Method and system to authenticate an object

Abstract

The system and methods disclosed herein validate the authenticity of a document and an individual's claimed identity. The system and method use a validation facility that is configurable to compare and match characteristics of biometric and non-biometric data presented by an individual with biometric and non-biometric data received from a request to a database or file system holding such information. The determination on the matching characteristics of the data can occur in completely automated fashion without intervention from the user, but user intervention is also possible allowing the user to review and override certain data discrepancies. The validation facility provides a user interface for use by a user to review a determination on the data analysis and instruct the validation facility to override that determination if the user determines the cause of the identity verification failure is within an acceptable criterion.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method for authenticating an individual, the method comprising:
 receiving personal information from the individual;   receiving an indication of an environment or setting in which the authentication is to be performed;   querying a first database holding biometric information;   querying a second database holding non-biometric information; and   using an authentication methodology to determine authenticity of the individual based on an analysis of the personal information, a response to the query of the first database, and a response to the query of the second database, the authentication methodology selected based on one or more inferences made based on the environment or setting in which the authentication is to be performed;   wherein the analysis is performed on a plurality of data categories, the data categories including types of data about the individual or criteria that the individual must satisfy for authentication,   wherein the analysis identifies for each of the plurality of data categories a result having at least two states, and   wherein the analysis determines for each of the plurality of data categories a validation confidence score, the validation confidence score for each data category representing a level of certainty that data associated with the data category is true.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 querying a third database holding non-biometric information; and   determining authenticity of the individual based on an analysis of the personal information, a response to the query of the first database, a response to the query of the second database, and a response to the query of the third database.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the determining of authenticity of the individual is performed in real-time fashion. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the determining of authenticity of the individual is performed in batch fashion. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the analysis of the personal information, a response to the query of the first database, and a response to the query of the second database includes an analysis of information received from the individual, information from the first database, and information from the second database. 
     
     
         6 . A method for authenticating an individual, the method comprising:
 receiving personal information of an individual;   receiving biometric information of the individual;   receiving an indication of an environment or setting in which the authentication is to be performed;   requesting an analysis of the personal information and the biometric related information to authenticate the individual, the analysis using an authentication methodology selected based on one or more inferences made based on the environment or setting in which the authentication is to be performed; and   receiving a result of the analysis performed on the personal information and the biometric related information using the selected authentication methodology, the result providing a determination on the authenticity of the individual.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , further comprising:
 receiving a document from the individual, the document providing identity information of the individual; and   determining if the document is a valid document.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 6 , further comprising:
 displaying a representation of the result of the analysis.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the result has two or more states. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the analysis is performed on a plurality of data categories. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the plurality of data categories are selected from at least one of biometric data, transaction data, itinerary data, biographic data, demographic data, or watchlist data for identifying undesirable individuals. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the analysis provides the result fur each of the plurality data categories. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 6 , further comprising:
 providing an audio representation of the result.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 6 , further comprising:
 saving at least one of the analyses or the result in a data structure.   
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 6 , further comprising:
 creating a profile for the individual.   
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the profile comprises an identity profile for the individual indicating whether the individual is entitled to the identity. 
     
     
         17 . A computer readable storage medium holding computer executable instructions for performing a method for authenticating an individual, the method comprising:
 receiving personal information from the individual,   receiving an indication of an environment or setting in which the authentication is to be performed;   querying a first database holding biometric information;   querying a second database holding non-biometric information; and   using an authentication methodology to determine authenticity of the individual based on analysis of the personal information, a response to the query of the first database, and a response to the query of the second database, the authentication methodology selected based on one or more inferences made based on the environment or setting in which the authentication is to be performed;   wherein the analysis identifies a plurality of data categories on which to perform the analysis, the data categories including types of data about the individual or criteria that the individual must satisfy for authentication,   wherein the analysis identifies for each of the plurality of data categories a result having at least two states, and   wherein the analysis determines for each of the plurality of data categories a validation confidence score, the validation confidence score for each data category representing a level of certainty that data associated with the data category is true.   
     
     
         18 . The medium of  claim 17 , wherein the method further comprises:
 querying a third database holding non-biometric information; and   determining authenticity of the individual based on analysis of the personal information, a response to the query of the first database, a response to the query of the second database, and a response to the query of the third database.   
     
     
         19 . The medium of  claim 17 , wherein the determining of authenticity of the individual is performed in real-time fashion. 
     
     
         20 . The medium of  claim 17 , wherein the determining of authenticity of the individual is performed in batch fashion. 
     
     
         21 . The medium of  claim 17 , wherein the analysis of the personal information, a response to the query of the first database, and a response to the query of the second database includes an analysis of information received from the individual, information from the first database, and information from the second database. 
     
     
         22 . The medium of  claim 17 , wherein the analysis of the personal information, the response to the query of the first database, and the response to the query of the second database includes a rule based analysis of at least one of the personal information, the response to the query of the first database or the response to the query of the second database, wherein the rule based analysis has access to a set of rules that define acceptable data conditions, unacceptable data conditions, and data conditions that require taking an action to notify a party interested in the authenticity the individual. 
     
     
         23 . A computer readable storage medium holding computer executable instructions for performing a method in a proofing system to authenticate an individual, the method comprising:
 receiving personal information of an individual;   receiving biometric information of the individual;   receiving an indication of an environment or setting in which the authentication is to be performed;   requesting an analysis of the personal information and the biometric related information to authenticate the individual, the analysis using an authentication methodology selected based on one or more inferences made based on the environment or setting in which the authentication is to be performed; and   receiving a result of the analysis performed on the personal information and the biometric related information using the selected authentication methodology, the result providing a determination on the authenticity of the individual.   
     
     
         24 . The medium of  claim 23 , wherein the method further comprises:
 receiving a document from the individual, the document providing identity information of the individual; and   determining if the document is a valid document.   
     
     
         25 . The medium of  claim 23 , wherein the method further comprises:
 displaying a representation of the result of the analysis.   
     
     
         26 . The medium of  claim 23 , wherein the result has two or more states. 
     
     
         27 . The medium of  claim 23 , wherein the analysis is performed on a plurality of data categories. 
     
     
         28 . The medium of  claim 27 , wherein the plurality of data categories are selected from at least one of biometric data, transaction data, itinerary data, biographic data, demographic data, or watchlist data for identifying undesirable individuals. 
     
     
         29 . The medium of  claim 27 , wherein the analysis provides the result for each of the plurality data categories. 
     
     
         30 . The medium of  claim 23 , wherein the method further comprises:
 providing an audio representation of the result.   
     
     
         31 . The medium of  claim 23 , wherein the method further comprises:
 saving at least one of the analyses or the result in a data structure.   
     
     
         32 . The medium of  claim 23 , wherein the method further comprises: creating a profile for the individual. 
     
     
         33 . The medium of  claim 23 , wherein the profile comprises an identity profile for the individual indicating whether the individual is entitled to the identity.