Biometric Token for Universal Merchant Identification
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Solution Overview
Problem
Merchants face challenges in securely accessing and managing customer information while providing services like loyalty programs and targeted advertisements, and customers often need to provide similar information to multiple merchants, leading to inefficiencies and security concerns.
Innovation Solution
A token service provider system that creates and manages tokens for users, applying biometric conversion algorithms and hashing to secure user information. These tokens are sent to user devices and can be broadcast to merchants, allowing for secure identification and information sharing while ensuring user consent through rejection mechanisms.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If merchants store customer information directly to provide loyalty programs and personalized services, then customer service quality is improved, but security risk increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a token service provider as an intermediary between merchants and customers. Instead of merchants storing customer information directly, the system uses tokens that can be exchanged for customer information through a secure intermediary service. This mediator approach allows merchants to access customer data for personalized services while the token service provider maintains security control and manages the risk of data storage.
2Ease of operation
If customers provide similar information to multiple merchants to enable personalized services, then service customization is improved, but information management complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a universal token system that serves multiple functions across different merchants. A single token can be exchanged for customer information at different merchants, eliminating the need for customers to provide separate information to each merchant. The token acts as a universal identifier that enables personalized services at multiple locations without increasing the complexity of information management for the customer.
3Ease of operation
If merchants want to interact with customers when they are at the merchant location, then customer engagement is improved, but customer privacy protection becomes more difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent incorporates a feedback mechanism where the token service provider receives notifications when merchants request customer information. The system can then send notifications to customers to seek their permission before providing their information to the merchant. This feedback loop allows merchants to engage with customers at their location while giving customers control over their privacy, as they can choose whether to allow information sharing.
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and methods for identifying a user to a merchant include creating a token for the user, the token identifying the user and user information of the user, where creating the token includes generating a string based on a user biometric and hashing the string to generate a hashed string, sending a notification indicating that a merchant requests the user information of the user, sending the token to a user device associated with the user where the token is configured to be activated via the user device before the token is selectively transmitted by the user device, receiving the token from a merchant computing system associated with a merchant, identifying the user and the user information based on the received token, receiving an indication from the user device, and withholding the user information from the merchant computing system based on the indication.