Methods for secure enrollment and backup of personal identity credentials into electronic devices

Abstract

A method and system for securely enrolling personal identity credentials into personal identification devices. The system of the invention comprises the manufacturer of the device and an enrollment authority. The manufacturer is responsible for recording serial numbers or another unique identifier for each device that it produces, along with a self-generated public key for each device. The enrollment authority is recognized by the manufacturer or another suitable institution as capable of validating an individual before enrolling him into the device. The enrollment authority maintains and operates the appropriate equipment for enrollment, and provides its approval of the enrollment. The methods described herein discuss post-manufacturing, enrollment, backup, and recovery processes for the device.

We claim: 
     
         1 . A method, comprising:
 receiving at a personal identification device a public key before biometric data associated with enrollment is received;   sending an identifier from the personal identification device to a party based on the public key before biometric data associated with enrollment is received, the identifier being uniquely associated with the personal identification device;   receiving at the personal identification device a digital certificate from the party based on the identifier before biometric data associated with enrollment is received; and   disabling functionality within the personal identification device except that the personal identification device is in a wait state associated with future enrollment.