SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR PERFORMING SECURE IN-PERSON TRANSACTIONS
A portable, biometrically-secured device for facilitating various different types of in-person and online transactions. For example, the portable, biometrically-secured device can be used to safely perform in-person financial transactions, such as credit card transactions, in which the user's identity is biometrically authenticated. The portable, biometrically-secured device can also be used for performing biometrically-secured online transactions. For example, the portable, biometrically-secured device can be used to create a secure platform from which to make the online transactions by loading a secure operating system from the device to a host computer's volatile memory. Biometrically-secured online transactions can then be performed using the host computer. In one embodiment, the portable, biometrically-secured device facilitates online financial transactions that can be performed without transmitting a user's financial information to the online merchant.
1 . A handheld device for facilitating secure transactions, the handheld device comprising:
rewritable radio frequency identification (RFID) circuitry;
a biometric sensor configured to receive user identification information;
a memory configured to store transaction information;
a processor coupled to the memory and the biometric sensor, the processor being configured to authenticate the user identification information and to temporarily write the transaction information to the rewritable RFID circuitry upon authentication of the user identification information, the transaction information being readable from the RFID circuitry by an external reader.
2 . The handheld device of claim 1 , wherein the transaction information comprises credit card information.
3 . The handheld device of claim 1 , wherein the transaction information comprises an entry code.
4 . The handheld device of claim 1 , wherein the transaction information stored in the memory is substantially inaccessible until authentication of received user identification information.
5 . The handheld device of claim 1 , further comprising a housing to contain the biometric sensor, the memory, and the processor, the housing including a tamper-proof feature.
6 . The handheld device of claim 5 , wherein the tamper-proof feature comprises epoxy within the housing that is configured to be released upon the processor or the memory during an attempt to open the housing.
7 . The handheld device of claim 1 , wherein the transaction information is only readable by the external reader when the transaction information is temporality stored on the rewritable RFID circuitry.
8 . The handheld device of claim 1 , further comprising an interface for communication with a host computer, and wherein the memory comprises a first memory module and a second, read-only, memory module that contains operating system instructions for loading into a volatile memory of the host computer via the interface.
9 . The handheld device of claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to erase the transaction information from the rewritable RFID circuitry after the transaction information has been queried.
10 . The handheld device of claim 1 , wherein the biometric sensor comprises a fingerprint sensor.
11 . The handheld device of claim 1 , wherein the rewritable RFID circuitry comprises a passive RFID tag.
12 . A method of performing a secure transaction, the method comprising:
receiving biometric information from a user;
determining whether the biometric information corresponds to a stored biometric signature;
writing transaction information to a rewritable radio frequency identification (RFID) tag when the biometric information corresponds to the stored biometric signature;
transmitting the transaction information; and
removing the transaction information from the rewritable RFID tag after transmitting the transaction information.
13 . The method of claim 12 , wherein said removing comprises writing over the transaction information with other data.
14 . The method of claim 12 , wherein said removing comprises writing over the transaction information after a predetermined period of time.
15 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the predetermined period of time is less than approximately one second.
16 . The method of claim 12 , wherein said transmitting comprises querying the RFID tag with an RFID reader.
17 . The method of claim 12 , additionally comprising receiving a user selection of the transaction information, wherein the transaction information is selected from a plurality of credit cards.
18 . The method of claim 12 , additionally comprising, prior to writing the transaction information:
displaying a plurality of images, one of which has been previously selected; and
receiving user input identifying the previously selected image.
19 . The method of claim 12 , further comprising receiving input from the user to select one of a plurality of items of transaction information to be written to the rewritable RFID tag.
20 . The method of claim 12 , wherein said writing comprises writing first transaction information, and additionally comprising writing second transaction information to the rewritable RFID tag after said removing.
21 . A portable device for facilitating secure transactions, the portable device comprising:
means for receiving biometric information from a user;
means for determining whether the biometric information corresponds to a selected biometric signature;
means for temporarily writing transaction information to a reconfigurable radio frequency identification (RFID) tag when the biometric information corresponds to the selected biometric signature; and
means for removing the transaction information from the RFID tag after the transaction information has been queried by a reader.