Managing user data for software services

• US 9,832,190 B2
• Filed: 06/29/2014
• Issued: 11/28/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 06/29/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Inventors: Schlesinger, Benny, Kashtan, Guy
• Primary Examiner(s): Pwu, Jeffrey
• Assistant Examiner(s): Ambaye, Samuel
• Application Number:
  US14/318,689
• Publication Number:
  US 20150381615A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,248 Days
• Field of Search: 713168, 713182, 713186
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/32 using biometric data, e.g. fingerprints, iris scans or voiceprints
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/6245 Protecting personal data, e.g. for financial or medical purposes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0428 wherein the data content is protected, e.g. by encrypting or encapsulating the payload
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0861 using biometrical features, e.g. fingerprint, retina-scan cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication using biological data H04L9/3231
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/0866 involving user or device identifiers, e.g. serial number, physical or biometrical information, DNA, hand-signature or measurable physical characteristics
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/3231 Biological data, e.g. fingerprint, voice or retina network architectures or network communication protocols for supporting authentication of entities using biometrical features in a packet data network H04L63/0861

Abstract

User-specific data for use with a software service may be stored in an encrypted form, where the encryption and/or decryption keys used are associated with a user'"'"'s biometric data (that the user voluntarily provides after appropriate disclosure, to protect the user'"'"'s interest in privacy). When the user uses the software service on a device, the device may receive the user-specific data in an encrypted form, and then may use the biometric data to retrieve or generate the cryptographic key that is used to decrypt the user-specific data. The user-specific data is then decrypted and used on the device with the software service.

Claims

1. A computer-readable medium that stores executable instructions which when executed by a device, causing the device to perform acts comprising:

receiving encrypted user-specific data from a software service, the user-specific data comprising user files to be used with software, or metadata comprising user settings, or both;

receiving biometric data from a user of said device;

calculating a metric from the biometric data;

comparing the metric to boundaries of a plurality of biometric data clusters, each of the plurality of biometric data clusters representing a plurality of biometric data clustered together by reducing a statistic among the plurality of biometric data;

responsive to the comparison, selecting one of the plurality of biometric data clusters;

retrieving a cryptographic key from a cryptographic key database associated with the selected one of the plurality of biometric data clusters;

using the cryptographic key to decrypt the user-specific data; and

using, on the device, the user-specific data, in a decrypted form.

2. The computer-readable medium of claim 1, said biometric data comprising a fingerprint of said user.

3. The computer-readable medium of claim 1, said biometric data comprising an iris image of said user.

4. The computer-readable medium of claim 1, said acts further comprising:

contacting said software service to request said user-specific data.

5. The computer-readable medium of claim 1, said device comprising a phone or a tablet.

6. A method performed by a device to of utilizing user-specific data on the device, the method comprising:

receiving, from a software service, encrypted user data comprising at least one of;

data a user desires to utilize on the device;

or metadata the user desires to use to configure the device;

receiving, via a biometric sensor associated with the device, biometric data associated with the user;

calculating a metric from the biometric data;

comparing the metric to boundaries of a plurality of biometric data clusters, each of the plurality of biometric data clusters representing a plurality of biometric data clustered together by reducing a statistic among the plurality of biometric data;

responsive to the comparison, selecting one of the plurality of biometric data clusters;

retrieving a cryptographic key associated with the selected biometric data cluster;

decrypting the encrypted user data using the cryptographic key; and

using the decrypted data on the device.

7. The method of claim 6, said biometric data comprising a fingerprint of said user.

8. The method of claim 6, said biometric data comprising an iris image of said user.

9. The method of claim 6, further comprising requesting the encrypted user data from the software service.

10. The method of claim 6, wherein the cryptographic key is retrieved from a database storing a cryptographic key for each of the plurality of biometric data clusters.

11. The method of claim 6, said device soliciting said biometric data from said user.

12. The method of claim 6, wherein the device comprises a laptop or desktop computer or a mobile phone or a tablet.

13. A system for using a software-service with user-specific data, the system comprising:

a memory;

a processor;

a first component that is stored in said memory, that executes on said processor, that;

receives, from the software service, encrypted user data;

solicits, from a user, biometric data;

sends the biometric data to a second component and receives, in return, a metric derived from the biometric data;

compares the metric to boundaries of a plurality of biometric data clusters stored in a biometric database, each of the plurality of biometric data clusters representing a plurality of biometric data clustered together by reducing a statistic among the plurality of biometric data;

responsive to the comparison, selects one of the plurality of biometric data clusters;

decrypts the encrypted user data using a selected cryptographic key;

the biometric database storing a plurality of cryptographic keys for each of the plurality of biometric data clusters; and

the second component that;

receives the biometric data from the first component;

calculates the metric from the biometric data;

returns the metric to the first component.

14. The system of claim 13, said biometric data comprising a fingerprint of said user.

15. The system of claim 13, said biometric data comprising an iris image of said user.

16. The system of claim 13, said first component requesting said user-specific data from said software service.

17. The system of claim 13, wherein the metric comprises one of the plurality of cryptographic data clusters.

18. The system of claim 13, said biometric data being collected by a touch screen or a fingerprint reader of said system.