FaceTec granted patent for biometric authentication system without admin access

A newly granted patent for FaceTec protects a new method for user-controlled authentication on server nodes that it says can shield biometric data from the staff and administrators whose access to sensitive data is often taken as a necessary evil. FaceTec now has 50 granted patents in its intellectual property portfolio, with 50 more pending, according to a company announcement.

The patent for a “Method And System To Autonomously Authenticate And Validate Users Using A Node Server And Database” involves a node server with authentication data and an SDK configured to use it for authentication, such as FaceTec’s face biometrics with 3D liveness detection. The node server uses an API for creating and maintaining a node server as well as routing payment to a cloud server that is hosting the node. An accompanying communication interface handles interaction with the user’s device so they can control the process, and an access module keeps all others out.

The approach removes the need for administrative accounts and for IT staff to interact manually with the database to perform maintenance duties and update the biometric references. User self-enrollment and authentication can both be protected with FaceTec’s Zoom 3D liveness detection, as well as eye tracking and other forms of spoof protection. The patent document refers to the use of active or passive presentation attack detection (PAD).

A supporting patent is on the way to protect a method for using remotely collected biometric data to supplement a database.

These protections make the technology suitable not just for payments, according to FaceTec, but also other financial services, voting or any other industry that needs high-assurance authentication while protecting the reference data.

Kevin Alan Tussy, FaceTec CEO, who is also the named inventor lauds his company’s R&D team as “the most capable and dedicated” in biometrics, and says it constantly improves the security of its 3D face verifications to further widen its technology moat.

The company emphasizes the robustness of its IP portfolio in the wake of a decision by the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) upholding all four patents challenged by Jumio in the two face biometrics’ providers’ ongoing dispute.

FaceTec has also been steadily expanding the applications for its facial verification and 3D liveness detection, with healthcare among its nest target industries.

Article Topics

biometric authentication  |  biometric liveness detection  |  biometrics  |  data protection  |  face biometrics  |  FaceTec  |  patents