PHYSICAL TOKEN-LESS SECURITY SCREENING USING BIOMETRICS

• US 20160335427A1
• Filed: 05/13/2016
• Published: 11/17/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 05/14/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Secure Identity LLC (Clear Secure, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Alclear, LLC (Clear Secure, Inc.)
• Inventors: Cornick, Kenneth, Lupowitz, Kevin, Snyder, Matthew
• Granted Patent: US 9,721,081 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/32 using biometric data, e.g. fingerprints, iris scans or voiceprints
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/40 Business processes related to the transportation industry shipping G06Q10/083
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/37 using biometric data, e.g. fingerprints, iris scans or voice recognition
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/38 with central registration

Abstract

In physical token-less security screening using biometrics, a person provides biometric data to a security computing device as part of a security screening. The biometric data is used by the security computing device to look up an identifier (such as an airline account identifier or a security status identifier) for the person from a security back end. The identifier is used by the security computing device to obtain electronic pass information (such as an electronic boarding pass or a security screening status indicator) from a third party computing system (such as an airline computing system or a clearinghouse), which may be used to clear the person and/or otherwise facilitate the security screening. In some implementations, these techniques may also be used for physical token-less pass processing (such as boarding pass-less airline processing, confirmation of assigned traveling credentials, or determination of security protocols).

Claims

1. A security screening computing device, comprising:

a non-transitory storage medium storing instructions;

a communication component communicably connected to a back end and a third party computing system; and

a processing unit coupled to the non-transitory storage medium and the communication component that executes the instructions to;

receive biometric data for a person;

obtain a third party account identifier for the person from the back end in response to transmitting the biometric data; and

retrieve electronic pass information for the person from the third party computing system in response to transmitting the third party account identifier.

2. The security screening computing device of claim 1, wherein:

the third party computing system comprises an airline computing system;

the third party account identifier comprises an airline account identifier; and

the electronic pass information comprises electronic boarding pass information.

3. The security screening computing device of claim 2, wherein the processing unit further executes the instructions to determine that the person is authorized for security screening based on the electronic boarding pass information.

4. The security screening computing device of claim 2, wherein the biometric data comprises an image of a fingerprint.

5. The security screening computing device of claim 2, wherein the electronic boarding pass information includes a real time status of the electronic boarding pass information.

6. The security screening computing device of claim 2, wherein the airline account identifier comprises a frequent flyer number.

7. The security screening computing device of claim 2, further comprising:

a display component operable to display the electronic boarding pass information; and

a biometric reader operable to detect the biometric data for the person.

8. The security screening computing device of claim 1, wherein:

the third party computing system comprises a central database containing information on individuals;

the third party account identifier comprises a security status identifier; and

the electronic pass information comprises a security screening status indicator.

9. A method for security screening, comprising:

obtaining biometric data for a person utilizing a computing device;

transmitting the biometric data to a back end from the computing device;

receiving an identifier at the computing device from the back end in response to transmitting the biometric data;

transmitting the identifier from the computing device to an airline computing system;

receiving electronic boarding pass information for the person at the computing device from the airline computing system in response to transmitting the identifier; and

determining whether or not to clear the person for security screening utilizing the computing device based at least on the electronic boarding pass information for the person.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein said determining operation comprises determining whether or not the electronic boarding pass information indicates the person has a flight at an airport associated with the computing device.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein said determining operation further comprises determining whether or not the electronic boarding pass information indicates the person has the flight within a time period.

12. The method of claim 9, wherein said determining operation comprises determining not to clear the person for security screening if the electronic boarding pass information indicates that a ticket associated with the electronic boarding pass information has been cancelled.

13. The method of claim 9, wherein the computing device is a security station computing device.

14. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

receiving additional biometric data at the back end from an airline computing device;

looking up the identifier based on the additional biometric data; and

providing the identifier to the airline computing device for purposes of identification.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the airline computing device utilizes the identifier as part of a check in or boarding process.

16. A computer program product, tangibly embodied in a non-transitory storage medium, comprising:

a first set of instructions, stored in a non-transitory storage medium, executable by a processing unit to receive a frequent flyer identifier for a person from a back end in response to transmitting fingerprint data obtained from the person;

a second set of instructions, stored in the non-transitory storage medium, executable by the processing unit to obtain electronic boarding pass information for the person from an airline computing system in response to transmitting the frequent flyer identifier for the person; and

a third set of instructions, stored in the non-transitory storage medium, executable by the processing unit to facilitate a security screening process by displaying the electronic boarding pass information.

17. The computer program product of claim 16, wherein said displaying the electronic boarding pass information further includes displaying whether or not the person has a ticket for a flight that day at an airport where the processing unit is located.

18. The computer program product of claim 16, wherein the person does not provide a boarding pass as part of the security screening process.

19. The computer program product of claim 16, wherein the person does not provide identification other than the fingerprint data as part of the security screening process.

20. The computer program product of claim 16, wherein the electronic boarding pass information includes a current status of a flight for which the person has a ticket.

21. The computer program product of claim 16, wherein the security screening process is a prescreened security screening process.

22. A method for security screening, comprising:

obtaining biometric data for a person utilizing a computing device;

transmitting the biometric data to a back end from the computing device;

receiving an identifier at the computing device from the back end in response to transmitting the biometric data;

transmitting the identifier from the computing device to a clearinghouse;

receiving a security screening status indicator for the person at the computing device from the clearinghouse in response to transmitting the identifier; and

determining whether or not to clear the person for security screening utilizing the computing device based at least on the security screening status indicator for the person.

23. A computer program product, tangibly embodied in a non-transitory storage medium, comprising:

a first set of instructions, stored in a non-transitory storage medium, executable by a processing unit to receive a security status identifier for a person from a back end in response to transmitting fingerprint data obtained from the person;

a second set of instructions, stored in the non-transitory storage medium, executable by the processing unit to obtain a security screening status indicator for the person from a clearinghouse in response to transmitting the security status identifier for the person; and

a third set of instructions, stored in the non-transitory storage medium, executable by the processing unit to facilitate a security screening process by displaying the security screening status indicator.