Biometric Authentication Using Robust Property Set Extraction
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing authentication methods face challenges in robustness against noise, security, and privacy, particularly when using biometric data, as they are sensitive to small perturbations and can lead to identity theft and misuse of sensitive information.
Innovation Solution
A method that measures physical object properties, creates a robust property set with a high signal-to-noise ratio, reduces information, and generates a control value using a cryptographic function, ensuring robustness and privacy by not revealing the original properties, and using helper data for subset selection and transformation to enhance security.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If biometric properties are stored as reference data for authentication, then authentication capability is improved, but security and privacy are worsened due to risk of identity theft and misuse
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the essential authentication capability from the biometric data while removing the sensitive personal information. By using helper data and property sets that reveal only necessary information for authentication, the system separates the authentication function from the sensitive biometric properties, preventing identity theft while maintaining authentication reliability
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces helper data and property sets as intermediaries between the biometric properties and the authentication process. These intermediaries transform the raw biometric data into a form that enables authentication without exposing the original sensitive properties, acting as a protective layer that prevents direct access to personal information
2Quantity of substance
If conventional one-way hash functions are used for authentication, then data storage efficiency is improved, but reliability is worsened due to sensitivity to small perturbations in input data
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the parameters of the hash function by incorporating helper data and using a modified hashing approach that accounts for variations in biometric properties. This allows the system to maintain the data storage efficiency of hash functions while overcoming their sensitivity to input perturbations by transforming the input data through helper data before hashing
3Measurement precision
If all measured properties are stored and revealed, then authentication accuracy is improved, but information security is worsened by exposing sensitive data
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the specific properties needed for authentication while leaving other sensitive properties unrevealed. By selecting and processing only necessary property sets with the help of helper data, the system maintains authentication accuracy without exposing unnecessary sensitive information
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies partial action by revealing only a subset of the measured properties rather than all properties. This selective revelation approach provides sufficient information for accurate authentication while minimizing the exposure of sensitive data, avoiding the need to process and store all measured properties
Data Source
AI summary
A system for authenticating a physical object includes an enrolment device, an authentication device, and a storage for storing authentication data. The enrolment device includes an input for receiving a property set Y of the object measured using a measurement procedure. A processor is used for creating a property set I from the measured property set Y that meet a predetermined robustness criterion. It then creating a property set A from the property set I that includes less information on the actual properties than property set Y, and finally generates a control value V in dependence on properties of the property set A. An output is used for supplying the control value to the storage as part of the authentication data. The enrolment device operates in an analogous way.