WO2002089068A1

WO2002089068A1 - Biometric identification method and apparatus

Info

Publication number: WO2002089068A1
Application number: PCT/GB2002/001995
Authority: WO
Inventors: Mark Underwood; Christopher David Marsden
Original assignee: Navigator Solutions Limited
Priority date: 2001-05-02
Filing date: 2002-05-01
Publication date: 2002-11-07
Also published as: GB0110741D0

Abstract

In a method of and apparatus for associating an individual with a specific object using biometric information such as a fingerprint, the fingerprint is scanned in stage (1) and a representation generated on stage (2). A template is taken of the print using a known technique involving identifying a plurality of present points and specific data from that template is encrypted in stage (3). The encrypted template is then associated with the object (4) between which and the individual an association is to be created. Advantageously, additional information or data of a nature personal to the individual may be included with the template to be used to generate keys for the encryption.

Description

BIOMETRIC IDENTIFICATION METHOD AND APPARATUS

The present invention relates to a method of and apparatus for

associating an individual with a specific object by utilising biometric

information.

Security is an increasing problem in modern day life. This applies in

many different circumstances. Stolen or misappropriated documentation

may be misused in order to secure unauthorised entry or the unauthorised

transfer of goods or money. Once goods have been removed from their

rightful owner it may be difficult for that owner to establish ownership

later. Similarly documentation can be stolen and misused by the thief or

other third party because there is no satisfactory way of quickly verifying

that the person using the documentation is entitled to use it. A lost or

stolen entry ticket pass or swipe card can also usually be used by another

third party for the same reason. It is an object of the present invention to

mitigate this disadvantage.

According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided

a method of associating an individual with a specific object by utilising

biometric information including the steps of scanning an item of biometric

information from the individual, creating a template from the information

scanned, encrypting the template data, associating the encrypted

template data with an object in order to create an association with the

individual. According to another aspect of the present invention there is

provided apparatus for producing an association between an individual

and a specific object comprising means for scanning an item of biometric

information, means for creating a template from the information scanned,

means for encrypting the template data and means for associating the

encrypted template data with the specific object in order to create an

association with the individual.

The invention also encompasses a medium bearing the encrypted

template data.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the- biometric

information scanned is a fingerprint of the individual. However, another

piece of biometric information may be used such as the individual's retina.

The item is scanned and a representation of the item preferably

generated. A template from the information scanned is created using

well-known techniques involving the identification of a plurality of preset

points. Additional data for example a photograph or personal information

such as name or address may be included with the template. Where this

is the case the template(s) is/are used to generate the keys for the

encryption and decryption algorithms. The encryption of template data is

carried out using a well-known encryption process. The encrypted

template may be represented in any suitable format. Suitable formats are

two-dimensional barcode, or printed alpha-numeric or digital string or

stored magnetically or by embossing. The encrypted template data may be associated by direct application to the object itself or by application to

some intermediate medium such as a tag which is then attached to the

object. In order to identify the individual with the encrypted template

data at a later time and therefore with the object with which that data is

associated, the encrypted template data is scanned and decrypted to

retrieve the original fingerprint template representation. The individual's

fingerprint is scanned and compared with the retrieved representation in

order to verify or authenticate the individual and the associated object.

The method and apparatus may be used to prove ownership of

association with any object. The object may be a document.

In order that the invention may be more clearly understood, an

embodiment thereof will now be described, by way of example, with

reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:-

Figure 1 diagrammatically shows a method of preparing a biometric

identity tag, and

Figure 2 diagrammatically shows a method of using the tag of figure

1 .

Any biometric information unique to the individual may be

employed in the method of the invention. In this particular example to be

described the biometric information employed is the individuals

fingerprint. Referring to Figure 1 , the individual's chosen fingerprint is

scanned at stage 1 and representation of the scanned fingerprint is

generated in stage 2. A template of the print is taken using well-known techniques involving the identification of a plurality of preset points and

specific data from that template is encrypted in stage 3. The encrypted

template data is then associated with the object 4 with which the

individual is to be linked. The object may be a piece of equipment or a

document such as a passport. The means of association may be by direct

application to the object itself or by application to some intermediate

medium such as a tag and then attaching that tag to the object. The

encrypted template data may be represented in any suitable format.

Suitable formats are two-dimensional barcode, or printed alpha-numeric or

digital string or stored magnetically or by embossing.

Referring to Figure 2, in order to identify the individual with the

encrypted template data at a later time and therefore with the object with

which that data is associated, the encrypted template data is retrieved

from the object 4 by scanning the data in scanning stage 5 in or on it.

The encrypted template so retrieved is decrypted in decryption stage 6 in

order to retrieve the original individual fingerprint template representation.

The individual's fingerprint is then scanned in scanning stage 7 to provide

an alternative template representation to that previously stored and

encrypted. The alternative template data is compared at comparator 8

with the template data derived from the decrypted template in order to

verify or authenticate the individual and the associated object.

The above method of verification and authentication has many

applications examples of which are as follows. Documentation may be authorised or verified in conjunction with or instead of the traditional

signature. The encrypted template could be printed, embossed or

attached to the documentation. Identification or pass cards may be

authorised or verified. The encrypted template could be applied in the

same way as with documentation. Documentation to be authorised or

verified may include government documentation required by the individual

including passports, driving licence, birth certificate, social security

claimant book and pension book. The encrypted template could be

associated as previously described. Documentation may also include

banking documentation such as cheque books, association of the

encrypted template being as described previously. The method may be

utilised with swipe cards to ensure correct usage or secure financial

transactions at the point of sale or with tickets to be used to gain entry.

It will be appreciated that the above embodiment has been

described by way of example only and that many variations are possible

without departing from the scope of the invention.

Claims

1 . A method of associating an individual with a specific object by

utilising biometric information including the steps of scanning an item of

biometric information from the individual, creating a template from the

information scanned, encrypting the template data, associating the

encrypted template data with an object in order to create an association

with the individual.

2. A method as claimed in claim 1 , in which the biometric information

scanned is a fingerprint of the individual.

3. A method as claimed in claim 1 , in which the biometric information

scanned is a retina of the individual.

4. A method as claimed in claim 1 , 2 or 3, in which the item is

scanned optically.

5. A method as claimed in claim 4, in which a representation of the

item is generated.

6. A method as claimed in any preceding claim, in which additional

data is included with the template and the template is used to generate

keys for the means for encrypting.

7. A method as claimed in any preceding claim, in which the

encrypted template is represented as a two-dimensional barcode, or

printed alphanumeric or digital string or stored magnetically or by

embossing.

8. A method as claimed in any preceding claim, in which the

encrypted template data is associated by direct application to the object

itself.

9. A method as claimed in any preceding claim in which the encrypted

template data is associated by application to an intermediate medium

which is then attached to the object.

10. Medium bearing encrypted data produced by the method as claimed

in any preceding claim.

1 1 . Apparatus for producing an association between an individual and a

specific object comprising means for scanning an item of biometric

information, means for creating a template from the information scanned,

means for encrypting the template data and means for associating the

encrypted template data with the specific object in order to create an

association with the individual.

12. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 1 , in which additional data is

included with the template and the template used to generate keys for

encryption.

13 Medium bearing encrypted data produced by the apparatus as

claimed in claim 1 or 12.