Security methods employing drivers licenses and other documents
First Claim
1. An airport security screening method comprising:
- receiving from a person checking-in for air travel a driver'"'"'s license including machine-readable data;
reading the machine-readable data from the license;
determining from the read data the identity of the issuing authority that issued the license;
forwarding at least some of the read data to a remote computer system having access to data records corresponding to said issuing authority'"'"'s drivers licenses; and
receiving back from said computer system data relating to said license.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Driver'"'"'s licenses and other security documents include one or more machine-readable features, each conveying plural bits of information. These features are used in a variety of ways to increase security, and/or to enhance functionality. In one embodiment, data encoded on a driver'"'"'s license is used at airport check-in, to link to a state DMV database and obtain information by which the document, and its custodian, can be authenticated. In like fashion, a license can be used to authenticate a bearer and/or his/her age prior to the sale of alcohol or tobacco products. In other embodiments, different elements of a driver'"'"'s license (e.g., the substrate, photo, text data, and machine-readable data) are logically bound together (e.g., interlinked through payloads conveyed by different machine-readable features) as a deterrent against counterfeiting. Driver'"'"'s licenses can be similarly logically bound to personal checks and other documents. Many other arrangements are also disclosed.
181 Citations
17 Claims
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1. An airport security screening method comprising:
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receiving from a person checking-in for air travel a driver'"'"'s license including machine-readable data;
reading the machine-readable data from the license;
determining from the read data the identity of the issuing authority that issued the license;
forwarding at least some of the read data to a remote computer system having access to data records corresponding to said issuing authority'"'"'s drivers licenses; and
receiving back from said computer system data relating to said license. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3)
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4. A method of remotely updating or renewing a driver'"'"'s license over the internet, comprising:
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presenting a driver'"'"'s license to a digital imaging device at a location not associated with an issuing authority that issued the license, the imaging device producing scan data;
decoding license data from the scan data;
transmitting said decoded license data over the internet to a computer system associated with said issuing authority;
receiving from said computer system, over the internet, a web page soliciting at least address information;
transmitting any updated address information over the internet to said computer system;
manufacturing a driver'"'"'s license with any updated address information; and
mailing said manufactured driver'"'"'s license to a corresponding address. - View Dependent Claims (5, 6)
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7. A method of age verification in connection with retail sales, comprising:
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receiving an identification document from a person, the document being issued by a governmental document issuing authority;
extracting machine-readable data from said document;
transmitting at least some of said data to a remote computer system having access to data records corresponding to identification documents issued by said issuing authority; and
receiving back from said computer system data relating to said document; and
determining whether said person meets an age criterion. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A method of enhancing security of an identification document, comprising:
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subliminally marking a substrate of the document with a first machine-readable feature conveying a first plural-bit code, said same code being used on plural other substrates used by a particular document issuing authority;
forming on said marked substrate an identification document, the identification document having a second machine-readable feature conveying a second plural-bit code; and
authenticating the document by sensing the first and second plural-bit codes, and checking for an expected relationship therebetween. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15)
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16. In a method of printing a personal check for use by a person, an improvement comprising marking the check with a steganographic watermark conveying a plural-bit payload, said payload conveying information correlating the printed check with at least one of the following elements of information:
- a driver license number corresponding to said person, the person'"'"'s social security number, or the person'"'"'s date of birth.
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17. A method comprising:
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at a first checkpoint, receiving from a person a photographic identification document;
decoding a first plural-bit payload from a machine-readable feature on said document;
based at least in part on said decoded payload, forming a machine-readable feature, conveying a second plural-bit payload, on a travel document issued to said person;
at a second checkpoint, receiving from said person the photographic identification document and said travel document;
decoding the first and second payloads from said documents; and
checking said decoded payloads for an expected relationship.
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Specification