Information processing apparatus and information processing method

• US 20030158815A1
• Filed: 12/23/2002
• Published: 08/21/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 12/28/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Yoshida, Asami, Iwamoto, Takuya
• Granted Patent: US 7,627,505 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/50
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/31 User authentication
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/32 using biometric data, e.g. fingerprints, iris scans or voiceprints
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2113 Multi-level security, e.g. mandatory access control
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/10 specially adapted for electronic funds transfer [EFT] systems; specially adapted for home banking systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/102 Bill distribution or payments
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/4016 involving fraud or risk level assessment in transaction processing
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/04 Billing or invoicing
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/00 Finance; Insurance; Tax strategies; Processing of corporate or income taxes

Abstract

An activity-area/time-frame weighting table indicates the likelihood of where a user is most likely to be in a certain time frame, and weighting (the number of points) is set depending on times frames, which are divided into weekdays and weekends. The activity pattern may be obtained through the user'"'"'s application at the time of registration, or may be obtained by detecting the locations of the user for a predetermined period, such as for one week, using a GPS or PHS. For example, when a user is mostly likely to be on the route to the company from home in the time frame of commuting hours on a weekday, the weighting is set low. Based on an area and time frame in which a corresponding credit card or the like is used, the number of points is determined, and is then used to set an authentication level.

Claims

1. An information processing apparatus comprising:

first recording means for recording information concerning an activity pattern of a registered user;

first obtaining means for obtaining information concerning a location at which a shopping user undergoes an authentication process;

second obtaining means for obtaining the current time; and

authentication-level determining means for determining an authentication level for the authentication process to be executed for the shopping user, based on the information concerning the registered user'"'"'s activity pattern recorded in the first recording means, the information concerning the location obtained by the first obtaining means, and the current time obtained by the second obtaining means.

2. An information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the information concerning the activity pattern is recorded as a table in the first recording means, weighting factors being specified in the table so as to correspond to locations and time frames;

and based on one of the weighting factors which corresponds to the information concerning the location obtained by the first obtaining means and the current time obtained by the second obtaining means, the authentication-level determining means determines the authentication level for the authentication process to be executed for the shopping user.

3. An information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein activity patterns that vary depending on the day of the week are registered in the information concerning the activity pattern recorded in the first recording means.

4. An information processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising updating means for updating the activity pattern recorded in the first recording means.

5. An information processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

third obtaining means for obtaining information concerning an item to be purchased or a service to be used by the shopping user and second recording means for recording a table, the table being used for determining a predetermined weighting factor so as to correspond to the information concerning the item or the service, wherein the authentication-level determining means further uses the information concerning the item or the service obtained by the third obtaining means and the weighting factor that is determined according to the table recorded by the second recording means, to determine the authentication level.

6. An information processing apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising updating means for updating the table recorded in the second recording means.

7. An information processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the information concerning the item or the service includes the information of an amount of money to be spent by the shopping user.

8. An information processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the information concerning the item or the service includes category information of the item or the service.

9. An information processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising transmitting means for transmitting information concerning the authentication level determined by the authentication-level determining means to another information processing apparatus.

10. An information processing method comprising:

a recording control step of controlling the recording of information concerning an activity pattern of a registered user;

a first obtaining control step of controlling the obtaining of information concerning a location at which a shopping user undergoes an authentication process;

a second obtaining control step of controlling the obtaining of the current time; and

an authentication-level determining step of determining an authentication level for the authentication process to be executed for the shopping user, based on the information concerning the registered user'"'"'s activity pattern that is recorded under the control of the recording control step, the information concerning the location that is obtained under the control of the first obtaining control step, and the current time that is obtained under the control of the second obtaining control step.

11. An information processing apparatus that uses a plurality of authentication process methods, the information processing apparatus comprising:

first transmitting means for transmitting, to an authentication center, predetermined information necessary for determining an authentication level for an authentication process to be executed for a shopping user;

first receiving means for receiving authentication level information from the authentication center; and

determining means for determining a combination of the plurality of authentication process methods, based on the authentication level information received by the first receiving means.

12. An information processing apparatus according to claim 11, further comprising recording means for recording a table, the table being used for determining the authentication process to be executed so as to correspond to the authentication level, wherein the determining means determines a combination of the plurality of authentication process methods for the authentication process such that the authentication level information received by the first receiving means corresponds to the table recorded by the recording means.

13. An information processing apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the predetermined information transmitted from the first transmitting means includes an identification for identifying a location at which the authentication process is to be executed.

14. An information processing apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the predetermined information transmitted from the first transmitting means includes the information of an amount of money to be spent by the shopping user.

15. An information processing apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the predetermined information transmitted from the first transmitting means includes category information of an item to be purchased or a service to be used by the shopping user.

16. An information processing method for an information processing apparatus that uses a plurality of authentication process methods, the information processing method comprising:

a first transmitting step of transmitting, to an authentication center, predetermined information necessary for determining an authentication level for an authentication process to be executed for a shopping user;

a step of receiving authentication level information from the authentication center; and

a step of using a combination of the plurality of authentication process methods, based on the authentication level information received by the receiving step.

17. An information processing apparatus that uses a plurality of authentication process methods, wherein the information processing apparatus performs an authentication process using a combination of the authentication processing methods which is determined based on either time or a location at which an authentication process is to be performed or based on both the time and the location.

18. An authentication method for an information processing apparatus that uses a plurality of authentication process methods, the authentication method comprising a step of performing an authentication process by using a combination of the authentication process methods which is determined based on either time or a location at which an authentication process is to be performed or based on both the time and the location.

19. An information processing apparatus that uses a plurality of authentication process methods, the information processing apparatus performs an authentication process using a combination of the authentication process methods which is determined based on an item to be purchased through the authentication process or an amount of money for the item or based on both the item and the amount of money.

20. An authentication method for an information processing apparatus that uses a plurality of authentication process methods, the authentication method comprising a step of performing an authentication process using a combination of the authentication process methods which is determined based on an item to be purchased through the authentication process or an amount of money for the item or based on both the item and the amount of money.