Information processing device, information processing system, and program

Abstract

To provide an information processing device, an information processing system and a program capable of restricting execution of authentication processing using authentication information, when other users perform the authentication processing on behalf of a user, by using the authentication information on the user who exists in a far place.SOLUTION: In an information processing system, a mobile terminal 10 comprises a data acquisition unit and a control unit. The data acquisition unit acquires restriction information for restricting use of authentication information, when acquiring the authentication information on a user A who is at home, from a terminal device 60 via a radio communication line. The control unit controls so as to permit execution of the authentication processing using the authentication information, if a condition when using the authentication information is a condition in which the use of the authentication information is not restricted by the restriction information.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an information processing device, an information processing system, and a program. [Background technology]

[0002] Patent document 1 discloses an authority delegation system that enables a user using a storage medium to appropriately delegate authority from other users by storing authority delegation information regarding authority delegated to the user by other users in the storage medium that stores information capable of verifying the user's identity. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2009-205342 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] An object of the present invention is to provide an information processing device, an information processing system, and a program that are capable of restricting the execution of authentication processing using authentication information when another user performs authentication processing on behalf of a user who is in a remote location using the authentication information of the user. [Means for solving the problem]

[0005] [Information processing device] The present invention according to claim 1 comprises a memory and a processor, The processor, When acquiring authentication information of a user at a remote location from an external device via a communication line, restriction information for restricting use of the authentication information is acquired; If the condition for using the authentication information is such that the use of the authentication information is not restricted by the restriction information, Representation by a user other than the user to the authentication device Execute the authentication process , for the user who is using the device Control to allow storing the acquired authentication information and restriction information in a memory; Based on an instruction from a user at a remote location, the state of the authentication information stored in the memory is From an enabled state to an disabled state, or from an disabled state to an enabled state It is an information processing device that switches between the above.

[0006] The present invention according to claim 2 is characterized in that, when the processor acquires authentication information of a user at a remote location from an external device via a communication line, the processor acquires information indicating a user who is permitted to use the authentication information, A user who is going to use the authentication information is identified, and if the identified user matches a user who is authorized to use the authentication information, the authentication information is used. Representation by a user other than the user to the authentication device Execute the authentication process , for the user who is using the device The information processing device according to claim 1, wherein the information processing device controls to permit the access.

[0007] The present invention of claim 3 is an information processing device as described in claim 2, wherein the processor identifies a user who is attempting to use the authentication information by requesting a login process from the user who is attempting to use the device.

[0008] The present invention according to claim 4 is characterized in that the processor acquires, as the restriction information, information on an upper limit of a period during which the authentication information can be used or an upper limit of the number of times the authentication information can be used; 2. The information processing device according to claim 1, wherein the authentication information is invalidated after the period has elapsed or when the number of uses has reached an upper limit.

[0009] The present invention according to claim 5 is any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the restriction information includes information for restricting functions that can be used after authentication processing. In item 1 The information processing device described above is an

[0011] Claim 6 The present invention relates to a method for acquiring authentication information by displaying information on a state of the acquired authentication information on a display unit. 5 Either In item 1 The information processing device described above is an

[0014] [program] The present invention according to claim 7 provides a method for obtaining restriction information for restricting use of authentication information of a user at a remote location when the authentication information is obtained from an external device via a communication line; When the condition for using the authentication information is such that the use of the authentication information is not restricted by the restriction information, Representation by a user other than the user to the authentication device Execute the authentication process , for the user who is using the device a step of controlling to permit; storing the acquired authentication information and restriction information in a memory; Based on an instruction from a user at a remote location, the state of the authentication information stored in the memory is From an enabled state to an disabled state, or from an disabled state to an enabled state and a switching step. Effect of the Invention

[0016] According to the present invention of claim 1, it is possible to provide an information processing device that is capable of restricting the execution of authentication processing using authentication information when another user performs authentication processing on behalf of a user who is in a remote location using the authentication information of the user. Furthermore, according to the present invention as set forth in claim 1, it is possible to validate or invalidate authentication information without transferring or deleting the entire authentication information.

[0017] According to the present invention related to claim 2, when another user performs authentication processing on behalf of a user who is in a remote location using the authentication information of the user, it is possible to restrict the users who can use the authentication information.

[0018] According to the present invention as set forth in claim 3, the user who uses the authentication information can be identified by utilizing the login process.

[0019] According to the present invention as set forth in claim 4, when another user performs authentication processing on behalf of a user who is in a remote location using the authentication information of the user, the number of times that the authentication information can be used can be limited.

[0020] According to the present invention as set forth in claim 5, when the authentication process is executed using the authentication information, available functions can be restricted.

[0022] Claim 6 According to the present invention, it is possible to know whether or not the authentication information is valid simply by looking at the display unit of the device itself.

[0025] Claim 7 According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a program that can restrict the execution of authentication processing using authentication information when another user performs authentication processing on behalf of a user who is in a remote location using the authentication information of the user. Furthermore, according to the present invention as set forth in claim 7, it is possible to validate or invalidate the authentication information without transferring or deleting the entire authentication information. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0027] [Figure 1] 1 is a diagram illustrating a system configuration of an information processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2] 1 is a diagram for explaining how users A and B execute authentication processing on a multifunction device 20. FIG. [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining a specific method of proxy authentication using the mobile terminal 10 according to one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 4] 1 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of a mobile terminal 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 5] 1 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a mobile terminal 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 6] FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of restriction information. [Figure 7] 1A and 1B are diagrams showing examples of screens displayed on the mobile terminal 10 when a user who wishes to perform proxy authentication performs a login process. [Figure 8] 13 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen of the mobile terminal 10 when a message is displayed on the display unit 32 indicating that the authentication information has been validated and the authority of user A has been transferred. FIG. [Figure 9]11 is a sequence chart for explaining the transmission and reception of information between the terminal device 60, the mobile terminal 10, and the multifunction device 20 when confirming with the user A whether or not the authentication information can be used when proxy authentication is performed. [Figure 10] 1 is a diagram showing the state of the mobile terminal 10 in the case where exclusive control is performed when authentication information of a plurality of users is written to the mobile terminal 10. FIG. [Figure 11] 1 is a diagram showing the state of the mobile terminal 10 in the case where last priority control is performed when authentication information of a plurality of users is written to the mobile terminal 10. FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0028] Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

[0029] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the system configuration of an information processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0030] As shown in FIG. 1, an information processing system according to one embodiment of the present invention is configured such that a terminal device 60 of a telework user working from home and a mobile terminal 10 used in an office are interconnected via a wireless LAN terminal 70, the Internet 50, a router 30, an in-house network, and a wireless LAN terminal 40.

[0031] The mobile terminal 10 is an information processing device such as a smartphone that can be connected to a wireless LAN terminal 40 via a wireless communication line such as Wi-Fi (registered trademark).

[0032] In the information processing system shown in Fig. 1, a state in which user A telecommutes from home is shown. In addition, it is assumed that user A entrusts his / her mobile terminal 10 to user B who works in an office when telecommuting. In other words, user B has been delegated authority by user A who is not working in the office, and holds the mobile terminal 10 as a proxy for user A.

[0033] A multifunction peripheral 20 is connected to the intranet within the office. The multifunction peripheral 20 is an image forming device having multiple functions such as a printing function, a scanning function, a copying function, and a facsimile function.

[0034] The multifunction device 20 is installed in an office and is used by many users. However, due to the recent increase in security awareness, each user cannot use each function of the multifunction device 20 unless they perform an authentication process. When performing this authentication process, by touching an IC card such as an employee ID card to an IC card reader of the multifunction device 20, the authentication process is performed by reading out the authentication information stored in the IC card, and the user is identified. This IC card has a function of transmitting and receiving data to and from an external communication device using information written in a built-in IC chip through short-range wireless communication called NFC (short for Near Field Communication).

[0035] For example, as shown in FIG. 2, user A is authenticated as user A by touching his / her IC card 80A to the IC card reader of multifunction device 20, and user B is authenticated as user B by touching his / her IC card 80B to the IC card reader of multifunction device 20.

[0036] By carrying out such authentication control, it is possible to realize a function such as printing only print jobs transferred by the user from a personal computer, or a function of restricting the services available to each user, such as allowing some users to print in color while other users can only print in monochrome. Furthermore, with such authentication control, it is possible to realize various functions such as setting an upper limit on the number of copies per month for each user, tallying up the usage record such as the number of copies for each organization, and automatically setting a fax address book for each user and an email address as a destination for scanned data.

[0037] However, as described above, there are cases where a telework user who works from home wants to use the multifunction device 20 installed in the office. For example, there are cases where a user wants to scan a document using the multifunction device 20 and send the scanned electronic data to User A's email address.

[0038] In such a case, if user A's IC card 80A is given to user B who works in the office, user B can execute authentication processing on behalf of user A. However, if IC card 80A also serves as user A's employee ID card, lending one's employee ID card to another person is problematic. Furthermore, if user A's IC card 80A is given to user B, all functions can be used without restriction, which is problematic as user B can use the card to an extent not intended by user A.

[0039] 1 is used in place of IC card 80A, and the following control is performed to restrict the execution of authentication processing using authentication information when another user B, who is in a remote location, performs authentication processing on behalf of user A using the authentication information of the user A. In the following, the execution of authentication processing by another user using the authentication information of a certain user is referred to as proxy authentication.

[0040] A specific method of proxy authentication using the mobile terminal 10 of this embodiment is shown in Fig. 3. In Fig. 3, user A operates terminal device 60 to write authentication information of user A into the mobile terminal 10, thereby transferring authority to user B. Then, user B performs proxy authentication to log in as user A by touching the mobile terminal 10, in which the authentication information of user A has been written, to the IC card reader of multifunction device 10.

[0041] In this way, by performing proxy authentication on the multifunction device 20 as user A, user B is able to execute various operations requested by user A.

[0042] However, when user A writes the authentication information to mobile terminal 10, he also writes restriction information for restricting the use of this authentication information to mobile terminal 10 at the same time. Therefore, the proxy authentication of user A performed by user B using the authentication information written to mobile terminal 10 is restricted within the scope of this restriction information. Details of this restriction information will be described later.

[0043] In the above description, the authority of user A is transferred by writing the authentication information of user A to the mobile terminal 10. In the following description of the present embodiment, however, the authentication information of user A is stored in advance in the mobile terminal 10. In this case, when user A transfers the authority of user A to user B, user A accesses the mobile terminal 10 from the terminal device 60 and validates the stored authentication information to enable the use. When the transferred authority is to be invalidated, user A accesses the mobile terminal 10 from the terminal device 60 and invalidates the valid authentication information. However, user A may transfer the authority of user A to user B or invalidate the transferred authority by actually transferring the authentication information from the terminal device 60 to the mobile terminal 10 or by actually deleting the authentication information stored in the mobile terminal 10.

[0044] Next, the hardware configuration of the mobile terminal 10 in the information processing system of this embodiment is shown in FIG.

[0045] 4, the mobile terminal 10 has a CPU 11, a memory 12, a storage device 13 such as a flash memory, a communication interface (abbreviated as IF) 14 for transmitting and receiving data to and from external devices via a network, and a user interface (abbreviated as UI) device 15 such as a touch panel or a liquid crystal display. These components are connected to each other via a control bus 16.

[0046] The CPU 11 is a processor that executes a predetermined process based on a control program stored in the memory 12 or the storage device 13, and controls the operation of the mobile terminal 10. Note that, in this embodiment, the CPU 11 is described as reading and executing the control program stored in the memory 12 or the storage device 13, but it is also possible to provide the program to the CPU 11 by storing it on a storage medium such as a CD-ROM.

[0047] FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the mobile terminal 10 realized by executing the above control program.

[0048] As shown in FIG. 5, the mobile terminal 10 of this embodiment includes an operation input unit 31, a display unit 32, a data acquisition unit 33, a control unit 34, and a data storage unit 35.

[0049] The display unit 32 displays various information to the user under the control of the control unit 34. The operation input unit 31 inputs various operation information performed by the user.

[0050] The data acquisition unit 33 transmits and receives data to and from an external device via a wireless communication line, and acquires various types of information.

[0051] The control unit 34 controls the overall operation of the mobile terminal 10. The data storage unit 35 stores various data such as the data acquired by the data acquisition unit 33.

[0052] When the data acquisition unit 33 acquires the authentication information of the user A who is at home, which is a remote location, from the terminal device 60, which is an external device, via a wireless communication line such as Wi-Fi (registered trademark), the data acquisition unit 33 acquires restriction information for restricting the use of the authentication information. The authentication information and restriction information acquired by the data acquisition unit 33 are stored in the data storage unit 35.

[0053] This authentication information is composed of, for example, a login ID and a password, and is information required when performing authentication processing in the multifunction device 20. The restriction information is information in which restrictions are set for restricting the use of the authentication information, and is configured, for example, as shown in FIG.

[0054] In the example of the restriction information shown in Fig. 6, the restriction items include an authorized user, a usable period, a usable number of times, usable functions, and whether or not confirmation is required at the time of authentication. In the example of the restriction information shown in Fig. 6, user B is set as the authorized user, which means that user B is the only user permitted to use the authentication information. In addition, one day is set as the usable period, which means that the period during which the authentication information can be used is within one day after the authentication information becomes valid. In addition, ten times is set as the number of times that the authentication process using this authentication information can be executed up to ten times.

[0055] Furthermore, in the example of the restriction information shown in FIG. 6, the available functions of copy, scan, fax, and print are set as usable, not usable, usable, and usable, respectively. This means that when authentication is performed using this authentication information, the copy, fax, and print functions can be used, but the scan function cannot be used.

[0056] Furthermore, in the example of the restriction information shown in FIG. 6, the question of whether or not confirmation is required during authentication is set to "not required," which means that when performing authentication processing using this authentication information to use the functions of multifunction device 20, there is no need to confirm with user A, who is the owner of the authentication information.

[0057] Then, when the condition for using the authentication information is such that the use of the authentication information is not restricted by the restriction information, the control unit 34 performs control so as to permit the execution of authentication processing using the authentication information.

[0058] For example, when the data acquisition unit 33 acquires authentication information of a user A at home from an external device via a communication line, the data acquisition unit 33 acquires information indicating users who are permitted to use the authentication information as restriction information.

[0059] Then, the control unit 34 identifies the user who is attempting to use the authentication information, and if the identified user matches a user who is authorized to use this authentication information, controls the execution of authentication processing using this authentication information.

[0060] Specifically, the control unit 34 requests a user who wishes to use the device to perform a login process, thereby identifying the user who wishes to use the authentication information stored in the data storage unit 35.

[0061] For example, as shown in Fig. 7, the control unit 34 requests a login process from a user attempting to perform proxy authentication, and validates the authentication information and permits proxy authentication only when the logged-in user is user B. Here, if the logged-in user is user C, who is not permitted, the control unit 34 does not validate the authentication information and leaves it in an invalid state.

[0062] Then, when it is confirmed that the logged-in user is User B, the control unit 34 displays on the display unit 32, as shown in FIG. 8, that the authentication information has been validated and that User A's authority has been transferred.

[0063] In this manner, the control unit 34 may display on the display unit 32 information relating to the state of the acquired authentication information.

[0064] Furthermore, when the control unit 34 acquires information on the period during which the authentication information can be used or the maximum number of times it can be used as restriction information, it invalidates the authentication information after the period has elapsed or when the maximum number of times it can be used has been reached.

[0065] For example, if the period during which the authentication information can be used is one day, the control unit 34 invalidates the authentication information that was valid when one day has passed since the authentication information was acquired. Also, if the upper limit of the number of times that the authentication information can be used is 10 times, the control unit 34 invalidates the authentication information that was valid when the number of times proxy authentication has been performed using the authentication information reaches 10 times.

[0066] Furthermore, if the restriction information includes information for restricting functions available after authentication processing, the control unit 34 transfers information on functions available when performing proxy authentication to the multifunction device 20. As a result, only functions that are set as available are available in the multifunction device 20. For example, if the restriction information is set to allow only copying, faxing, and printing, and scanning is set to be unavailable, as shown in Fig. 6, the multifunction device 20 authenticated by this authentication information is allowed to use only copying, faxing, and printing, and scanning is not available.

[0067] In the mobile terminal 10 of the present embodiment, authentication information of user A is pre-stored in the data storage unit 35. Then, the control unit 34 switches the state of the authentication information stored in the data storage unit 35 between a valid state and an invalid state based on an instruction from user A who is in a remote location.

[0068] In the above description, user B can execute various functions of the multifunction device 20 within the scope of the restriction information by performing authentication processing of the multifunction device 20 using the mobile terminal 10 with the authentication information enabled. However, there is a possibility that the mobile terminal 10 with the authentication information enabled may be used in a scope not intended by user A. For this reason, when the mobile terminal 10 executes authentication of the multifunction device 20, confirmation is requested from user A, and proxy authentication by the mobile terminal 10 may be enabled only if user A gives permission.

[0069] Specifically, in the restriction information shown in Fig. 6, the confirmation necessity at the time of authentication is set to "required", and when it is set that confirmation must be made with user A, who is the owner of the authentication information, when using the functions of the multifunction device 20 by performing authentication processing using this authentication information, the above-mentioned control is performed. The case where such control is performed will be described below.

[0070] In this case, when the data acquisition unit 33 acquires the authentication information of user A who is in a remote location from an external device via a communication line, the data acquisition unit 33 acquires the authentication information together with information indicating that the authentication information is a duplicate.

[0071] Then, when executing authentication processing using this authentication information, the control unit 35 presents authentication information including information indicating that the authentication information is a duplicate to the multifunction device 20. Note that, in this embodiment, a case will be described in which the multifunction device 20 is used as an authentication device that executes authentication processing, but similar control can be realized with any authentication device that executes authentication processing based on presented authentication information.

[0072] When the multifunction device 20 acquires authentication information from the mobile terminal 10 and performs authentication processing, if the acquired authentication information contains information indicating that the authentication information is a duplicate, the multifunction device 20 checks with user A, who is the owner of the authentication information, as to whether the authentication information can be used, and if it receives a response indicating that use of the authentication information is permitted, it performs authentication processing using the authentication information.

[0073] The manner in which information is transmitted and received between the terminal device 60, the mobile terminal 10, and the multifunction device 20 when such processing is executed will be described with reference to the sequence chart of FIG.

[0074] First, in step S101, when the mobile terminal 10 presents authentication information to the multifunction device 20 and requests authentication processing, the mobile terminal 10 also presents information indicating that the authentication information is a copy.

[0075] Then, in step S102, the multifunction device 20 transmits a notification to the terminal device 60 of the user A, who is the owner of the authentication information, to confirm whether or not it is OK to perform proxy authentication using the copied authentication information.

[0076] Then, in step S103, if the terminal device 60 returns a reply to the multifunction device 20 in response to the confirmation notification from the multifunction device 20 that the proxy authentication is permitted, the multifunction device 20 executes authentication processing using this authentication information in step S104.

[0077] By adopting such control, if user A who receives a confirmation notification from multifunction device 20 becomes suspicious because he / she has not requested proxy authentication and does not reply to the effect that proxy authentication is permitted, proxy authentication will not be executed in multifunction device 20.

[0078] Furthermore, in the embodiment described above, the case where authentication information of user A is written to the mobile terminal 10 and used is described, but it is also possible to write authentication information of multiple users to the mobile terminal 10 and use it.

[0079] For example, the authentication information of user A and user C may be written to the mobile terminal 10, and user B may use the mobile terminal 10 to perform proxy authentication.

[0080] However, in such a case, if authentication information for multiple users is written or enabled at the same time, the multifunction device 20 will not know which authentication information to use to execute the authentication process. Therefore, it is necessary to limit the authentication information written or enabled in the mobile terminal 10 to that of a single user.

[0081] In order to realize such a condition, the mobile terminal 10 needs to implement either exclusive control, in which when a user's authentication information has been written, the writing of other users' authentication information is refused until the authentication information has been erased, or posterior priority control, in which when a user's authentication information has been written and another user's authentication information is written, the authentication information written later is given priority and the older authentication information is erased.

[0082] FIG. 10 shows the state of the mobile terminal 10 when such exclusive control is performed.

[0083] 10, when user A writes authentication information to mobile terminal 10, which is in an invalid state where no authentication information has been written at time T1, the authentication information of user A is written in mobile terminal 10. Then, when user C writes authentication information at time T2 in this state, the authentication information of user A has already been written, so the writing of authentication information by user C is rejected.

[0084] As a result, when user B subsequently uses the mobile terminal 10 to perform authentication processing on the multifunction device 20, the authentication processing will be performed with user A's authority.

[0085] Then, when user A erases the authentication information at time T3, the authentication information of user A stored in mobile terminal 10 is deleted, and mobile terminal 10 enters an invalid state in which no authentication status is written.

[0086] Next, FIG. 11 shows the state of the mobile terminal 10 when the above-described post-priority control is performed.

[0087] 11, when authentication information is written by user A to mobile terminal 10, which is in an invalid state where no authentication information has been written at time T1, the authentication information of user A is written to mobile terminal 10. Then, when authentication information is written by user C at time T2 in this state, the authentication information of user A has already been written, but due to subsequent priority control, the authentication information written by user C is written and the authentication information of user A is deleted.

[0088] As a result, when user B subsequently uses the mobile terminal 10 to perform authentication processing on the multifunction device 20, the authentication processing will be performed with user C's authority.

[0089] Then, when user C erases the authentication information at time T3, the authentication information of user C stored in mobile terminal 10 is deleted, and mobile terminal 10 enters an invalid state in which no authentication status is written.

[0090] By carrying out the above-mentioned control, even if authentication information for a plurality of users is written to one mobile terminal 10, the valid authentication information belongs to only one user.

[0091] In each of the above embodiments, the term "processor" refers to a processor in a broad sense, including general-purpose processors (e.g., CPU: Central Processing Unit, etc.) and dedicated processors (e.g., GPU: Graphics Processing Unit, ASIC: Application Specific Integrated Circuit, FPGA: Field Programmable Gate Array, programmable logic device, etc.).

[0092] In addition, the operations of the processor in each of the above embodiments may be performed not only by one processor, but also by multiple processors located at physically separate locations working together. Furthermore, the order of the operations of the processor is not limited to the order described in each of the above embodiments, and may be changed as appropriate.

[0093] [Variations] In the above embodiment, the authentication process for the multifunction device 20 is performed using authentication information for each user. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the present invention can be similarly applied to cases where authentication processes are performed for various authentication devices that require authentication processes when used. [Explanation of symbols]

[0094] 10 Mobile terminals 11 CPU 12. Memory 13 Storage device 14 Communication Interface 15 User Interface Device 16 Control Bus 20 Multifunction device 30 Router 31 Operation input section 32 Display section 33 Data Acquisition Section 34 Control section 35 Data storage unit 40 Wireless LAN Terminal 50 Internet 60 Terminal Equipment 70 Wireless LAN Terminal 80A, 80B IC cards

Claims

1. It has memory and a processor. The processor, When acquiring authentication information of a user at a remote location from an external device via a communication line, restriction information for restricting use of the authentication information is acquired; When a condition for using the authentication information is such that the use of the authentication information is not restricted by the restriction information, control is performed so as to permit a user other than the user to execute a proxy authentication process on an authentication device using the authentication information, for the user who is using the device; storing the acquired authentication information and restriction information in a memory; switching a state of the authentication information stored in the memory from a valid state to an invalid state, or from an invalid state to a valid state, based on an instruction from a user at a remote location; Information processing device.

2. When acquiring authentication information of a user at a remote location from an external device via a communication line, the processor acquires information indicating a user who is permitted to use the authentication information; An information processing device as described in claim 1, which identifies a user who is attempting to use the authentication information, and if the identified user matches a user who is authorized to use the authentication information, controls the device to allow a user other than the user to perform proxy authentication processing on the authentication device using the authentication information.

3. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein the processor identifies a user who is going to use the authentication information by requesting a login process from the user who is going to use the apparatus.

4. The processor acquires, as the restriction information, information on a period during which the authentication information can be used or an upper limit on the number of times the authentication information can be used; 2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the authentication information is invalidated after the period has elapsed or when the number of uses has reached an upper limit.

5. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the restriction information includes information for restricting functions that can be used after authentication processing.

6. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the processor displays information regarding a state of the acquired authentication information on a display unit.

7. acquiring restriction information for restricting use of the authentication information when acquiring the authentication information of a user at a remote location from an external device via a communication line; When a condition for using the authentication information is such that the use of the authentication information is not restricted by the restriction information, a control step is performed to permit a user other than the user to execute a proxy authentication process on an authentication device using the authentication information, for the user who is using the device; storing the acquired authentication information and restriction information in a memory; switching a state of the authentication information stored in the memory from a valid state to an invalid state, or from the invalid state to the valid state, based on an instruction from a user at a remote location; A program for causing a computer to execute the following.

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