Authentication device, method, and computer program

Abstract

The present invention solves a problem related to theft of personal information of a user caused by theft of a unique common number allocated to the user.　A user terminal receives one-time password data issued from an authentication device (S1204, S1103). The one-time password data and personal information are handed over from the user terminal to a request device (S1105, S1301). The request device transmits the one-time password data and the personal information to an authentication device (S1302, S1205). The authentication device, upon determining that the one-time password data is valid and the personal information is valid (S1206), generates and transmits authentication data to the request device (S1207, S1208, S1303).

Description

Authentication device, method, and computer program

[0001] The present invention relates to an authentication technique for verifying whether personal information provided by a user is correct.

[0002] There are various situations where it is necessary to verify the authenticity of a user's personal information. For example, a citizen may fill out a form and submit it to city hall to complete a procedure. In such cases, the city hall may need to determine whether the user's name and address are correct. A common number system, known as the "My Number" system in Japan, is used in various countries for such purposes. A common number system assigns a unique number (a common number consisting of at least one of numbers, letters, and symbols, or a combination thereof) to every citizen (user) of a country and links the user's personal information to that common number. The personal information linked to the common number varies depending on the system design of each country, but typical examples include name, gender, date of birth, and address.

[0003] The common number system is operated as follows. In countries that adopt the common number system, an authentication device is installed. The authentication device is generally configured as a server device. The server device has a database configured using a recording medium, in which each user's common number and multiple types of personal information about each user are recorded in a linked state. The authentication device is capable of communicating with a device (temporarily referred to as a "requesting device") managed by a party requiring authentication of the user's personal information (in the above example, the city hall). This communication may be realized via a dedicated line or via the Internet or other networks. The user provides the user's personal information and the common number to a party requiring authentication of the user's personal information (in the above example, the city hall). For example, the user writes their name and address, which are examples of personal information, on the document and provides it to a city hall official. The user also provides the common number to the city hall official. The method of providing the common number is free. For example, the user may hand over the common number to a city hall official by handing over a card with a printed common number or a card with an IC chip with the common number attached to it, or by handing over the document containing personal information to the city hall official. A person who needs to authenticate the authenticity of the user's personal information sends the common number from the received personal information and common number to the authentication device via the requesting device. The authentication device then reads the personal information stored in the database linked to the common number received from the requesting device and sends the read personal information to the requesting device. For example, the authentication device sends all of the personal information linked to the common number in the database to the requesting device. Alternatively, if the requesting device has previously sent instructions, along with the common number, from the authentication device specifying which of the personal information (e.g., name, gender, date of birth, or address) to return to the requesting device, the authentication device reads the personal information requested by the requesting device from the personal information stored in the database linked to the common number received from the requesting device and returns the read personal information to the requesting device.In any case, the person managing the requesting device can determine whether the personal information provided by the user is correct by comparing the personal information sent from the authentication device with the personal information provided by the user.

[0004] The above-mentioned authentication of personal information using a unique common number for each user is used by public organizations such as the city hall mentioned above, as well as private companies. For example, a private bank has put into practical use a common number to check whether the personal information of its customers is correct by querying an authentication device.

[0005] As mentioned above, common numbers have already been put into practical use in many countries. However, some have pointed out that they pose problems, mainly from the perspective of security. As mentioned above, common numbers are unique strings assigned to each user. Furthermore, common numbers are fixed. Therefore, if a malicious third party were to steal the common number, the user's personal information linked to the common number would be stolen by the third party. Furthermore, as mentioned above, conventional authentication devices are configured to return personal information to the requesting device when the common number is sent from the requesting device. Therefore, a malicious third party who steals the common number can use the device they use to pretend to be the requesting device and obtain the personal information of a desired user from the authentication device, without having to hack the database contained in the authentication device, which stores a large number of users' common numbers and personal information linked to each other.

[0006] The present invention aims to provide an authentication device that authenticates a user's personal information in response to a request from a requesting device, and to solve the problem of theft of the user's personal information that is inherent in such devices and that occurs when the unique common number assigned to the user is stolen. In other words, the present invention aims to provide an authentication device that can authenticate a user's personal information in response to a request from a requesting device while minimizing theft of the user's personal information.

[0007] The present invention provides an authentication device that combines a user terminal, which is a portable device including a computer and carried by a user, with a requesting device, which is a device including a computer, that requests authentication of the authenticity of personal information, which is information of multiple types related to the user who carries the user terminal, and authenticates the authenticity of the personal information in response to a request from the requesting device. In other words, the authentication device of the present invention constitutes an authentication system by combining a user terminal carried by a user with a requesting device that requests authentication of the authenticity of the personal information. The requesting device is similar to the requesting device described in the Background Art section and is deployed in organizations that require authentication of users' personal information, such as city halls and banks. The user terminal is a device carried by the user and is typically a smartphone. The authentication device includes a recording unit that records personal information data, which is data about multiple types of personal information of the user, linked to each of the users, one of the personal information data being user ID data, which is data about a user ID, which is a unique identifier for each user that distinguishes each user from other users, a first communication unit that sends and receives specified data to and from the user terminal, a second communication unit that sends and receives specified data to and from the requesting device, and a computing device that processes information.The computing device is configured to, when the first communication unit receives data including at least the user ID data sent from the user terminal, generate one-time password data, which is data about a one-time password that is a unique character string, and return the generated one-time password data from the first communication unit to the user terminal; and, when the second communication unit receives the one-time password data and the personal information data sent from the requesting device and handed over to the requesting device by the user who owns the user terminal that received the one-time password data in return, perform an OTP judgment as to whether the one-time password data received by the second communication unit matches that returned to the user terminal, and a personal information judgment as to whether the personal information data received by the second communication unit matches the user ID of the user who owns the user terminal to which the one-time password was returned or the personal information data linked to the user ID and recorded in the recording unit; and, if both the OTP judgment and the personal information judgment results are positive, generate authentication data indicating that the personal information data sent from the requesting device is legitimate, and return the generated authentication data to the requesting device from the second communication unit.

[0008] The authentication device includes a recording unit, a first communication unit, a second communication unit, and a computing device. The recording unit records personal information data, which is data on personal information about each user. The personal information data for the same user is stored in a linked state. There are at least two types of personal information data, one of which is user ID data on the user ID. The user ID is a unique identifier for each user that distinguishes each user from other users. The user ID can be a string of appropriate characters and symbols, such as alphabets and numbers. The user ID is fixed and does not change. On the other hand, the personal information other than the user ID can include at least one of the user's name, gender, date of birth, address, and facial photograph. The personal information data about these can be data for identifying the user's name, gender, date of birth, address, and facial photograph. The first communication unit is a communication unit for communicating with a user terminal. The second communication unit is a communication unit for communicating with a requesting device. The communication between the first communication unit and the user terminal and the communication between the second communication unit and the requesting device may be the same type of communication or different types of communication. For example, the former may be communication using the Internet or another network, and the latter may be communication using a dedicated line. In particular, when both types of communication are the same type, the first communication unit may also serve as the second communication unit. The arithmetic device is an arithmetic device that processes information. Typically, it is a CPU (central processing unit). The arithmetic device executes the processes described below (or has the functions described below). The arithmetic device may execute the processes described below based on a computer program recorded on a recording device (e.g., a large-capacity recording device such as a hard disk drive (HDD) or a solid state drive (SSD), or a memory) included in the authentication device, and this is generally the case.

[0009] When the authentication device according to the present invention determines whether a user's personal information is correct, i.e., authenticates the user's personal information, the arithmetic unit of the authentication device performs the following process. When authenticating the personal information, user ID data is sent from the user terminal to the authentication device. When the user ID data is sent from the user terminal to the authentication device, other data may also be sent to the authentication device. The user ID data sent from the user terminal is received by a first communication unit of the authentication device. When the first communication unit receives the user ID data, the arithmetic unit generates one-time password data, which is data about a one-time password, which is a unique character string. The one-time password is a string of appropriate characters, such as alphabets and numbers, and symbols. The uniqueness of the one-time password does not need to be perfect; it is sufficient that the uniqueness is guaranteed to a degree that does not affect the result of the OTP judgment described below. Any method for generating the one-time password is acceptable. When the arithmetic unit generates a one-time password, the one-time password data, which is data about the one-time password, is sent to the user terminal via the first communication unit. In this way, when personal information is authenticated, the authentication device issues a one-time password to the user terminal. However, prior to issuing the one-time password, the authentication device may also perform a procedure to authenticate the legitimacy of the user terminal. For this authentication, user ID data sent from the user terminal to the authentication device may be used, or other data sent together with the user ID data may be used. Publicly known technologies can be used to authenticate the legitimacy of the user terminal. Those skilled in the art will recognize that there are many technologies that can be used for such purposes. Around the time the authentication device issues a one-time password to the user terminal, the user passes the one-time password data and personal information data to the requesting device or its administrator. The one-time password data and personal information data may, or may not, be passed from the user to the requesting device or its administrator in electronic data format.When one-time password data and personal information data are delivered in electronic data format, it is generally considered that the data is delivered from the user terminal to the requesting device. In this case, appropriate technologies can be applied, such as using Bluetooth (trademark) or other short-range wireless communication, or reading a QR code or other barcode displayed on the user terminal display with a barcode reader connected to the requesting device. When delivering one-time password data and personal information data in a format other than electronic data, for example, the user can write the one-time password and personal information on a specified piece of paper and deliver the paper to the administrator of the requesting device. In this case, the one-time password and personal information do not need to be written on the same piece of paper. The one-time password data and personal information data can also be delivered in a format other than electronic data by the user verbally communicating this to the administrator of the requesting device. It is, of course, possible for the user to deliver one of the one-time password data and personal information data to the requesting device or its administrator in electronic data format and the other in a format other than electronic data. In either case, the one-time password data and personal information data are delivered from the user to the requesting device or its administrator. There may be one type of personal information data or multiple types. The one-time password data and personal information data are transmitted from the requesting device to the authentication device. The one-time password data and personal information data are received by a second communication unit of the authentication device. When the second communication unit receives the one-time password data and personal information data, the arithmetic unit in the authentication device performs OTP judgment and personal information judgment. The OTP judgment is a judgment as to whether the one-time password data received by the second communication unit (or a one-time password identified by the data) matches the one-time password data (or a one-time password identified by the data) generated by the arithmetic unit and transmitted to the user terminal from the first communication unit.If the two match, and at least the one-time password sent from the requesting device matches the one-time password sent from the first communication unit to the user terminal immediately before that (more precisely, immediately before that, or during a predetermined period before the one-time password was sent from the requesting device), the arithmetic device makes a positive determination. On the other hand, the personal information determination is a determination as to whether the personal information data received by the second communication unit matches the user ID of the user to whom the one-time password was returned or the personal information recorded in the recording unit in association with the user ID (i.e., the personal information of the user to whom the one-time password was returned, including the user ID). If the two match, the arithmetic device makes a positive determination. The computing device then performs an OTP verification and a personal information verification. If the results of both verifications are positive, that is, if the one-time password sent from the requesting device is the one-time password issued to the user terminal by the authentication device immediately beforehand, and the personal information sent from the requesting device matches the personal information previously recorded in the authentication device's recording unit as the personal information of the user to whom the one-time password was issued, the computing device generates authentication data indicating that the personal information data sent from the requesting device is legitimate. This authentication data is then transmitted from the authentication device to the requesting device. This authentication data is data "indicating that the personal information data sent from the requesting device is legitimate" and need not contain any further information. The authentication data does not, in particular, contain any information that could lead to the identification of the user's personal information. In other words, the authentication data is information unrelated to personal information.

[0010] In an authentication system including an authentication device according to the present invention, a requesting device transmits one-time password data and personal information data provided by a user to the authentication device. Even if the one-time password data is stolen by a malicious third party during transmission, the one-time password can only be used once when the requesting device requests authentication of personal information from the authentication device, making the possibility of the stolen one-time password being misused extremely low. Even if the personal information data is stolen by a malicious third party during transmission, the personal information identified by the personal information data being transmitted from the requesting device to the authentication device is information from before authentication by the authentication device. Therefore, the personal information may or may not be correct. From the perspective of a malicious third party, stealing potentially incorrect personal information is meaningless. Therefore, the malicious third party has no motivation to steal the personal information transmitted from the requesting device to the authentication device. Even if the personal information is stolen, the risk of the malicious third party misusing the personal information is low. In addition, when this authentication device is used, the data sent from the authentication device to the requesting device is authentication data, as described above, and this authentication data is simply data "indicating that the personal information data sent from the requesting device is legitimate." The authentication data can be made to not include any information that could lead to the identification of the user's personal information, in other words, information unrelated to personal information. Therefore, even if the authentication data sent from the authentication device to the requesting device is stolen by a malicious third party, there is no risk of the authentication data being misused by the malicious third party. Furthermore, this authentication device is capable of outputting authentication data, which is data "indicating that the personal information data sent from the requesting device is legitimate." (In addition, the authentication device may also be configured to output data, which could be called non-approval data, which is data "indicating that the personal information data sent from the requesting device is not legitimate," because this data is also unrelated to the user's personal information.)), the authentication device does not have a mechanism for transmitting personal information from the authentication device to the requesting device. Therefore, a malicious third party cannot extract a user's personal information from the authentication device by, for example, inputting some data into the authentication device from a device operated by the malicious third party disguised as the requesting device and causing it to output the data. In order for a malicious third party to extract personal information from this authentication device, they would need to perform so-called hacking, i.e., infiltrate the recording unit of the authentication device and steal the data recorded in the recording unit. Therefore, although it naturally depends on the type of security technology applied to the authentication device to prevent hacking, it is generally difficult in principle for a malicious third party to steal a user's personal information from the authentication device of the present invention.

[0011] As described above, the personal information data sent from the requesting device to the authentication device along with the one-time password data may be multiple types of data for multiple types of personal information. The computing device may be configured to perform the OTP judgment and the personal information judgment when the second communication unit receives the one-time password data and the multiple types of personal information data sent from the requesting device, and the personal information judgment may be configured to determine whether the multiple types of personal information data received by the second communication unit match the user ID of the user holding the user terminal to which the one-time password was returned or all of the multiple types of personal information data associated with the user ID and recorded in the recording unit, and the judgment result may be positive if all of the multiple types of personal information data received by the second communication unit match the multiple types of personal information data recorded in the recording unit. In other words, the personal information judgment may be configured to result in a positive judgment only if all of the multiple types of personal information data sent from the requesting device match the same type of personal information data for that user recorded in the recording unit. On the other hand, the computing device may be configured to perform the OTP judgment and the personal information judgment when the second communication unit receives the one-time password data and the multiple types of personal information data sent from the requesting device, and in the personal information judgment, a judgment is made individually for each piece of personal information as to whether the multiple types of personal information data received by the second communication unit match the user ID of the user holding the user terminal to which the one-time password was returned or all of the multiple types of personal information data linked to the user ID and recorded in the recording unit, and if the result of the OTP judgment is positive, the authentication data may be generated for each piece of personal information for which the result of the personal information judgment is positive. In other words, the personal information judgment may be performed individually for each piece of personal information data sent from the requesting device, and the authentication data may also be generated individually for each piece of personal information sent from the requesting device.

[0012] The authentication device may or may not be configured as a single physically integrated device. For example, the authentication device may be configured as a single server device, or may be configured as multiple server devices. As described above, the authentication device includes a computing device and a recording unit. In this case, the computing device may be included in one device (the first authentication device or a server device), and the recording unit may be included in another device (the second authentication device or another server device). The one device and the other devices that make up the authentication device do not need to be managed by the same person. The one device and the other devices that make up the authentication device may be located remotely from each other and be able to communicate with each other.

[0013] The present inventors also propose a method executed by the authentication device described above as one aspect of the present invention. The effects of this method are equivalent to those of the authentication device. One example of this method is an authentication device that authenticates the authenticity of personal information, which is information about multiple types of users who own the user terminal, in response to a request from the requesting device, by combining a user terminal, which is a portable device including a computer and owned by a user, with a requesting device, which is a device including a computer, and that requests authentication of the authenticity of the personal information in response to a request from the requesting device. The authentication device includes a recording unit that records personal information data, which is data about the multiple types of personal information of the users, in association with each of the users, one of which is user ID data, which is data about a user ID, which is a unique identifier for each user that distinguishes each user from other users; a first communication unit that transmits and receives predetermined data to and from the user terminal; a second communication unit that transmits and receives predetermined data to and from the requesting device; and a computing device that performs information processing. This method includes the following steps executed by the computing device:The process includes the steps of, when the first communication unit receives data including at least the user ID data sent from the user terminal, generating one-time password data, which is data about a one-time password that is a unique character string, and returning the generated one-time password data from the first communication unit to the user terminal; and, when the second communication unit receives the one-time password data and the personal information data sent from the requesting device and handed over to the requesting device by the user who owns the user terminal that received the one-time password data returned, performing an OTP judgment as to whether the one-time password data received by the second communication unit matches that returned to the user terminal, and a personal information judgment as to whether the personal information data received by the second communication unit matches the user ID of the user who owns the user terminal to which the one-time password was returned or the personal information data linked to the user ID and recorded in the recording unit; and, if both the OTP judgment and the personal information judgment results are positive, generating authentication data indicating that the personal information data sent from the requesting device is valid, and returning the generated authentication data from the second communication unit to the requesting device.

[0014] The inventors of the present application also propose, as one aspect of the present invention, a computer program for causing a general computer device, such as a server device, to function as the authentication device of the present application. The effects of such a computer program are the same as those of the authentication device of the present application, and the effect of causing a general computer device to function as the authentication device of the present application is also an effect of such a computer program. An example computer program according to the present invention is a computer program for causing a specified computer device to function as an authentication device, comprising: a user terminal, which is a portable device including a computer owned by a user; and a requesting device, which is a device including a computer, that requests authentication of the legitimacy of personal information, which is multiple types of information related to the user who owns the user terminal; a recording unit that records personal information data, which is data about the user's multiple types of personal information, linked to each of the users, one of which is user ID data, which is data about a user ID, which is a unique identifier for each user that distinguishes each user from other users; a first communication unit that sends and receives specified data between the user terminal and the requesting device; a computing unit that performs information processing;The computer program causes the arithmetic device to perform a process of generating one-time password data, which is data about a one-time password that is a unique character string, when the first communication unit receives data including at least the user ID data sent from the user terminal, and returning the generated one-time password data from the first communication unit to the user terminal; and a process of transmitting the one-time password data and the personal information data received by the second communication unit when the second communication unit receives the one-time password data and the personal information data that have been sent from the requesting device and delivered to the requesting device by the user who owns the user terminal that has received the one-time password data in return. and if the results of both the OTP judgment and the personal information judgment are positive, generating authentication data indicating that the personal information data sent from the requesting device is legitimate, and returning the generated authentication data from the second communication unit to the requesting device.

[0015] 5 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of an authentication system including an authentication device according to an embodiment. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the appearance of a user terminal included in the authentication system shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the hardware configuration of a user terminal included in the authentication system shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing functional blocks generated inside a user terminal included in the authentication system shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing functional blocks generated inside an authentication device included in the authentication system shown in FIG. 5. FIG. 6 is a diagram conceptually showing the contents of data recorded in a personal information recording unit shown in FIG. 6. FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing functional blocks generated inside a requesting device included in the authentication system shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 8 is a sequence diagram showing the flow of processing executed when a user's personal information is authenticated by the authentication system shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of an image displayed on the display of a user terminal when a user's personal information is authenticated by the authentication system shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of an image displayed on the display of a user terminal when a user's personal information is authenticated by the authentication system shown in FIG.

[0016] An embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of the overall configuration of an authentication system according to this embodiment. This authentication system is a system that enables the validity of a user's personal information to be determined. The user may be, for example, all citizens. In this case, the authentication system can be used to achieve the same purpose as the universal number system, and the authentication device included in the authentication system, which will be described later, plays a central role.

[0017] The authentication system includes multiple user terminals 100-1 to 100-N (hereinafter, each user terminal may be simply referred to as "user terminal 100"), an authentication device 200, and multiple request devices 300-1 to 300-n (hereinafter, each request device may be simply referred to as "request device 300"). Of these, user terminals 100-1 to 100-N and authentication device 200 are capable of communicating with each other. Furthermore, request devices 300-1 to 300-n and authentication device 200 are capable of communicating with each other. In this embodiment, user terminals 100-1 to 100-N, authentication device 200, and request devices 300-1 to 300-n are all connectable to network 400, and the above-described communication can be performed via network 400. In this embodiment, network 400 is the Internet, but may also include other networks, such as a local area network (LAN), as part of the network. The above-described communications, for example, communications between requesting devices 300-1 to 300-n and authentication device 200, may be performed, for example, via a dedicated line, without going through network 400. Communications via network 400 using the Internet or the like, and communications not going through network 400 using a dedicated line or the like, are both publicly known or well-known, and any of the above-described communications can be realized using such publicly known or well-known communications.

[0018] The user terminal 100 is an example of a user terminal of the present invention, the request device 300 is an example of a request device of the present invention, and the authentication device 200 is an example of an authentication device of the present invention. As described below, the authentication device 200 is configured as a server device when viewed as hardware, but the authentication device 200 does not have to be configured as a physically integrated device. For example, the authentication device 200 includes a CPU (a processing unit) as an example of a computing device and a personal information recording unit (a recording unit) as an example of a recording unit of the present invention, as described below. However, the CPU may be included in one device (a server device, or a first authentication device of the present invention) and the personal information recording unit may be included in another device (another server device, or a second authentication device of the present invention). The devices constituting the authentication device may be managed by the same person, but this is not required. The devices constituting the authentication device may be located remotely from each other and be able to communicate with each other. In other words, the authentication device 200 can be configured by combining multiple computer devices that can communicate with each other. On the other hand, requesting device 300 is generally configured as a computer device, for example, a general-purpose personal computer device.

[0019] A user of this authentication system is, for example, a person who needs to hand over the user's personal information to the administrator of requesting device 300 in response to a request from the administrator of requesting device 300. On the other hand, requesting device 300 is a device managed by a person who needs to know whether the user's personal information provided by the user is correct. Persons who need to know whether the user's personal information is correct include, for example, counters at city halls, metropolitan government offices, and other public organizations, as well as private companies such as banks and mobile phone companies.

[0020] Typically, the user terminal 100 is owned by each user. The user terminal 100 includes a computer. The user terminal 100 may be a mobile phone, smartphone, tablet, laptop, wearable device, or the like. Considering portability and suitability for installing the programs described below, among these, smartphones or tablets are particularly preferred for use as the user terminal 100. An example of a smartphone is the iPhone manufactured and sold by Apple Japan LLC. An example of a tablet is the iPad manufactured and sold by Apple Japan LLC. The following discussion will be based on the assumption that the user terminal 100 is a smartphone, although this is not a limitation. In this embodiment, the user terminal 100 must be capable of at least receiving data, but it may also be capable of transmitting data. Since the user terminal 100 in this embodiment is a smartphone, it is naturally capable of both receiving and transmitting data.

[0021] Next, we will explain the configuration of the user terminal 100. The configuration of each of the user terminals 100-1 to 100-N is the same in terms of the present invention.

[0022] FIG. 2 shows an example of the appearance of the user terminal 100. The user terminal 100 includes a display 101. The display 101 is used to display still images or moving images, and may be a publicly known or well-known display. The display 101 may be, for example, a liquid crystal display or an organic electroluminescence (EL) display. The user terminal 100 also includes an input device 102. The input device 102 is used by the user to input desired information into the user terminal 100. The input device 102 may be a publicly known or well-known display. In this embodiment, the input device 102 of the user terminal 100 is a button-type device, but is not limited to this. A numeric keypad, keyboard, trackball, mouse, speech-to-text input device, tap key, or the like may also be used. In particular, when the user terminal 100 is a notebook computer, wearable device, or the like, the input device 102 may often be an external device such as a keyboard, mouse, or tapping switch. However, in this application, the user terminal 100 is still considered to include the input device 102. Furthermore, if the display 101 is a touch panel, the display 101 also functions as the input device 102, and this is the case in this embodiment. The data input from the input device 102 will be described in detail later, but for example, there is start data that is ultimately sent to the authentication device 200 as described below.

[0023] The hardware configuration of the user terminal 100 is shown in FIG. 3. The hardware includes a central processing unit (CPU) 111, a read-only memory (ROM) 112, a random access memory (RAM) 113, and an interface 114, all of which are interconnected via a bus 116. The CPU 111 is a computing device that performs calculations or information processing. The CPU 111 executes the processes described below by executing computer programs stored in the ROM 112 or RAM 113, for example. Although not shown, the hardware may include a hard disk drive (HDD), a solid state drive (SSD), or other large-capacity storage device connected to the bus 116, and the computer program may be stored in the large-capacity storage device. The CPU 111 may also be a graphics processing unit (GPU) or general purpose computing on GPU (GPGPU) depending on the required processing power. In this application, a so-called CPU is used as the CPU 111 as an example of an embodiment. The computer program here includes at least a computer program for causing the user terminal 100 to execute the processes described below (e.g., processes for causing the user terminal 100 to function as a user terminal according to the present invention). This computer program may be pre-installed in the user terminal 100 or may be post-installed in the user terminal 100. This computer program may be installed in the user terminal 100 via a predetermined recording medium such as a memory card, or via a network such as a LAN or the Internet. The computer program may include data used when the CPU 111 executes information processing in accordance with instructions based on the computer program. The ROM 112 stores computer programs and data necessary for the CPU 111 to execute the processes described below.The computer programs stored in the ROM 112 are not limited to the above. If the user terminal 100 is a smartphone, the ROM 112 may store computer programs and data necessary for the user terminal 100 to function as a smartphone, such as computer programs and data for implementing phone call and email functions. The user terminal 100 is also capable of browsing websites based on data received via the network 400, and is equipped with a known web browser to enable this. The RAM 113 is a type of memory and provides a work area necessary for the CPU 111 to perform processing. The RAM 113 is rewritable. In some cases, the RAM 113 may store (part of) the computer programs and data described above. When the CPU 111 executes processing based on the computer programs described below, the computer programs are deployed on the RAM 113. The interface 114 exchanges data between the CPU 111, RAM 113, etc., connected via the bus 116, and external devices. The interface 114 is connected to the display 101 and input device 102 described above. Operational content input from the input device 102 is input from the interface 114 to the bus 116. As is well known, image data for displaying an image on the display 101 is sent from the bus 116 to the interface 114 and output from the interface 114 to the display 101. The interface 114 is also connected to a transmission / reception mechanism (not shown), which is a well-known means for communicating with the outside world via a network 400, i.e., the Internet. This enables the user terminal 100 to transmit data via the network 400 and receive data via the network 400. Data transmission and reception via the network 400 may be performed via a wired connection or wirelessly. For example, if the user terminal 100 is a smartphone, such communication would typically be performed wirelessly. To the extent possible, the configuration of the transmission / reception mechanism may be publicly known or well-known.Data received by the transmitting / receiving mechanism from the network 400 is received by the interface 114, and data passed from the interface 114 to the transmitting / receiving mechanism is sent by the transmitting / receiving mechanism via the network 400 to an external party, for example, the authentication device 200.

[0024] As the CPU 111 executes the computer program, functional blocks such as those shown in FIG. 4 are generated within the user terminal 100. The functional blocks may be generated by the standalone functions of the computer program described above for causing the user terminal 100 to function as the user terminal of the present invention, or may be generated by cooperation between the computer program described above and an OS or other computer programs installed on the user terminal 100. The user terminal 100 also generates an input unit 121, a control unit 122, an image generation unit 123, an output unit 124, and a user ID recording unit 125 in relation to the functions of the present invention. Of these, the functional blocks that perform information processing, i.e., the control unit 122 and the image generation unit 123, correspond to the arithmetic unit (CPU 111) in terms of hardware, or are realized by the functions of the arithmetic unit that executes information processing in accordance with the instructions of the computer program described above. However, if the functional blocks that perform information processing require some data that is at least temporarily recorded to perform the information processing, some kind of recording device, such as RAM 113 or a large-capacity recording device in this embodiment, may be required to record the data. In other words, when viewed as hardware, some of the functional blocks that perform information processing may have some kind of recording device as a component. When viewed as hardware, the input unit 121 and the output unit 124 correspond to the interface 114, or are realized by the functions of the interface 114. More specifically, the input unit 121 and the output unit 124 conceptually correspond to the connection between the interface 114 and the bus 116. The functional block that records data, i.e., the user ID recording unit 125, is realized as hardware by a recording device, in this embodiment, the RAM 113 or a large-capacity recording device.

[0025] The input unit 121 receives input from the interface 114. Input to the input unit 121 from the interface 114 includes input from the input device 102. Input from the input device 102 includes, for example, start data. In some cases, the user ID of the user using the user terminal 100 may be input from the input device 102. Data input to the input unit 121 from the interface 114 includes data input to the interface 114 from the transmission / reception mechanism. The transmission / reception mechanism may receive data (for example, one-time password data, described below) sent from the authentication device 200 via the network 400. In any case, the input unit 121 sends the data received from the interface 114 to the control unit 122.

[0026] The control unit 122 controls all of the functional blocks generated within the user terminal 100. The control unit 122 has, for example, the following functions: User ID data and start data may be input to the control unit 122. Upon receiving the user ID data, the control unit 122 records the data in the user ID recording unit 125. Furthermore, upon receiving the start data, the control unit 122 reads the user ID data from the user ID recording unit 125, attaches data specifying the authentication device 200 as the destination to the read user ID data, and sends the linked data to the output unit 124. One-time password data, which is data about a one-time password, may be sent to the control unit 122 from the input unit 121. Upon receiving the one-time password data, the control unit 122 instructs the image generation unit 123 to generate image data for displaying the one-time password on the display 101. The image generation unit 123 has a function of generating image data based on instructions from the control unit 122. The image data is, for example, as described above, for displaying the one-time password on the display 101. In this embodiment, although not limited to this, the one-time password is displayed on the display 101 of the user terminal 100 in two formats: text format and barcode format. Details of the image displayed on the display 101 based on the image data will be described later. The image generation unit 123 sends the generated image data to the output unit 124.

[0027] As described above, the user ID recording unit 125 may record user ID data by the control unit 122. In other words, the user ID recording unit 125 has the function of recording user ID data.

[0028] The output unit 124 outputs data generated by the functional blocks in the user terminal 100 to the interface 114. As described above, the output unit 124 may receive user ID data from the control unit 122, accompanied by data specifying the authentication device 200 as the destination. Upon receiving this data, the output unit 124 transmits the data to the transmission / reception mechanism via the interface 114. The transmission / reception mechanism transmits the user ID data to the authentication device 200 via the network 400. Furthermore, the output unit 124 may receive image data from the image generation unit 123. Upon receiving this data, the output unit 124 transmits it to the interface 114. The image data is transmitted from the interface 114 to the display 101, and an image based on the image data is displayed on the display 101.

[0029] Next, the configuration of the authentication device 200 will be described. From a hardware perspective, the authentication device 200 may be an existing, publicly known or well-known server device. However, by executing a computer program described below, the authentication device 200 performs operations different from those of conventional servers or server devices and performs functions different from those of conventional servers or server devices. In this respect, the authentication device 200 can be said to be different from conventional server devices. The hardware configuration of the authentication device 200 may be general, and roughly speaking, it can follow the hardware configuration of the user terminal 100, in which a CPU 111, a ROM 112, a RAM 113, and an interface 114 are connected via a bus 116. However, the authentication device 200 typically has an HDD, an SSD, or other large-capacity storage device. The configurations and functions of the CPU, ROM, RAM, interface, bus, and large-capacity storage device of the authentication device 200 are the same as those of the user terminal 100. Furthermore, a transmission / reception mechanism similar to that provided in the user terminal 100 is connected to the interface of the authentication device 200 for communicating with devices outside the authentication device 200 via the network 400. Information (data) sent from the bus to the interface is sent to the transmission / reception mechanism, and then sent from the transmission / reception mechanism to the user terminal 100 or the requesting device 300 via the network 400. Furthermore, data sent from the user terminal 100 or the requesting device 300 via the network 400 and received by the transmission / reception mechanism is sent from the transmission / reception mechanism to the interface, and then from the interface to the bus. The transmission / reception mechanism provided in the authentication device 200 in this embodiment corresponds to the first communication unit of the present invention in the sense of communicating with the user terminal 100, and corresponds to the second communication unit of the present invention in the sense of communicating with the requesting device 300. In other words, the transmission / reception mechanism in the authentication device 200 serves as both the first communication unit and the second communication unit of the present invention. This is because communication between authentication device 200 and user terminal 100 or request device 300 is carried out over a common network 400 such as the Internet, as described above in this embodiment, although not limited thereto.If the communication between authentication device 200 and user terminal 100 and the communication between authentication device 200 and requesting device 300 are carried out using different lines, authentication device 200 will generally be configured to have two transmission / reception mechanisms corresponding to the first and second communication units described above. Note that the interface provided in authentication device 200 may be connected to a display and input device similar to those provided in user terminal 100, but as this is not particularly relevant to the present application, a description of these will be omitted.

[0030] By executing a computer program stored in a ROM, mass storage device, or the like within authentication device 200, for causing a server device serving as authentication device 200 to function as the authentication device of the present invention, functional blocks such as those described below are generated within authentication device 200. Note that the functional blocks may be generated by a standalone computer program for causing a server device serving as authentication device 200 to function as the authentication device of the present invention, or may be generated by cooperation between the computer program and an OS or other computer program installed in authentication device 200. Furthermore, the computer program may be pre-installed in authentication device 200, or may be post-installed in authentication device 200. If the computer program is post-installed, it may be installed in authentication device 200 via a predetermined recording medium such as a memory card, or via a network such as a LAN or the Internet. When the CPU executes processing based on the computer program, the computer program is deployed on RAM. These circumstances are similar to those in the case of user terminal 100.

[0031] Within the authentication device 200, in relation to the functions of the present invention, an input unit 221, a control unit 222, an OTP generation unit 223, an OTP judgment unit 224, a personal information judgment unit 225, a personal information recording unit 226, and an output unit 227 are generated. Of these, the functional blocks that perform information processing, i.e., the control unit 222, the OTP generation unit 223, the OTP judgment unit 224, and the personal information judgment unit 225, correspond to a computing device (CPU) in terms of hardware, or are realized by the functions of the computing device that executes information processing according to the instructions of the computer program described above. However, if the functional block that performs information processing requires some data that is at least temporarily recorded to perform the information processing, some kind of recording device, such as RAM or a large-capacity recording device in this embodiment, may be required to record that data. In other words, when viewed as hardware, some of the functional blocks that perform information processing may include some kind of recording device as a component. When viewed as hardware, the input unit 221 and the output unit 227 correspond to an interface, or are realized by the function of the interface. More specifically, the input unit 221 and the output unit 227 conceptually correspond to the connection between the interface and the bus. The functional block for recording data, that is, the personal information recording unit 226, is realized in terms of hardware by a recording device, in this embodiment, a RAM or a large-capacity recording device.

[0032] The input unit 221 receives input from the interface. Input to the input unit 221 from the interface includes data input to the interface from the transmission / reception mechanism. The transmission / reception mechanism may receive data sent from the user terminal 100 or the requesting device 300 via the network 400. As will be described in more detail later, user ID data is sent from the user terminal 100. As will be described in more detail later, one-time password data and personal information data are sent from the requesting device 300. All of this data is received by the transmission / reception mechanism and sent to the input unit 221 via the interface. In either case, the input unit 221 sends the data received from the interface to the control unit 222.

[0033] The control unit 222 controls all of the functional blocks generated within the authentication device 200. The control unit 222 has, for example, the following functions: User ID data may be sent to the control unit 222 from the input unit 221. Upon receiving the user ID data, the control unit 222 executes a user authentication process to determine whether the user ID data is valid, in other words, whether the user who sent the user ID data is a legitimate person. Although not limited to this, in this embodiment, the control unit 222 uses data recorded in the personal information recording unit 226 to execute the user authentication. How the control unit 222 executes the user authentication will be described later. Furthermore, if the control unit 222 executes the user authentication and determines that the user who sent the user ID data is a legitimate person, the control unit 222 issues an instruction to the OTP generation unit 223 to generate a one-time password. At this time, the control unit 222 sends the user ID data to the OTP generation unit 223 in association with the instruction. The control unit 222 may also receive one-time password data and personal information data from the input unit 221, both of which have been sent from the requesting device 300. When the control unit 222 receives the one-time password data, it sends the data to the OTP judgment unit 224. When the control unit 222 receives the personal information data, it sends the data to the personal information judgment unit 225. The timing at which the control unit 222 sends the one-time password data to the OTP judgment unit 224 and the timing at which the control unit 222 sends the personal information data to the personal information judgment unit 225 will be described later. The control unit 222 may also receive data indicating the result of the OTP judgment (described below) from the OTP judgment unit 224 and data indicating the result of the personal information judgment (described below) from the personal information judgment unit 225. When the control unit 222 receives the data indicating the result of the OTP judgment and the data indicating the result of the personal information judgment, it generates authentication data (described below) or denial data (described below). The control unit 222 sends the generated authentication data or denial data to the output unit 227 .

[0034] As described above, the OTP generation unit 223 receives user ID data and an instruction to generate a one-time password from the control unit 222. Upon receiving this instruction, the OTP generation unit 223 generates a one-time password. The one-time password is essentially unique. "Ideally," meaning that multiple one-time passwords generated during a "determination period," described below, are different from other one-time passwords created during the determination period. The one-time password is a character string of an appropriate length. The length of the character string of the one-time password may or may not always be the same, but in this embodiment, it is always the same. The one-time password is an appropriate sequence of letters, such as letters and numbers, and symbols. The OTP generation unit 223 may generate a one-time password using any method. For example, pseudo-random numbers generated using publicly known or well-known techniques can be extracted in predetermined digits and used as one-time passwords. The OTP generation unit 223 generates a one-time password, for example, as follows. The one-time password is generated as a "solution" in the following description, and is generated as a sequence of at least one of letters, numbers, and symbols. The solution can be, for example, a pseudo-random number sequence that is dependent on an initial value, so that the same solution is always generated under the same conditions. A well-known and well-known one-time password generation method, in which one-time passwords are generated consecutively from a certain initial value, is an example of this. In this embodiment, a certain initial value (which may be two or more) is used to generate the solution. The initial value is, for example, a string of a predetermined number of digits, such as letters and symbols. The string is expressed, for example, as data of "0" and "1". In this embodiment, to generate the solution, a method is performed each time a solution is needed, in which a new solution is sequentially generated by substituting previous solutions into a predetermined function. This allows the above solutions to be generated one after another. Such a solution becomes a pseudo-random number that is dependent on an initial value. The following (a) to (c) are examples of functions used to generate the above-mentioned "solution". All of the following (a) to (c) are used for the Nth "solution", XＮ This is the formula for creating the equation. P, Q, R, and S are natural numbers. (a) (X Ｎ ) = (X Ｎ－１ ) Ｐ + (X Ｎ－２ ) Ｑ (b) (X Ｎ ) = (X Ｎ－１ ) Ｐ (c) (X Ｎ ) = (X Ｎ－１ ) Ｐ (X Ｎ－２ ) Ｑ (X Ｎ-3 ) R (X Ｎ－4 ) S(a) uses two past "solutions" and generates a new "solution" by raising them to the Pth and Qth powers and adding them together. To be precise, adding two past "values" and raising them to the Pth and Qth powers increases the number of digits. Therefore, a new "solution" is generated by extracting an appropriate number of digits from the beginning of the obtained value, extracting an appropriate number of digits from the end, or extracting an appropriate number of digits from an appropriate part of the value. (b) uses one past "solution" and raises it to the Pth power, rearranging the number of digits as described above to generate a new "solution." (c) uses four past "solutions" and raises them to the Pth, Qth, Rth, and Sth powers, respectively, and then rearranging the number of digits as described above to generate a new "solution." (a) to (c) above are examples of algorithms for generating solutions. It is also possible to make changes to the algorithm when generating a solution, such as using (a) to (c) in order. If solutions are generated using this method, the first solution generated based on a certain initial value will always be the same, the second solution generated will always be the same, and similarly, the Nth solution generated will always be the same. This is what is meant by initial value dependency. After generating a one-time password, the OTP generation unit 223 identifies the one-time password or sends one-time password data, which is data corresponding to the one-time password, to the output unit 227. The OTP generation unit 223 also sends the generated one-time password data to the OTP determination unit 224 together with the user ID data that was sent from the control unit 222 along with the instruction to generate the one-time password data.

[0035] The OTP judgment unit 224 performs OTP judgment, which will be described later. As described above, the OTP judgment unit 224 may receive one-time password data from the control unit 222. This one-time password data is data sent from the requesting device 300 to the authentication device 200. Upon receiving the one-time password data from the control unit 222, the OTP judgment unit 224 performs OTP judgment. When performing OTP judgment, the OTP judgment unit 224 uses the one-time password data received from the OTP generating unit 223 before receiving the one-time password data from the control unit 222. How the OTP judgment unit 224 performs OTP judgment will be described later. The OTP judgment unit 224 sends data indicating the result of the OTP judgment obtained by performing the OTP judgment to the control unit 222. The result of the OTP judgment can be either positive or negative. The judgment result sent from the OTP judgment unit 224 to the control unit 222 will be one of these two. In addition, if the result of the OTP judgment performed by the OTP judgment unit 224 is positive, the OTP judgment unit 224 sends the user ID data sent from the OTP generation unit 223 together with the one-time password data used in the OTP judgment that produced a positive result to the personal information judgment unit 225.

[0036] The personal information determination unit 225 is configured to perform a personal information determination, which will be described later. As described above, the personal information determination unit 225 may receive personal information data from the control unit 222. Upon receiving the personal information data, the personal information determination unit 225 performs a personal information determination. When performing a personal information determination, the personal information determination unit 225 uses the user ID data received from the OTP determination unit 224 and the data recorded in the personal information recording unit 226, in addition to the personal information data. How the personal information determination unit 225 performs a personal information determination will be described later. The personal information determination unit 225 is configured to send data indicating the result of the personal information determination obtained by performing the personal information determination to the control unit 222. The result of the personal information determination can be either positive or negative. The determination result sent from the personal information determination unit 225 to the control unit 222 will be one of these.

[0037] The personal information recording unit 226 records personal information about each user, more specifically, personal information data, which is data about the user's personal information. An example of the personal information data recorded in the personal information recording unit 226 is shown in FIG. 6 . In this embodiment, the personal information recording unit 226 stores, but is not limited to, data about the user ID, name, gender, date of birth, address, and facial photograph of the user. The series of data listed side by side in FIG. 6 is personal information data about the personal information of the same user. Of course, the data about the user ID, name, gender, date of birth, address, and facial photograph of the user are merely examples. Of these, the user ID data is essential, while the data about the name, gender, date of birth, address, and facial photograph of the user are not necessarily essential. In addition to the data shown in FIG. 6 , the personal information of each user, such as medical information such as medical history and medication status, and property-related information such as income and tax payment status, may also be recorded in the personal information recording unit 226 as personal information. This depends on the institutional design of the authentication system. The personal information recording unit 226 must record data on personal information that is the subject of a determination of authenticity in an authentication system including the authentication device 200. The following briefly describes each of the user ID, name, gender, date of birth, address, and facial photograph data of the user. The user ID is a fixed and unique identifier for distinguishing each user from other users. The user ID is assigned to each user, for example, by the authentication device 200 or its administrator. The user ID is, for example, a list of appropriate characters and symbols, such as alphabets and numbers. The name, gender, date of birth, and address are the user's name, gender, date of birth, and address. Since these are deemed unnecessary for explanation, they will be omitted. The user's facial photograph data is image data including the user's face. It is preferable that the facial photograph data be such that the user's face can be authenticated using the facial photograph. In this embodiment, the facial photograph data is in the "jpg" format, but this is of course not limited to this.The data recorded in the personal information recording unit 226 can be read by the control unit 222 and the personal information determination unit 225 .

[0038] As described above, the output unit 227 may receive authentication data or denial data from the control unit 222. Upon receiving this, the output unit 227 sends the authentication data or denial data to the transmission and reception mechanism via the interface. Upon receiving the authentication data or denial data, the transmission and reception mechanism sends the authentication data or denial data to the requesting device 300. As described above, the output unit 227 may receive one-time password data from the OTP generation unit 223. Upon receiving the one-time password data, the output unit 227 sends the one-time password data to the transmission and reception mechanism via the interface. Upon receiving the one-time password data, the transmission and reception mechanism sends the one-time password data to the user terminal 100 that sent the user ID data that triggered the generation of the one-time password data.

[0039] Next, the configuration of the requesting device 300 will be described. From a hardware perspective, the requesting device 300 may be an existing, publicly known, desktop or notebook personal computer or a server device. In short, the requesting device 300 can be configured using a general-purpose computer device. However, by executing a computer program described below, the requesting device 300 may perform operations different from those of conventional computers and may perform functions different from those of conventional servers or server devices. In this respect, the requesting device 300 may differ from conventional computers. The hardware configuration of the requesting device 300 may be general, and roughly speaking, it may follow the hardware configuration of the user terminal 100, in which the CPU 111, ROM 112, RAM 113, and interface 114 are connected via a bus 116. However, the requesting device 300 typically includes an HDD, SSD, or other large-capacity storage device. The configurations and functions of the CPU, ROM, RAM, interface, bus, and large-capacity storage device of the requesting device 300 are the same as those of the user terminal 100. Furthermore, a transmitting / receiving mechanism similar to that provided in user terminal 100 is connected to the interface of requesting device 300 for communicating with devices outside requesting device 300 via network 400. Information (data) sent from the bus to the interface is sent to the transmitting / receiving mechanism, and then sent from the transmitting / receiving mechanism to authentication device 200 via network 400. Furthermore, data sent from authentication device 200 via network 400 and received by the transmitting / receiving mechanism is sent from the transmitting / receiving mechanism to the interface, and then sent from the interface to the bus. In this embodiment, it is sufficient for the transmitting / receiving mechanism to be able to communicate with authentication device 200. As will be described later, a one-time password or one-time password data that identifies a one-time password is input to requesting device 300. A device for accepting input of a one-time password or the like is connected to the interface.Examples of devices for accepting one-time passwords and the like include input devices with functions equivalent to those of the user terminal 100 (e.g., a touch panel display, a numeric keypad, a keyboard, a trackball, a mouse, a speech-to-text input device, and a tap key), such as a barcode reader capable of reading two-dimensional barcodes, a short-range communication mechanism for short-range communication such as Bluetooth (trademark), and an OCR (Optical Character Recognition) device capable of reading characters written on paper. It is sufficient for at least one of the four types of devices exemplified above to be connected to the interface as needed, and other devices for accepting one-time passwords and the like may also be connected. Although not limited to this, in this embodiment, all four types of devices exemplified above are connected to the interface of the requesting device 300. A display similar to that of the user terminal 100 is connected to the interface of the requesting device 300. The display may be part of the requesting device 300 or may be external.

[0040] By executing a computer program stored in a ROM, mass storage device, or the like within requesting device 300, which causes the computer device serving as requesting device 300 to function as the requesting device of the present invention, functional blocks such as those described below are generated within requesting device 300. Note that the functional blocks may be generated by a standalone computer program for causing the computer device serving as requesting device 300 to function as the requesting device of the present invention, or may be generated by cooperation between the computer program and an OS or other computer program installed on requesting device 300. The computer program may be pre-installed on requesting device 300 or may be post-installed on requesting device 300. If the computer program is post-installed, it may be installed on requesting device 300 via a predetermined recording medium such as a memory card, or via a network such as a LAN or the Internet. When the CPU executes processing based on the computer program, the computer program is expanded on RAM. These circumstances are similar to those in the case of user terminal 100.

[0041] Within the requesting device 300, an input unit 321, a control unit 322, an image generation unit 323, and an output unit 324 are generated in relation to the functions of the present invention. Of these, the functional blocks that perform information processing, i.e., the control unit 322 and the image generation unit 323, correspond to a computing device (CPU) in terms of hardware, or are realized by the functions of the computing device that executes information processing in accordance with the instructions of the computer program described above. However, if the functional block that performs information processing requires some data that is at least temporarily recorded to perform the information processing, some kind of recording device, such as RAM or a large-capacity recording device in this embodiment, may be required to record that data. In other words, when viewed as hardware, some of the functional blocks that perform information processing may include some kind of recording device as a component. When viewed as hardware, the input unit 321 and the output unit 324 correspond to interfaces, or are realized by the functions of the interfaces. More specifically, the input unit 321 and the output unit 324 conceptually correspond to the connection between the interface and the bus. In addition, when the control unit 322 and the image generation unit 323 need to record data even temporarily, the function of recording data is realized by a hardware recording device, in this embodiment, a RAM or a large-capacity recording device.

[0042] The input unit 321 receives input from the interface. Input to the input unit 321 from the interface includes data input to the interface from the transmission / reception mechanism. The transmission / reception mechanism receives authentication data or denial data from the authentication device 200 via the network 400. Upon receiving this data, the input unit 321 sends the data to the control unit 322. As described above, the interface is also connected to devices for accepting input of one-time passwords and the like, specifically, an input device, a barcode reader, a near-field communication mechanism, and an OCR device. Input from these devices for accepting input of one-time passwords and the like is also input to the input unit 321 via the interface. Input from these devices for accepting input of one-time passwords and the like is one-time password data, personal information data, or both. In any case, data input to the input unit 321 via the interface from these devices for accepting input of one-time passwords and the like is sent from the input unit 321 to the control unit 322.

[0043] The control unit 322 controls all of the functional blocks created within the requesting device 300. The control unit 322 has, for example, the following functions: One-time password data and personal information data may be sent to the control unit 322 from the input unit 321. The one-time password data and personal information data may be sent simultaneously, or may be sent at an interval. Upon receiving the one-time password data and personal information data, the control unit 322 links them together and sends them to the output unit 324. Authentication data or denial data may be sent to the control unit 322 from the input unit 321. Upon receiving the data, the control unit 322 sends the authentication data or denial data to the image generation unit 323.

[0044] Image generation unit 323 has the function of generating image data for an image to be displayed on the display of requesting device 300. As described above, image generation unit 323 receives authentication data or denial data from control unit 322. When image generation unit 323 receives authentication data, it generates image data for displaying an image corresponding to the authentication data on the display, and when it receives denial data, it generates image data for displaying an image corresponding to the authentication data on the display. In either case, image generation unit 323 sends the generated image data to output unit 324.

[0045] As described above, the output unit 324 may receive one-time password data and personal information data that are linked to each other from the control unit 322. Upon receiving this, the output unit 324 sends the one-time password data and personal information data to the transmission and reception mechanism via the interface. The transmission and reception mechanism that receives the one-time password data and personal information data sends the received one-time password data and personal information data to the authentication device 200. As described above, the output unit 324 may receive image data from the image generation unit 323. Upon receiving the image data, the output unit 324 sends the image data to the display via the interface. An image corresponding to the image data is displayed on the display. Details of the image displayed on the display will be described later.

[0046] Next, the operation and usage of the authentication system described above will be explained. In the explanation of the operation and usage of the authentication system, the operation and usage of authentication device 200 will also be explained.

[0047] (Preliminary Preparation) First, preliminary preparation is performed. This preparation must be performed by the authentication device 200 and the user terminal 100. First, a user ID is assigned to each user. As described above, the user ID is unique to each user. While each user may select a user ID, in this embodiment, the user ID is assigned to each user by the person managing the authentication device 200 or a person in a cooperative relationship with the person managing the authentication device 200, although this is not limited thereto. It is preferable to notify each user of the user ID in a manner that enables know-your-customer (KYC) verification. For example, the user ID is notified by mailing a letter containing the user ID to the user. Regardless of the notification method, once a user has learned their user ID, they register the user ID in the user terminal 100 used in the authentication system. For example, the user operates the input device 102 of the user terminal 100 to enter the learned user ID into the user terminal 100. Then, data identifying the user ID entered from the input device 102 travels from the input device 102 through the interface to the input unit 121 and then to the control unit 122. The control unit 122 records the user ID data in the user ID recording unit 125. This completes the registration of the user ID to the user terminal 100. Registering the user ID to the user terminal 100 only needs to be done once, at the beginning. The authentication device 200 records personal information data in the personal information recording unit 226. As described above, the personal information data is, for example, as shown in FIG. 6. In this embodiment, data such as the user ID, name, gender, date of birth, address, and a facial photograph of the user are recorded in the personal information recording unit 226. Note that the personal information recording unit 226 does not need to be configured as a single physical recording device, but may be configured as multiple recording devices. The multiple recording devices that make up the personal information recording unit 226 may each be included in a different computer device and cooperate to form the personal information recording unit 226.For example, an institution or corporation that possesses and manages user ID data recorded on a certain storage device may be different from an institution or corporation that possesses and manages the user's name, gender, date of birth, and address data recorded on a certain storage device, and another institution or corporation that possesses and manages the user's facial photo data recorded on a certain storage device. In such a case, the three institutions or corporations may cooperate to configure the personal information recording unit 226 by, for example, enabling three remotely located storage devices to cooperate. Furthermore, regardless of whether the personal information recording unit 226 is comprised of multiple computers, the authentication device 200 may be configured so that its arithmetic unit (CPU) is included in a computer device separate from the computer that constitutes the personal information recording unit 226. In other words, the authentication device 200 may be configured to include a first authentication device including a arithmetic unit (CPU) and a second authentication device including the personal information recording unit 226. In this case, the first authentication device and the second authentication device may be located remotely from each other and may be able to communicate with each other, for example, via a network 400. This has already been described. Although this explanation has become somewhat redundant, what it means is that the authentication device 200 does not have to be configured from a single server device, but can be configured by combining a single server device with at least one computer device (or multiple server devices).

[0048] (Personal Information Authentication) Once the above preparations are complete, personal information authentication using the authentication system becomes possible. In the following example, it is assumed that the requesting device 300 is located in a city hall. It is also assumed that the user visits the city hall to obtain a resident registration card. How the personal information authentication required in this case is performed will be described below with reference to FIG. 8.

[0049] The user arrives at the city hall counter. The user fills out the resident registration application form available at the counter. In this case, the resident registration application form may contain other fields, but it is assumed that it contains fields for the applicant's name, address, and date of birth. The user fills in their name, address, and date of birth in the fields provided on the application form as requested.

[0050] On the other hand, the user operates the user terminal 100, which is the user's smartphone, to launch a computer program (app) for personal information authentication. Specifically, the user operates the input device 102 of the user terminal 100 to input data to launch the computer program. Then, start data is sent from the input device 102 to the control unit 122 via the interface and input unit 121. Upon receiving the data to launch the computer program, the control unit 122 reads the user ID data from the user ID recording unit 125 (S1101). The control unit 122 instructs the image generation unit 123 to generate image data for displaying an image (initial image) of the computer program launched on the display 101, along with the user ID data. Based on this instruction, the image generation unit 123 generates the image data. The generated image data is sent from the image generation unit 123 to the display 101 via the output unit 124 and interface 114. An image based on the image data is displayed on the display 101. An example of an image displayed on the display 101 is shown in FIG. 9A . The initial image displayed on the display 101 displays the word "USER ID" 501 below a user ID 502 identified by the user ID data read from the user ID recording unit 125. In the example of FIG. 9A , the user ID is "111aaaa." The initial image also displays a button 503 with the word "SEND" written on it. When the user touches the display 101 at a position corresponding to the button 503, start data is input from the input device 102. The start data reaches the control unit 122 from the input device 102 via the interface and input unit 121, in the same manner as the data described above for launching a computer program. Upon receiving the start data, the control unit 122 sends the user ID data to the output unit 124. The control unit 122 adds data (destination data) to the user ID data to specify the authentication device 200 as the destination of the data. The user ID data with the added destination data is sent from the output unit 124 to the transmission / reception mechanism via the interface 114.The user ID data is sent from the transmitting / receiving mechanism via the network 400 to the authentication device 200, which is the destination specified in the destination data (S1102). In this embodiment, the user ID data to be sent to the authentication device 200 is automatically read from the user ID recording unit 125. Alternatively, it is possible to have the user input the user ID data to be sent to the authentication device 200 via the input device 102 every time it is necessary to send user ID data to the authentication device 200.

[0051] The user ID data sent from the user terminal 100 via the network 400 is received by the transmission / reception mechanism of the authentication device 200 (S1201). The user ID data received by the transmission / reception mechanism passes through the interface and input unit 221 within the authentication device 200 to the control unit 222. The control unit 222, having received the user ID data, executes a user authentication process (S1202). User authentication is a determination of whether the user ID data is valid, in other words, a determination of whether the user who sent the user ID data is a legitimate person. To perform user authentication, the control unit 222, having received the user ID data, searches for user ID data identical to the received user ID data among the data recorded in the personal information recording unit 226. If the same user ID data as the user ID data received by the control unit 222 exists among the multiple data recorded as user ID data in the personal information recording unit 226, the authentication device 200 determines that the user ID data received from the user terminal 100, or the user who sent that data, is legitimate. This completes the user authentication process. On the other hand, if the user ID data identical to the user ID data received by the control unit 222 is not recorded as user ID data in the personal information recording unit 226, the user ID data received by the authentication device 200 from the user terminal 100 or the user who sent that data is determined to be invalid. In such a case, user authentication is deemed to have failed. If user authentication fails, subsequent processing in the authentication device 200 is stopped. However, if user authentication fails, the authentication device 200 may of course execute publicly known or well-known processing, such as sending some data from the authentication device 200 to the user terminal 100 to notify that fact and the reason for the user authentication failure. Furthermore, although only user ID data is used in the above-described user authentication processing, it is of course possible to perform user authentication using other data. Furthermore, two-factor authentication or multi-factor authentication using data other than the user ID may also be performed.For example, user authentication using not only the user ID but also the password can be realized by having the user terminal 100 send not only user ID data but also user ID and password data to the authentication device 200. Also, facial authentication can be performed in the authentication device 200 by having the user terminal 100 send a facial photograph of the user to the authentication device 200. In addition to the user ID data, the user terminal 100 can send location information about the location of the user terminal 100, obtained by the user terminal 100 using a GPS (Global Positioning System) mechanism, for example, to the authentication device 200, so that two-factor authentication using the user ID and location information can be performed in the authentication device 200.

[0052] In any case, if the authentication device 200 determines during user authentication that the user ID data received from the user terminal 100 or the user who transmitted that data is legitimate, the OTP generation unit 223 then generates one-time password data (S1203). After performing user authentication and determining that the user ID data received from the user terminal 100 or the user who transmitted that data is legitimate, the control unit 222 sends the OTP generation unit 223 an instruction to generate a one-time password and the user ID data. Upon receiving this instruction, the OTP generation unit 223 generates a one-time password. In this embodiment, the OTP generation unit 223 generates pseudo-random numbers using, but not limited to, publicly known or well-known techniques for generating pseudo-random numbers, and extracts a predetermined number of digits from these pseudo-random numbers to generate a one-time password. As a result, the one-time password in this embodiment is a character string of a fixed length. The character string may include characters such as alphanumeric characters and symbols. A one-time password is "basically" unique from other one-time passwords. The one-time password data is data that identifies a one-time password or corresponds to a one-time password. After generating the one-time password data, the OTP generation unit 223 sends it to the output unit 227 and the OTP judgment unit 224. In addition to the one-time password data, the OTP generation unit 223 also sends the user ID data sent from the control unit 222 along with the instruction to generate the one-time password data to the OTP judgment unit 224. If the OTP judgment unit 224 is required to temporarily store the one-time password data and the user ID data, the one-time password data and the user ID data are temporarily recorded in a storage device, such as a mass storage device or RAM. The one-time password data sent to the output unit 227 is sent from the output unit 227 via an interface to the transmission / reception mechanism. The one-time password data is sent from the transmission / reception mechanism via the network 400 to the user terminal 100 that sent the user ID data that triggered the generation of the one-time password data (S1204).

[0053] The one-time password data sent from authentication device 200 via network 400 is received by the transmission / reception mechanism of user terminal 100 (S1103). The one-time password data received by the transmission / reception mechanism passes through interface 114 and input unit 121 to control unit 122 within user terminal 100. Upon receiving the one-time password, control unit 122 instructs image generation unit 123 to generate image data for displaying the one-time password on display 101. Upon receiving this instruction, image generation unit 123 generates image data based on the instruction from control unit 122. Image generation unit 123 sends the generated image data to output unit 124. The image data is sent from output unit 124 to display 101 via interface 114. The one-time password is displayed on display 101 (S1104). An example of the image displayed on display 101 at this time is shown in FIG. 9B. This image includes the characters "User ID" 501 and the user ID "111aaaa" 502, which were also present in the initial image shown in FIG. 9A. However, this image does not include the button 503, which was present in the initial image shown in FIG. 9A. Instead, it displays the characters "One-Time Password" 504, a one-time password 505 (in this example, the character string "2Xg?uab46") displayed below the characters 504, and a two-dimensional barcode 506. The one-time password 505 is the one-time password character string generated in the processing of "S1203" in the authentication device 200. The two-dimensional barcode 506 assists the user in handing over the one-time password data to the city hall. The two-dimensional barcode 506 contains information corresponding to the one-time password data. The two-dimensional barcode 506 is, for example, a QR Code (trademark). Of course, the two-dimensional barcode 506 can also be replaced with a one-dimensional barcode.

[0054] Next, the user hands over the one-time password (or one-time password data) and personal information (or personal information data) to the city hall (S1105). The city hall receives them. Here, it is assumed that the requesting device 300 receives them (S1301). Here, "handing over" means that when the one-time password (or one-time password data) and personal information (or personal information data) are transferred from the user to the city hall, for example, it is not necessary for electronic data to be transmitted between the two parties. In other words, the one-time password data and personal information data may be transmitted from the user's device, and the city hall's device may receive the data, but this is not required.

[0055] As described above, the user fills out a resident registration application form with their name, address, and date of birth. By handing the application form to a clerk at a city hall counter, the user can hand over their personal information (in this case, their name, address, and date of birth) to the city hall. For example, by scanning the application form using an OCR device included in the requesting device 300, the city hall can input the user's three pieces of personal information (name, address, and date of birth) into the requesting device 300. Furthermore, by a city hall clerk entering the user's name, address, and date of birth written on the application form using a keyboard or other input device, the city hall can input the user's three pieces of personal information (name, address, and date of birth) into the requesting device 300. This is an example of a user handing over personal information to the city hall. Another way for a user to hand over their personal information to the city hall is for the user to verbally communicate their name, address, and date of birth to the city hall clerk. In this case, the city hall can input these three pieces of personal information into the requesting device 300 by using a voice input device, or by having a city hall official who hears the voice input the user's name, address, and date of birth using a keyboard or other input device. However, the user can also use the user terminal 100 to transmit their personal information in electronic data format (as personal information data) to the requesting device 300 managed by the city hall official, for example. The method for transferring personal information data in electronic data format from the user terminal 100 to the requesting device 300 can be similar to the method described below for transferring one-time password data in electronic data format from the user terminal 100 to the requesting device 300. On the other hand, the one-time password (one-time password data) can be transferred from the user to the city hall as follows: Assume that the above-mentioned application form further includes a field for the user to enter the one-time password provided by authentication device 200, and that the user copies the one-time password displayed on the display of user terminal 100 (the string "2Xg?uab46" in the example of Figure 9B) onto the application form handed over to the city hall.In this case, when the user hands over the application form to the city hall, the user simultaneously hands over the one-time password and personal information written on the application form to the city hall. The city hall official can input the one-time password data into the requesting device 300 in addition to the personal information data by scanning the personal information and one-time password with an OCR device or inputting them using a keyboard or other input device. The user may also use a two-dimensional barcode 506 displayed on the display 101 of the user terminal 100 to deliver the one-time password from the user to the city hall. The user shows the screen of FIG. 9B displayed on the display 101 of the user terminal 100. The city hall official reads the two-dimensional barcode 506 with a barcode reader (not shown) capable of reading two-dimensional barcodes. When the barcode reader reads the two-dimensional barcode 506 with a barcode reader connected to the requesting device 300, the one-time password data contained in the two-dimensional barcode 506 is input from the barcode reader to the requesting device 300. In this case, the one-time password data can be delivered in the form of electronic data from the user terminal 100 to the requesting device 300. This is also true when a short-range communication mechanism, which will be described next, is used. The one-time password data can also be transmitted from the user terminal 100 to the requesting device 300 via a short-range communication mechanism such as Bluetooth (trademark) that the user terminal 100 has. When the one-time password data is received via the short-range communication mechanism on the requesting device 300 side, the one-time password data is considered to have been delivered from the user to the city hall side. If a short-range communication mechanism is used, personal information data and one-time password data can be transmitted simultaneously from the user to the city hall side.

[0056] In either case, as described above, the user delivers the one-time password (or one-time password data) and personal information (or personal information data) to the city hall, and the city hall receives them. As described above, the delivery of the one-time password (or one-time password data) from the user to the city hall and the delivery of the personal information (or personal information data) from the user to the city hall may or may not be performed in the same manner. Furthermore, the delivery of the one-time password (or one-time password data) from the user to the city hall and the delivery of the personal information (or personal information data) from the user to the city hall may or may not be performed simultaneously. For example, the delivery of the one-time password (or one-time password data) from the user to the city hall can only be performed after the one-time password data generated by the authentication device 200 has arrived at the user terminal 100, but the delivery of the personal information (or personal information data) from the user to the city hall can be performed at an earlier stage, for example, before the processing of "S1101" is executed. As a result, both the one-time password data and the personal information data are input to requesting device 300 from an appropriate device for accepting input of a one-time password or the like (in this embodiment, an input device, a barcode reader, a near-field communication mechanism, or an OCR device). The data travels from the device for accepting input of a one-time password or the like through an interface and input unit 321 to control unit 322.

[0057] The control unit 322 receives the one-time password data and personal information data. As described above, the one-time password data and personal information data may be sent to the control unit 322 simultaneously, or may be sent at intervals. In either case, the control unit 322 links the one-time password data and personal information data received from the same user and sends them to the output unit 324. The one-time password data and personal information data are sent from the output unit 324 to the transmission / reception mechanism via an interface. The one-time password data and personal information data are then sent from the transmission / reception mechanism to the authentication device 200 via the network 400 (S1302).

[0058] The one-time password data and personal information data are received by the transmission / reception mechanism of authentication device 200 (S1205). The one-time password data and personal information data are sent from the transmission / reception mechanism in authentication device 200 via an interface to input unit 221 and then to control unit 222. Next, OTP judgment unit 224 performs OTP judgment, and personal information judgment unit 225 performs personal information judgment (S1206).

[0059] The control unit 222 sends the one-time password data and the one-time password data out of the personal information data it has received to the OTP determination unit 224. Upon receiving the one-time password data from the control unit 222, the OTP determination unit 224 performs OTP determination. When performing OTP determination, the OTP determination unit 224 uses the one-time password previously received from the OTP generation unit 223. The one-time password data received by the OTP determination unit 224 from the control unit 222 is the one-time password data sent from the requesting device 300, and the one-time password data previously received from the OTP generation unit 223 is the one-time password data generated within the authentication device 200 and has not been sent outside the authentication device 200. If the one-time password data match, the OTP determination unit 224 determines that the one-time password data sent from the requesting device 300 is legitimate. In this case, the result of the OTP determination is positive. On the other hand, if the two one-time password data do not match, the OTP judgment unit 224 judges that the one-time password data sent from the requesting device 300 is not valid. In this case, the result of the OTP judgment is negative. Whether the result of the OTP judgment is positive or negative, the OTP judgment unit 224 sends the result of the OTP judgment to the control unit 222. Furthermore, if the result of the OTP judgment is positive, the OTP judgment unit 224 sends user ID data to the personal information judgment unit 225. This user ID data is user ID data that was previously sent from the OTP generation unit 223 along with the one-time password data used in the OTP judgment that produced a positive result.

[0060] If this authentication system were used to achieve the same purpose as the universal number system, it would be possible that a huge number of one-time password data would be sent to authentication device 200 continuously, from all over Japan. In such a case, it would be difficult to guarantee that all one-time password data generated in succession by an authentication system operated continuously for years is unique. The above-mentioned problem could be avoided by, for example, determining the validity period of one-time password data that can be used for OTP verification (for example, a predetermined period of time (e.g., two minutes) after one-time password data is generated by OTP generation unit 223 of authentication device 200, or a predetermined period of time (e.g., three minutes) after a one-time password is transmitted from authentication device 200 to user terminal 100). For example, when one-time password data is generated by OTP generation unit 223 of authentication device 200, the one-time password data returns to OTP determination unit 224 via two routes: an internal route in which the data is sent directly from OTP generation unit 223; and an external route in which the data is sent from authentication device 200 to user terminal 100, passed from user terminal 100 to requesting device 300, and then returned from requesting device 300. If the one-time password data received by OTP determination unit 224 via these two routes is the same, the result of the OTP determination is positive. However, suppose that the above-described authentication device 200 or authentication system operates in such a way that one-time password data that is more than three minutes old after it was generated by OTP generation unit 223 is invalid. In this case, for example, if a period of three minutes has already passed since the one-time password data was generated by the OTP generation unit 223 when the data reaches the OTP judgment unit 224 via an external route, the OTP judgment unit 224 will not perform OTP judgment using the one-time password data, or will treat the judgment result as negative.If this type of operation is used, the uniqueness required for the one-time password data generated by the OTP generation unit 223 is sufficient if there is a guarantee that no one-time password data identical to that one-time password data will be generated within the validity period of that one-time password data. While this level of uniqueness of one-time password data depends on the method used to generate the one-time password data, it can be mathematically guaranteed. As stated earlier, "One-time passwords are essentially unique." The meaning of "essentially" in this sentence is as explained in this paragraph.

[0061] The control unit 222 receives data on the result of the OTP judgment. If the result of the OTP judgment is negative, the control unit 222 performs processing as described below. If the result of the OTP judgment is positive, the control unit 222 sends the previously received personal information data to the personal information judgment unit 225. The personal information judgment unit 225 receives user ID data from the OTP judgment unit 224 around the time it receives the personal information data from the control unit 222. In this embodiment, the personal information judgment unit 225 performs personal information judgment upon receiving the user ID data and the personal information data. The personal information judgment unit 225 performs personal information judgment as follows. As described above, the personal information judgment unit 225 receives the user ID data from the OTP judgment unit 224 and the personal information data from the control unit 222. The personal information judgment unit 225 then searches the personal information recording unit 226 and finds data of a user ID that is the same as the received user ID data in the personal information recording unit 226. The personal information determination unit 225 then determines whether the personal information data linked to the found user ID data matches the personal information data received from the control unit 222. As a result, if the personal information data sent from the requesting device 300 matches the personal information data recorded in the personal information recording unit 226 in association with the user ID associated with that personal information data, the personal information determination unit 225 determines the result of the personal information determination as positive. On the other hand, if the two pieces of personal information data do not match, the personal information determination unit 225 determines the result of the personal information determination as negative. The user identified by the user ID data received by the personal information determination unit 225 prior to performing the personal information determination is the user ID data of the user who provided the requesting device 300 with the personal information data sent from the requesting device 300, particularly if no fraud has been detected.Therefore, if the personal information data sent from requesting device 300 matches the personal information data recorded in personal information recording unit 226 in association with the user ID associated with that personal information data, it means that the personal information provided by the user to the city hall side that operates requesting device 300 is correct, although of course this is premised on the premise that the personal information data including the user ID recorded in personal information recording unit 226 is guaranteed to be correct. Therefore, there is legitimacy in personal information determination unit 225 making a positive result determination and a negative result determination in each of the above cases.

[0062] For example, suppose the user ID data received by the personal information determination unit 225 is "111aaaa." In this case, the personal information data received by the personal information determination unit 225 in association with the user ID is the personal information data corresponding to the user's name, address, and date of birth listed on the application form. In this case, if the personal information (name, address, date of birth) identified by the personal information data received by the personal information determination unit 225 matches the personal information data for name, address, and date of birth recorded in the personal information recording unit 226 in association with the user ID "111aaaa," the result of the personal information determination is positive. Although not limited to this, in this embodiment, if the personal information (or personal information items) identified by the personal information data received by the personal information determination unit 225 match the personal information recorded in the personal information recording unit 226 in association with the user ID sent from the user terminal 100 to the authentication device 200 (if there is multiple personal information, all of the personal information items match), the personal information determination unit 225 determines the result of the personal information determination to be positive. On the other hand, in this embodiment, if the personal information (there may be multiple pieces of personal information) identified by the personal information data received by the personal information determination unit 225 does not match the personal information recorded in the personal information recording unit 226 in a state linked to the user ID sent from the user terminal 100 to the authentication device 200 (if there is multiple pieces of personal information, and at least one of them does not match), the personal information determination unit 225 determines the result of the personal information determination to be negative. Whether the result of the determination is positive or negative, the personal information determination unit 225 sends data indicating the result of the personal information determination obtained by performing the personal information determination to the control unit 222.

[0063] The control unit 222 then receives data on the result of the OTP judgment from the OTP judgment unit 224 and data on the result of the personal information judgment from the personal information judgment unit 225. If both of these judgment results are positive, the control unit 222 generates authentication data (S1207). The authentication data indicates that the personal information data sent from the requesting device 300 to the authentication device 200 for authentication is correct as the personal information data of the user for which the authentication device 200 performed personal authentication prior to receiving the personal information data. In other words, the authentication data indicates that the personal information data sent from the requesting device 300 is valid. On the other hand, if at least one of the data on the two judgment results is negative, the control unit 222 generates denial data (S1207). The denial data indicates that the personal information data sent from the requesting device 300 to the authentication device 200 for authentication is incorrect as the personal information data of the user for which the authentication device 200 performed personal authentication prior to receiving the personal information data. Neither the authentication data nor the denial data contains any personal information about the user, nor any information that could lead to the identification of the user's personal information.

[0064] Control unit 222 sends the generated authentication data or denial data to output unit 227. The authentication data or denial data is sent to the transmission / reception mechanism via output unit 227, and then transmitted from the transmission / reception mechanism via network 400 to requesting device 300 that sent the personal information data that triggered the generation of the authentication data or denial data (S1208).

[0065] The requesting device 300 receives authentication data or denial data via its transmission / reception mechanism (S1303). The authentication data or denial data is sent from the transmission / reception mechanism in the requesting device 300 to the control unit 322 via an interface. In this embodiment, the control unit 322 sends the authentication data or denial data to the image generating unit 323. The image generating unit 323 generates image data for displaying an image on a display indicating whether the data received by the requesting device 300 from the authentication device 200 was authentication data or denial data. Of course, if the received data is authentication data, the image generating unit 323 generates image data for displaying an image indicating that the data received by the requesting device 300 from the authentication device 200 is authentication data. If the received data is denial data, the image generating unit 323 generates image data for displaying an image indicating that the data received by the requesting device 300 from the authentication device 200 is denial data. The image generating unit 323 sends the generated image data to the output unit 324. The image data sent to output unit 324 is sent from output unit 324 to a display via an interface. An image based on the image data generated by image generation unit 323 is displayed on the display. As described above, this image indicates whether the data received by requesting device 300 from authentication device 200 is authentication data or denial data. For example, if the data received by requesting device 300 from authentication device 200 is authentication data, the image may be an image containing the words "Authentication successful" or only such words, and if the data received by requesting device 300 from authentication device 200 is denial data, the image may be an image containing the words "Not authenticated" or only such words.

[0066] In this embodiment, as described above, when multiple pieces of personal information data are sent from the requesting device 300 to the authentication device 200 to request authentication of personal information, the personal information determination unit 225 determines the result of the personal information determination as positive only if all of the sent personal information data are valid, and determines the result of the personal information determination as negative only if at least one of the personal information data is invalid. In other words, when multiple pieces of personal information data are sent from the requesting device 300 to the authentication device 200 to request authentication of personal information, the personal information determination is performed on all of the multiple pieces of personal information data as a whole. On the other hand, when multiple pieces of personal information data are sent from the requesting device 300 to the authentication device 200 to request authentication of personal information, it is also possible to perform the personal information determination on each of the multiple pieces of personal information data. In the above example, the personal information data sent from the requesting device 300 to the authentication device 200 was the user's name, address, and date of birth. In such a case, the personal information determination unit 225 of the authentication device 200 may perform a personal information determination on each of the personal information data regarding the user's name, address, and date of birth. In this case, the personal information determination unit 225 outputs a determination result for each piece of personal information data. For example, three determination results may be output: a positive result for the name, a negative result for the address, and a positive result for the date of birth. After generating data regarding the results of the multiple personal information determinations, the personal information determination unit 225 sends the data regarding the results of the multiple personal information determinations to the control unit 222. The control unit 222 then generates authentication data or denial data based on each of the three personal information determination results. Therefore, the number of pieces of personal information data sent from the requesting device 300 to the authentication device 200 in response to an authentication request will match the number of pieces of authentication data or denial data returned from the authentication device 200 to the requesting device 300. In the above example, authentication device 200 sends to requesting device 300 authentication data for the name, denial data for the address, and authentication data for the date of birth.In this case, the image displayed on the display of the requesting device 300 will be an image that indicates, for example, whether the name, address, and date of birth have been "authenticated" or "not authenticated." It is unnecessary to explain that such image data is generated by the image generation unit 323 and that the data necessary for the image generation unit 323 to generate such image data is sent from the control unit 322 to the image generation unit 323. As described above, the personal information (or personal information data) handed over from the user to the city hall may be one or multiple. Furthermore, the personal information handed over from the user to the city hall may include a user ID. In this application, the user ID is the user's personal information. When the user hands over a user ID to the city hall, the authentication device 200 verifies the authenticity of the user ID handed over to the city hall in response to a request from the requesting device 300. It is also possible that the user hands over only one piece of personal information to the city hall, and that only one piece of personal information is the user ID. In this case, the authenticity of the user ID is verified by the authentication device 200. This verification serves as authentication of personal information and also as confirmation of the identity of the user.

Claims

1. An authentication device that authenticates the authenticity of personal information in response to a request from a requesting device, by combining a user terminal, which is a portable device including a computer and owned by a user, and a requesting device, which is a device including a computer, that requests authentication of the authenticity of personal information, which is multiple types of information related to the user who owns the user terminal; the authentication device includes: a recording unit that records personal information data, which is data on the multiple types of personal information of the user, linked to each of the users, and one of the personal information data is user ID data, which is data on a user ID, which is an identifier unique to each user that distinguishes each user from other users; a first communication unit that transmits and receives predetermined data to and from the user terminal; a second communication unit that transmits and receives predetermined data to and from the requesting device; and a computing unit that performs information processing; wherein, when the first communication unit receives data including at least the user ID data sent from the user terminal, the computing unit generates one-time password data, which is data on a one-time password, which is a unique character string, and returns the generated one-time password data from the first communication unit to the user terminal; an authentication device configured to, when the second communication unit receives the one-time password data and the personal information data handed over to the requesting device by the user of the user terminal that has received the one-time password data returned from the requesting device, perform an OTP determination as to whether the one-time password data received by the second communication unit matches that returned to the user terminal, and a personal information determination as to whether the personal information data received by the second communication unit matches the user ID of the user of the user terminal to which the one-time password was returned or the personal information data linked to the user ID and recorded in the recording unit; and, if both the OTP determination and the personal information determination results are positive, generate authentication data indicating that the personal information data sent from the requesting device is valid, and return the generated authentication data to the requesting device from the second communication unit.

2. The authentication device of claim 1, wherein the calculation device is configured to perform the OTP judgment and the personal information judgment when the second communication unit receives the one-time password data and the multiple types of personal information data sent from the requesting device, and in the personal information judgment, a judgment is made as to whether the multiple types of personal information data received by the second communication unit match the user ID of the user who owns the user terminal to which the one-time password was returned or all of the multiple types of personal information data linked to the user ID and recorded in the recording unit, and the judgment result is deemed positive if all of the multiple types of personal information data received by the second communication unit match the multiple types of personal information data recorded in the recording unit.

3. The authentication device according to claim 1, wherein the arithmetic unit and the recording unit are included in different devices.

4. The authentication device according to claim 1, wherein the computing device and the device including the recording unit are located in remote locations and are capable of communicating with each other.

5. The authentication device according to claim 3, wherein the authentication device comprises a first authentication device including the arithmetic unit and a second authentication device including the recording unit.

6. The authentication device according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of types of personal information data, excluding the user ID, is at least one of the user's name, gender, date of birth, address, and facial photograph.

7. An authentication device that authenticates the authenticity of personal information in response to a request from the requesting device, by combining a user terminal, which is a portable device including a computer and owned by a user, and a requesting device, which is a device including a computer that requests authentication of the authenticity of personal information, which is multiple types of information related to the user who owns the user terminal; the authentication device comprising: a recording unit that records personal information data, which is data on the multiple types of personal information of the user, linked to each of the users, and one of the personal information data is user ID data, which is data on a user ID, which is an identifier unique to each user that distinguishes each user from other users; a first communication unit that transmits and receives predetermined data to and from the user terminal; a second communication unit that transmits and receives predetermined data to and from the requesting device; and a computing device that processes information, the method being executed by the computing device, comprising: a step executed by the computing device of generating one-time password data, which is data on a one-time password, which is a unique character string, when the first communication unit receives data including at least the user ID data sent from the user terminal, and returning the generated one-time password data from the first communication unit to the user terminal; when the second communication unit receives the one-time password data and the personal information data handed over to the requesting device by the user who owns the user terminal that received the one-time password data returned from the requesting device, performing an OTP judgment as to whether the one-time password data received by the second communication unit matches that returned to the user terminal, and a personal information judgment as to whether the personal information data received by the second communication unit matches the user ID of the user who owns the user terminal to which the one-time password was returned or the personal information data linked to the user ID and recorded in the recording unit, and if both the OTP judgment and the personal information judgment results are positive, generating authentication data indicating that the personal information data sent from the requesting device is valid, and returning the generated authentication data from the second communication unit to the requesting device.

8. A computer program for causing a predetermined computer device to function as an authentication device, the computer program comprising: a user terminal, which is a portable device including a computer and owned by a user; and a requesting device, which is a device including a computer, which requests authentication of the authenticity of personal information, which is multiple types of information related to the user who owns the user terminal; a recording unit, which records personal information data, which is data on multiple types of personal information of the user, in association with each of the users, one of which is user ID data, which is data on a user ID, which is an identifier unique to each user that distinguishes each user from other users; a first communication unit, which transmits and receives predetermined data to and from the user terminal; a second communication unit, which transmits and receives predetermined data to and from the requesting device; and a processing unit, which performs information processing; wherein the computer program causes the processing unit to: a step of generating one-time password data, which is data about a one-time password that is a unique character string, when the first communication unit receives data including at least the user ID data sent from the user terminal, and returning the generated one-time password data from the first communication unit to the user terminal;a computer program that executes a process in which, when the second communication unit receives the one-time password data and the personal information data handed over to the requesting device by the user who owns the user terminal that has received the one-time password data returned from the requesting device, it performs an OTP determination as to whether the one-time password data received by the second communication unit matches that returned to the user terminal, and a personal information determination as to whether the personal information data received by the second communication unit matches the user ID of the user who owns the user terminal to which the one-time password was returned or the personal information data linked to the user ID and recorded in the recording unit; and, if both the OTP determination and the personal information determination results are positive, it generates authentication data indicating that the personal information data sent from the requesting device is legitimate, and returns the generated authentication data to the requesting device from the second communication unit.

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