Systems and methods for storage of user information and for verifying user identity

• US 7,929,951 B2
• Filed: 12/19/2002
• Issued: 04/19/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 12/20/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Lawrence A. Stevens
• Original Assignee: Lawrence A. Stevens
• Inventors: Stevens, Lawrence A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Chang; Kent
• Assistant Examiner(s): VIANA DI PRISCO, GERMAN
• Application Number:
  US10/325,678
• Publication Number:
  US 20040014457A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,043 Days
• Field of Search: 455/414.1, 455/414.2, 455/414.3, 455/415, 455/557, 455/558
• US Class Current: 455/414.1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/32 using biometric data, e.g. fingerprints, iris scans or voiceprints
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/62 Protecting access to data via a platform, e.g. using keys or access control rules
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2111 Location-sensitive, e.g. geographical location, GPS
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/04 Payment circuits
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/4014 Identity check for transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/40145 Biometric identity checks
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/257 electronically G07C9/26 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/26 using a biometric sensor integrated in the pass

Abstract

Systems and methods are provided for maintaining user profile information and allowing for biometric verification of the user'"'"'s identity. The user stores or links to personal, financial, etc. information in a web page. The user can limit the types of information that is available to others. The information can be downloaded to a portable device. The information can be used for financial transactions, where the financial information is transmitted to a web site, an ATM, credit card machine, etc. for financial approval. The information can also be used to find other users with similar interest. The user stores selected characteristics that they would like to find in other users, which are compared with other user'"'"'s profiles. Matching users are aided in locating one another, where they may then prove their identity to each other by biometrically verifying that they are the owner of the user profile.

Claims

1. A system for comparing user profiles to determine users having matching interests and biometrically verifying the identity and information of the matching users to each other as part of a comparison of user profile information search, comprising:

a storage device comprising a user profile database comprising user profile information for a plurality of users;

a user device associated with said storage device, said user device comprising a user interface for receiving user profile information from the user;

a biometric verification interface for biometrically verifying each user to the user'"'"'s associated profile information stored in said user profile database; and

a processing element in communication with said user interface, biometric interface, and storage device, wherein said processing element;

receives user profile information input by each user via said user interface including user preferences regarding other users;

stores the user profile information for each user in the user profile database, wherein one or more of the user profile information for each user is biometrically associated with a respective third party institution and can be verified by the third party institution, wherein the user profile information associated with third party institutions is stored in both the user profile database and a third party database associated with the respective third party institution, where the user profile database and the third party database associated with the third party institution are separate databases;

performs a user profile information pre-verification for each user by contacting third party institutions associated with the respective user profile information to verify the user profile information stored in the user profile database, such that the user profile information is verified by the third party institution prior to use;

compares user preferences for each user stored in the user'"'"'s profile information with the user preferences of the other of the plurality of users;

returns only those user profiles for users having matching user preferences, so that only users are indicated in the comparison that have common interests; and

allows via the user interface each of the users that were indicated as matching to access user profile information stored in the user profile database for the other user, including access to the user profile information verified by the third party institution prior to use, such that mutual access by the users to the other user'"'"'s verified user profile information is provided;

wherein the system biometrically links all users to each other and to their respective institutions so that their associated biometrically verified information is permitted to be searched by others to find the best mutual matches for any enquiring user; and

wherein the biometrically linking comprises storing a user'"'"'s biometric on the user'"'"'s own device and on other users'"'"' devices and requiring a user to have their biometric scanned by and verified by the other user'"'"'s device to protect against tampering.

2. A system according to claim 1, wherein the user profile information comprises at least one clickable/selectable direct electronic link to user profile information associated with the user that is stored on a third party database of a third party institution, such that the user profile information associated with the user may be verified by accessing the clickable/selectable direct electronic link.

3. A system according to claim 1, wherein said storage device is a central storage device accessible via a network.

4. A system according to claim 1, wherein portions of at least some of the user profile information stored in said user profile database is designated as information that can be accessed by other users.

5. A system according to claim 1, wherein the user profile information stored in said user profile database is stored in a web page that includes links to biometrically verified information regarding the user.

6. A system according to claim 1, wherein said user device comprises a plurality of user devices each associated with a respective user and each comprising a network interface for communicating with said storage device via a network.

7. A system according to claim 6, wherein said biometric interface comprises a plurality of biometric interfaces each located in a respective user device.

8. A system according to claim 6, wherein said user device is one of a cell phone, personal digital assistant, or personal computer.

9. A system according to claim 6, wherein said user device comprises a GPS device for tracking the location of said user interface.

10. A system according to claim 9, wherein said GPS device comprises a transceiver for transmitting a location of said user interface.

11. A system according to claim 1 wherein said processing element further performs a user profile comparison with other users and providing a list of one or more second users having user profile information that matches user profile information associated with the first user, and wherein said processing element allows each user to create different user profiles to be used in the searches.

12. A system according to claim 11 further comprising a transceiver associated with each user device, wherein said transceiver transmits user profile information in a geographic area surrounding the user device and receives user profile information from other user devices in the geographic area, and wherein said processing element further compares user profile information received from another user device with selected search criteria set by the user of the user device, and indicates a match if there is a match between the user profile information received from another user device with the selected search criteria.

13. A system for comparing user profiles to determine users having matching interests and biometrically verifying the identity and information of the matching users to each other as part of a comparison of user profile information, comprising:

a storage device comprising a user profile database comprising user profile information for a plurality of users;

a user device associated with said storage device, said user device comprising a user interface for receiving user profile information from the user;

a biometric verification interface for biometrically verifying each user to the user'"'"'s associated profile information stored in said user profile database; and

a processing element in communication with said user interface, biometric interface, and storage device, wherein said processing element;

receives user profile information input by each user via said user interface;

stores the user profile information for each user in the user profile database, wherein one or more of the user profile information for each user is biometrically associated with a respective third party institution and can be verified by the third party institution, wherein the user profile information associated with third party institutions is stored in both the user profile database and a third party database associated with the respective third party institution, where the user profile database and the third party database associated with the third party institution are separate databases;

performs a user profile information pre-verification for each user by contacting third party institutions associated with the respective user profile information to verify the user profile information stored in the user profile database, such that the user profile information is verified by the third party institution prior to use;

compares user profile information for each user with the user profile information of the other of plurality of users;

returns only those user profiles for users having matching interests, so that only users are indicated in the comparison that have common interests;

allows via the user interface each of the users that were indicated as matching to access user profile information stored in the user profile database for the other user, including access to the user profile information verified by the third party institution prior to use, such that mutual access by the users to the other user'"'"'s verified user profile information is provided; and

wherein said processing element further allows a user to create different user profiles with different user profile information associated with the user to share with other users and/or for use in performing comparisons with other user'"'"'s profiles to thereby facilitate different matches with different users based on different user profiles;

wherein the system biometrically links all users to each other and to their respective institutions so that their associated biometrically verified information is permitted to be searched by others to find the best mutual matches for any enquiring user; and

wherein the biometrically linking comprises storing a user'"'"'s biometric on the user'"'"'s own device and on other users'"'"' devices and requiring a user to have their biometric scanned by and verified by the other user'"'"'s device to protect against tampering.

14. A system for comparing user profiles to determine users having matching interests and biometrically verifying the identity and information of the matching users to each other as part of a comparison of user profile information, comprising:

a storage device comprising a user profile database comprising user profile information for a plurality of users;

a user device associated with said storage device, said user device comprising a user interface for receiving user profile information from the user;

a biometric verification interface for biometrically verifying each user to the user'"'"'s associated profile information stored in said user profile database; and

a processing element in communication with said user interface, biometric interface, and storage device, wherein said processing element;

receives user profile information input by each user via said user interface;

stores the user profile information for each user in the user profile database, wherein one or more of the user profile information for each user is biometrically associated with a respective third party institution and can be verified by the third party institution, wherein the user profile information associated with third party institutions is stored in both the user profile database and a third party database associated with the respective third party institution, where the user profile database and the third party database associated with the third party institution are separate databases;

performs a user profile information pre-verification for each user by contacting third party institutions associated with the respective user profile information to verify the user profile information stored in the user profile database, such that the user profile information is verified by the third party institution prior to use;

compares user profile information for each user with the user profile information of the other of plurality of users;

returns only those user profiles for users having matching interests, so that only users are indicated in the comparison that have common interests;

allows via the user interface each of the users that were indicated as matching to access user profile information stored in the user profile database for the other user, including access to the user profile information verified by the third party institution prior to use, such that mutual access by the users to the other user'"'"'s verified user profile information is provided; and

allows a user to create search request for use in performing searches of other user profiles, wherein said processing element allows the user to weight different search criteria in the search request by different weighting values to selectively weight the importance of each search criteria to the user;

wherein the system biometrically links all users to each other and to their respective institutions so that their associated biometrically verified information is permitted to be searched by others to find the best mutual matches for any enquiring user; and

wherein the biometrically linking comprises storing a user'"'"'s biometric on the user'"'"'s own device and on other users'"'"' devices and requiring a user to have their biometric scanned by and verified by the other user'"'"'s device to protect against tampering.

15. A system for biometrically verifying the identity and information of first and second users to each other as part of a user profile comparison, comprising:

a storage device comprising a user profile database comprising user profile information for two users;

a user device associated with each user and with said storage device, said user device comprising a user interface for receiving user profile information from the associated user;

a biometric verification interface associated with each user interface for biometrically verifying each user to the user'"'"'s associated profile information stored in said user profile database; and

a processing element associated in communication with said user interfaces, biometric interfaces, and storage device, wherein said processing element;

receives user profile information input by each user via said user interface;

stores the user profile information for each user in the user profile database, wherein one or more of the user profile information for each user is biometrically associated with a respective third party institution and can be verified by the third party institution, wherein the user profile information associated with third party institutions is stored in both the user profile database and a third party database associated with the respective third party institution, where the user profile database and the third party database associated with the third party institution are separate databases; and

performs a user profile information pre-verification for each of the two users by contacting third party institutions associated with the respective user profile information to verify the user profile information stored in the user profile database, such that the user profile information is verified by the third party institution prior to use, wherein said user interfaces in communication with said processing element further;

allows each user associated with each user interface to perform searches of user profile information based on selected search criteria;

compares user profile information for each user with the user profile information of the other of plurality of users;

returns only those user profiles for users having matching interests, so that only users are indicated in the comparison that have common interests; and

allows each user to access user profile information stored in the user profile database for another user, including access to the user profile information verified by the third party institution prior to use, such that mutual access of user profile information is provided, wherein neither user has more control than the other user regarding review of user profile information;

wherein the system biometrically links all users to each other and to their respective institutions so that their associated biometrically verified information is permitted to be searched by others to find the best mutual matches for any enquiring user; and

wherein the biometrically linking comprises storing a user'"'"'s biometric on the user'"'"'s own device and on the other users'"'"' device and requiring a user to have their biometric scanned by and verified by the other user'"'"'s device to protect against tampering.

16. A system for biometrically verifying the identity and information of first and second users to each other as part of a comparison of user profile information, comprising:

a user device associated with each user, comprising;

a storage device comprising a user profile database comprising user profile information for the user;

a user interface for receiving user profile information from the user;

a biometric verification interface for biometrically verifying the user to the user'"'"'s associated profile information stored in said user profile database; and

a processing element in communication with said user interface, biometric interface, and storage device, wherein said processing element;

receives user profile information input by the user via said user interface;

stores the user profile information in the user profile database, wherein one or more of the user profile information is biometrically associated with a respective third party institution and can be verified by the third party institution, wherein the user profile information associated with third party institutions is stored in both the user profile database and a third party database associated with the respective third party institution, where the user profile database and the third party database associated with the third party institution are separate databases;

performs a user profile information pre-verification for each of the two users by contacting third party institutions associated with the respective user profile information to verify the user profile information stored in the user profile database, such that the user profile information is verified by the third party institution prior to use;

compares user profile information for the first and second users;

determines whether the first and second users have matching interests; and

allows via the user interface each of the two users to access user profile information stored in the user profile database for the other user, including access to the user profile information verified by the third party institution prior to use, such that mutual access by the two users to the other user'"'"'s verified user profile information is provided; and

wherein said user interface, biometric verification interface, and processing element are portable, and wherein said biometric verification interface verifies a user as associated with a user interface to another user in an in-person transaction between users, wherein such verification assures each user that the other user is biometrically verified to the user interface in the user'"'"'s possession and with the user profile information stored in the user interface in the user'"'"'s possession;

wherein the system biometrically links all users to each other and to their respective institutions so that their associated biometrically verified information is permitted to be searched by others to find the best mutual matches for any enquiring user; and

wherein the biometrically linking comprises storing a user'"'"'s biometric on the user'"'"'s own device and on the other users'"'"' device and requiring a user to have their biometric scanned by and verified by the other user'"'"'s device to protect against tampering.