Microsoft may be planning to make your computer screen more private, here’s how

A Microsoft logo is seen in Los Angeles

Microsoft could be working on a new tool/software that makes the screen of the user’s computer more private. The Redmond-based tech giant has published a new patent for a user privacy-centric tool that uses eye-tracking technology to hide or blur the parts of an encrypted document the computer user is not actively looking at in a way that’s comfortable for the user. When the user tries to read the encrypted document, only the part they read will be legible and the rest of the screen will remain blurred.

When it comes to hiding the content of your screen from people, some solutions like physical privacy screens are already there in the market that masks the entire screen for someone who tries to look from the side of your laptop (at an oblique angle). This someone could be a nosy co-worker or some stranger at a café. You just have to purchase one of the privacy-focused screens and attach them to your display. The physical privacy screen can be attached magnetically at the no-screen area that houses the webcam, right at the top of the display

There are privacy-based software also that blur the portion of the screen the user is not looking at, thus creating a spotlight effect. While Microsoft will also employ a blurring technique, its aim is not to create “an uncomfortable and less efficient reading experience” for the user.

Microsoft will use gaze prediction to anticipate the reading pattern of users

For a comfortable reading experience, Microsoft would use “gaze prediction techniques” in its privacy-centric tool. With gaze prediction, the Microsoft tool (with the help of a sensor) would anticipate the part of the screen the user’s eyes will go to next, thus revealing parts of the screen based on how the user reads content on the screen.

Looking at someone else’s computer screen could be a mindless activity for some but it could be dangerous too. In the end, just to be on the safe side, no one should be looking at your desktop or laptop screen. What if you have to enter sensitive data like banking or social media credentials at the workplace or in a public place, outside the security of your home?

Let’s hope Microsoft goes on to build this tech it has described in the patent.