Storing anonymized identifiers instead of personally identifiable information
AssigneeFacebook, Inc.
InventorRaphael A. Rodriguez
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The present disclosure describes methods and systems for handling personal identifiable information. In some implementations, the information is collected during the authentication of identification (ID) documents. The system includes a one-way hashing function that converts unique personal identifiable information into a unique digest. The system can store the digest without having to store the personal identifiable information. Because the hashing function generates the same digest when given the same input, the digests can be used as anonymized identifiers in place of the personal identifiable information.
Claims18
A method for securely determining a physical identification document is authentic using personally identifiable information of the physical identification document, the method comprising:
- (a) receiving, by an authentication manager, an image of a first physical identification document to be authenticated, the first physical identification document comprising a first set of characteristics identifying a class of the first physical identification document and a second set of characteristics identifying a person that the first physical identification document identifies;
- (b) extracting the first set of characteristics and the second set of characteristics of the first physical identification document;
- (c) applying a hash function to the second set of characteristics to generate a digest;
- (d) determining that the first physical identification document was previously authenticated in accordance with looking up the digest in a digest table of previously authenticated physical identification documents;
- and
- (e) providing an indication that the first physical identification document is authentic based at least on a confidence value from the digest table of previously authenticated physical identification documents corresponding to the first physical identification document being greater than a predetermined threshold.
A system for securely determining a physical identification document is authentic using personally identifiable information of the physical identification document comprises a processor and a memory device, the processor executing an authentication manager, the authentication manager configured to:
- receive an image of a first physical identification document to be authenticated, the first physical identification document comprising a first set of characteristics identifying a class of the first physical identification document and a second set of characteristics identifying a person that the first physical identification document identifies;
- extract the first set of characteristics and the second set of characteristics of the first physical identification document;
- apply a hash function on the second set of characteristics to generate a digest;
- determine that the first physical identification document was previously authenticated in accordance with looking up the digest in a digest table of previously authenticated physical identification documents;
- and
- provide an indication that the first physical identification document is authentic based at least on a confidence value from the digest table of previously authenticated physical identification documents corresponding to the first physical identification document being greater than a predetermined threshold.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.