Patent Application
20090171850
One of the fundamental principles of a free market economy is that resources (e.g., products, services, money, etc.) will tend to be redistributed by voluntary transactions in a manner that maximizes wealth and/or utility to all parties involved in the transactions. For example, the price paid for a particular resource in a voluntary transaction is representative of the value of that resource to each party. Thus, monetary transactions provide a common measuring stick for comparing the relative values that different persons attach to particular resources. As such there is a natural tendency for competition between both buyers and sellers to efficiently allocate the resources and create markets that can be measured and analyzed in terms of money.
Of course different individuals will prioritize the value of resources in different ways. For example, one individual may favor higher quality while another favors lower cost, e.g., automobiles vary widely in price and quality, but ultimately, voluntary transactions between the buyer and the seller will ensure markets work efficiently from the perspectives of both supply and demand because all resources will tend to go where they are most highly valued.
Transaction authentication has become increasingly important as consumers and businesses alike engage in transactions relying on electronic communication of data. There are various transaction authentication practices that are currently deployed that rely on data encryption (both public and private key encryption), encoding, and one or more trust models. Establishing trust between a customer, merchant, and transaction processor (e.g., bank, credit card company, credit union, broker, etc.) is vital to reliable and successful transaction authentication.
Various trust modalities have been deployed to represent and execute on trust models including credit cards, debit cards, online user ids and passwords (e.g., for use in e-commerce transaction authentication), digital wallets (e.g., hardware and software solutions), and biometric transaction authentication. The commonality among trust models is the ability to confirm (with some degree of accuracy and reliability) that the consumer is authorized and allowed (i.e., having sufficient credit or funds) by the transaction processor/backer to use the trust modality (e.g., credit card, debit card) to consummate a transaction with the merchant.
In days of yore, trust was more easily established between consumers and merchants where consumers would establish “tabs” with the local merchants and the merchants would bill out to the consumers on a periodic basis to reconcile their tab. Familiarity of person is how trust is established with such practice. Stated differently, the butcher knows the Smith family and provided them with a “tab”. The butcher also knows that the Smith family has three sons, Johnny, Billy, and Frank. In the instance Mrs. Smith sends Johnny to the butcher to pick up some steak for dinner, the butcher based on the trust established by familiarity of person would provide the steaks to Johnny and put the appropriate charge on the Smith account.
The “tab” trust model is more difficult to implement in today's marketplace given the lack of familiarity between merchants and consumers, and more importantly, the inability of current practices to provide a reliable, efficient, and electronic mechanism/process to establish and authenticate such familiarity. Instead, merchants rely on other trust models to ensure that the consumer is capable of paying for the purchased product/service (e.g., cash, credit card, debit card, check, etc.). With current practices, the “tab” trust model is not easily deployed.
From the foregoing it is appreciated that there exists a need for systems and methods to ameliorate the shortcomings of existing practices.
This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description. This Summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter.
The subject matter described herein allows for systems and methods to perform transaction authentication using video. In an illustrative implementation, a computing environment comprises a video transaction authentication engine and an instruction set comprising at least one instruction to the video transaction authentication to process, store, manage, and monitor data representative of video transaction authentication requests to generate data representative of an transaction authentication or transaction authentication denial.
In an illustrative operation, a consumer provides video data representative of the consumer's person (e.g., a video of the consumer's face) to the video transaction authentication engine for storage as well as other identification data including but not limited to personal identification data and account data. The received video and other input data can be associated with the consumer to generate a profile and/or account for use in transaction authentication. In the illustrative operation a transaction processor (e.g., bank, credit card company, etc.) can cooperate with the video transaction authentication engine to provide video transaction authentication trust to the consumer to allow the consumer to participate in one or more transactions. In the illustrative operation, a merchant responsive to a request to transact (e.g., purchase a product and/or service) by a consumer, having been provided video transaction authentication trust, can request authentication of the transaction by requesting video of the consumer to the video transaction processing authentication engine as part of a request of transaction authentication.
In the illustrative operation, responsive to the request for video transaction authentication, video transaction authentication engine can process the received request and provide a trust capsule back to the merchant which can comprise various authentication data comprising video data of consumer and other associated personal and/or account data of the consumer. In the illustrative operation, the merchant can compare the received trust capsule with the consumer's presence and/or data provided by the consumer (i.e., compare the received video data of the consumer with the consumer's appearance) to allow the transaction. Further, in the illustrative operation, the merchant can capture video data of the consumer (e.g., via an illustrative electronic video capture mechanism or device) for storage.
The following description and the annexed drawings set forth in detail certain illustrative aspects of the subject matter. These aspects are indicative, however, of but a few of the various ways in which the subject matter can be employed and the claimed subject matter is intended to include all such aspects and their equivalents.
The claimed subject matter is now described with reference to the drawings, wherein like reference numerals are used to refer to like elements throughout. In the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the claimed subject matter. It may be evident, however, that the claimed subject matter may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known structures and devices are shown in block diagram form in order to facilitate describing the claimed subject matter.
As used in this application, the word “exemplary” is used herein to mean serving as an example, instance, or illustration. Any aspect or design described herein as “exemplary” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other aspects or designs. Rather, use of the word exemplary is intended to present concepts in a concrete fashion.
Additionally, the term “or” is intended to mean an inclusive “or” rather than an exclusive “or”. That is, unless specified otherwise, or clear from context, “X employs A or B” is intended to mean any of the natural inclusive permutations. That is, if X employs A; X employs B; or X employs both A and B, then “X employs A or B” is satisfied under any of the foregoing instances. In addition, the articles “a” and “an” as used in this application and the appended claims should generally be construed to mean “one or more” unless specified otherwise or clear from context to be directed to a singular form.
Moreover, the terms “system,” “component,” “module,” “interface,”, “model” or the like are generally intended to refer to a computer-related entity, either hardware, a combination of hardware and software, software, or software in execution. For example, a component may be, but is not limited to being, a process running on a processor, a processor, an object, an executable, a thread of execution, a program, and/or a computer. By way of illustration, both an application running on a controller and the controller can be a component. One or more components may reside within a process and/or thread of execution and a component may be localized on one computer and/or distributed between two or more computers.
Although the subject matter described herein may be described in the context of illustrative illustrations to process one or more computing application features/operations for a computing application having user-interactive components the subject matter is not limited to these particular embodiments. Rather, the techniques described herein can be applied to any suitable type of user-interactive component execution management methods, systems, platforms, and/or apparatus.
In an illustrative operation, consumer 102 can electronically interact with transaction processor 106 to request trust be established between consumer 102 and transaction processor 106. Part in parcel in the request for trust, consumer 102 can electronically provide various data (i.e., data required by transaction processor 106 to process a request for trust) including video data of the consumer, personal information data, and/or account data (e.g., in the instance consumer 102 has an account with transaction processor). Responsive to the request to establish trust, transaction processor 106 can execute on a selected trust model (e.g., commonly deployed processes surrounding whether to provide credit to a user, whether to open a bank account, whether to allow for a margin account, etc.) to determine whether transaction authentication trust (e.g., including video transaction authentication) will be provided to consumer 102 by transaction processor 106. Illustratively, if trust is to be provided by transaction processor 106 to consumer 102, a trust capsule (not shown) can be created by the transaction processor which can comprise various consumer data including but not limited to video data of consumer 102 and personal/account data for consumer 102.
In the illustrative operation and as is shown in
In an illustrative operation, merchant 402 can process the trust capsule data to determine if the consumer at the point of sale is the same as presented in the trust capsule. Merchant 402 can determine whether to continue with the transaction based on this comparison. Further, in the illustrative operation, merchant 402 can capture video data for the consumer (e.g., with the consumer's consent) at the point of sale (e.g., using an electronic video data capture device/mechanism) for storage in temporary video data store 412. The stored captured video data can be used by merchant 402 and transaction processor 404 as part of a selected one or more transaction dispute process. In the illustrative implementation, the captured video of the consumer can comprise data representative of the consumer saying “It's a deal” (or some other confirmatory language). In the illustrative implementation, the captured video can be stored in temporary video data store 412 until the deadline (i.e., that can be imposed by transaction processor 404) has passed.
In an illustrative implementation, a video feed from the transaction processor 404 can be provided to a security officer (not shown) (local or geographically disparate from the consumer) according to a selected frequency (i.e., randomly to be able to identify impersonators and provide deterrence to would-be impersonators) as part of transaction authentication as it may be inconvenient (or socially unacceptable) for the merchant 402 to study the authenticated video while the consumer (not shown) is present. Further, in the illustrative implementation, merchant 402 can operatively look at one or more still pictures from the authenticated video so as to have more lead time to prevent a fraudulent transaction.
However, if the check at block 608 indicates that the consumer at the point of sale is the same as described by the received trust capsule data for the consumer as determined by the cooperating merchant, processing proceeds to block 612 where the transaction is authenticated. Processing then proceeds to block 614 where the transaction between the merchant and the consumer is completed.
The methods can be implemented by computer-executable instructions stored on one or more computer-readable media or conveyed by a signal of any suitable type. The methods can be implemented at least in part manually. The steps of the methods can be implemented by software or combinations of software and hardware and in any of the ways described above. The computer-executable instructions can be the same process executing on a single or a plurality of microprocessors or multiple processes executing on a single or a plurality of microprocessors. The methods can be repeated any number of times as needed and the steps of the methods can be performed in any suitable order.
The subject matter described herein can operate in the general context of computer-executable instructions, such as program modules, executed by one or more components. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, objects, data structures, etc., that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. Typically, the functionality of the program modules can be combined or distributed as desired. Although the description above relates generally to computer-executable instructions of a computer program that runs on a computer and/or computers, the user interfaces, methods and systems also can be implemented in combination with other program modules. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, components, data structures, etc. that perform particular tasks and/or implement particular abstract data types.
Moreover, the subject matter described herein can be practiced with most any suitable computer system configurations, including single-processor or multiprocessor computer systems, mini-computing devices, mainframe computers, personal computers, stand-alone computers, hand-held computing devices, wearable computing devices, microprocessor-based or programmable consumer electronics, and the like as well as distributed computing environments in which tasks are performed by remote processing devices that are linked through a communications network. In a distributed computing environment, program modules can be located in both local and remote memory storage devices. The methods and systems described herein can be embodied on a computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions as well as signals (e.g., electronic signals) manufactured to transmit such information, for instance, on a network.
Although the subject matter has been described in language specific to structural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the subject matter defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as example forms of implementing some of the claims.
It is, of course, not possible to describe every conceivable combination of components or methodologies that fall within the claimed subject matter, and many further combinations and permutations of the subject matter are possible. While a particular feature may have been disclosed with respect to only one of several implementations, such feature can be combined with one or more other features of the other implementations of the subject matter as may be desired and advantageous for any given or particular application.
Moreover, it is to be appreciated that various aspects as described herein can be implemented on portable computing devices (e.g., field medical device), and other aspects can be implemented across distributed computing platforms (e.g., remote medicine, or research applications). Likewise, various aspects as described herein can be implemented as a set of services (e.g., modeling, predicting, analytics, etc.).
Generally, program modules include routines, programs, components, data structures, etc., that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. Moreover, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the inventive methods can be practiced with other computer system configurations, including single-processor or multiprocessor computer systems, minicomputers, mainframe computers, as well as personal computers, hand-held computing devices, microprocessor-based or programmable consumer electronics, and the like, each of which can be operatively coupled to one or more associated devices.
The illustrated aspects of the specification may also be practiced in distributed computing environments where certain tasks are performed by remote processing devices that are linked through a communications network. In a distributed computing environment, program modules can be located in both local and remote memory storage devices.
A computer typically includes a variety of computer-readable media. Computer-readable media can be any available media that can be accessed by the computer and includes both volatile and nonvolatile media, removable and non-removable media. By way of example, and not limitation, computer-readable media can comprise computer storage media and communication media. Computer storage media includes volatile and nonvolatile, removable and non-removable media implemented in any method or technology for storage of information such as computer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules or other data. Computer storage media includes, but is not limited to, RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flash memory or other memory technology, CD-ROM, digital versatile disk (DVD) or other optical disk storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium which can be used to store the desired information and which can be accessed by the computer.
Communication media typically embodies computer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules or other data in a modulated data signal such as a carrier wave or other transport mechanism, and includes any information delivery media. The term “modulated data signal” means a signal that has one or more of its characteristics set or changed in such a manner as to encode information in the signal. By way of example, and not limitation, communication media includes wired media such as a wired network or direct-wired connection, and wireless media such as acoustic, RF, infrared and other wireless media. Combinations of the any of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.
More particularly, and referring to
The system bus 708 can be any of several types of bus structure that may further interconnect to a memory bus (with or without a memory controller), a peripheral bus, and a local bus using any of a variety of commercially available bus architectures. The system memory 706 includes read-only memory (ROM) 710 and random access memory (RAM) 712. A basic input/output system (BIOS) is stored in a non-volatile memory 710 such as ROM, EPROM, EEPROM, which BIOS contains the basic routines that help to transfer information between elements within the computer 702, such as during start-up. The RAM 712 can also include a high-speed RAM such as static RAM for caching data.
The computer 702 further includes an internal hard disk drive (HDD) 714 (e.g., EIDE, SATA), which internal hard disk drive 714 may also be configured for external use in a suitable chassis (not shown), a magnetic floppy disk drive (FDD) 716, (e.g., to read from or write to a removable diskette 718) and an optical disk drive 720, (e.g., reading a CD-ROM disk 722 or, to read from or write to other high capacity optical media such as the DVD). The hard disk drive 714, magnetic disk drive 716 and optical disk drive 720 can be connected to the system bus 708 by a hard disk drive interface 724, a magnetic disk drive interface 726 and an optical drive interface 728, respectively. The interface 724 for external drive implementations includes at least one or both of Universal Serial Bus (USB) and IEEE 1394 interface technologies. Other external drive connection technologies are within contemplation of the subject specification.
The drives and their associated computer-readable media provide nonvolatile storage of data, data structures, computer-executable instructions, and so forth. For the computer 702, the drives and media accommodate the storage of any data in a suitable digital format. Although the description of computer-readable media above refers to a HDD, a removable magnetic diskette, and a removable optical media such as a CD or DVD, it should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that other types of media which are readable by a computer, such as zip drives, magnetic cassettes, flash memory cards, cartridges, and the like, may also be used in the example operating environment, and further, that any such media may contain computer-executable instructions for performing the methods of the specification.
A number of program modules can be stored in the drives and RAM 712, including an operating system 730, one or more application programs 732, other program modules 734 and program data 736. All or portions of the operating system, applications, modules, and/or data can also be cached in the RAM 712. It is appreciated that the specification can be implemented with various commercially available operating systems or combinations of operating systems.
A user can enter commands and information into the computer 702 through one or more wired/wireless input devices, e.g., a keyboard 738 and a pointing device, such as a mouse 740. Other input devices (not shown) may include a microphone, an IR remote control, a joystick, a game pad, a stylus pen, touch screen, or the like. These and other input devices are often connected to the processing unit 704 through an input device interface 742 that is coupled to the system bus 708, but can be connected by other interfaces, such as a parallel port, an IEEE 1394 serial port, a game port, a USB port, an IR interface, etc.
A monitor 744 or other type of display device is also connected to the system bus 708 via an interface, such as a video adapter 746. In addition to the monitor 744, a computer typically includes other peripheral output devices (not shown), such as speakers, printers, etc.
The computer 702 may operate in a networked environment using logical connections via wired and/or wireless communications to one or more remote computers, such as a remote computer(s) 748. The remote computer(s) 748 can be a workstation, a server computer, a router, a personal computer, portable computer, microprocessor-based entertainment appliance, a peer device or other common network node, and typically includes many or all of the elements described relative to the computer 702, although, for purposes of brevity, only a memory/storage device 750 is illustrated. The logical connections depicted include wired/wireless connectivity to a local area network (LAN) 752 and/or larger networks, e.g., a wide area network (WAN) 754. Such LAN and WAN networking environments are commonplace in offices and companies, and facilitate enterprise-wide computer networks, such as intranets, all of which may connect to a global communications network, e.g., the Internet.
When used in a LAN networking environment, the computer 702 is connected to the local network 752 through a wired and/or wireless communication network interface or adapter 756. The adapter 756 may facilitate wired or wireless communication to the LAN 752, which may also include a wireless access point disposed thereon for communicating with the wireless adapter 756.
When used in a WAN networking environment, the computer 702 can include a modem 758, or is connected to a communications server on the WAN 754, or has other means for establishing communications over the WAN 754, such as by way of the Internet. The modem 758, which can be internal or external and a wired or wireless device, is connected to the system bus 708 via the serial port interface 742. In a networked environment, program modules depicted relative to the computer 702, or portions thereof, can be stored in the remote memory/storage device 750. It will be appreciated that the network connections shown are example and other means of establishing a communications link between the computers can be used.
The computer 702 is operable to communicate with any wireless devices or entities operatively disposed in wireless communication, e.g., a printer, scanner, desktop and/or portable computer, portable data assistant, communications satellite, any piece of equipment or location associated with a wirelessly detectable tag (e.g., a kiosk, news stand, restroom), and telephone. This includes at least Wi-Fi and Bluetooth™ wireless technologies. Thus, the communication can be a predefined structure as with a conventional network or simply an ad hoc communication between at least two devices.
Wi-Fi, or Wireless Fidelity, allows connection to the Internet from a couch at home, a bed in a hotel room, or a conference room at work, without wires. Wi-Fi is a wireless technology similar to that used in a cell phone that enables such devices, e.g., computers, to send and receive data indoors and out; anywhere within the range of a base station. Wi-Fi networks use radio technologies called IEEE 802.11 (a, b, g, etc.) to provide secure, reliable, fast wireless connectivity. A Wi-Fi network can be used to connect computers to each other, to the Internet, and to wired networks (which use IEEE 802.3 or Ethernet). Wi-Fi networks operate in the unlicensed 2.4 and 5 GHz radio bands, at an 11 Mbps (802.11a) or 54 Mbps (802.11b) data rate, for example, or with products that contain both bands (dual band), so the networks can provide real-world performance similar to the basic 10BaseT wired Ethernet networks used in many offices.
Referring now to
Communications can be facilitated via a wired (including optical fiber) and/or wireless technology. The client(s) 810 are operatively connected to one or more client data store(s) 840 that can be employed to store information local to the client(s) 810 (e.g., cookie(s) and/or associated contextual information). Similarly, the server(s) 820 are operatively connected to one or more server data store(s) 850 that can be employed to store information local to the servers 820.
What has been described above includes examples of the claimed subject matter. It is, of course, not possible to describe every conceivable combination of components or methodologies for purposes of describing the claimed subject matter, but one of ordinary skill in the art may recognize that many further combinations and permutations of the claimed subject matter are possible. Accordingly, the claimed subject matter is intended to embrace all such alterations, modifications and variations that fall within the spirit and scope of the appended claims. Furthermore, to the extent that the term “includes” is used in either the detailed description or the claims, such term is intended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the term “comprising” as “comprising” is interpreted when employed as a transitional word in a claim.
