Apparatus, system and method for application-specific biometric processing in a computer system

A method for biometrically authenticating a user for an apparatus, comprising:

• generating user biometric data via a biometric capture device;
• processing, via a processor, user biometric data from the biometric capture device to generate one or more biometric templates;
• storing, in a memory, the one or more biometric templates and one or more previously generated biometric templates;
• storing, in the memory, the respective cryptographic keys or passwords formatted independently for each of the plurality of executable applications associated with the user;
• associating, via a biometric manager module, a plurality of different executable applications for the apparatus with one of the one or more biometric templates wherein each of the different executable applications are configured with respective cryptographic keys or passwords independently formatted for each of the plurality of executable applications associated with the user;
• matching, via the processor, one of the one or more biometric templates with one of the one or more previously generated biometric templates to determine if the matched biometric template is associated with the executable application;
• and
• automatically generating, via the processor, at least one of a password and/or a cryptographic key from the memory, the at least one of a password and/or a cryptographic key being formatted for allowing access by the user to at least one of the plurality of different executable applications, but not allowing access to another one of the plurality of different executable applications associated by the biometric manager module, based on the matched biometric template.

A system for biometrically authenticating a user, comprising:

• a biometric capture device configured to generate user biometric data;
• a processor, operatively coupled to the biometric capture device, wherein the processor is configured to process user biometric data from the biometric capture device to extract feature vectors of the biometric templates and convert the vectors for form binary strings to generate one or more biometric templates therefrom;
• an application module, configured to store a plurality of different executable applications, wherein the application module is further configured to store associated cryptographic keys or passwords independently formatted for each of the plurality of executable applications associated with the user, wherein at least one of the plurality of different executable applications is configured to require an associated cryptographic key or password, but not require biometric data, for access;
• a memory, operatively coupled to the processor, wherein the memory is configured to store the one or more biometric templates and one or more previously generated biometric templates, and wherein the memory is configured to store the respective cryptographic keys or passwords formatted independently for each of the plurality of executable applications associated with the user;
• and
• a biometric manager module, wherein the biometric manager module is configured to associate each of the executable applications with one of the one or more biometric templates,
• wherein the processor is configured to match one of the one or more biometric templates with one of the one or more previously generated biometric templates to determine if the matched biometric template is associated with the executable application,
• and wherein the processor is configured to automatically generate at least one of a password and/or a cryptographic key from the memory, the at least one of a password and/or a cryptographic key being formatted for allowing access by the user to the executable applications associated by the biometric manager module, including the at least one of the plurality of different executable applications configured to require an associated cryptographic key or password, but not require biometric data, for access, based on the matched biometric template.