Seamless driver authentication using an in-vehicle camera in conjunction with a trusted mobile computing device

A method comprising:

• establishing, by a vehicle computing system of a vehicle, a connection with a mobile computing device, wherein the vehicle computing system includes an infotainment head unit;
• determining, by the vehicle computing system, a presence of a user inside the vehicle;
• after determining the presence of the user inside the vehicle, capturing, by the vehicle computing system using an image capture device that is connected to at least a portion of the vehicle, at least one image of a face of the user;
• determining, by the vehicle computing system, first feature data associated with the at least one image of the face of the user;
• receiving, by the vehicle computing system, authentication data for the user, wherein the authentication data indicates a match between the user and a previously enrolled user based on a comparison between the first feature data and second feature data associated with at least one image of a face of the previously enrolled user;
• and
• accessing, by the vehicle computing system and based on the authentication data for the user, user account information to log the user into the infotainment head unit.

A computing device comprising:

• at least one processor;
• and
• at least one computer-readable storage device storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to:
• establish a connection with a vehicle computing system of a vehicle;
• after establishing the connection, receive, from the vehicle computing system, first feature data associated with at least one image of a face of a user of the vehicle, wherein the at least one image of the face of the user of the vehicle is captured by an image capture device connected to at least a portion of the vehicle;
• determine, based on a comparison between the first feature data and second feature data associated with at least one image of a face of a previously enrolled user of a mobile computing device, a match between the user of the vehicle and the previously enrolled user;
• authenticate, based on the match, the user of the vehicle;
• and
• send, to the vehicle computing system, authentication data for the user of the vehicle, wherein the authentication data is indicative of the match.