WO2002054340A1

WO2002054340A1 - Apparatus and methods for authenticating individuals by the way they stamp a seal

Info

Publication number: WO2002054340A1
Application number: PCT/US2002/000636
Authority: WO
Inventors: Michelle A. Lent
Original assignee: Stefaan De Schrijver, Incorporated
Priority date: 2001-01-08
Filing date: 2002-01-08
Publication date: 2002-07-11

Abstract

The present invention undeniably links the individual using the stamp (1000) to the electronic record of the sealing event. To that end the invention is comprised of an electronic means to process and record certain details of the usage of the stamp (1200), means for transmitting these data to a server computer, means for authenticating the user based on a comparison of these data with a template, and means for validating the usage of the stamp.

Description

APPARATUS AND METHODS FOR AUTHENTICATING INDIVIDUALS BY

THE WAY THEY STAMP A SEAL

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

(1) Field of the Invention

The invention relates to systems and methods for biometrically authenticating the identity of individuals by the way they position a seal on a surface with the help of a stamp. The system includes electronic means that in three dimensions measure the forces used to apposition the seal, and the angles at which they are exercised. All the biometric information regarding the individual is processed by a computer processor for verification with a preregistered template. The system then returns a probability of authentication, allowing applications to decide to accept or reject the identity of the individual appositioning the seal. Such apparatus and methods may be used for identifying individuals performing transactions, for providing electronic signatures, for providing electronic security in various applications requiring the linkage between the individual and the transaction, such as in electronic contracts and electronic payments. The apparatus and methods may also be used with the issuance of passports and other identifying documents or objects, thus providing the means of authenticating physical objects or documents.

(2) Description of the Prior Art

Today it is customary to position a seal on official documents or contracts. These seals identify the legal entity that signs the document. Examples are seals used for notarizing documents in the United States, or personal or corporate seals in Japan. Such seals can be used by anybody, since it is impossible to positively link the individual using the stamp to the identity legally associated with the stamp. In an electronic age where business is conducted over networks by people who do not know each other, credentialing is a major issue. Biometric systems exist that link individuals to the transactions they conduct. Most of these systems are not practical for credentialing. It is indeed not feasible to append an image of people's retina, iris, hand, face, voice or fingerprint to a document, because it is not possible for the individuals to recognize their own images. It is different for signatures and seals. They can easily be recognized. Biometric signature verification systems have been developed. One such is Cybersign®, that uses a tablet. Another such signature verification system is Smartpen® that allows signatures on regular paper.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

More particularly, the systems and methods described herein allow for the authentication of individuals by the way they append seals to documents. The seals can be corporate, governmental, professional, or private. They all have the function of appending an identity to a document. The seals thereby give the document the status of a contract, the seal playing the role of a formal credentialing of a signature. However it is at present not possible to know for sure whether the individual using the stamp to apposition the seal is in fact authorized to do so.

It is therefore the object of the present invention to undeniably link the individual using the stamp to the electronic record of the sealing event. To that end the invention is comprised of an electronic means to process and record certain details of the usage of the stamp, means for transmitting these data to a server computer, means for authenticating the user based on a comparison of these data with a template, and means for validating the usage of the stamp. The transmission can be wireless or wired. The server computer can be local or connected through a closed network or through an open network such as Internet. In particular the wireless connection can be local to a client station, or can be through cellular phone connections, personal digital assistants, or similar wireless communication means giving access to data networks. The wired or wireless connection makes use of the appropriate protocols such as WAP or TCP/IP. In one particular embodiment, the systems and methods described herein include a web site portal that allows a company to upload to the web site portal server all the software and data necessary to process the information collected from the usage of the stamp. The company may be a retailer selling goods. It may be a financial institution selling services over an automatic teller machine. It may be a government delivering social security documents or passports over a network operated by a postal service. It may be a brokerage house selling stock over a wireless telephone. In a further embodiment the systems described herein include mechanisms for collecting location information that may be associated with the stamp.

In any way the system that is the subject of this invention allows the usage of behavioral profiles or credentialing information to be combined with the results of the biometric measurement in order to create an authentication record and a Proof of Verification. All users of the stamp must make their profiles available to the operators described in the above illustrative embodiment. To that purpose the operating of the system must provide for the registration of such records.

All profiles regarding owners of the biometric seal must contain a pre-registered record of information such as follows: - An assumed identity including: name, address, telephone number, fax number, e- mail address, relation to the account holder, employer identification, date of birth, social security number, and the like.

- Static Biometric Data including one or a plurality of static biometric reference templates of fingerprint minutia, face patterns, seal image (from static reconstruction with tablets or form reconstruction through force dynamics) and the like.

- Dynamic Biometric Data including one or a plurality of static biometric reference templates for seal/stamp dynamics (such as three dimensional forces on the seal plate, three dimensional angles of the seal/stamp with a magnetic field, two dimensional angles of the seal/stamp with a gravitational field, forces on the shaft of the stamp/seal, accelerations of said shaft, motion in the air, up/down status, time dependencies of the foregoing leading to frequency measurements, as well as amplitude measurements).

Historic Behavior Data: of the biometric device as well as of the persons: where do they usually operate, what do they usually perform or purchase and the like. - Entitlements: determine the kind of transactions, the kind of goods, the level of credits, the kind of accesses a person in the system can have. - 'Links for Aggregation: what servers provide, receive or share information with the present server, and how to securely transfer the information.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A more complete understanding of the invention and many of the attendant advantages thereto will be readily appreciated as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to like parts and wherein:

Figure 1 depicts in more detail a biometric electronic seal/stamp.

DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATED EMBODIMENTS

The biometric/seal stamp 1000 consists of a shaft 1100 that contains a combination of - Sensor means for the identification of the user of the biometric seal/stamp such as fingerprint devices 1111, face recognition cameras 1112, voice recognition devices 1113. Sensor means for measuring forces in three dimensions 1102 on the seal plate 1101, three dimensional angles of the seal/stamp with a magnetic field 1104, two dimensional angles of the seal/stamp with a gravitational field 1105, forces on the shaft of the stamp/seal 1106, accelerations of said shaft 1107, motion in the air 1108, up/down status 1109, time dependencies of the foregoing leading to frequency measurements, as well as amplitude measurements. - Electronic processing means 1200 to collect data from the sensors, encrypt, encode, decode, transmit, receive, and otherwise process the data measured by the biometric seal/stamp.

The invention also provides for an appropriate communication means between the biometric seal/stamp and a processing station whether local (such as a telephone or computer) or remote (such as a wireless portal). Said communication means can be for short or for long distances. For short distances the may be RF such as BlueTooth or instrumentation band, or wired such as a UART, or Infrared such as iRDA or ultrasound. For long distances they may conform to digital telephony standards as used in cellular phones (such as CDMA, DOCOMO, WAP and other).

The invention provides for the appropriate interfaces with static and dynamic biometric authentication systems and credentialing and security systems as known in the art.

To provide an overall understanding of the invention, certain illustrative embodiments will now be described; however, it will be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art that the systems described herein can be adapted and modified to provide systems for other suitable applications and that other additions and modifications can be made to the invention without departing from the scope hereof.

For example the biometric seal/stamp can contain wireless telephone capabilities, or programmable wireless phone capabilities. It may contain removable SIMM cards that carry identifying information. It may contain programmable devices and memory, the contact of which can be wirelessly or by wire transferred to a receiving system. Such a programmable device may conform to the Wireless Application Protocol, or similar wireless telephony protocol. A user having such a wireless device may roam into a geographic location, such as another part of the country, that the user is unfamiliar with. Employing the systems described herein, local merchants may access a WAP portal and download from portal the necessary software allowing the usage of the biometric seal/stamp. The portal may be also a conventional web site that allows merchants to upload the information via a HTML form. The portal server may process the information collected through the form and create a data record that may be stored in a database optionally maintained by the portal. Accordingly, after having called into the portal, the wireless or wired biometric seal/stamp user can receive from the portal a plurality of services, such as authentication information that is of interest to the user in order to receive from the merchant, agent or operator the documents, goods or services the user desires.

Many additional changes in the details, materials, steps and arrangement of parts, herein described and illustrated to explain the nature of the invention, may be made by those skilled in the art within the principle and scope of the invention. Accordingly, it will be understood that the invention is not to be limited to the embodiments disclosed herein, may be practiced otherwise than specifically described, and is to be understood from the following claims, that are to be interpreted as broadly as allowed under the law.

Claims

What is claimed is the following:

1. An apparatus that measures biometric characteristics of individuals while they position a stamp on a surface.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 including force sensors.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 including gravitational angular sensors.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 including gravitational acceleration sensors.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 including torsion sensors.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 including magnetic sensors.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 including optical sensors.

8. The apparatus of claim 1 including cameras capturing still or motion pictures.

9. The apparatus of claim 1 containing the means to capture voice patterns.

10. The apparatus of claim 1 containing the means of fingerprint capturing.

11. The apparatus of claim 1 containing the means to store the captured data.

12. The apparatus of claim 1 containing the means to encrypt or decrypt the captured data.

13. The apparatus of claim 1 containing the means to transmit the recorded data to a computerized system such as a personal computer, the internet, a personal digital assistant, a programmable telephone, a wireless telephone.

14. A method using the apparatus of claim 1 in a document management system, such as passports, drivers licenses, birth certificates, marriage licenses, stock certificates, coupons and other notarize-able documents.

15. The method of claim 14 used in a payment system.

16. The method of claim 14 used in combination with authentication or recognition systems.

17. The method of claim 14 used in combination with credentialing systems.

18. The method of claim 14 used in combination with profiling systems.

19. The method of claim 14 used in combination with medical systems.