Independent biometric identification system
The inventive data processing system and method enable verifiable secure transfer of information between two or more parties, each having access to at least one identity verification system, utilizing a platform-independent architecture to enable verification of identities of parties sending and receiving secured information, and ensuring that only an authorized receiving party gains access to the secured information, regardless of the type, model, ownership and/or quantity of biometric identity verification (BIV) systems being utilized by each party. Parties desiring to securely transfer information between one another register at a central security management system, and each provide at least one biometric enrollment to their unique record configured for storing multiple BIV system enrollments for each party. The inventive system and method also provide an adaptive enrollment feature which enables the system to function automatically and transparently with new BIV systems that have not been previously enrolled by the user.
1. A method of independent biometric identification of a user comprising the steps of:
receiving, by an application server, an access request from a user's system;
when the access request is received, forwarding the user's system to an independent remote biometric identification server, wherein the independent remote biometric identification server
i) obtains the user's biometric characteristics using a biometric service provider which interfaces with a capture device connected to the user's system, the capture device being enabled by a software component provided by the independent remote biometric identification server to the user's system,
ii) creates a token after successfully identifying the user by comparing, in the independent remote biometric identification server, said obtained biometric characteristics to templates stored in a database, the token indicating that the comparison successfully identified the user, and
iii) subsequently provides the token to the user's system;
directly receiving, by the application server from the user's system, the token which was created by the independent remote biometric identification server after the user's system is forwarded to the independent remote biometric identification server when the access request is received by the application server;
requesting, by the application server from the independent remote biometric identification server, information associated with the token upon receiving the token from the user's system;
receiving, by the application server from the independent remote biometric identification server, the information associated with the token; and
deciding, by the application server, whether to grant the request from the user's system for access based on the information associated with the token,
wherein the steps are performed sequentially.
2. The method of independent biometric identification of a user according to claim 1 , further comprising the steps of managing the independent biometric identification server using a biometric administration agent.
3. The method of independent biometric identification of a user according to claim 1 , wherein said biometric characteristics comprise one or more of a human fingerprint, human iris feature, human retina feature, hand feature, human facial feature, human voice, or human writing style.
4. A method of independent biometric identification of a user comprising the steps of:
receiving an access request from an application server, which is independent from a user's system, by an independent remote biometric identification server;
the independent remote biometric identification server connecting to the user's system upon receiving the access request from the application server and providing the user's system with a software component that captures the user's biometric characteristics with a capture device connected to the user's system;
receiving the captured user's biometric characteristics from the user's system by the independent remote biometric identification server;
comparing, by the independent remote biometric identification server, the received user's biometric characteristics with templates stored in a database in order to identify the user;
if the user is successfully identified, the independent remote biometric identification server providing a token indicating that the comparison successfully identified the user to the user's system, wherein the user's system subsequently directly provides the token, which is created after connecting the user's system to the independent remote biometric identification server when the independent remote biometric identification server received the access request from the application server, to the application server in order for the application server to send the token to, and request information associated with the token from, the independent remote biometric identification server; and
upon receipt of the token from the application server, the independent remote biometric identification server providing the application server with information associated with the token, the application server deciding whether to grant access to resources to the user based on the information associated with the token received from the independent remote biometric identification server.
5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the token expires after the information associated with the token is provided to the application server.
6. The method of independent biometric identification of a user according to claim 4 , wherein said biometric characteristics comprise one or more of a human fingerprint, human iris feature, human retina feature, hand feature, human facial feature, human voice, or human writing style.