Verifying user information

• US 9,253,194 B2
• Filed: 08/07/2014
• Issued: 02/02/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 08/08/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Inventors: McGilliard, Christopher L.
• Primary Examiner(s): Abrishamkar, Kaveh
• Assistant Examiner(s): Wilcox, James J
• Application Number:
  US14/453,989
• Publication Number:
  US 20140351913A1
• Time in Patent Office: 544 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/10 for controlling access to devices or network resources
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/104 Grouping of entities

Abstract

A computer is configured to impose an access restriction based upon user-provided information, such as a user'"'"'s birthdate. In order to enforce such a restriction, the computer requests from a user an image of a valid identity document associated with the user, such as a valid driver'"'"'s license. In response to receiving such an image from the user, the computer performs an image analysis on the image to extract user information. The computer might extract the user'"'"'s name, address, birthdate, driver'"'"'s license number, and/or other information from the image for instance. The computer may utilize the extracted information to determine whether the user should be granted access. The computer may determine based upon the extracted information, for instance, whether the age of the user is greater than a minimum age required to access the computer. The computer may be configured to restrict access to a Web site in this manner.

Claims

1. A system for verifying user information, the system comprising one or more computers configured to

receive a request for access from a device associated with a user requesting access,

in response to receiving the request for access, request a single still image or video stream comprising both a first image of the user and an image of an identity document associated with the user requesting access,

receive the single still image or video stream comprising the first image of the user and the image of the identity document,

extract the first image of the user comprising a face of the user from the single still image or the video stream,

extract a second image comprising another face from the image of the identity document in the single still image or the video stream, and

determine whether the request for access is to be granted or denied by comparing the first image of the user to the second image to determine if the user is shown in the identity document.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more computers are further configured to extract user information from the image of the document in the single still image or the video stream, and wherein the determination as to whether the request for access is to be granted or denied is further based upon the extracted user information.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the request for access is received from a first device associated with the user, and wherein the single still image or the video stream is received from a second device associated with the user.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more computers are further configured to extract user information from the image of the document in the single still image or the video stream, and wherein the one or more computers are further configured to transmit the extracted user information to one or more third party computer systems for verification.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more computers are further configured to extract user information from the image of the document in the single still image or the video stream, wherein the request for access further comprises user information for the user, and wherein the determination as to whether the request for access is to be granted or denied is further based upon a comparison of the user information to the extracted user information.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the user information and the extracted user information specify a birthdate of the user.

7. The system of claim 5, wherein the user information and the extracted user information specify a geographical location of the user.

8. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereupon which, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to:

receive a request for access from a device associated with a user;

in response to receiving the request for access, request a single still image or video stream comprising both a first image of the user and an image of an identity document associated with the user;

receive the single still image or video stream comprising the first image of the user and the image of the identity document;

extract the first image of the user comprising a face of the user from the single still image or the video stream;

extract a second image comprising another face from the image of the identity document in the single still image or the video stream;

compare the first image of the user to the second image to determine if the user is shown in the identity document; and

determine whether the request for access is to be granted or denied based upon results of the comparison.

9. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 8, wherein restricted access is granted based upon results of the comparison.

10. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 8, having further computer-executable instructions stored thereupon which, when executed by the computer, cause the computer to extract user information from the image of the document in the single still image or the video stream, and wherein the determination as to whether the request for access is to be granted or denied is further based upon the extracted user information.

11. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 8, having further computer-executable instructions stored thereupon which, when executed by the computer, cause the computer to extract user information from the image of the document in the single still image or the video stream, wherein the request for access further comprises user information for the user, and wherein the determination as to whether the request for access is to be granted or denied is further based upon a comparison of the user information to the extracted user information.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 8, having further computer-executable instructions stored thereupon which, when executed by the computer, cause the computer to extract user information from the image of the document in the single still image or the video stream and to transmit the extracted user information to one or more third party computer systems for verification of the user information.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 8, having further computer-executable instructions stored thereupon which, when executed by the computer, cause the computer to extract information from the image of the document in the single still image or the video stream and to transmit the information to one or more third party computer systems to verify that the identity document is a valid identity document.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 8, wherein the request for access is received from a first computing device associated with the user, and wherein the single still image or the video stream is received from a second computing device associated with the user.

15. A computer-implemented method for granting or denying a request for access, comprising:

receiving a request for access from a device associated with a user;

receiving a single still image or video stream comprising both a first image of the user and an image of an identity document associated with the user;

extracting the first image of the user comprising a face of the user from the single still image or the video stream;

extracting a second image comprising another face from the image of the identity document in the single still image or the video stream; and

granting or denying the request for access based upon a comparison of the first image of the user and the second image.

16. The computer-implemented method of claim 15, further comprising extracting user information from the image of the identity document in the single still image or the video stream, and wherein the request for access is granted or denied based, at least in part, upon the extracted user information.

17. The computer-implemented method of claim 15, further comprising extracting user information from the image of the identity document in the single still image or the video stream, wherein the request for access further comprises user information, and wherein the request for access is granted or denied based, at least in part, based upon a comparison between the user information provided in the request for access and the user information extracted from the image of the identity document.

18. The computer-implemented method of claim 15, further comprising:

extracting user information from the image of the identity document in the single still image or the video stream; and

transmitting the user information to one or more third party computer systems for validation of the user information or the identity document.

19. The computer-implemented method of claim 15, wherein the request for access is received from a first computing device associated with the user, and wherein the single still image or the video stream is received from a second computing device associated with the user.

20. The computer-implemented method of claim 15, wherein restricted access is granted based upon results of the comparison of the first image of the user and the second image.