Image analysis – Histogram processing – For setting a threshold
Patent
1988-10-28
1990-08-07
Boudreau, Leo H.
Image analysis
Histogram processing
For setting a threshold
382 2, G06K 900
Patent
active
049474430
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for verifying the identity of a person, notably by correlating certain characteristics of the finger print of that person with a machine readable identification of the characteristics of that finger print carried by an object presented concurrently with the finger print at a locus or contained in a record available to the locus.
BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION
Credit cards and bank cheque cards as currently used by many millions of people carry information relating to the user in machine readable form, usually in the form of one or more magnetic stripes or other recording medium on or in the card carrying binary or other coded information thereon. This provides a simple method for identifying the account to which a transaction relating to that card is to be debitted. However, there is no means contained in the card for verifying that the person presenting the card is the true owner of the card, other than the signature of the card holder. Such a signature can readily be copied with sufficient accuracy to satisfy the cursory inspection usually given to such signatures at the location of use. It is thus possible for a thief to use a stolen card for a period of time as if he were the true owner thereof. Losses due to theft and fraud of credit cards currently runs at many millions of pounds per annum.
Many attempts have been made to personalise credit and other cards so that it is possible to verify that the person presenting the card is the true owner. Such proposals have in general required the incorporation of a secret code within the magnetic strip or some other medium carried by the card which the presenter has to identify correctly when using the card. For example, bank cards require the identification of a special number (the PIN number) before the card can be accepted. However, many users carry their PIN number written down on a cheque book or the like which they carry with their cheque card to act as an aide memoire, notably where they use more than one bank or credit card. When the card is stolen, the PIN number often becomes available to the thief and he can thus present the card as if he were the true owner. The more complex the PIN or other code to be identified, the greater the security against a thief randomly picking the correct code; but the more likely it is that the owner will carry some form of aide memoire. Furthermore, the use of a PIN number is only possible where the number can be verified on site when the card is presented. This effectively limits the use of the PIN number to locations either linked to the central location from which the PIN number was issued, for example to banks which are linked via a data transmission network, or to locations having means for keying in data on the PIN number and verifying that against the card. Many locations, e.g. retail stores or garages, do not have these facilities.
It has been proposed to use a photograph of the card user as a supplement to or in place of the PIN number on a card to increase the security thereof, but sophisticated photographic and other techniques have enabled acceptable forgeries to be produced readily. Furthermore, verification of the identity of the presenter's photograh is again often cursory.
It has also been proposed to incorporate coded information e.g. in binary coded form, about the person's fingerprint on the card and to compare this information with a corresponding record held in a data base. In one form of such a proposal, the whole of the fingerprint image is stored upon the card and when verification is required it is necessary to display both the presenter's fingerprint and the print extracted from the record on the card for visual comparison. In an attempt to mechanise the comparison of the fingerprint with the stored data, it has been proposed to store the data either on site at the location where identification is required or at a remote location which is accessed from the verification site. In the former case, the amount of data required to enable identif
REFERENCES:
patent: 3292149 (1966-12-01), Bourne
patent: 3383657 (1968-05-01), Claassen et al.
patent: 3447818 (1969-06-01), De Pizzol
patent: 3940795 (1976-02-01), Lemelson
patent: 4048618 (1977-10-01), Hendry
patent: 4151512 (1979-04-01), Riganati et al.
patent: 4152056 (1979-05-01), Fowler
patent: 4185270 (1980-01-01), Fischer, II. et al.
patent: 4186378 (1980-01-01), Moulton
patent: 4208651 (1980-06-01), McMahon
patent: 4210899 (1980-07-01), Swonger et al.
patent: 4246568 (1981-01-01), Peterson
patent: 4310827 (1982-01-01), Asai
patent: 4322163 (1982-03-01), Schiller
patent: 4325570 (1982-04-01), Estrada
patent: 4338025 (1982-06-01), Engel
patent: 4537484 (1985-08-01), Fowler et al.
patent: 4569080 (1986-02-01), Schiller
patent: 4747147 (1988-05-01), Sparrow
C. West and D. Wild, IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin, vol. 17, No. 12, May 1975.
W. J. Deerhake, J. R. Gaffney, Jr. and J. J. Moyer, IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin, vol. 18, No. 3, Aug. 1975.
Boudreau Leo H.
Gunter Jr. Charles D.
Jung Yon
LandOfFree
Method and apparatus for verifying identity does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Method and apparatus for verifying identity, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Method and apparatus for verifying identity will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-966143