Identification documents and authentication of such documents

• US 8,280,101 B2
• Filed: 12/22/2009
• Issued: 10/02/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 08/09/1995
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Digimarc Corporation
• Original Assignee: Digimarc Corporation
• Inventors: Carr, J. Scott, Perry, Burt W., Rhoads, Geoffrey B.
• Primary Examiner(s): Johns, Andrew W
• Application Number:
  US12/644,534
• Publication Number:
  US 20110002503A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,015 Days
• Field of Search: 382/100, 382/135, 382/137, 713/176, 340/5.8, 340/5.86
• US Class Current: 382/100
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 45/1418 the inserts being deformed or preformed, e.g. by the injection pressure
• CPC Class Codes: B42D 25/00 Information-bearing cards or sheet-like structures characterised by identification or security features; Manufacture thereof printing processes to produce identification or security features B41M3/14
• CPC Class Codes: B42D 25/21 for multiple purposes
• CPC Class Codes: B42D 25/23 Identity cards
• CPC Class Codes: B42D 25/24 Passports
• CPC Class Codes: B42D 25/313 Fingerprints
• CPC Class Codes: B42D 25/333 Watermarks
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/955 using information identifiers, e.g. uniform resource locators [URL]
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 1/121 by printing code marks applying code marks to labels B65C9/46; marking or coding completed packages B65B61/26
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/06037 multi-dimensional coding
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/06046 Constructional details
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/14 the marking being sensed by radiation
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 2019/06253 for a specific application
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/1417 2D bar codes
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/1447 extracting optical codes from image or text carrying said optical code
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/341 Active cards, i.e. cards including their own processing means, e.g. including an IC or chip
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/40145 Biometric identity checks
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 1/0071 using multiple or alternating watermarks
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2201/0051 Embedding of the watermark in the spatial domain
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 2209/41 with means for the generation of identity documents
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/257 : electronically G07C9/26 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G07D 7/0034 : using watermarks
• CPC Class Codes: G07D 7/004 : using digital security elements, e.g. information coded on a magnetic thread or strip
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 7/086 : by passive credit-cards adapted therefor, e.g. constructive particularities to avoid counterfeiting, e.g. by inclusion of a physical or chemical security-layer for security documents G07D7/00; for the reading of record-carriers in general G06K7/00; for the design of coded credit-cards G06K19/10
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 7/1008 : Active credit-cards provided with means to personalise their use, e.g. with PIN-introduction/comparison system
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 19/018 : Audio watermarking, i.e. embedding inaudible data in the audio signal
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 20/00891 : embedded in audio data
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00846 : based on detection of a dedicated indication, e.g. marks or the like
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/32144 : embedded in the image data, i.e. enclosed or integrated in the image, e.g. watermark, super-imposed logo or stamp
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/32203 : Spatial or amplitude domain methods H04N1/32309 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/32208 : involving changing the magnitude of selected pixels, e.g. overlay of information or super-imposition H04N1/32219, H04N1/32224 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/32219 : involving changing the position of selected pixels, e.g. word shifting, or involving modulating the size of image components, e.g. of characters H04N1/32224 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/32261 : in binary data H04N1/32256 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/32304 : Embedding different sets of additional information
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/3205 : of identification information, e.g. name or ID code H04N2201/3209 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/3207 : of an address
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/3226 : of identification information or the like, e.g. ID code, index, title, part of an image, reduced-size image
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/3233 : of authentication information, e.g. digital signature, watermark
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/3235 : Checking or certification of the authentication information, e.g. by comparison with data stored independently
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/3239 : using a plurality of different authentication information
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/327 : which are undetectable to the naked eye, e.g. embedded codes
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/3271 : Printing or stamping

Abstract

The present invention relates generally to identification documents. One claim recites an apparatus to authentic an identification document. The identification document comprising first machine-readable information including a first plural-bit message, and semantic information carried on or in the identification document. The apparatus includes: a first reader to read the first machine-readable information to obtain the first plural-bit message; a second reader to obtain information from the semantic information carried on or in the identification document; an electronic processor programmed as a decryption unit to decrypt the first plural-bit message or the information obtained from the semantic information; and an electronic processor programmed as a decision unit to determine whether the identification document is authentic based at least in part on the first plural-bit message and the semantic information. Other claims and combinations are provided as well.

Claims

1. An apparatus to authenticate an identification document, the identification document comprising:

an image including steganographically encoded first machine-readable information including a first plural-bit message,

a background including steganographically encoded second machine-readable information including a second plural-bit message, and

semantic information including authentication information carried on or in the identification document,

the apparatus comprising;

a first reader configured to determine the first plural-bit message based on the first machine-readable information and determine the second plural-bit message based on the second machine-readable information;

a second reader configured to determine authentication information from the semantic information carried on or in the identification document; and

an electronic processor configured to;

decrypt the first plural-bit message or the authentication information; and

determine whether the identification document is authentic based at least in part on the first plural-bit message, the second plural-bit message, and the authentication information,

wherein the second plural-bit message comprises information from the first plural-bit message and the authentication information.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the semantic information comprises optical character recognition (OCR) characters.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the semantic information comprises data representing a photograph.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first reader and the second reader are configured to process optical scan data.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first machine-readable information comprises a digital watermark.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the electronic processor is further configured to access a decryption key stored in a remote location that is associated with the identification document via an identifier carried on or in the identification document.

7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the identifier is carried by machine-recognizable indicia on or in the identification document.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the machine-recognizable indicia comprises a digital watermark.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first plural-bit message comprises information from the authentication information.

10. A method of authenticating an identification document, the identification document comprising:

an image including steganographically encoded first machine-readable information including a first plural-bit message,

a background including steganographically encoded second machine-readable information including a second plural-bit message, and

semantic information including authentication information carried on or in the identification document,

the method comprising;

determining, using a processor, the first plural-bit message based on the first machine-readable information;

determining the second plural-bit message based on the second machine-readable information;

determining the authentication information from the semantic information carried on or in the identification document;

decrypting the first plural-bit message or the authentication information; and

determining whether the identification document is authentic based at least in part on the first plural-bit message, the second plural-bit message, and the authentication information,

wherein the second plural-bit message comprises information from the first plural-bit message and the authentication information.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the first plural-bit message comprises information from the authentication information.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the semantic information comprises optical character recognition (OCR) characters.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein the semantic information comprises data representing a photograph and the first machine-readable information comprises a digital watermark.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein the first reader and the second reader are configured to process optical scan data.

15. The method of claim 10, further comprising accessing a decryption key stored in a remote location that is associated with the identification document via an identifier carried on or in the identification document.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the identifier comprises a digital watermark.

17. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon that, if executed by a computing device, cause the computing device to perform operations for authenticating an identification document, the identification document comprising:

an image including steganographically encoded first machine-readable information including a first plural-bit message,

a background including steganographically encoded second machine-readable information including a second plural-bit message, and

semantic information including authentication information carried on or in the identification document,

the operations comprising;

determining the first plural-bit message based on the first machine-readable information;

determining the second plural-bit message based on the second machine-readable information;

determining the authentication information from the semantic information carried on or in the identification document;

decrypting the first plural-bit message or the authentication information; and

determining whether the identification document is authentic based at least in part on the first plural-bit message, the second plural-bit message, and the authentication information,

wherein the second plural-bit message comprises information from the first plural-bit message and the authentication information.

18. The computer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the first plural-bit message comprises information from the authentication information.

19. The computer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the semantic information comprises optical character recognition (OCR) characters.

20. The computer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the semantic information comprises data representing a photograph and the first machine-readable information comprises a digital watermark.

21. The computer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the first reader and the second reader are configured to process optical scan data.

22. The computer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the operations further comprise accessing a decryption key stored in a remote location that is associated with the identification document via an identifier carried on or in the identification document.