The invention relates generally to a biometric verification system, and more specifically to a method and system for authenticating a user's identity.
The present invention generally pertains to identity verification systems. More specifically, the present invention pertains to biometric security systems that provide an enhanced defense against fraudulent use of an individual's identity to complete a transaction.
Within a typical biometric security system, there are at least two operations, enrollment and verification. The operation of enrollment encompasses the original sampling of a person's biographic and biometric information, confirmation of the identity and its owner, and the creation and storage of a biometric template associated with the identity (a.k.a., an enrollment template) that is a data representation of the original sampling. The operation of verification includes an invocation of a biometric sample for the identification of a system user through comparison of a data representation of the biometric sample with one or more stored enrollment templates.
Biometric information is, by nature, reasonably public knowledge. A person's biometric data is often casually left behind or is easily seen and captured. This is true for all forms of biometric data including, but not limited to, fingerprints, iris features, facial features, and voice information. As an example, consider two friends meeting. The one friend recognizes the other by their face and other visible key characteristics. That information is public knowledge. However, a photo of that same person ‘is’ not that person. This issue similarly applies, electronically, to computer-based biometric authentication wherein a copy of authorized biometric information is susceptible to being submitted as a representation of the corresponding original information. In the context of biometric security applications, what is important, what enables a secure verification is a unique and trusted invocation of an authorized biometrics.
The purpose and advantages of the invention will be set forth in and apparent from the description that follows. Additional advantages of the invention will be realized and attained by the devices, systems and methods particularly pointed out in the written description and claims hereof, as well as from the appended drawings.
To achieve these and other advantages and in accordance with the purpose of the invention, as embodied, the invention includes in one aspect a computer-implemented method for verifying the identity of a user in an identity authentication and biometric verification system. The method includes collecting information from the user regarding the user's identity (such as a passport), which is then electronically authenticated. Upon authentication, personal information regarding the verified identity of the user is retrieved from a source database, which is used to verify the user, via user interaction. Upon successful verification and authentication, biometric data regarding the user is electronically collected and matched to the personal information retrieved from the source database. Another aspect of the invention may include the functionality to perform scoring or qualification screening as well as providing a user with a token on a smart card device or via a cardless system.
In a further illustrated aspect of the invention, provided is an authentication and biometric verification system adapted to electronically couple to at least one electronic source database for authenticating the identity of a user. The system preferably includes a central processing system configured to receive information regarding the identity of a user and verifying the identity of the user based upon the received information. Upon successful verification, the central processing system is further configured to retrieve from at least one electronic source database information relating to the user verified identity to authenticate a user's identity via interaction with the user applicant. Further provided is a biometric collection device electronically coupled to the central processing system adapted and configured to collect biometric data from a user applicant upon successful authentication of the user applicant. A payload processor component is further preferably provided and electronically coupled to the central processing system adapted and configured to convert the collected user applicant biometric information into an electronic payload.
The objects and features of the invention can be understood with reference to the following detailed description of an illustrative embodiment of the present invention taken together in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:
The present invention is now described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which an illustrated embodiment of the present invention is shown. The present invention is not limited in any way to the illustrated embodiment as the illustrated embodiment described below is merely exemplary of the invention, which can be embodied in various forms, as appreciated by one skilled in the art. Therefore, it is to be understood that any structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a basis for the claims and as a representative for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the present invention. Furthermore, the terms and phrases used herein are not intended to be limiting but rather to provide an understandable description of the invention.
It is to be appreciated that the embodiments of this invention as discussed below preferably include software algorithms, programs, and/or code residing on computer useable medium having control logic for enabling execution on a machine having a computer processor. The machine typically includes memory storage configured to provide output from execution of the computer algorithm or program. Where a range of values is provided, it is understood that each intervening value, to the tenth of the unit of the lower limit unless the context clearly dictates otherwise, between the upper and lower limit of that range and any other stated or intervening value in that stated range is encompassed within the invention. The upper and lower limits of these smaller ranges is also encompassed within the invention, subject to any specifically excluded limit in the stated range. Where the stated range includes one or both of the limits, ranges excluding either or both of those included limits are also included in the invention.
Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. Although any methods and materials similar or equivalent to those described herein can also be used in the practice or testing of the present invention, exemplary methods and materials are now described. All publications mentioned herein are incorporated herein by reference to disclose and describe the methods and/or materials in connection with which the publications are cited.
It must be, noted that as used herein and in the appended claims, the singular forms “a”, “an,” and “the” include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Thus, for example, reference to “a stimulus” includes a plurality of such stimuli and reference to “the signal” includes reference to one or more signals and equivalents thereof known to those skilled in the art, and so forth.
Turning now descriptively to the drawings, in which similar reference characters denote similar elements throughout the several views,
A generalized computing embodiment in which the present invention can be realized is depicted in
In use, the processing system 100 is adapted to allow data or information to be stored in and/or retrieved from, via wired or wireless communication means, at least one database 116. The interface 112 may allow wired and/or wireless communication between the processing unit 102 and peripheral components that may serve a specialized purpose. Preferably, the processor 102 receives instructions as input data 118 via input device 106 and can display processed results or other output to a user by utilizing output device 108. More than one input device 106 and/or output device 108 can be provided. It should be appreciated that the processing system 100 may be any fonts of terminal, server, specialized hardware, or the like.
It is to be appreciated that the processing system 100 may be a part of a networked communications system. Processing system 100 could connect to a network, for example the Internet or a WAN. Input data 118 and output data 120 could be communicated to other devices via the network. The transfer of information and/or data over the network can be achieved using wired communications means or wireless communications means. A server can facilitate the transfer of data between the network and one or more databases. A server and one or more databases provide an example of an information source.
Thus, the processing system 100 illustrated in
It is to be further appreciated that the logical connections depicted in
In the description that follows, certain embodiments may be described with reference to acts and symbolic representations of operations that are performed by one or more computing devices, such as the processing system 100 of
Embodiments may be implemented with numerous other general-purpose or special-purpose computing devices and computing system environments or configurations. Examples of well-known computing systems, environments, and configurations that may be suitable for use with an embodiment include, but are not limited to, personal computers, handheld or laptop devices, tablet devices, personal digital assistants, multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based systems, set. top boxes, programmable consumer electronics, network, minicomputers, server computers, game server computers, web server computers, mainframe computers, and distributed computing environments that include any of the above systems or devices.
Embodiments may be described in a general context of computer-executable instructions, such as program modules, being executed by a computer, Generally, program modules include routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, etc., that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. An embodiment may also be practiced in a distributed computing environment 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 storage. media including memory storage devices.
With the exemplary processing system 100 of
In accordance with the illustrated embodiment of
Central processing system 210 is electronically coupled to a payload processor system 220, a card production system 230 and member management system 240, each preferably encompassing components of processing system 100. Briefly, payload processor system 220 is operative and configured to convert user 290 biographic and biometric information into an electronic payload that can be loaded onto a smart card or other identity confirmation token for use in verification processes. Card production system 230 is operative and configured to create smart cards or other tokens containing the user 290 payload. And member management system 240 is operative and configured to manage user 290 information and transactions such as biographic data updates (change of address, phone number, email, etc.) as well as billing information and transactions. The member management system 240 may also provide information regarding usage and benefits.
It is to be appreciated and understood by one skilled in the art, the central processing system 210 is configured and operative to transmit data with each of the payload processor system 220, the card production system 230 and member management system 24. through any known suitable means. In the illustrated embodiment of
In accordance with the illustrated embodiment of
It is to be appreciated and understood by one skilled in the art, each kiosk 250 electronically communicates with the central processing system 210 using any known and suitable secure electronic method. In the illustrated embodiment of
To aid the enrollment process, system 200 is further configured and operative to couple to third-party computering devices 260 accessible by a user 290 for enrollment purposes, as further explained below. It is to be appreciated and understood by one skilled in the art, each third party computering device 260 (e.g., a desktop or laptop computer, tablet device, smart phone, etc.) electronically communicates with the member management system 240 using any known and suitable secure electronic method. In the illustrated embodiment of
It is to be appreciated and understood system 200 is preferably operative and configured to maintain remote monitoring capability of its field located kiosks 250 whereby monitoring and measuring of system performance and metrics will provide the information necessary for system 200 to continually evaluate the performance and effectiveness of all components of system 200. It is to be further appreciated and understood, data relating to an applicant, member, and/or potential member 290 is not to be stored locally at a kiosk 250. That is, no personally identifiable information is stored in kiosks 250 or any other field storage devices associated with system 200 (e.g., laptops). Additionally, it is to be understood and appreciated, system 200 utilizes the aforesaid encryption such as SFTP, SSL, and VPN connections, along with protection by Firewalls, to ensure the security of data in system 200.
With the system 200 in accordance with the illustrated embodiments of
Starting at step 310, a user first preferably provides the appropriate enrollment payment information and user background/demographic information to system 200. This information is preferably input to the member management system 240. It is to be appreciated this information may be input to the member management system 240 from a user, via a user computering device 260 or a system kiosk 250 as illustrated in
Next, at step 320 the member management system 240 is configured and operative to store the aforesaid user payment and billing information along with the user's background and demographic information necessary for membership information and verification purposes. The remaining portion of the user 290 input information from step 310 is preferably transmitted to the central processing system 210. it is also to be appreciated that if a kiosk 250 is used for user enrollment purposes, the user's 290 input enrollment information is preferably transmitted to the central processing system 210, which in turns sends user billing/payment information and other appropriate membership information to the member management system 240 for storage therein.
Next, to complete the enrollment process, a user 290 is preferably present at a kiosk 250 (or user computering device 260) whereby the central processing system 210 is configured and operative to send user demographic information to the kiosk 250 the user 290 is present at, preferably in real-time, so as to be authenticated by a user 290 preferably in the presence of a system attendant for user authentication (step 330). That is, this is the process whereby the user's identity is authenticated via data collected from external sources such as a passport, driver's license (and the like) and the successful completion of answers to questions which are specific to the user 290, as set forth above. Upon such user authentication, the kiosk 250 is preferably configured and operative to scan and authorize certain user documentation to authenticate the user 290 (step 330). For instance, each kiosk 250 may be configured and operative to only accept those forms of identification that Benefit Providers such as the TSA has deemed acceptable and that can be authenticated. As an additional measure of security for verifying the identity of an enrolling user 290, system 200 is configured and operative to perform an authentication user test (step 330). As mentioned above, once the identity of the user applicant is authenticated (step 320), the central processing system 210 is preferably adapted and configured to communicate with a remote third party data source (e.g., LEXISNEXIS®) to retrieve data relevant and personal to the verified identity of the user 290. This data (e.g., the amount of a mortgage or automobile payment), is used by central processing system 210 to authenticate the user 290 so as to mitigate any instance of identity theft, as now discussed below.
In a preferred embodiment, the aforesaid retrieved authenticating data is utilized by system 200 to formulate a quiz/test using the aforesaid retrieved authenticating data (e.g., the amount of a mortgage payment). It is to be appreciated and understood the functionality of the aforesaid authentication user test (step 330) is to strengthen the individual authentication and enrollment requirements and further decrease an imposter's ability to enroll under an alias. For instance, a question presented may be the amount of the user's monthly mortgage payment and/or identify the most recent user employers. Thus, with regards to the aforementioned authentication user test (step 330), system 200 has incorporated an additional step in the secure member enrollment process. That is, system 200 has made the successful “in-person” completion of an identity authentication test, (i.e., a personalized questionnaire populated by commercially available data) as an additional eligibility requirement. In one embodiment, the identity authentication test consists of posing applicants randomized questions plus an auxiliary question. To successfully complete the quiz, an applicant user 290 preferably answers a predetermined number of questions correctly during a limited time period while being observed by an enrollment specialist. If an applicant/user 290 does not properly respond to the randomized questions and successfully complete the quiz, the applicant/user 290 is preferably not permitted to complete the enrollment process.
Upon the successful authentication of the applicant user's 290 identity documents and the passing of the aforesaid identity authentication test (step 330), each kiosk 250 is additionally preferably configured and operative to collect user biometric information (e.g., fingerprints, retain/iris scan, facial image, voice and the like) (step 340).
The collected applicant/user 290 biometric information (step 340) is provided to the payload processor system 220 (step 360). Which payload processor system 220 formats a user 290 biometric template based upon the user's collected biometric information (step 340) which is then sent to the central processing system 210 (step 350). The user 290 biometric template is then preferably sent from the central processing system 210 to the card production system 230 which produces a user identification token such as a smartcard having embedded or links to user biometric and biographic information using any known means (smart chip, magnetically or optically encoded information and the like) (step 360). The user identification token may then be issued to a user 290 for use thereof (step 370). It is to be understood and appreciated the invention is not to be understood to be limited to the use of such a user issued token residing on a smart card or like device but rather encompass matching a user's retrieved biometric inhumation with that previously stored in system 200.
With reference now to
As used herein, the term “software” is meant to be synonymous with any code or program that can be in a processor of a host computer, regardless of whether the implementation is in hardware, firmware or as a software computer product available on a disc, a memory storage device, or for download from a remote machine. The embodiments described herein include such software to implement the equations, relationships and algorithms described above. One skilled in the art will appreciate further features and advantages of the invention based on the above-described embodiments. Accordingly, the invention is not to be limited by what has been particularly shown and described, except as indicated by the appended claims. All publications and references cited herein are expressly incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
Optional embodiments of the present invention may also be said to broadly consist in the parts, elements and features referred to or indicated herein, individually or collectively, in any or all combinations of two or more of the parts, elements or features, and wherein specific integers are mentioned herein which have known equivalents in the art to which the invention relates, such known equivalents are deemed to be incorporated herein as if individually set forth. For instance, while the above illustrated embodiments make reference to a user token dedicated for use of a user's identification in an airport environment, other embodiments encompass using a token dedicated for another purpose such as a credit or debit card which incorporates the biometric authentication features mentioned above, along with the aforesaid secure enrollment process (
The above presents a description of a best mode contemplated for carrying out the present invention identity authentication and biometric verification system and method, and of the manner and process of making and using the identity authentication and biometric verification system and method, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use these devices and methods. The present invention identity authentication and biometric verification system and method is, however, susceptible to modifications and alternative method steps from those discussed above that are fully equivalent. Consequently, the present invention identity authentication and biometric verification system and method is not limited to the particular embodiments disclosed. On the contrary, the present invention identity authentication and biometric verification system and method encompasses all modifications and alternative constructions and methods coming within the spirit and scope of the present invention.
The descriptions above and the accompanying drawings should be interpreted in the illustrative and not the limited sense. While the invention has been disclosed in connection with the preferred embodiment or embodiments thereof, it should be understood that there may be other embodiments which fall within the. scope of the invention as defined by the following claims. Where a claim, if any, is expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function, it is intended that such claim be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof, including both structural equivalents and equivalent structures, material-based equivalents and equivalent materials, and act-based equivalents and equivalent acts.
This application is a continuation patent application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/204,944, filed Mar. 18, 2021 and titled “System and Method for User Enrollment in a Secure Biometric Verification System,” which is a continuation patent application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/875,941, filed Jan. 19, 2018 and titled “System and Method for User Enrollment in a Secure Biometric Verification System,” now U.S. Pat. No. 11,144,623, which is a continuation patent application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/634,691, filed Jun. 27, 2017 and titled “System and Method for User Enrollment in a Secure Biometric Verification System,” now U.S. Pat. No. 10,102,363, which is a continuation patent application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/127,103, filed May 16, 2014 and titled “System and Method for User Enrollment in a Secure Biometric Verification System,” now U.S. Pat. No. 9,721,078, which claims priority to PCT Patent Application No. PCT/US2012/037983, filed May 15, 2012 and titled System and Method for User Enrollment in a Secure Biometric Verification System,” which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/502,453, filed Jun. 29, 2011 and titled “System and Method for User Enrollment in a Secure Biometric Verification System,” the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.
Number | Date | Country | |
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61502453 | Jun 2011 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 17204944 | Mar 2021 | US |
Child | 18220563 | US | |
Parent | 15875941 | Jan 2018 | US |
Child | 17204944 | US | |
Parent | 15634691 | Jun 2017 | US |
Child | 15875941 | US | |
Parent | 14127103 | May 2014 | US |
Child | 15634691 | US |