JP7566608B2 - Authentication device and document provision system - Google Patents

Description

Embodiments of the present invention relate to an authentication device and a document provision system.

Currently, official documents such as certificates issued by public issuing authorities are often provided in paper form and are rarely provided as electronic documents. Currently, when it is necessary to provide an official document to a third party, the user must first obtain the paper version of the official document from the issuing authority and then go through the process of providing the obtained official document to the third party.

For example, if a health insurance association needs a family member's income certificate for a health insurance review, the insured person must obtain a paper income certificate from the city hall or other institution and submit the certificate to the health insurance association. In addition, if the issuing agency that issues the official document is located in a remote location, the user must go through the process of requesting that the official document be sent by mail, etc., which takes time to obtain the official document. Furthermore, if the third party is a public institution but a separate organization from the issuing agency, there is also the problem that the issuing agency cannot provide the official document to the third party without the user's consent.

JP 2005-303615 A

To solve the above problems, the present invention provides an authentication device and a document provision system that can securely provide documents to third parties by preventing impersonation and tampering.

According to an embodiment, the authentication device has a communication unit and a processor. The communication unit communicates with the document management device. The processor authenticates whether a person requesting disclosure of a document managed by the document management device to a third party is an authorization authority having the authority to permit disclosure of the document, and if authentication that the person is an authorization authority is successful, transmits a disclosure authorization with an electronic signature including the disclosure content requested for disclosure to the third party to the document management device via the communication unit.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of a document providing system according to an embodiment. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of an authentication device used in the document providing system according to the embodiment. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of an authentication device used in the authentication apparatus according to the embodiment. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a document management device used in the document providing system according to the embodiment. FIG. 5 is a sequence diagram for explaining a first operation example of the document providing system according to the embodiment. FIG. 6 is a sequence diagram for explaining a second operation example in the document providing system according to the embodiment.

Hereinafter, embodiments will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of a document providing system according to an embodiment.
The document provision system 1 includes an authentication device 2, a document management device (document management system) 3, and a business system 4. In the document provision system 1, a user gives permission via the authentication device 2 to provide a document such as a certificate related to the user managed by the document management device 3 to the business system 4. When the user gives permission via the authentication device 2 to provide the document to the business system 4, the document provision system 1 provides the document managed by the document management device 3 to the business system 4 as a third party.

The authentication device 2 is a user terminal used by a user who receives a request from a business system to submit a document such as a certificate. The authentication device 2 has functions such as information processing functions including encryption and decryption, a communication function with external devices, and a personal authentication function. The authentication device 2 is realized, for example, by an information processing device owned by a user, such as a smartphone, tablet terminal, or PC. The authentication device 2 may also be a device (system) that combines an information processing device such as a smartphone, tablet terminal, or PC with an authentication device equipped with a personal authentication function. In this case, the authentication device may be anything that is connected via an interface to the information processing device that is the main body of the authentication device. For example, the authentication device is an IC card.

The personal authentication function of the authentication device 2 is a function for authenticating whether an operator is a legitimate user (registered person). In this embodiment, the personal authentication function of the authentication device 2 is a function for authenticating an individual by biometric authentication using biometric information such as a fingerprint. For example, the authentication device 2 has a fingerprint sensor as a biometric sensor to perform fingerprint authentication as biometric authentication. In the configuration example shown in FIG. 1, the authentication device 2 realizes biometric authentication by connecting via an interface to an authentication device 2a such as an IC card equipped with a biometric (fingerprint) sensor.

The document management device (document management system) 3 is a device (system) that manages documents such as certificates. The document management device 3 may be a system composed of multiple devices such as a management server and a data server. The document management device 3 provides (issues) documents such as certificates related to a user in response to a request from the user. In the document provision system 1 according to the embodiment, the document management device 3 has a function of communicating with an authentication device 2 operated by the user and a business system 4 that requests the user to provide documents. The document management device 3, for example, accepts requests from the authentication device 2 on a web page and accepts requests from the business system 4.

The business system 4 requests (demands) the provision of documents from users. For example, the business system 4 is a system for performing various tasks by checking items (information) written on documents such as certificates related to users. The business system 4 has a function of communicating with the document management system 3. The business system 4 requests the provision of documents from users of the authentication device 2, and obtains documents that the users have approved for provision via the authentication device 2 from the document management device 3.

Next, the configuration of the authentication device 2 according to the embodiment will be described.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of a control system in the authentication device 2 according to the embodiment.
The authentication device 2 is an information processing device such as a smartphone, a tablet terminal, or a personal computer (PC). The authentication device 2 is an information processing device that is operated by a user and has an identity authentication function for authenticating that the user is the user. For example, the authentication device 2 is a PC that has a function for authenticating the identity of the user by biometric authentication such as fingerprint authentication. The authentication device 2 may also be a mobile terminal such as a smartphone or tablet PC that has a biometric authentication function such as fingerprint authentication.

The authentication device 2 may be equipped with a module for performing personal authentication, or may be configured to have an authentication device 2a perform personal authentication as shown in FIG. 1. In the configuration example shown in FIG. 2, the authentication device 2 is configured to be communicatively connected to an authentication device 2a that performs biometric authentication as shown in FIG. 1, and to have the authentication device 2a perform biometric authentication as personal authentication.

In the configuration example shown in FIG. 2, the authentication device 2 includes a processor 11, a ROM 12, a RAM 13, a memory unit 14, a communication unit 15, a display unit 16, an operation unit 17, and an interface 18.

The processor 11 performs various processes by executing programs. The processor 11 is, for example, a CPU. The ROM 12 is a non-volatile memory that stores programs, control data, etc. The RAM 13 functions as a working memory that temporarily holds data. The storage unit 14 is a storage device that includes a rewritable non-volatile memory. With this configuration, the processor 11 realizes various processes by using the RAM 13 to execute programs stored in the ROM 12 or the storage unit 14.

The storage unit 14 stores, for example, information about the user (registered person). The storage unit 14 may also store biometric information about the user. The storage unit 14 may also store an application program for accessing the document management device 3. For example, in a case where the document management device 3 is configured to accept a request for disclosure of a document (information) to a third party on a web page, the storage unit 14 stores a program for accessing a web page provided by the document management device 3. The storage unit 14 may also store an application program for requesting the document management device 3 to disclose (submit) a document to a third party.

The communication unit 15 is a communication interface for communicating with an external device. In the document provision system 1 according to this embodiment, the communication unit 15 is a communication interface for communicating with the document management device 3 and the business system 4. The communication unit 15 may perform wired communication or may perform wireless communication. Furthermore, the communication unit 15 may include multiple types of communication interfaces for performing wired and wireless communication.

The display unit 16 is a display device that displays various information according to the control of the processor 11. The operation unit 17 is a device through which the operator inputs operation instructions. For example, the operation unit 17 is a keyboard, a numeric keypad, a pointing device, a touch panel, etc. The display unit 16 and the operation unit 17 function as a user interface. For example, the display unit 16 and the operation unit 17 may be configured as a display device with a touch panel.

The interface 18 is an interface for connecting to the authentication device 2a. The interface 18 may be any interface that corresponds to an interface provided in the authentication device 2a. For example, the interface 18 may be an interface conforming to a communication standard used for contactless IC cards such as NFC (Near Field Communication), may be an interface that communicates by contacting the contact portion of a contact IC card, or may be an interface such as USB (Universal Serial Bus). Furthermore, the interface may be a short-range wireless communication such as Bluetooth (registered trademark), may be a mobile communication, or may be a wireless communication such as Wi-Fi (registered trademark).

When the authentication device 2 is configured to have a biometric authentication function, the authentication device 2 is configured to have a biometric sensor for acquiring biometric information. In this case, the processor 11 performs biometric authentication using biometric information acquired by a camera or fingerprint sensor that functions as a biometric sensor. For example, when a camera is provided as a biometric sensor, the authentication device 2 may authenticate the user by face authentication using an image captured by the camera. When a fingerprint sensor is provided, the authentication device 2 may authenticate the user by fingerprint authentication.

Next, the configuration of the authentication device 2a according to the embodiment will be described.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of an authentication device 2a according to the embodiment.
The authentication device 2a is an electronic device having a biometric authentication function and a communication function with the authentication apparatus 2. The authentication device 2a may be any device (authentication unit) that executes personal authentication requested by the authentication apparatus 2.

For example, the authentication device 2a is an IC card (smart card) equipped with a biosensor. The IC card as the authentication device 2a has a main body (housing) C formed in a card shape from plastic or the like, and is activated (made operable) by power supplied from the interface 18 of the authentication device 2.

The authentication device 2a may be a small electronic device capable of communicating with the authentication device 2. The authentication device 2a may be a portable information terminal device such as a smartphone, mobile phone, or tablet PC that has a communication function with the authentication device 2. In the following, in this embodiment, the authentication device 2a will be described assuming that it is an IC card equipped with a biosensor.

In the configuration example shown in FIG. 3, the authentication device 2 a includes a processor 21 , a memory 22 , an interface 23 , and a biometric sensor 24 .
The processor 21 includes circuits that execute various processes. The processor 21 is, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit). The processor 21 controls the authentication device 2a. The processor 21 executes programs stored in the memory 22 to realize various processing functions. However, some or all of the various functions executed by the processor 111 described later may be realized by hardware circuits.

The memory 22 includes memories such as ROM, RAM, and NVM. The ROM of the memory 22 stores control programs and control data. The RAM of the memory 22 functions as a working memory and also functions as a buffer for temporarily storing data being processed by the processor 111. The NVM of the memory 22 is a non-volatile memory to which data can be written and rewritten, and stores programs and various data. In addition, when biometric information of the user (registered person) is stored as authentication information of the user himself (registered person) in the authentication device 2a, the biometric information of the registered person is stored in the NVM of the memory 22.

The interface 23 is an interface for communication connection to the authentication device 2 as a higher-level device. For example, when the authentication device 2a is realized as a contact-type IC card, the interface 23 has a contact part that makes physical and electrical contact with the interface 18 of the authentication device 2, and is configured with a communication control circuit that controls the transmission and reception of signals via the contact part. When the authentication device 2a is realized as a non-contact type IC card, the interface 23 configures a communication part that communicates non-contact (wirelessly) with the interface 18 of the authentication device 2. When the authentication device 2a is an electronic device that is connected to the authentication device 2 via an interface of a specified standard such as USB, the interface 23 is configured with a connector part that can be connected to a connector of a specified standard provided on the interface 18 of the authentication device 2, and a communication control circuit that controls the transmission and reception of signals via the connector part.

The biometric sensor 24 is an example of an authentication information acquisition unit that acquires biometric information as authentication data. The biometric sensor 24 is, for example, a fingerprint sensor that reads the user's fingerprint information. The fingerprint sensor as the biometric sensor 24 is provided so that a reading unit that reads a fingerprint is exposed while connected to the authentication device 2, and reads the fingerprint of a person's finger that is held over the exposed reading unit. However, the biometric sensor 24 is not limited to a fingerprint sensor, and may acquire biometric information other than fingerprints. In the following embodiment, the biometric sensor 122 is described as being a fingerprint sensor.

For example, the processor 21 executes a program for authentication processing to perform biometric matching (biometric authentication) using biometric information acquired by the biometric sensor 24. For example, the processor 21 extracts fingerprint information from an image read by a fingerprint sensor serving as the biometric sensor 24, and performs fingerprint authentication by matching the fingerprint information extracted from the image read by the fingerprint sensor with the fingerprint information of the registrant (fingerprint image or fingerprint feature data).

In the configuration example shown in FIG. 2, the processor 21 is configured to perform biometric matching, but an MPU for performing biometric matching may be provided, and the MPU may perform biometric matching in response to a request from the processor 21. The authentication device 2a may also be provided with an indicator such as an LED that emits light depending on the state of biometric authentication by biometric matching.

Next, the configuration of the document management device 3 according to the embodiment will be described.
FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of a control system in the document management apparatus 3 according to the embodiment.
The document management device 3 is a device that manages documents such as certificates. For example, the document management device 3 is installed in a public institution such as a government office, and issues various documents in response to requests from the user himself or a representative approved by the user. Here, the documents managed by the document management device 3 are assumed to be certificates required for various procedures. However, the documents managed by the document management device 3 include information that will not be disclosed to a third party without the permission of the user, and are information that can be transmitted and received as electronic data. Furthermore, the document management device 3 is not limited to being realized by a single device, and may be a system (document management system) composed of multiple devices.

In the configuration example shown in FIG. 4, the document management device 3 includes a processor 31, a ROM 32, a RAM 33, a storage device 34, and a communication unit 35.
The processor 31 executes various processes by executing programs. The processor 31 is, for example, a CPU. The ROM 32 is a non-volatile memory that stores programs, control data, and the like. The RAM 33 functions as a working memory that temporarily holds data. The storage device 34 is a storage unit that includes a rewritable non-volatile memory. With these configurations, the processor 31 realizes various processes by using the RAM 33 to execute programs stored in the ROM 32 or the storage device 34.

The storage device 34 stores information about the document to be issued. For example, the storage device 34 stores document information in association with information about the subject of the document to be issued, such as a certificate. The storage device 34 may also store information for accessing document information stored in another device, such as a data server.

The communication unit 35 has a communication interface for communicating with the authentication device 2 and the business system 4. The communication unit 35 may include a communication interface for wireless communication, or may include a communication interface for communication via a network. The communication unit 35 may also include multiple types of communication interfaces.

Next, the operation of the document providing system 1 according to the embodiment will be described.
First, a first operation example of the document providing system 1 according to the embodiment will be described.
FIG. 5 is a sequence diagram for explaining a first operation example in the document providing system 1 according to the embodiment.
Here, the operation will be described assuming that the business system 4 performs a business requiring a document managed by the document management device 3, the disclosure of which can be authorized by the user of the authentication device 2. The document required by the business system 4 is information that the user of the authentication device 2 has the authority to authorize to disclose to a third party. For this reason, the authentication device 2 confirms that the user is an authorization authority (the user) by personal (biometric) authentication, and when the user confirmed to be an authorization authority authorizes the disclosure of the document to the operator (third party) of the business system 4, the authentication device 2 requests the document management device 3 to disclose (provide) the document to the business system 4. After confirming in the authentication device 2 that the authorization authority authorizes the disclosure of the document, the document management device 3 discloses (provides) the document to the business system 4.

The business system 4 requests the user to submit a document managed by the document management device 3. The document submission request may be notified to the user by email, etc., or may be made in writing such as a postcard or envelope, or may be made by telephone, etc. Furthermore, when the document submission request is made in writing, code information (two-dimensional code, barcode) indicating information such as contact information may be written on the document. In this case, the authentication device 2 may obtain information such as contact information as electronic data by reading the code information written on the document. In the first operation example shown in FIG. 5, the business system 4 requests the user to submit a document by email addressed to the user and receivable by the authentication device 2.

The business system 4 generates a document submission request for the submission of a document to which an electronic signature that can be verified by the authentication device 2 has been affixed (S10). The electronic signature may be any signature that allows the authentication device 2 to confirm that the data (request) is from the business system 4. For example, the authentication device 2 confirms that the data is from the business system 4 by having the authentication device 2 decrypt data encrypted by the business system 4 using a private key and then using a public key. Alternatively, a certificate issued by a certification authority may be attached to the document submission request, and the authentication device 2 may confirm that the data is from the business system 4 by checking the attached certificate. After generating the document submission request with the electronic signature, the business system 4 transmits the document submission request with the electronic signature to the user who is the person authorized to approve the document (S11).

The authentication device 2 receives a document submission request sent from the business system 4 via the communication unit 15. Upon receiving the document submission request with an electronic signature, the processor 11 of the authentication device 2 verifies the electronic signature of the received document submission request to confirm that the document submission request is a legitimate request from the business system 4 (S12). For example, the processor 11 verifies the validity of the document submission request by decrypting the electronic signature of the received document submission request with a public key made public by the business system 4.

After verifying the validity of the document submission request, the processor 11 accepts the specification of the disclosure contents according to the document submission request (S13). For example, the processor 11 displays the received document submission request on the display unit 16 and prompts the user to specify the disclosure contents. The specification of the disclosure contents may be performed on a web page provided by the document management device 3, or may be executed in an application program installed in the authentication device 2. Here, a description will be given assuming that the user specifies and approves the disclosure contents on a web page provided by the document management device 3.

The processor 11 accesses a web page and prompts the user to specify the disclosure content to be requested from the document management device 3. Based on the document submission request received by the business system 4, the user uses the operation unit 17 to specify the disclosure content of the document. For example, the disclosure content may be information to be provided to a third party (e.g., the name of the certificate or identification information that identifies the document), the target of the disclosure (e.g., information indicating the operator of the business system 4, information such as an email address or URL to which the document will be disclosed (provided)), the purpose of use, the expiration date, the person who will carry out the procedure, etc.

When the disclosure contents are designated, the processor 11 performs biometric authentication to confirm whether the operator is an authorization authority who has the authority to permit the disclosure of the document (S14). The processor 11 causes the authentication device 2a to execute biometric matching between the operator's biometric information and the biometric information of the authorization authority (the user himself) and obtains the result of the biometric matching by the authentication device 2a. Note that here, it is assumed that the biometric information of the authorization authority is registered in the memory 22 of the authentication device 2a as the biometric authentication unit. However, the biometric information of the authorization authority may be registered in the storage unit 14 of the authentication device 2. When the biometric information of the authorization authority is registered in the storage unit 14 of the authentication device 2, the processor 11 of the authentication device 2 may supply the biometric information of the authorization authority registered in the storage unit 14 to the authentication device 2a together with an authentication request.

The processor 21 of the authentication device 2a receives an authentication request from the processor 11 via the interface 23. In response to the authentication request, the processor 21 acquires biometric (fingerprint) information of the operator using the biometric sensor 24. The processor 21 performs biometric matching between the biometric information of the operator acquired using the biometric sensor 24 and the biometric information of the authorization authority stored in the memory 22, and supplies the result of the biometric matching to the processor 11.

When biometric matching by the authentication device 2a is successful, the processor 11 generates a document disclosure permission including a document disclosure request with an electronic signature (S15). The electronic signature may be any information that can be confirmed as having been sent from the authentication device 2 operated by a person who has been confirmed by the document management device 3 to be an authorized person and has not been tampered with. For example, the processor 11 generates the electronic signature using a private key so that the document management device 3 can verify the electronic signature using a public key.

The processor 21 generates an electronic signature including information such as the disclosure contents, the signer, and the signature date. The disclosure contents are information specified by the user who has been confirmed as an authorization authority by biometric authentication, and include information such as the information to be provided to third parties, the recipient of the disclosure, the purpose of use, and the expiration date, as described above. In other words, the processor 11 generates an electronic signature including information such as the disclosure contents, the signer, and the signature date specified by the authorization authority who has been confirmed as an authorization authority by biometric authentication, and transmits the document disclosure permission (document disclosure request) with the generated electronic signature to the document management device 3 (S16).

The document management device 3 receives the document disclosure permission with the electronic signature from the authentication device 2 via the communication unit 35. When the document disclosure permission with the electronic signature is received from the authentication device 2, the processor 31 of the document management device 3 verifies the received electronic signature to confirm that the document disclosure permission indicates that the authorizing person biometrically authenticated by the authentication device 2 has authorized the disclosure of the document (S17).

If it is confirmed that the request is a document disclosure request from the authentication device 2, the processor 31 creates access information for the document (e.g., an address for accessing the document) (S18). The access information may be information indicating a location (address) for accepting a document request from the business system 4, or may be information indicating a location to which the document is to be disclosed.
When the processor 31 creates access information for the document requested to be disclosed, the processor 31 transmits the created access information and information indicating permission for disclosure via the communication unit 35 to the authentication device 2 that is the sender of the document disclosure request (S19).

The authentication device 2, which is the sender of the document disclosure request, receives the access information and information indicating permission for disclosure from the document management device 3 via the communication unit 15. When the processor 11 of the authentication device 2 receives the access information and information indicating permission for initiation from the document management device 3, it notifies that disclosure of the document requested in the document disclosure request has been permitted. For example, the processor 11 displays on the display unit 16 that disclosure of the document has been permitted from the document management device 3, and accepts an instruction from the operation unit 17 to confirm that the access information should be transferred to the business system 4. After confirming that disclosure of the document has been permitted, the processor 11 transfers the access information to the business system 4 (S20).

The access information may be sent from the document management device 3 to the business system 4 without passing through the authentication device 2. In this case, the document management device 3 may notify the authentication device 2 that it has permitted the disclosure of the document to the business system 4 based on the signed document disclosure request.

The business system 4 receives access information from the document management device 3 via the authentication device 2. After receiving the access information from the document management device 3, the business system 4 creates a document request with an electronic signature that requests the document management device 3 to provide (disclose) a document (S21). In this case, the electronic signature may be one that allows the document management device 3 to verify that the document request is information from the business system 4 that has not been tampered with. After creating the signed document request, the business system 4 transmits the signed document request to the location specified in the access information (S22).

After transmitting access information in response to a document disclosure request from the authentication device 2, the document management device 3 accepts a document request from the business system 4 to the location indicated by the access information. When the processor 31 of the document management device 3 receives a document request with an electronic signature from the business system 4, the processor 31 verifies the electronic signature to confirm that the document request is information from the business system 4 that has not been tampered with (S23). When the processor 31 confirms that the document request is valid by verifying the electronic signature, the processor 31 reads the document specified in the document request received from the business system 4 and creates a document (document information) with an electronic signature (S24). Here, the document information may be information on the document body or information that allows the document to be viewed. In addition, the electronic signature may be any one that allows the business system 4 to verify that the document (document information) provided by the document management device 3 is information that has not been tampered with. When the processor 31 creates a document with an electronic signature, the processor 31 transmits the document with the electronic signature to the business system 4 via the communication unit 35 (S25).

The business system 4 receives the document with the electronic signature from the document management device 3. The business system 4 verifies the electronic signature to confirm that the received document is unaltered information sent from the document management device 3 (S26). When the business system 4 confirms that the received document is legitimate by verifying the electronic signature, it is determined that the business system 4 has acquired the document from the document management device 3 as the document requested from the user (S27).

Next, a second operation example of the document providing system 1 according to the embodiment will be described.
FIG. 6 is a sequence diagram for explaining a second operation example in the document providing system 1 according to the embodiment.
Similar to the first operation example described above, the business system 4 generates a document submission request requesting the submission of a document bearing an electronic signature that can be verified by the authentication device 2 (S50), and sends the generated document submission request with the electronic signature to the user who is authorized to grant authorization (S51).

When the processor 11 of the authentication device 2 receives a document submission request with an electronic signature from the business system 4 via the communication unit 15, it verifies the received electronic signature to confirm that the document submission request is a legitimate request from the business system 4 (S52). After confirming the legitimacy of the document submission request, the processor 11 specifies the disclosure content according to the document submission request (S53). As in the first operation example, the processor 11 accepts specification of the disclosure content, such as information to be provided to a third party, the recipient of the disclosure, the purpose of use, and the expiration date, via the operation unit 17, etc.

When the start content is specified, the processor 11 generates a document disclosure request with an electronic signature (S54). The electronic signature may be any signature that can be used to verify that the document disclosure request was sent from the authentication device 2 and has not been tampered with. The processor 11 generates an electronic signature including information such as the disclosure content, the signer, and the signature date, and transmits the generated document disclosure request with the electronic signature to the document management device 3 (S55).

The document management device 3 receives the document disclosure request with the electronic signature from the authentication device 2 via the communication unit 35. When the document disclosure request with the electronic signature is received from the authentication device 2, the processor 31 of the document management device 3 verifies the received electronic signature to confirm that the document disclosure request is from the authentication device 2 (S56).

If it is confirmed that the document disclosure request is from the authentication device 2, the processor 31 creates access information for the document (e.g., an address for accessing the document) (S57). The access information may be information indicating the location (address) where the document request from the business system 4 is accepted, or may be information indicating the location where the document is to be disclosed. The processor 31 transmits the created access information and information indicating permission for disclosure to the authentication device 2, which is the sender of the document disclosure request, via the communication unit 35 (S58).

The authentication device 2 receives the access information and information indicating permission for disclosure from the document management device 3 via the communication unit 15. When the processor 11 of the authentication device 2 receives the access information and information indicating permission for start from the document management device 3, it notifies that disclosure of the document requested in the document disclosure request has been permitted, and transfers the access information to the business system 4 (S59). Note that in this case as well, the access information may be sent from the document management device 3 to the business system 4 without passing through the authentication device 2.

When the business system 4 receives the access information from the document management device 3, it creates a document request with an electronic signature that requests the document management device 3 to provide (disclose) the document (S60). In this case, the electronic signature may be one that allows the document management device 3 to verify that the document request is unaltered information from the business system 4. When the business system 4 creates the signed document request, it transmits the signed document request to the location specified in the access information (S61).

After transmitting access information in response to a document disclosure request from the authentication device 2, the document management device 3 accepts a document request from the business system 4 to the location indicated by the access information. When the processor 31 of the document management device 3 receives a document request with an electronic signature from the business system 4, it verifies the electronic signature to confirm that the document request is unaltered information from the business system 4 (S62).

When the processor 31 confirms that the document request is valid by verifying the electronic signature, the processor 31 performs processing to request the authentication device 2 to confirm the disclosure contents, including the document specified in the document request received from the business system 4. That is, the processor 31 reads the document specified in the document request, and generates a disclosure confirmation request with an electronic signature to request confirmation of the disclosure contents, including the information of the document (S63). After generating the disclosure confirmation request with the electronic signature, the processor 31 transmits the generated disclosure confirmation request with the electronic signature to the authentication device 2 for the disclosure of the document (S64).

The authentication device 2 receives the disclosure confirmation request with the electronic signature from the document management device 3 via the communication unit 25. The processor 11 of the authentication device 2 verifies the received electronic signature to confirm that the disclosure confirmation request is a legitimate request from the document management device 3 (S65). After confirming that the disclosure confirmation request is legitimate, the processor 11 displays the disclosure content requested for confirmation by the disclosure confirmation request on the display unit 16 (S66). After displaying the disclosure content, the processor 11 accepts an instruction (an instruction for permission to provide the document) indicating that the disclosure content has been confirmed by the person authorized to approve the disclosure content (the user himself/herself) (S67).

When confirmation of the disclosure contents is instructed, the processor 11 executes biometric authentication to confirm that the person who instructed to confirm the disclosure contents (permission to provide the document) is an authorization authority (S68). The processor 11 causes the authentication device 2a to execute biometric matching between the operator's biometric information and the biometric information of the authorization authority (the user himself) and obtains the result of the biometric matching by the authentication device 2a. Here, it is assumed that the biometric information of the authorization authority is registered in the memory 22 of the authentication device 2a as the biometric authentication unit. However, the biometric information of the authorization authority may be registered in the storage unit 14 of the authentication device 2. When the biometric information of the authorization authority is registered in the storage unit 14 of the authentication device 2, the processor 11 of the authentication device 2 may supply the biometric information of the authorization authority registered in the storage unit 14 to the authentication device 2a together with the authentication request.

The processor 21 of the authentication device 2a receives an authentication request from the processor 11 via the interface 23. In response to the authentication request, the processor 21 acquires biometric (fingerprint) information of the operator using the biometric sensor 24. The processor 21 performs biometric matching between the biometric information of the operator acquired using the biometric sensor 24 and the biometric information of the authorization authority stored in the memory 22, and supplies the result of the biometric matching to the processor 11.

If the biometric matching by the authentication device 2a is successful, the processor 11 generates a document disclosure permission with an electronic signature (S69). The electronic signature may be any information that can be confirmed as having been sent from the authentication device 2 operated by a person who has been confirmed by the document management device 3 to be an authorization authority and has not been tampered with. For example, the processor 11 generates an electronic signature using a private key so that the document management device 3 can verify the electronic signature using a public key. The processor 11 generates an electronic signature including information such as the disclosure content confirmed by the authorization authority confirmed by biometric authentication (or information indicating that the disclosure content has been confirmed), the signer, and the signature date, and transmits the generated document disclosure permission with an electronic signature to the document management device 3 (S70).

The document management device 3 receives the document disclosure permission with the electronic signature from the authentication device 2 through the communication unit 35. When the document disclosure permission with the electronic signature is received from the authentication device 2, the processor 31 of the document management device 3 verifies the received electronic signature to confirm that the document disclosure permission is from the authentication device 2 (S71). When it is confirmed that the disclosure content has been confirmed by the permission authority in the document disclosure permission from the authentication device 2, the processor 31 reads the document whose disclosure has been permitted in the document disclosure permission and creates a document (document information) with the electronic signature (S72). The document information may be information on the document, or may be information that allows the document to be viewed. In addition, the electronic signature may be any one that allows the business system 4 to verify that the document (document information) provided by the document management device 3 is information that has not been tampered with. When the document with the electronic signature is created, the processor 31 transmits the document with the electronic signature to the business system 4 through the communication unit 35 (S73).

The business system 4 receives the document with the electronic signature from the document management device 3. The business system 4 verifies the electronic signature to confirm that the received document is unaltered information sent from the document management device 3 (S74). When the business system 4 confirms that the received document is legitimate by verifying the electronic signature, it is determined that the business system 4 has acquired the document from the document management device 3 as the document requested from the user (S75).

As a variation of the second operation example shown in FIG. 6 as described above, the document provision system 1 may execute the processes of S63 to S71 after the process of S56. That is, when the document management device 3 receives a document disclosure request from the authentication device 2, the document management device 3 may make a disclosure confirmation request to the authentication device 2, which requests confirmation of the disclosure content, permission to provide the document, and biometric authentication.

In this case, after transmitting the document disclosure request, the authentication device 2 confirms the disclosure content, gives permission to provide the document, and performs biometric authentication in response to a confirmation request from the document management device 3. When these processes are completed, the authentication device 2 again transmits a document disclosure request with an electronic signature including the document permission of the person confirmed by biometric authentication to the document management device 3. In this case, the document management device 3 can provide the document to the business system 4 in a procedure similar to S18 to S27 shown in FIG. 5 by transmitting access information for accessing the document after confirming the permission to disclose the document from the person confirmed by biometric authentication.

As described above, according to the document provision system of the embodiment, a licensing authority who has the authority to permit disclosure of a document operates an authentication device to perform identity authentication, allowing a document such as a certificate to be sent directly from the issuing institution to a third party. After confirming that the operator is a licensing authority through biometric authentication, the authentication device requests the document management device to disclose the document (information) to the third party. This makes it possible to prevent a person who is not a licensing authority from impersonating another person and requesting the document management device to disclose the document (information) to a third party, and prevents documents from being illegally leaked to a third party.

The document management device also obtains a request with an electronic signature to disclose a document (information) to a third party, including the result of personal authentication, from an authentication device operated by the authorization authority. This allows the document management device to reliably confirm that the authorization authority has authorized the direct sending of a document such as a certificate to the third party's business system. As a result, the document provision system can securely provide (disclose) a document such as a certificate to a third party from the document management device in response to a request from a person who has been confirmed to be an authorization authority through biometric authentication in the authentication device.

Although several embodiments of the present invention have been described, these embodiments are presented as examples and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These novel embodiments can be embodied in various other forms, and various omissions, substitutions, and modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the invention. These embodiments and their modifications are included in the scope and gist of the invention, and are included in the scope of the invention and its equivalents described in the claims.

1... document provision system, 2... authentication apparatus, 2a... authentication device, 3... document management apparatus, 4... business system (third party), 11... processor, 14... storage unit, 15... communication unit, 16... display unit, 17... operation unit, 18... interface, 21... processor, 22... memory, 23... interface, 24... biosensor.

Claims (8)

A communication unit that communicates with the document management device;
a processor that authenticates whether a person requesting disclosure of a document managed by the document management device to a third party is an authorized person who has the authority to permit disclosure of the document, and transmits a disclosure authorization with an electronic signature including disclosure content requesting disclosure to the third party to the document management device via the communication unit if authentication of the person as an authorized person is successful;
An authentication device having the above configuration. Further, the device has a biosensor for acquiring bioinformation,
the processor performs biometric authentication by matching the biometric information of the authorization authority with the biometric information acquired by the biometric sensor;
The authentication device according to claim 1 . An interface is provided for communicating with an authentication device having a biometric sensor and performing biometric matching with biometric information acquired by the biometric sensor;
The processor causes the authentication device, which communicates via the interface, to execute biometric matching between the biometric information of the authorization authority and the biometric information acquired by the biometric sensor.
The authentication device according to claim 1 . the processor, after receiving a confirmation request for the document to be disclosed from the document management device in response to the disclosure request for the document to be transmitted to the document management device, transmits to the document management device a disclosure permission with an electronic signature indicating that disclosure of the document has been permitted if authentication is successful that a person who has confirmed the document in response to the confirmation request is the authorization authority.
4. An authentication device according to claim 1. In a document providing system having an authentication device and a document management device,
The authentication device includes:
a first communication unit that communicates with the document management device;
a first processor that authenticates whether a person requesting disclosure of a document managed by the document management device to a third party is an authorized person having the authority to permit disclosure of the document, and transmits a disclosure authorization with an electronic signature including disclosure content for requesting disclosure to the third party to the document management device via the first communication unit when authentication that the person is an authorized person is successful;
The document management device includes:
A second communication unit that communicates with the authentication device;
a second processor that, when receiving the disclosure permission with the electronic signature from the authentication device via the second communication unit, confirms that the person authorized to grant permission for the document authenticated by the authentication device has granted permission to disclose the document by verifying the electronic signature, and then discloses the document to the third party in accordance with the disclosure content.
Document delivery system. The authentication device further includes a biometric sensor for acquiring biometric information.
the first processor of the authentication device performs biometric authentication by matching the biometric information of the authorization authority with the biometric information acquired by the biometric sensor;
The document providing system according to claim 5 . the authentication apparatus further includes a biometric sensor and an interface for communicating with an authentication device that performs biometric matching with biometric information acquired by the biometric sensor;
the first processor of the authentication apparatus causes the authentication device, which communicates via the interface, to execute biometric matching between the biometric information of the licensing authority and the biometric information acquired by the biometric sensor;
The document providing system according to claim 5 . the first processor of the authentication device transmits a disclosure request for the document to the document management device, and after receiving a confirmation request for the document to be disclosed from the document management device in response to the disclosure request for the document transmitted to the document management device, transmits to the document management device a disclosure permission with an electronic signature indicating that disclosure of the document has been permitted if authentication is successful that a person who has confirmed the document in response to the confirmation request is the authorization authority.
the second processor of the document management device transmits a confirmation request to the authentication device in response to a disclosure request for the document from the authentication device, requesting confirmation of the contents of the document, and when receiving a disclosure permission with the electronic signature from the authentication device in response to the confirmation request, confirms by verifying the electronic signature that a person authorized to grant permission for the document authenticated by the authentication device has granted permission to disclose the document, and then discloses the document to the third party .
The document providing system according to any one of claims 5 to 7.