Web Browser Biometric Authentication via Local Media Capture API
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing Web-based user authentication systems face challenges in ensuring secure authentication over networks, particularly when biometric devices are remote from the relying party, as there is no guarantee that the device is authorized or has not been compromised, leading to concerns about authentication strength and integrity.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of a secure authentication system that uses biometric devices such as fingerprint sensors, voice recognition, and facial recognition, coupled with secure transaction servers, to generate and manage cryptographic keys, and employs a web browser plugin-based architecture or stand-alone applications for user enrollment, registration, and authentication, utilizing APIs for local media capture to support voice and video authentication without additional client software.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If biometric devices are used for remote authentication, then authentication convenience is improved, but device authorization and integrity cannot be guaranteed
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a relying party server as an intermediary that mediates between the user's biometric device and the authentication system. The server receives biometric data, performs verification against stored reference data, and generates authentication credentials. This intermediary architecture allows remote authentication convenience while maintaining reliability through centralized authorization management and device validation protocols.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces physical presence requirements with digital biometric verification. Instead of requiring users to be physically present at a secure location with controlled devices, the system uses biometric sensors (fingerprint, facial recognition, voice) that can be remotely accessed. The mechanical constraint of physical presence is substituted with electronic biometric validation, maintaining security through cryptographic verification while enabling remote operation.
2Loss of information
If biometric reference data is stored locally on authentication devices, then user privacy is protected, but authentication strength may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments authentication data into multiple components stored in different locations. Biometric reference data is encrypted and stored locally on the user's authentication device, while authentication logic and verification algorithms reside on the relying party server. During authentication, the device provides biometric input and encrypted reference data, the server performs verification, and only authentication results (not raw biometric data) are transmitted. This segmentation protects privacy through local storage while maintaining authentication strength through server-side verification capabilities.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements local quality by storing sensitive biometric reference data locally on the user's authentication device in encrypted form, while keeping the authentication server free of raw biometric data. The local device maintains high-quality security through hardware-based encryption and secure element storage, while the remote server maintains authentication strength through access to verification algorithms and encrypted credential validation. Each component has optimized quality characteristics appropriate to its function.
Data Source
AI summary
A system, apparatus, method, and machine readable medium are described for performing user authentication. For example, one embodiment of a system comprises: media capture logic implemented as a component within a browser executed on a client, the media capture logic configured to capture a user's voice from a microphone on a client or images of the user's face or other portion of the user's body from a camera on the client, the media capture logic exposing an application programming interface (API); and a web authentication application implemented as another component within the browser for communicating with an authentication server to perform biometric authentication of a user, the web authentication application making calls to the API of the media capture logic to capture raw biometric data comprising the user's voice from the microphone and/or images of the user's face or other portion of the user's body from the camera, the web authentication application to implement a biometric authentication process to authenticate the user with the raw biometric data.