Authentication via biometric passphrase

• US 10,438,204 B2
• Filed: 05/19/2014
• Issued: 10/08/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 05/19/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc. (American Express Company)
• Original Assignee: American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc. (American Express Company)
• Inventors: Bruno, John
• Primary Examiner(s): Akintola, Olabode
• Assistant Examiner(s): Kloberg, Paul R
• Application Number:
  US14/280,985
• Publication Number:
  US 20150332273A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,968 Days
• Field of Search: 705 44
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/40145 Biometric identity checks

Abstract

A system, method and computer program product for granting access and/or an authorization are disclosed. For instance, a computer-implemented method may include receiving a first sequence of plurality of biometric data elements. The sequence of plurality of biometric data elements may comprise a biometric passphrase. The method may include registering the biometric passphrase to a known user and/or a transaction account. The method may include receiving a transaction request comprising a second sequence of plurality of biometric data elements. The method may include comparing the second sequence of plurality of biometric data elements to the biometric passphrase to resulting in a confidence factor of the comparison. The comparison may include comparing the sequencing of the second sequence of plurality of biometric data elements and the characteristics of each biometric data element of the second sequence of plurality of biometric data elements to the biometric passphrase.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

receiving, by a computer-based system, a biometric passphrase comprising a first consecutively-entered sequence of a plurality of biometric data elements including a first biometric sample, a second biometric sample and a third biometric sample;

determining, by the computer-based system, a first time period between the first biometric sample and the second biometric sample;

determining, by the computer-based system, that the first time period is below a first threshold of a first predetermined amount of time;

determining, by the computer-based system, a second time period between the second biometric sample and the third biometric sample;

determining, by the computer-based system, that the second time period is below a second threshold of a second predetermined amount of time;

receiving, by the computer-based system, a first speed at which the first consecutively-entered sequence is entered,

wherein the biometric passphrase includes the first speed, the first time period and the second time period;

registering, by the computer-based system and in response to the receiving the first consecutively-entered sequence, the biometric passphrase to a known user to create a registered biometric passphrase;

receiving, by the computer-based system, a transaction request comprising a second consecutively-entered sequence of the plurality of biometric data elements including a fourth biometric sample, a fifth biometric sample and a sixth biometric sample, along with a second speed,

wherein the second speed is a speed at which the second consecutively-entered sequence of the plurality of biometric data elements was entered;

determining, by the computer-based system, a third time period between the fourth biometric sample and the fifth biometric sample;

determining, by the computer-based system, that the third time period is below a third threshold of a third predetermined amount of time;

determining, by the computer-based system, a fourth time period between the fifth biometric sample and the sixth biometric sample;

determining, by the computer-based system, that the fourth time period is below a fourth threshold of a fourth predetermined amount of time;

comparing, by the computer-based system, the second consecutively-entered sequence of the plurality of biometric data elements, the third time period, the fourth time period and the second speed to the registered biometric passphrase with the first speed, the first time period and the second time period to result in a confidence factor of the comparing; and

authorizing, by the computer-based system, the transaction request based on the confidence factor of the comparing of the second consecutively-entered sequence of the plurality of biometric data elements, the third time period, the fourth time period and the second speed with the registered biometric passphrase being above a threshold, wherein the comparing includes comparing the sequencing of the second consecutively-entered sequence of the plurality of biometric data elements and characteristics of each biometric data element of the second consecutively-entered sequence of the plurality of biometric data elements, the third time period, the fourth time period and the second speed to the registered biometric passphrase.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising storing, by the computer-based system, a dictionary of the plurality of biometric data elements particular to the known user for configuration into the registered biometric passphrase.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the biometric data element comprises a variety of types of biometric sources, and wherein the types of biometric sources comprise at least one of a specific utterance of a voice of the known user, a fingerprint, facial scan, ear scan, vascular pattern, DNA sample, hand geometry, olfaction, or retinal data.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein each of the first biometric sample, the second biometric sample and the third biometric sample are generated from one of different types of biometric sources.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the registered biometric passphrase comprises the different types of biometric sources, wherein only the first biometric sample is a fingerprint, wherein the second biometric sample is one of other types of biometric sources that is not the fingerprint and wherein the third biometric sample is one of the other types of biometric sources that is not the fingerprint.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the registered biometric passphrase comprises a source of the biometric passphrase and keyboard characters.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the receiving of the first consecutively-entered sequence of the plurality of biometric data elements is transmitted via at least one of a portable consumer device of the known user or a biometric reader.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the characteristics of each of the respective biometric data elements include an orientation that the source of the biometric passphrase is received by the biometric reader.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the authorizing of the transaction request further comprises comparing the first time period to the first predetermined amount of time.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the authorizing of the transaction request further comprises comparing data associated with the first time period to the first predetermined amount of time.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the second consecutively-entered sequence is based on receiving the first biometric sample, then receiving the second biometric sample after the first time period, then receiving the third biometric sample after the second time period.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the registered biometric passphrase designates a particular transaction account of the known user to use in a transaction.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the transaction request comprises a request to access transaction account information.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising replacing the registered biometric passphrase with a third sequence of updates to the plurality of biometric data elements.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising transmitting a result of the authorizing of the transaction request to at least one of a merchant point of sale system or the portable consumer device of the known user.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising, in response to the comparing of the second consecutively-entered sequence of the plurality of biometric data elements with the registered biometric passphrase being below the threshold, transmitting a request for the known user to provide a sequence of the plurality of biometric data elements randomly selected from the dictionary having pre-stored the plurality of biometric data elements of the known user.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the registered biometric passphrase is stored to the portable consumer device of the known user.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the registered biometric passphrase comprises an individual biometric data element being used a plurality of times within the first consecutively-entered sequence.

19. A scanner system including a non-transitory, tangible computer readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon that, in response to execution by the scanner system, cause the scanner system to be capable of performing operations comprising:

receiving, by the scanner system, a biometric passphrase comprising a first consecutively-entered sequence of a plurality of biometric data elements including a first biometric sample, a second biometric sample and a third biometric sample;

determining, by the scanner system, a first time period between the first biometric sample and the second biometric sample;

determining, by the scanner system, that the first time period is below a first threshold of a first predetermined amount of time;

determining, by the scanner system, a second time period between the second biometric sample and the third biometric sample;

determining, by the scanner system, that the second time period is below a second threshold of a second predetermined amount of time;

receiving, by the scanner system, a first speed at which the first consecutively-entered sequence is entered,

wherein the biometric passphrase includes the first speed, the first time period and the second time period;

registering, by the scanner system and in response to the receiving the first consecutively- entered sequence, the biometric passphrase to a known user to create a registered biometric passphrase;

receiving, by the scanner system, a transaction request comprising a second consecutively-entered sequence of the plurality of biometric data elements including a fourth biometric sample, a fifth biometric sample and a sixth biometric sample, along with a second speed,

wherein the second speed is a speed at which the second consecutively-entered sequence of the plurality of biometric data elements was entered;

determining, by the scanner system, a third time period between the fourth biometric sample and the fifth biometric sample;

determining, by the scanner system, that the third time period is below a third threshold of a third predetermined amount of time;

determining, by the scanner system, a fourth time period between the fifth biometric sample and the sixth biometric sample;

determining, by the scanner system, that the fourth time period is below a fourth threshold of a fourth predetermined amount of time;

comparing, by the scanner system, the second consecutively-entered sequence of the plurality of biometric data elements, the third time period, the fourth time period and the second speed to the registered biometric passphrase with the first speed, the first time period and the second time period to result in a confidence factor of the comparing; and

authorizing, by the scanner system and based on the comparing, the transaction request based on the confidence factor of the comparing of the second consecutively-entered sequence of the plurality of biometric data elements, the third time period, the fourth time period and the second speed with the registered biometric passphrase being above a threshold, wherein the comparing includes comparing the sequencing of the second consecutively-entered sequence of the plurality of biometric data elements and characteristics of each biometric data element of the second consecutively-entered sequence of the plurality of biometric data elements, the third time period, the fourth time period and the second speed to the registered biometric passphrase.

20. A scanner system comprising:

a processor; and

a tangible, non-transitory memory configured to communicate with the processor, the tangible, non-transitory memory having instructions stored thereon that, in response to execution by the processor, cause the processor to be capable of performing operations comprising;

receiving, by the processor, a biometric passphrase comprising a first consecutively-entered sequence of a plurality of biometric data elements including a first biometric sample, a second biometric sample and a third biometric sample;

determining, by the processor, a first time period between the first biometric sample and the second biometric sample;

determining, by the processor, that the first time period is below a first threshold of a first predetermined amount of time;

determining, by the processor, a second time period between the second biometric sample and the third biometric sample;

determining, by the processor, that the second time period is below a second threshold of a second predetermined amount of time;

receiving, by the processor, a first speed at which the first consecutively-entered sequence is entered,

wherein the biometric passphrase includes the first speed, the first time period and the second time period;

registering, by the processor and in response to the receiving the first consecutively-entered sequence, the biometric passphrase to a known user to create a registered biometric passphrase;

receiving, by the processor, a transaction request comprising a second consecutively-entered sequence of the plurality of biometric data elements including a fourth biometric sample, a fifth biometric sample and a sixth biometric sample, along with a second speed,

wherein the second speed is a speed at which the second consecutively-entered sequence of the plurality of biometric data elements was entered;

determining, by the processor, a third time period between the fourth biometric sample and the fifth biometric sample;

determining, by the processor, that the third time period is below a third threshold of a third predetermined amount of time;

determining, by the processor, a fourth time period between the fifth biometric sample and the sixth biometric sample;

determining, by the processor, that the fourth time period is below a fourth threshold of a fourth predetermined amount of time;

comparing, by the processor, the second consecutively-entered sequence of the plurality of biometric data elements, the third time period, the fourth time period and the second speed to the registered biometric passphrase with the first speed, the first time period and the second time period to result in a confidence factor of the comparing; and

authorizing, by the processor and based on the comparing, the transaction request based on the confidence factor of the comparing of the second consecutively-entered sequence of the plurality of biometric data elements, the third time period, the fourth time period and the second speed with the registered biometric passphrase being above a threshold, wherein the comparing includes comparing the sequencing of the second consecutively-entered sequence of the plurality of biometric data elements and characteristics of each biometric data element of the second consecutively-entered sequence of the plurality of biometric data elements, the third time period, the fourth time period and the second speed to the registered biometric passphrase.