Personal Identification Combining Proximity Sensing with Biometrics

Abstract

Described is a technology by which the identity of a person (e.g., a customer in a commercial transaction) is determinable without active identification effort, via biometric data is obtained without action by the person. Machine processing of the biometric data over a set of possible persons, determined from secondary proximity sensing, is used to determine or assist in determining the identity of the person.

1 .- 20 . (canceled) 
     
     
         21 . A method comprising:
 obtaining, by a processing mechanism, proximity data from a proximity sensor, the proximity sensor configured to sense the proximity data from a proximity device associated with a user;   obtaining biometric data associated with the user from a biometric sensor;   performing machine recognition that evaluates the sensed biometric data against stored biometric data for the user associated with the proximity device; and   providing an authentication result based on the evaluation.   
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein obtaining the proximity data and the biometric data comprises receiving at least one communication from a requesting entity, and further comprising:
 returning the authentication result to the requesting entity.   
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 22 , wherein the authentication result is used in a commercial transaction. 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the authentication result is used to obtain personalization information. 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the sensed biometric data corresponds to a fingerprint reading. 
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the sensed biometric data corresponds to a sequence of frames of a video clip. 
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the sensed biometric data corresponds to an audio capture of a voice. 
     
     
         28 . A system for user authentication, the system comprising:
 a memory; and   a processing mechanism coupled to the memory and configured to:
 obtain proximity data from a proximity sensor, the proximity sensor configured to sense the proximity data from a proximity device associated with a user; 
 obtain biometric data from a biometric sensor, the biometric data corresponding to a user associated with the proximity device; 
 evaluate the obtained proximity data and the obtained biometric data against stored biometric data for the user associated with the proximity device; and 
 provide an authentication result based on the evaluation. 
   
     
     
         29 . The system of  claim 28 , wherein obtaining the proximity data and obtaining the biometric data comprises receiving at least one communication from a requesting entity for identification information. 
     
     
         30 . The system of  claim 28 , wherein the authentication result is used in a commercial transaction. 
     
     
         31 . The system of  claim 28 , wherein the authentication result is used to obtain personalization information. 
     
     
         32 . The system of  claim 28 , wherein the obtained biometric data corresponds to a fingerprint reading. 
     
     
         33 . The system of  claim 28 , wherein the obtained biometric data corresponds to a sequence of frames of a video clip. 
     
     
         34 . The system of  claim 28 , wherein the obtained biometric data corresponds to an audio capture of a voice. 
     
     
         35 . A mobile device, comprising:
 a memory;   a processor communicatively coupled to the memory and configured to:
 receive an identity request from a vendor system; 
 provide a device identifier to the vendor system; 
 receive an authentication request based on the device identifier; 
 receive biometric data via a biometric sensor; and 
 return an authentication result to the vendor system based on an evaluation of the received biometric data against stored biometric data. 
   
     
     
         36 . The mobile device of  claim 35 , wherein the device identifier is encrypted via an encryption scheme. 
     
     
         37 . The mobile device of  claim 35 , wherein the device identifier is provided as encrypted identification data in response to the identity request, the identity request including a random identifier provided by the mobile device in an advertisement phase. 
     
     
         38 . The mobile device of  claim 35 , wherein the received biometric data includes at least one of captured face data, captured iris data, captured retina data, captured voice data, or captured fingerprint data. 
     
     
         39 . The mobile device of  claim 35 , wherein the received biometric data includes video frames, and wherein an identification service is configured to receive the received biometric data corresponding to the video frames and identifying information corresponding to the device identifier, and to provide the video frames and the identifying information to a plurality of computers, the identifying information providing a candidate person having stored biometric data, the plurality of computers configured to perform face recognition using a subset of the video frames and the stored biometric data, the identification service returning the face recognition result to the processor as part of the authentication result. 
     
     
         40 . The mobile device of  claim 35 , wherein the device identifier is broadcast via at least one of short-range wireless communication, near field communication, radio frequency identification, local area wireless computer networking communication, or global positioning system communication. 
     
     
         41 . (canceled)