User Authentication Using Mobile Location and Travel Speed Checks
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Solution Overview
Problem
The expansion of electronic purchases has led to an increase in fraudulent and unauthorized transactions, resulting in significant monetary losses for sellers, merchants, and financial institutions, necessitating improved methods to verify and secure these transactions.
Innovation Solution
A method and system that associate a user's identity, such as a credit card, with a wireless terminal like a cell phone, determining its location at intervals and comparing it to the transaction location to generate alerts if there is a mismatch, using cached position information or GPS signals to verify geographical proximity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If location verification is implemented for electronic transactions, then transaction security is improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a location verification service as an intermediary component that mediates between the transaction processing system and the security verification. This service receives transaction data, determines the cardholder's current location using GPS or cellular triangulation, compares it with the authorized location, and returns a verification result. By isolating the location verification logic in a separate service layer, the patent reduces the complexity burden on the core transaction processing system while maintaining enhanced security.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces traditional mechanical or manual verification methods with automated electronic location determination systems. Instead of relying on physical presence checks or manual identification, the system uses GPS satellite signals or cellular network triangulation to automatically determine the cardholder's location and compare it with authorized locations stored in a database. This substitution of mechanical verification with electronic and automated systems improves security while managing complexity through standardization.
2Reliability
If real-time location monitoring is implemented, then fraud detection capability is improved, but energy consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements periodic location monitoring rather than continuous real-time tracking. The system determines the cardholder's location at specific intervals or triggered by transaction events, rather than maintaining constant monitoring. This periodic action reduces energy consumption by activating location services only when necessary for fraud detection, while still providing adequate surveillance to detect fraudulent transactions that occur between monitoring intervals.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent enables the mobile device to perform location determination using its own built-in GPS or cellular capabilities without requiring constant external power or resources. The device autonomously determines its location, compares it with authorized locations, and can trigger alerts or block transactions based on location mismatches. This self-service approach reduces the energy burden on the monitoring system by leveraging the device's own resources for verification.
3Measurement precision
If location data is collected and stored, then transaction verification accuracy is improved, but data privacy concerns increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and processes only the necessary location verification data without storing or retaining comprehensive location histories or personal information. The system determines the cardholder's current location at the time of transaction, compares it with the authorized location, and discards the location data after verification. This extraction of minimal necessary data improves verification accuracy while minimizing privacy risks by not maintaining persistent databases of location information.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the parameter of data retention from comprehensive location histories to minimal瞬时 (instantaneous) location data. Instead of storing extensive location information over time, the system uses location data only for the specific transaction verification moment and then discards it. This parameter change in data retention policy maintains the precision needed for accurate verification while significantly reducing privacy concerns associated with long-term data storage.
Data Source
AI summary
A method for authenticating the identity of a user who is attempting to access a website or conduct a transaction is described. The method involves receiving two geographical locations, and associated time stamps, of a mobile phone associated with the user, one of the locations being the location of the transaction or access attempt. The method determines whether the speed required to travel between the two geographical locations in the elapsed time is within acceptable limits. A confidence score, derived in part from this calculation, is taken into account when deciding whether to allow or deny the access or the transaction.