Method and apparatus for securely handling data in a database of biometrics and associated data
US5790668A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Dec 19, 1995 |
| Grant date | Aug 4, 1998 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Dec 19, 2015 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06F2221/2117
- WIPO fieldControl
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A person wanting an entitlement, such as welfare, typically inputs his fingerprint to a database. On a match with a fingerprint already in the database, a profile of the person with the matching fingerprint is retrieved to guard against double dipping. There is a concern for the privacy of the information in the database. To assure privacy, the profile associated with each fingerprint in the database is encrypted so that when a new person attempts to enroll and a matching fingerprint is found in the database, the associated profile returned is encrypted. In order to access this encrypted profile, PINs are required from one or two authorized operators. The PIN of an authorized operator is stored on a card in an encrypted fashion such that it may be recovered by the authorized operator inputting his fingerprint to the system. One or both PINs are needed to decipher the profile.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.