Home Forums Peripherals & Multimedia Peripherals Encrypting SD cards/information

I am working on a project where I will use a video camera to record HIPPA medical information for storage in medical records. I need a means to encrypt the the cards which will allow operation in both the camera and then transfer to iMac or Airbook, or even better, both.

So far, I have not found anything. Anyone have any suggestions? (BTW, my background is Healthcare, NOT IT).

Thanks,

Wayne

Since video cameras do not have general purpose processors or use commonly available operating systems necessary for running applications. Their "software" is actually "firmware" that is burned onto a memory chip in the camera. So the first "kicker" is finding encryption software/firmware that will run on your video camera. I would start by contacting the manufacturer of the camera you will be using to see what, if anything, they have to offer or what they might charge for developing a custom encryption function for you.

Alternatively, you might use the camera built into a Mac computer or an iPad to capture the image. At that point there are any number of commercial and/or open source applications you could use to encrypt the data, which could then be copied onto an SD card or sent electronically to the data storage host. I have found my iPad to be very useful for "scanning" (photographing) text data images to store as files. There are also apps that will convert the "scanned" image into a searchable text format that would probably be very useful in your application.

I'd agree with mike, you're not going to find anything (not even computer) that will have the first save point encrypted. Not even on a computer. (raw video import to a computer will still likely be in a raw video file format, from which you can then Save As to another format, possibly encrypted if it has the capability)

If HIPPA standards require it to always be encrypted, there may not be a cheap solution available. For example, if you've been using a mbp to record and save directly to some encrypted format, and it gets stolen, someone with the means may salvage the raws (long since deleted) from the hdd.

edit.... I was thinking, the SD card standard does allow for protected storage. The "S" stands for "Secure". But I've never actually ever seen anything that uses it in such a way... which is really quite surprising. The data ON the card may not be encrypted, but the SD card itself may be protected by an unlocking method via software installed on a computer, that can be securely stored by a digital video camera that supports the securing of an SD card? Anyone seen that anywhere?