Context aware biometric authentication

A device operable in a system having a biometric authentication that can be dynamically set, comprising:

• a biometric interface operable to receive a biometric sample of a user provided by the user in an attempt to access an application and in operational communication with the processor, wherein the biometric sample is characterized by a match score when the biometric sample matches at least one stored template that uniquely identifies the user;
• a processor comprising:
• a context aware module of the processor that detects the presence of a context usage override condition;
• and
• a dynamic threshold setting module of the processor that updates a context usage factor based upon the context usage override condition and calculates a biometric recognition threshold required for the user to access the application based on the context usage factor, wherein the biometric recognition threshold determines a threshold security level required for biometric authentication;
• wherein the user of the device is permitted to access the application when the match score of the biometric sample is at least equal to the biometric recognition threshold;
• wherein the historical usage override condition comprises an updated false reject ratio (FRR) for the last N matches of a plurality of biometric samples supplied by the user:
• wherein the processor compares the biometric sample of the user received at the biometric interface with at least one stored template that uniquely identifies the user and generates a match score when the biometric sample matches one of the stored templates;
• wherein the processor compares the match score to the biometric recognition threshold to generate match score comparison results and calculates an updated false reject ratio (FRR) for the last N matches of the user, and permits the user to access the application when the match score comparison results indicate that the match score is at least equal to the match score threshold value and the updated FRR is less than a FRR threshold value of the application.

A computer-readable storage element having computer readable code stored thereon for programming a computer to perform a method for biometric authentication, the method comprising:

• receiving a biometric sample of a user at a biometric interface of a device as part of a biometric authentication request by the user, wherein the biometric sample is provided by the user in an attempt to access an application, and wherein the biometric sample is characterized by a match score when the biometric sample matches at least one stored template that uniquely identifies the user;
• detecting the presence of a context usage override condition of the biometric authentication request;
• updating a context usage factor based upon the context usage override condition;
• calculating a biometric recognition threshold required for the user to access the application based on the updated context usage factor, wherein the biometric recognition threshold determines a threshold security level required for biometric authentication;
• and
• permitting the user to access the application when the match score of the biometric sample is at least equal to the biometric recognition threshold.