or isEquivalentTo), "value" is a property or constant, and "constraint" is a member of {<=>inverseOf subPropertyOf disjointFrom is}. For example, the pieces of metadata (isSubsetOf is transitive), (name=1), (spouse<2) and (parentOf inverseOf childOf) are all expressed as sets of triples. [0019] Types of metadata give rise to inference rules. For instance, the piece of metadata (ancestorOf is transitive)--i.e., the property "ancestorOf" is transitive--allows one to infer that if (Adam ancestorOf Bob) and (Bob ancestorOf Carl), then (Adam ancestorOf Carl). [0020] In one embodiment, the present invention extends the definition of an ontology to include restricted relations of the form FOR_ALL individuals, i, in class c, there exists an individual, j, in class D such that (i property j) and FOR_ALL individuals, i, in class C, there exists an individual, j, such that (i property j), then j is a member of class D. [0021] The closure, F(R), of a set of relations, R, is defined as the total set of relations or facts that can be inferred from the given set of relations, R, and the inference rules implied by the set of metadata, M. If the set of metadata, M, is relatively simple, the closure, F(R), of the set of relations, R, is also simple to determine. For example, if the set of metadata, M, only contains: (isSubsetOf is transitive), (isEquivalentTo is transitive) and (isEquivalentTo is symmetric), then, given a set of relations, R of the form: (x isSubsetOf y), (w isEquivalentTo z) and (i isA C), the closure, F(R), of the set of relations, R, can be computed by considering a graph, G, with edge set R (i.e., the sets of triples in the set of relations, R, define the set of edges of the graph, G, and the endpoints of the edges define the set of nodes). That is, where the only available inference mechanism is transitivity, facts may be inferred from other individual facts. In this case, the only inferences that can be made are membership inferences (i.e., one can infer whether a set is equivalent to or is a subset of another set, or whether an individual is a member of a set). The problem of determining the closure, F(R), of the set of relations, R, thus involves simply identifying the "reachability" set of each node, n, in the graph, G (i.e., determining for which set of nodes, s, a path exists from n to s). This can be easily computed, for example, by using breadth first search. [0022] In a more general case, other transitive relations may exist, such as "isPartOf". For example: (USA isPartOf NorthAmerica), (State Pennsylvania isPartOf USA) or (City Philadelphia isPartOf State Pennsylvania). Membership, in this case, can still be determined using a simple search algorithm; however, the search must be sensitive to the fact that paths must comprise properties of the same type. This can also be extended to the case where different types of properties interact to form paths by declaring all such groups of properties as sub-properties of a single transitive property. Continue reading about Method and apparatus for safe ontology reasoning... Full patent description for Method and apparatus for safe ontology reasoning Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims Click on the above for other options relating to this Method and apparatus for safe ontology reasoning patent application. ###  How KEYWORD MONITOR works... a FREE service from FreshPatents1. Sign up (takes 30 seconds). 2. Fill in the keywords to be monitored. 3. Each week you receive an email with patent applications related to your keywords. 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