JP7733600B2 - Personal authentication device, personal authentication method, and program - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an authentication device, authentication method, and program that authenticates that a user using the device is a pre-registered user.

For example, there is a known configuration of an identity authentication system that acquires credit card usage information of the person to be authenticated and, based on the credit card usage information, extracts a combination of authentication images from images of stores where the credit card was used (see, for example, Patent Document 1 below).

Patent No. 6021264

For example, when performing identity authentication as described in Patent Document 1, it can be difficult for the person being authenticated to remember the authentication image used for identity authentication.

The present invention aims to provide an authentication device, authentication method, and program that can authenticate a person using authentication information that the person being authenticated can easily remember.

The personal authentication device of the first invention comprises a related information acquisition unit that acquires related information related to the behavior of the person to be authenticated; a specific information acquisition unit that acquires specific information input by the person to be authenticated that identifies one or more pieces of related information; an authentication information storage unit that stores the related information identified by the specific information as authentication information corresponding to the person to be authenticated; an input information acceptance unit that accepts authentication input information input by the user; and an authentication unit that authenticates that the user is the person to be authenticated corresponding to the authentication information, based on the correspondence between the authentication input information and the authentication information stored in the authentication information storage unit.

This configuration allows identity authentication to be performed using authentication information that the person being authenticated can easily remember.

Furthermore, compared to the first invention, the personal authentication device of the second invention is an authentication device that includes a related information output unit that outputs related information acquired by the related information acquisition unit to the person to be authenticated when a predetermined output condition is satisfied, and the specific information acquisition unit acquires specific information input in response to the output of the related information by the related information output unit.

This configuration allows the person to be authenticated to easily specify the authentication information to be used for personal authentication.

Furthermore, the personal authentication device of the third invention is an authentication device in which, compared to the second invention, the related information output unit outputs a selection screen displaying two or more pieces of related information to the person to be authenticated, and the specific information output unit acquires the specific information based on a selection operation on the selection screen.

This configuration allows the person to be authenticated to easily specify the authentication information to be used for personal authentication.

Furthermore, the personal authentication device of the fourth invention is an authentication device according to the second or third invention, in which the related information output unit acquires related information to be recommended to the person to be authenticated from the related information acquired by the related information acquisition unit, and outputs the related information to the person to be authenticated.

This configuration allows the person to be authenticated to easily specify the authentication information to be used for personal authentication.

Furthermore, the personal authentication device of the fifth invention is an individual authentication device in which, compared to the fourth invention, the related information output unit acquires historical information regarding the behavioral history of the person to be authenticated, and acquires related information to recommend to the person to be authenticated based on the historical information.

This configuration makes it possible to propose authentication information that is likely to be easily remembered by the person being authenticated.

Furthermore, the personal authentication device of the sixth invention is an personal authentication device according to any one of the second to fifth inventions, in which the output conditions include that personal authentication of the person to be authenticated has been performed.

This configuration makes it possible to output relevant information to the authenticated person.

Furthermore, the personal authentication device of the seventh invention is an authentication device according to any one of the second to sixth inventions, in which the output condition includes the person to be authenticated having performed a predetermined action, and the related information output unit outputs to the person to be authenticated guidance information used to input specific information that identifies related information related to the action of the person to be authenticated.

This configuration allows the person being authenticated to easily specify authentication information related to their behavior based on the guidance information.

Furthermore, the personal authentication device of the eighth invention is an authentication device in which, compared to the seventh invention, the related information output unit outputs benefit information regarding the granting of benefits to the person to be authenticated when outputting guidance information.

This configuration effectively motivates the person being authenticated to enter specific information.

Furthermore, the personal authentication device of the ninth invention is an authentication device that, compared to the seventh or eighth invention, performs processing to grant a benefit to the person to be authenticated when the specific information acquisition unit acquires specific information entered using guidance information.

This configuration effectively motivates the person being authenticated to enter specific information.

The personal authentication device of the tenth invention is an authentication device configured according to any one of the first to ninth inventions, wherein the specific information acquisition unit acquires specific information input by the person to be authenticated for each behavior scene of the person to be authenticated, the authentication information storage unit stores authentication information in association with information identifying the behavior scene, and the personal authentication unit performs personal authentication based on the authentication information corresponding to an identifier identifying the behavior scene for which personal authentication is performed.

This configuration allows for more secure personal authentication using authentication information that is easier for the person being authenticated to remember.

The present invention provides an authentication device, authentication method, and program that can authenticate a person using authentication information that the person being authenticated can easily remember.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of an information processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. Block diagram of the personal authentication device FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a first example of user information stored in a user information storage unit in the personal authentication device. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a second example of user information stored in the user information storage unit of the personal authentication device. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a first example of authentication information stored in an authentication information storage unit in the personal authentication device. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a second example of authentication information stored in the authentication information storage unit in the personal authentication device. A flowchart showing an example of the operation of the personal authentication device A flowchart showing an example of related information output processing of the personal authentication device A flowchart showing an example of personal authentication processing by the personal authentication device. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a specific example of a payment completion screen displayed on the terminal device. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a specific example of a selection screen displayed on the terminal device. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a specific example of an authentication screen displayed on the terminal device. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a specific example of an authentication completion screen displayed on the terminal device. Overview of the computer system in the above embodiment Block diagram of the computer system

Embodiments of personal authentication devices and the like will be described below with reference to the drawings. Note that components with the same reference numerals in the embodiments perform similar operations, and therefore may not be described again.

The terms used below are generally defined as follows. However, the meanings of these terms should not always be interpreted as shown here; for example, when they are explained individually below, they should be interpreted taking into account that explanation.

A user is someone who uses an authentication device. A person to be authenticated who is authenticated by the authentication device is said to be the user of the authentication device. A user who can be authenticated as the person in the authentication by the authentication device is said to be the authenticated person. It can also be said that the authentication device is capable of determining whether a user is the authenticated person.

A reward is a benefit given to a user on a given occasion, such as an item, money, a coupon code redeemable for merchandise or other items, points with monetary value, or other economic benefit.

An identifier for a certain item is a character or code that uniquely identifies that item. An identifier could be an ID, for example, but any type of information can be used as long as it can identify the corresponding item. In other words, an identifier could be the name of the thing it represents, or a combination of codes that uniquely identify the item.

Acquisition may include acquiring information entered by a user, etc., or acquiring information stored on one's own device or another device (this may be information that has been stored in advance or information generated by information processing on the device). Acquiring information stored on another device may include acquiring information stored on the other device via an API, etc., or acquiring the contents of a document file provided by the other device (including the contents of a web page). It may also include acquiring information in a different format based on the original information, such as acquiring information by performing optical character reading on an image. It may also include reading an image of a one-dimensional code, multi-dimensional code, etc., and acquiring the information represented by it.

In addition, so-called machine learning techniques may be used to acquire information. Machine learning techniques can be used, for example, as follows: A learner (learning information) that receives a specific type of input information as input and outputs the desired type of output information is constructed using machine learning techniques. For example, two or more pairs of input information and output information are prepared in advance, and the two or more sets of information are provided to a module for constructing a machine learning learner to construct the learner, and the constructed learner is stored in a storage unit. The learner can also be called a classifier. Machine learning techniques can include, for example, deep learning, random forest, SVR, etc. For machine learning, functions in various machine learning frameworks such as fastText, tinySVM, random forest, and TensorFlow, as well as various existing libraries, can be used.

Furthermore, the learning device is not limited to one obtained by machine learning. The learning device may be, for example, a table showing the correspondence between input vectors based on input information, etc., and output information. In this case, output information corresponding to a feature vector based on the input information may be obtained from the table, or two or more input vectors in the table and parameters that weight each input vector may be used to generate a vector that approximates the feature vector based on the input information, and the output information and parameters corresponding to each input vector used in the generation may be used to obtain the final output information. Furthermore, the learning device may be, for example, a function that represents the relationship between an input vector based on input information, etc., and information for generating output information. In this case, for example, information corresponding to a feature vector based on the input information may be obtained using a function, and the obtained information may be used to obtain output information.

The concept of outputting information includes displaying on a monitor, projecting using a projector, printing on a printer, outputting sound, sending to an external device, storing on a recording medium, and passing the processing results to other processing devices or other programs. Specific examples include making it possible to display information on a web page, sending it as email, and outputting information for printing.

The concept of receiving information includes receiving information entered from input devices such as a keyboard, mouse, or touch panel, receiving information transmitted from other devices via wired or wireless communication lines, and receiving information read from recording media such as optical disks, magnetic disks, and semiconductor memory.

Regarding various types of information stored in personal authentication devices, etc., the term "update" refers not only to changes to stored information, but also to the addition of new information to stored information and the deletion of all or part of stored information.

(Embodiment)

In this embodiment, the authentication device acquires related information related to the behavior of the person to be authenticated and specific information from the person to be authenticated that identifies one or more pieces of related information, and uses the related information identified by the specific information as authentication information corresponding to the person to be authenticated. Based on the correspondence between the authentication input information entered by the user and the authentication information, the authentication device authenticates that the user is the person to be authenticated that corresponds to the authentication information.

As an example, the personal authentication device may be configured to output the acquired related information to the person being authenticated when a predetermined output condition is met, and to acquire specific information entered corresponding to the output information. The personal authentication device may be configured to output a selection screen displaying two or more pieces of related information, and to acquire specific information based on a selection operation on the selection screen. The personal authentication device may be configured to output suggested related information to be used as authentication information, or to acquire historical information related to the person being authenticated and determine the suggested related information based on the historical information. The output condition may include that the person being authenticated has been authenticated. The personal authentication device may also be configured to output guidance information to the person being authenticated, at a timing corresponding to the person being authenticated, which guidance information is used to input specific information identifying related information related to the person being authenticated. The personal authentication device may output information regarding the granting of a benefit together with the guidance information, or may perform processing to grant a benefit to the person being authenticated when specific information entered using the guidance information is acquired. The personal authentication device may be configured to acquire specific information entered for each behavioral situation of the person being authenticated, and use authentication information corresponding to the behavioral situation for personal authentication.

The following describes an information processing system using an authentication device configured in this way.

Figure 1 shows the general configuration of the information processing system 1 in this embodiment.

The information processing system 1 includes an authentication device 100 and a terminal device 600. In this embodiment, the information processing system 1 is used together with an external device 700. The information processing system 1 functions as an authentication infrastructure that uses the authentication device 100 to authenticate a person to be authenticated who uses the terminal device 600. In the information processing system 1, the external device 700 or the like can perform various processes on the person to be authenticated using the authentication results. The external device 700 may or may not be interpreted as being included in the information processing system 1. The authentication device 100 is simply configured to be able to authenticate whether a user accessing the system using the terminal device 600 or the like is a pre-registered person to be authenticated. The functions performed by the external device 700 may also be performed by the authentication device 100.

In this embodiment, the information processing system 1 realizes, for example, a payment system. For example, the external device 700 is a device used in a point-of-sale information management system on an e-commerce website or in a store, and the personal authentication device 100 is configured to be able to authenticate that users of credit cards or code payment methods on such websites or in stores are the registered individuals. However, the uses of the information processing system and personal authentication device 100 are not limited to this. For example, the external device 700 may be used as an authentication platform that authenticates that a user is the owner of a specified account in an external device 700 that provides various web services.

In the information processing system 1, the personal authentication device 100 can communicate with external devices such as the terminal device 600 and the external device 700 via a network such as the Internet. Note that the network is not limited to this and may be a LAN or other communication network. Furthermore, the connection mode and communication method between the personal authentication device 100 and the terminal device 600, and the connection mode and communication method between the personal authentication device 100 and the external device 700, etc., are not limited to this. For example, the network over which communication between the personal authentication device 100 and the terminal device 600 takes place may be different from the network over which communication between the personal authentication device 100 and the external device 700 takes place.

In this embodiment, the terminal device 600 is a device used by the user to perform identity authentication using the identity authentication device 100. It is also possible to configure the user to perform identity authentication using a device (e.g., a display) provided in or connected to the identity authentication device 100 without using the terminal device 600.

The electronic computer used in terminal device 600 may be a variety of devices, including a personal computer, a mobile information terminal device such as a smartphone, or a tablet-type information terminal device. In the following examples, the electronic computer used in terminal device 600 may be a mobile information terminal device such as a smartphone, but this is not limited to this. Terminal device 600 may also be, for example, a device that constitutes a point-of-sale information management system used in a store.

The terminal device 600 has a display unit 661, which is, for example, a touch panel. The terminal device 600 is configured to display various information on the display unit 661 and to be able to accept operations by the user. The terminal device 600 is configured to be able to send information to the personal authentication device 100 in response to, for example, a user operation or the operation of predetermined software, etc.

Figure 2 is a block diagram of the personal authentication device 100.

As shown in FIG. 2, the authentication device 100 comprises a storage unit 110, a receiving unit 120, an acceptance unit 130, a processing unit 140, and a transmission unit 170. The authentication device 100 is, for example, a server device. The authentication device 100 may be composed of a single server, or may be composed of multiple servers operating in cooperation with each other, or may be a computer built into other equipment. The server may be a so-called cloud server, an ASP server, or the like, and its type does not matter. A user of the authentication device 100 can use the authentication device 100 by communicating with the authentication device 100 using a terminal device 600. The user may also use the authentication device 100 by directly operating it.

The storage unit 110 includes a user information storage unit 115 and an authentication information storage unit 117. A non-volatile recording medium is suitable for the storage unit 110, but a volatile recording medium is also possible. Each unit of the storage unit 110 stores, for example, information received by the reception unit 130 and information acquired by the processing unit 140. However, the information stored in each unit of the storage unit 110 and the process by which that information is stored are not limited to this. For example, information may be stored in the storage unit 110 via a recording medium, information transmitted via a communication line may be stored in the storage unit 110, or information input via an input device may be stored in the storage unit 110.

The user information storage unit 115 stores user information. User information is information about an individual who can be authenticated as the individual by the authentication device 100. User information may also be referred to as individual information.

In this embodiment, user information is information that associates a user identifier (authentication subject identifier), which is an identifier that identifies a user using the authentication device 100, i.e., a subject to be authenticated, with information about the user. User information can include a variety of information. For example, it can include information transmitted from the terminal device 600 used by the user and information about the user acquired by the authentication device 100 as described below. Information transmitted from the terminal device 600 used by the user includes, for example, basic information about the user, as well as specific information as described below. Basic information can include, for example, the user's name, date of birth, gender, address, contact information, user questionnaire responses, and information generated based on those responses. Information about the user acquired by the authentication device 100 can include, for example, related information as described below. The user information storage unit 115 can store user information transmitted from other devices, etc. User information can be updated using, for example, information transmitted from the user or information acquired by the processing unit 140.

In this embodiment, the user information includes related information related to the behavior of the person being authenticated. The related information is, for example, acquired by the related information acquisition unit 141 described below, associated with the user identifier, and stored in the user information storage unit 115. The related information is, for example, information that can be used as authentication information described below. Specifically, the related information may include, for example, the names of stores the person being authenticated has used in the past (which may also be information such as the name of the facility or the other party to the payment), the names of products purchased, the amount paid, the date and time or time period when a predetermined behavior was performed, etc. The related information may also include, for example, images of stores or products related to the person being authenticated. The related information is not limited to these, and may be information related to various behaviors of the person being authenticated. For example, the related information may include information related to the amount of activity or health of the person being authenticated, acquired by a wearable device or the like worn by the person being authenticated. The related information may also be a related information identifier that identifies this information.

In addition, in this embodiment, scene information regarding scenes related to the relationship information may be stored in association with the relationship information. The scene information is, for example, an identifier that identifies the behavioral scene corresponding to the relationship information. The scene information is, for example, information indicating the store chain from which the relationship information was obtained. For example, if the relationship information is a store name, the scene information may be information indicating the location (area) of the store, or information indicating the store category (for example, but not limited to, supermarket, convenience store, bookstore, etc.). Note that the scene information is not limited to this and may also be, for example, information regarding the time period of the behavior of the authenticated person corresponding to the relationship information, information regarding the weather, information regarding the behavioral scene, information regarding the season, etc. Examples of behavioral scenes include, but are not limited to, whether the person is on the move or whether they are indoors or outdoors.

Figure 3 shows a first example of user information stored in the user information storage unit 115 of the personal authentication device 100.

In the figure, for the sake of explanation, user information is divided into information indicating the user's attribute values, etc., and related information recorded in association with the user, but the data management method is not limited to this. In the first example, as user information, for example, each attribute value such as the user's name, date of birth, and contact information is recorded in association with a user identifier. Also, as described below, each attribute value, such as the related information acquired by the related information acquisition unit 141, a related information identifier that identifies the related information, and situation information associated with the related information, is recorded in association with the user identifier of the user corresponding to the related information. Note that with regard to the related information, the date and time when the related information was acquired, the date and time of the authenticated person's behavior related to the related information, the type of related information, etc. may also be recorded.

As shown in the figure, in the first example, an image showing the exterior of a store is used as the related information. The user information includes, for example, a code indicating the location where the image is stored, but the image data itself may also be recorded. In addition, in this embodiment, the scene information used is, for example, information indicating the store chain from which the related information was obtained or the store category. For example, with regard to the related information for each store in the "ABC Supermarket" chain, "ABC Supermarket" is associated as the scene information. Furthermore, with regard to the related information for each store in the "DRT Convenience Store" chain, "DRT Convenience Store" is associated as the scene information. With regard to the related information for stores that are not part of a specific chain, for example, a category previously set as corresponding to the store (e.g., "pharmacy") or other categories such as "other stores" are used as the scene information.

Figure 4 shows a second example of user information stored in the user information storage unit 115 of the same personal authentication device 100.

The second example shown in the figure shows related information recorded in association with a user. In the second example, the attribute values of the related information acquired by the related information acquisition unit 141 and the acquisition date and time of the related information, as described below, are recorded in association with the user identifier of the user corresponding to the related information. In the second example, the name of the store where the user shopped, etc., is used as the related information. Furthermore, in the second example, situation information is not used. The related information may be stored, for example, as in this second example.

Returning to FIG. 2, the authentication information storage unit 117 stores related information identified by the specific information described below as authentication information corresponding to the person to be authenticated. In this embodiment, for example, a related information identifier of the related information used as authentication information is stored in association with a user identifier that identifies the person to be authenticated. Also, in this embodiment, the authentication information storage unit 117 may store each piece of authentication information in association with scene information that identifies a behavior scene. In other words, scene information related to a scene in which the authentication information is used may be stored in association with information that identifies the authentication information. Note that the authentication information may be used or stored as authentication information in which the related information is converted into a meaningless string by using a hash function or the like, as appropriate.

Figure 5 shows a first example of authentication information stored in the authentication information storage unit 117 of the personal authentication device 100.

The first example shown in the figure corresponds to the first example shown for user information. In the figure, a related information identifier used as authentication information is recorded in association with a user identifier and scene information. Note that authentication information does not have to be associated with specific scene information. In this case, a single piece of authentication information can be identified for a user identified by a corresponding user identifier, regardless of whether it corresponds to scene information.

Figure 6 shows a second example of authentication information stored in the authentication information storage unit 117 of the same personal authentication device 100.

The second example shown in the figure corresponds to the second example shown for user information. In the figure, a character string converted using a predetermined method based on related information is recorded as authentication information in association with a user identifier. The personal authentication device 100 can convert information to be compared with the authentication information into a character string using the same predetermined method, thereby comparing the information with the authentication information.

Returning to FIG. 2, the receiving unit 120 receives information transmitted from another device. The receiving unit 120 stores the received information, for example, in the storage unit 110. The receiving unit 120 is typically implemented using wireless or wired communication means, but may also be implemented using means for receiving broadcasts.

In this embodiment, the user inputs information using, for example, the terminal device 600 and transmits it to the personal authentication device 100. The receiving unit 120 can store each transmitted piece of information in the storage unit 110 in association with a user identifier. When receiving information from the terminal device 600, the receiving unit 120 can identify the user identifier of the user related to the transmission based on the transmitted information. For example, if the terminal device 600 is a device used in a point-of-sale information management system, it may be configured to be able to identify the user identifier based on information read from a credit card, etc.

The reception unit 130 receives information entered using an input means (not shown) connected to the authentication device 100. The reception unit 130 receives operations, for example, from an administrator of the authentication device 100. The reception unit 130 stores the received information in the storage unit 110, for example. The input means may be any means, such as a numeric keypad, keyboard, mouse, or menu screen. The reception unit 130 may also receive information entered through an input operation (including, for example, information read by a device) performed using a reading device (for example, a code reader) connected to the authentication device 100. The reception unit 130 may be implemented by a device driver for an input means such as a numeric keypad or keyboard, or control software for a menu screen. The reception unit 130 may also receive information such as voice input via a microphone, for example.

It may also be said that the acceptance unit 130 accepts the information received by the receiving unit 120 as information input to the personal authentication device 100. It may also be said that the acceptance unit 130 accepts user operations performed using the terminal device 600. In other words, inputting information to the personal authentication device 100 may be interpreted as meaning that the information is indirectly input to the personal authentication device 100 by the user via the terminal device 600, etc., or that the information is directly input to the personal authentication device 100 by the user using an input means. Furthermore, inputting information to the personal authentication device 100 may be understood as the user providing information to the personal authentication device 100 by, for example, executing a program that automatically generates information or providing various information to a program to make it function.

In this embodiment, the receiving unit 120 can receive specific information from the user that identifies relevant information to be used for personal authentication. The specific information can be, for example, access from the user using a specified method, transmission of specified information, etc., and the receiving unit 120 can receive this information. When the receiving unit 120 receives a start instruction, the accepting unit 130 accepts it. This makes it possible for the personal authentication device 100 to acquire the specific information.

The processing unit 140 is typically implemented using an MPU, memory, etc. The processing procedures of the processing unit 140 are typically implemented using software, which is recorded on a recording medium such as a ROM. However, it may also be implemented using hardware (dedicated circuitry). The processing unit 140 performs various types of processing. These types of processing are, for example, the processing performed by each part of the processing unit 140 as follows:

In this embodiment, the processing unit 140 includes a related information acquisition unit 141, a related information output unit 143, a specific information acquisition unit 145, an authentication information storage unit 147, an input information acceptance unit 151, and an identity authentication unit 153.

The related information acquisition unit 141 acquires related information related to the behavior of the person to be authenticated. The related information acquisition unit 141 acquires, for example, related information transmitted to the personal authentication device 100 from an external device. For example, it acquires related information transmitted from the terminal device 600 or from the external device 700. The related information acquisition unit 141 stores the acquired related information in the user information storage unit 111 in association with the user identifier.

For example, when the person to be authenticated makes a purchase at a store using a credit card or the like, the information is stored in the credit card company's device (an example of the external device 700). The related information acquisition unit 141 is configured to be able to acquire information from that information that can be used as related information. Note that information that can be used as related information is, for example, a pre-set type of information, but it may also be configured so that each time an instruction is given by the person to be authenticated, information that can be used as related information is identified in accordance with the instruction. Examples of information that can be used as related information include, but are not limited to, the name of the store where the credit card was used and the name of the product purchased.

The relationship information acquisition unit 141 may be configured to acquire relationship information that is an image based on relationship information acquired from the terminal device 600 or the external device 700. For example, when the relationship information acquisition unit 141 acquires a store name, it may be configured to acquire photos of the store exterior that correspond to the store name from a predetermined database, or from various websites. Similarly, when the relationship information acquisition unit 141 acquires a product name, product number, etc., it may be configured to acquire photos of the corresponding product, etc.

When a predetermined output condition is satisfied, the related information output unit 143 outputs the related information acquired by the related information acquisition unit 141 to the person to be authenticated. The related information is output, for example, to the terminal device 600 used by the person to be authenticated. By the related information output unit 143 outputting the related information, the person to be authenticated can confirm the related information that can be used as authentication information. In other words, as will be described later, in this embodiment, the person to be authenticated can confirm the related information and then perform an operation to input specific information to be used as authentication information.

The method for outputting the related information can be set as appropriate. As one example, the related information may be output as part of a web page provided by accessing the identity authentication device 100 using the terminal device 600. Alternatively, the related information may be output as information that can be read by a specific application running on the terminal device 600, and displayed by the specific application.

Here, various predetermined output conditions can be set. For example, the output conditions may include the authenticated person performing a predetermined action.

More specifically, for example, the output condition may include that the person to be authenticated has been authenticated by the authentication device 100. In other words, the output condition may include that the person to be authenticated has been authenticated using the authentication device 100. In this case, it can be considered that the person to be authenticated has been authenticated for a purpose other than setting the authentication information. In this way, by outputting the relevant information at the time that the person to be authenticated has been authenticated, it is possible to accept input of specific information from the person to be authenticated who has been authenticated, and it is easy to set the authentication information.

However, the output conditions are not limited to this, and may include, for example, the person being authenticated performing an operation on the personal authentication device 100 requesting the setting of authentication information, the passage of a predetermined period of time since a predetermined timing (for example, the last time authentication information was set), or the use of a predetermined store, website, etc. Furthermore, if the device is configured to output guidance information indicating the access destination to display the selection screen described below, it is also possible to interpret access using the guidance information as an output condition.

In this embodiment, the related information output unit 143 is configured to output a selection screen displaying two or more pieces of related information to the person to be authenticated, allowing the person to select which piece of related information to use as authentication information. The person to be authenticated can use the selection screen to input specific information that identifies the related information to use as authentication information. The person to be authenticated can confirm two or more pieces of related information on the selection screen and then select the related information to use as authentication information, allowing the person to authenticate using the related information that they consider to be suitable for personal authentication. The selection screen may also be a screen that allows the person to select whether or not to use one piece of related information as authentication information.

In addition, in this embodiment, when outputting the related information, the related information output unit 143 preferably outputs to the authenticated person guidance information used to input the specific information. The guidance information is, for example, information indicating the access destination of a webpage, etc., used to input the specific information. The webpage used to input the specific information may also output the related information. For example, the webpage may present one or more pieces of related information to the authenticated person and allow the authenticated person to select whether or not to use the related information as authentication information. This webpage may be considered to be the selection screen described above. The information indicating the access destination may be displayed, for example, as a hyperlink or as an image such as a multidimensional code. The related information may also be included in the guidance information. For example, the guidance information may be output so as to be included in a webpage displayed when identity authentication is performed and payment is made on an e-commerce website, etc. Furthermore, for example, the guidance information may be output so as to be displayed on a receipt, credit card receipt, or other certificate output from a cash register, etc., when purchasing a product. Note that in this case, identity authentication may also be performed for credit card use. Based on the guidance information, the person to be authenticated can perform a predetermined operation using the terminal device 600 to input specific information that identifies the related information into the personal authentication device 100.

Here, the relationship information output unit 143 may be configured to acquire, from the relationship information acquired by the relationship information acquisition unit 141, relationship information to be recommended to the person to be authenticated, and output the relationship information to the person to be authenticated. In other words, the relationship information output unit 143 may be configured to recommend to the person to be authenticated that they use one or more pieces of relationship information from the relationship information stored in the user information storage unit 115, by selecting and outputting the information. The person to be authenticated can easily set the authentication information to be usable by inputting specific information that specifies that the outputted relationship information will be used as authentication information. Note that the relationship information output unit 143 may acquire two or more pieces of recommended relationship information and use them to output a selection screen to the person to be authenticated.

In this case, the related information to be recommended (selection of related information) may be obtained, for example, as follows. That is, the related information output unit 143 may obtain historical information regarding the behavioral history of the authenticated person and, based on the historical information, obtain related information to be recommended to the authenticated person. Historical information regarding behavioral history includes, for example, the related information of the authenticated person stored in the user information storage unit 115 and the acquisition date and time, but is not limited to this. For example, information such as the user's location and product purchase history stored by the user on a device other than the personal authentication device 100 (e.g., an external device 700, a terminal device 600, etc.) may be obtained as historical information. Furthermore, the recommended related information based on historical information may be obtained, for example, based on the frequency of similar behavior or the distance traveled (e.g., the distance from the starting point of the movement to the destination). Obtaining related information based on the distance traveled may involve, for example, obtaining related information obtained when the distance traveled from the base is long, or obtaining related information obtained when the distance traveled from the base is short. Furthermore, obtaining related information according to the frequency with which a similar behavior has been performed may involve, for example, obtaining related information related to a behavior that is frequently performed (such as the names of frequently visited stores) or obtaining related information related to a behavior that is less frequently performed.

Furthermore, when outputting guidance information, the related information output unit 143 may be configured to output benefit information regarding the granting of a benefit to the authenticated person. Benefit information is, for example, information used by the user to receive the benefit. The benefit information may, for example, be the benefit itself. Furthermore, for example, the benefit information may be a coupon code that can be exchanged for a specified benefit, or information for completing the procedure to receive delivery of the benefit. The benefit information may also be information for conducting a lottery to select authenticated people who will receive the benefit. The benefit information may be output to the authenticated person (for example, by sending it to the terminal device 600), or may be stored in the storage unit 110 in association with a user identifier. In this way, by making it possible to output benefit information, it is possible to effectively motivate authenticated people to check the guidance information.

The related information output unit 143 may be configured to output, for example, information as bonus information informing the user that a bonus will be granted if certain conditions are met. By making it possible to output such bonus information, it is possible to effectively motivate the user to perform operations related to the authentication information. In this case, the specific information acquisition unit 145 (described below) may be configured to perform processing to grant a bonus to the user in response to acquiring specific information entered using the guidance information.

The specific information acquisition unit 145 acquires specific information that identifies one or more pieces of related information based on information about the person to be authenticated. The specific information can be, for example, information for identifying related information to be used as authentication information. The specific information can be, for example, one or more pieces of related information or their related information identifiers, but is not limited to this. For example, if the time, etc. at which the related information was acquired is recorded in the user information storage unit 115, etc., the specific information can be information that can identify one or more pieces of related information based on that time, etc.

The specific information acquisition unit 145 acquires, for example, specific information input by the person to be authenticated. For example, in this embodiment, the specific information acquisition unit 145 acquires specific information input in response to the output of related information by the related information output unit 143. For example, when the related information output unit 143 outputs related information using a selection screen or the like as described above, and a selection operation is performed using the selection screen or the like to select related information to be used as authentication information, the specific information acquisition unit 145 acquires the selected related information or information corresponding to it as specific information.

Here, in this embodiment, the specific information acquisition unit 145 may be configured to acquire specific information input by the authenticated person for each behavioral scene of the authenticated person. In other words, the specific information acquisition unit 145 acquires specific information in association with scene information that identifies the behavioral scene. Examples of scene information include those described above. That is, an example of a behavioral scene is the store or store chain where the payment is made. The behavioral scene and scene information are not limited to this. The behavioral scene may be, for example, an amount range to which the payment amount belongs, the payment method (e.g., time of year, timing, etc.), a predetermined personality (persona) in a service that uses the results of personal authentication, etc.

When specific information is acquired for each behavior scene in this way, it is preferable that the related information output unit 143 outputs related information corresponding to each behavior scene of the person to be authenticated to the person to be authenticated.

By acquiring specific information for each behavioral scene in this way, authentication information can be set for each behavioral scene. Since personal authentication can be performed for each behavioral scene using authentication information that is easy for the person to use, the convenience of the personal authentication device 100 can be further improved.

The authentication information accumulation unit 147 stores the related information identified based on the specific information acquired by the specific information acquisition unit 145 as authentication information in the authentication information storage unit 117, associating it with the user identifier of the person to be authenticated. When specific information is acquired for each behavior scene, the authentication information accumulation unit 147 stores the scene information and authentication information in association with the user identifier.

The input information receiving unit 151 receives authentication input information entered by the user. The authentication input information is entered, for example, in response to a specific instruction being sent to the user from the authentication device 100 or the like when performing identity authentication.

The identity authentication unit 153 performs identity authentication using the authentication input information received from a user by the input information receiving unit 151 and the authentication information stored in the authentication information storage unit 117 and associated with the user identifier of that user. The identity authentication unit 153 performs identity authentication based on the correspondence between the authentication input information and the authentication information. That is, the identity authentication unit 153 authenticates that the user is the person to be authenticated corresponding to the authentication information. For example, if the authentication input information entered by the user matches the authentication information, the identity authentication unit 153 authenticates that the user is the person to be authenticated identified by the user identifier corresponding to the authentication information. The identity authentication unit 153 outputs the authentication result to, for example, an external device 700, etc. This allows the external device 700, etc. to perform processing using the identity authentication result.

The personal authentication unit 153 may be configured to request the user to enter authentication input information. The request to enter authentication input information may be made, for example, by outputting an input screen to the terminal device 600, or by outputting instructions to the terminal device 600 on how to enter authentication input information.

The correspondence between the authentication input information and the authentication information may be confirmed using a method different from that described above. Correspondence between the authentication input information and the authentication information may be determined based on whether the authentication input information or information based thereon matches the authentication information or information based thereon. For example, correspondence between the authentication input information and the authentication information may be determined based on whether information generated using the authentication input information matches information generated using the authentication information. Correspondence between the authentication input information and the authentication information may be determined based on whether the authentication input information matches information generated using the authentication information or whether information generated using the authentication input information matches the authentication information. The authentication input information or information based on the authentication information may also be referred to as information generated using the authentication input information or information generated using the authentication information. The information generated using the authentication input information or the authentication information may be, for example, a character string converted using a predetermined method such as a hash value, or a character string obtained by image recognition, but is not limited to these.

In this embodiment, the personal authentication unit 153 may be configured to perform personal authentication based on an identifier that identifies the behavioral scene for which personal authentication is performed, i.e., authentication information corresponding to scene information. In this case, it is sufficient that authentication information is stored for each behavioral scene. For example, when making a payment that requires personal authentication at a store in a specific chain, the personal authentication unit 153 may be configured to perform personal authentication using authentication information associated with the user identifier, which is associated with scene information corresponding to that chain or store. Since personal authentication can be performed for each behavioral scene using authentication information that is easy for the person to use, the convenience of the personal authentication device 100 can be further improved.

The transmitting unit 170 transmits information to other devices constituting the information processing system 1 via the network. The transmitting unit 170 is typically implemented using wireless or wired communication means, but may also be implemented using broadcasting means. The transmitting unit 170 transmits information to, for example, the terminal device 600. In other words, the transmitting unit 170 outputs information to, for example, the terminal device 600.

Next, we will explain an example of the operation of the personal authentication device 100 when a user uses the information processing system 1 according to this embodiment.

In this embodiment, when a user performs an action requiring personal authentication using the terminal device 600, the user can have the personal authentication device 100 perform personal authentication by sending authentication input information to the personal authentication device 100. Furthermore, the user can set authentication information to be used for personal authentication by sending specific information to the personal authentication device using the terminal device 600.

When the information processing system 1 is used in this manner, the personal authentication device 100 performs various operations, for example, as follows. These operations are performed by the processing unit 140, which executes control operations and the like using each unit.

Figure 7 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the personal authentication device 100.

(Step S1) The processing unit 140 determines whether related information has been acquired. If related information has been acquired, the process proceeds to step S2; if not, the process proceeds to step S3.

(Step S2) The processing unit 140 stores the related information in the user information storage unit 115 in association with the user identifier. Proceed to step S3.

(Step S3) The processing unit 140 determines whether a predetermined output condition is met. For example, if the output condition is that the person to be authenticated has been authenticated, the processing unit 140 determines whether the person to be authenticated has been authenticated. If it determines that the output condition is met, the processing proceeds to step S4; if not, the processing proceeds to step S5.

(Step S4) The processing unit 140 performs related information output processing. Details of the related information output processing will be described later. Proceed to step S5.

(Step S5) The processing unit 140 determines whether the specific information entered by the person to be authenticated has been acquired. If it is determined that the specific information has been acquired, the process proceeds to step S6; if not, the process proceeds to step S7.

(Step S6) Based on the specific information, the processing unit 140 stores the authentication information in the authentication information storage unit 117 in association with the user identifier of the person to be authenticated. Proceed to step S7.

(Step S7) The processing unit 140 determines whether or not to perform identity authentication. For example, when an external device 700 or the like requests that identity authentication be performed for a single user to determine whether the user is the person being authenticated, the processing unit 140 determines to perform identity authentication. If it determines to perform identity authentication, the processing proceeds to step S8; if not, the processing sequence ends.

(Step S6) The processing unit 140 performs identity authentication processing. Details of the identity authentication processing will be described later. The series of processes then ends.

This process is configured to be executed repeatedly on a regular basis. However, the order of each decision and the corresponding processes is not limited to this.

Figure 8 is a flowchart showing an example of the related information output process of the personal authentication device 100.

(Step S101) The processing unit 140 acquires related information to be recommended to the authenticated person from the related information associated with the authenticated person's user identifier. For example, as described above, the related information is acquired based on historical information regarding the authenticated person's behavioral history.

(Step S102) The processing unit 140 constructs a selection screen using the recommended related information.

(Step S103) The processing unit 140 outputs guidance information to the person to be authenticated, which is used to input specific information.

(Step S104) The processing unit 140 determines whether there has been access from the person to be authenticated to display the selection screen. In other words, the processing unit 140 determines whether there has been a request from the person to be authenticated to output related information. If it is determined that there has been access to display the selection screen, the processing proceeds to step S105; if not, the related information output processing ends and returns to the upper level processing.

(Step S105) The processing unit 140 outputs a selection screen to the person to be authenticated. This allows the person to input specific information using the selection screen. Thereafter, the related information output process ends, and the process returns to the upper level process.

Figure 9 is a flowchart showing an example of the identity authentication process of the identity authentication device 100.

(Step S151) The processing unit 140 outputs an input screen for the user performing identity authentication to input authentication input information.

(Step S152) The processing unit 140 determines whether the authentication input information entered by the user has been accepted. The processing unit 140 repeatedly executes (stands by in) step S152 until it is determined that the authentication input information has been accepted, and if it is determined that the authentication input information has been accepted, it proceeds to step S153. Note that if it is not determined that the authentication input information has been accepted within a predetermined time, the processing may be terminated.

(Step S153) The processing unit 140 obtains authentication information stored in the authentication information storage unit 117 that corresponds to the user identifier of the person to be authenticated.

(Step S154) The processing unit 140 determines whether the authentication input information entered by the user corresponds to the authentication information of the person to be authenticated. For example, the processing unit 140 determines whether the authentication input information or information based thereon matches the authentication information or information based thereon. If it is determined that the authentication input information corresponds to the authentication information, the processing proceeds to step S155; if not, the processing proceeds to step S156.

(Step S155) The processing unit 140 outputs the authentication result identifying the user as the person to be authenticated. The processing then ends the authentication process and returns to the upper level processing.

(Step S156) The processing unit 140 outputs an authentication result indicating that the user is not the person to be authenticated. The processing then ends the personal authentication process and returns to the upper-level process.

In this embodiment, various screens for using the authentication device 100, output by the authentication device 100, are displayed on the display unit 661 of the user's terminal device 600. These displayed screens present information to the user and accept information input from the user. That is, the user can use the authentication device 100 while displaying various screens on the terminal device 600. Screen transitions are achieved by appropriate communication between the terminal device 600 and the authentication device 100, or by the processing unit or processing unit 140 of the terminal device 600 performing control operations in response to user operations accepted by the acceptance unit of the terminal device 600. This can be achieved, for example, by the authentication device 100 providing a web page that can be displayed on the terminal device 600. Alternatively, the authentication device 100 can send and receive information that can be handled by a specific application, such as a specific client application or an instant messaging service client application, running on the terminal device 600.

The following describes specific examples of typical display screens. The following example shows a case where a person to be authenticated performs identity authentication and sets authentication information when paying for a product purchase on an e-commerce site. That is, when setting authentication information, the following payment completion screen C10 and selection screen C20 are displayed, and when performing identity authentication, the identity authentication screen C30 and authentication completion screen C40 are displayed.

Figure 10 is a diagram illustrating a specific example of the payment completion screen C10 displayed on the terminal device 600.

Figure 10 shows an example of a state in which a payment completion screen C10 is displayed on the display unit 661 of the terminal device 600 of the person to be authenticated. This screen is displayed when payment is completed for the person to be authenticated. In this specific example, the payment completion screen C10 includes guidance information C11 and bonus information C15. The guidance information C11 includes information indicating that the person to be authenticated can set authentication information, i.e., enter specific information. The guidance information C11 also includes a setting button C13 for transitioning to the selection screen C20. The person to be authenticated can display the next selection screen C20 by operating the setting button C13. In this specific example, the bonus information C15 includes information informing the person that a bonus will be granted if they set or update (reset) their authentication information. By including such information, the person to be authenticated can be effectively motivated to set or update their authentication information.

Figure 11 is a diagram illustrating a specific example of the selection screen C20 displayed on the terminal device 600.

Figure 11 shows an example of a selection screen C20 displayed on the display unit 661 of the terminal device 600 of the person to be authenticated. In this example, the selection screen C20 includes a selection area C21 containing two or more (e.g., four) images that are related information, and a send button C23. The selection area C21 is configured to allow the person to be authenticated to select an image to use as authentication information. The send button C23 is a button for sending specific information that identifies the image (related information) selected in the selection area C21 to the personal authentication device 100. By operating the send button C23 after selecting a desired image in the selection area C21, the person to be authenticated can send specific information that identifies the selected image to the personal authentication device 100. As a result, the identified image is stored in the personal authentication device 100 as authentication information for the person to be authenticated.

Figure 12 shows a specific example of the personal authentication screen C30 displayed on the terminal device 600.

Figure 12 shows an example of the authentication screen C30 displayed on the display unit 661 of the terminal device 600 of the person to be authenticated. This screen is displayed when a user attempts to make a payment as the person to be authenticated. In this specific example, the authentication screen C30 includes a selection area C31 containing two or more (e.g., four) images and an authentication button C33. The selection area C31 contains candidate images that the user can input for authentication. In the selection area C31, the user can select an image to use as authentication input information. The authentication button C33 is a button for transmitting the image selected in the selection area C31 to the authentication device 100 as authentication input information. The information transmitted as authentication input information may be the image itself, or an identifier that identifies the image. After selecting a desired image in the selection area C31, the user can operate the authentication button C33 to transmit the authentication input information for the selected image to the authentication device 100. This allows the authentication device 100 to perform authentication using the authentication input information and authentication information entered by the user. When the authentication button C33 is operated, the next authentication completion screen C40 can be displayed.

Figure 13 is a diagram illustrating a specific example of the authentication completion screen C40 displayed on the terminal device 600.

Figure 13 shows an example of an authentication completion screen C40 displayed on the display unit 661 of the terminal device 600 of the person to be authenticated. The authentication completion screen C40 shown in Figure 13 shows an example where the user who operated the authentication button C33 has been authenticated as the person to be authenticated (i.e., where personal authentication has been successful). That is, in this specific example, the authentication completion screen C40 displays information indicating that personal authentication has been successful. Furthermore, as information for carrying out the payment procedure upon successful personal authentication, the screen also includes, for example, information for requesting the person to be authenticated to confirm the payment details and a button for executing the payment. After completing personal authentication, the user can perform an operation to execute the payment. Note that if personal authentication is not successful, information to that effect may be displayed, for example.

As described above, according to this embodiment, personal authentication can be performed using authentication information that the person being authenticated can easily remember. Authentication information can be easily set using related information about the person being authenticated's behavior, and it can also be easily updated. Therefore, the person being authenticated can be provided with a personal authentication experience that places less strain and stress on them.

The processing in this embodiment may be implemented using software. This software may be distributed by software download, etc. It may also be distributed by recording it on a recording medium such as a CD-ROM. The software implementing the personal authentication device 100 in this embodiment is the following program. Specifically, this program is executed on the computer of the personal authentication device 100 that can access the authentication information storage unit 117, and causes the computer of the personal authentication device 100 to function as: a related information acquisition unit that acquires related information related to the behavior of the person to be authenticated; a specific information acquisition unit that acquires specific information input by the person to be authenticated that identifies one or more pieces of related information; an authentication information storage unit that stores the related information identified by the specific information in the authentication information storage unit as authentication information corresponding to the person to be authenticated; an input information acceptance unit that accepts authentication input information input by the user; and an authentication unit that authenticates the user as the person to be authenticated that corresponds to the authentication information, based on the correspondence between the authentication input information and the authentication information stored in the authentication information storage unit.

(others)

Figure 14 is an overview of the computer system 800 in the above embodiment. Figure 15 is a block diagram of the same computer system 800.

These figures show the configuration of a computer that executes the programs described in this specification to realize the personal authentication device and other components of the above-mentioned embodiments. The above-mentioned embodiments can be realized by computer hardware and computer programs executed on that hardware.

The computer system 800 includes a computer 801 with a CD-ROM drive, a keyboard 802, a mouse 803, and a monitor 804.

In addition to the CD-ROM drive 8012, the computer 801 includes an MPU 8013, a bus 8014 connected to the CD-ROM drive 8012 and other devices, a ROM 8015 for storing programs such as a boot-up program, a RAM 8016 connected to the MPU 8013 for temporarily storing application program instructions and providing temporary storage space, and a hard disk 8017 for storing application programs, system programs, and data. Although not shown here, the computer 801 may also include a network card that provides connection to a LAN.

A program that causes the computer system 800 to perform the functions of the personal authentication device and the like of the above-described embodiments may be stored on a CD-ROM 8101, inserted into the CD-ROM drive 8012, and then transferred to the hard disk 8017. Alternatively, the program may be sent to the computer 801 via a network (not shown) and stored on the hard disk 8017. The program is loaded into RAM 8016 when executed. The program may also be loaded directly from the CD-ROM 8101 or the network.

The program does not necessarily have to include an operating system (OS) or third-party program that causes computer 801 to perform functions such as the identity authentication device of the above-described embodiment. The program need only include instructions that call appropriate functions (modules) in a controlled manner to achieve the desired results. How computer system 800 operates is well known, and a detailed description will be omitted.

Note that in the above program, the sending step of transmitting information and the receiving step of receiving information do not include processing performed by hardware, such as processing performed by a modem or interface card in the sending step (processing that can only be performed by hardware).

Furthermore, the computer that executes the above program may be a single computer or multiple computers. In other words, it may perform centralized processing or distributed processing.

Furthermore, in the above embodiments, two or more components present in one device may be physically realized on one medium.

Furthermore, in the above embodiments, each process (each function) may be realized by centralized processing in a single device (system), or by distributed processing by multiple devices (in this case, the entire system made up of multiple devices performing distributed processing can be considered as a single "device").

Furthermore, in the above embodiments, the exchange of information between components may be performed, for example, by one component outputting information and the other component receiving information if the two components exchanging information are physically different, or, if the two components exchanging information are physically the same, by shifting from the processing phase corresponding to one component to the processing phase corresponding to the other component.

In addition, in the above embodiments, information related to the processing performed by each component, such as information accepted, acquired, selected, generated, transmitted, or received by each component, and information such as thresholds, formulas, and addresses used in processing by each component, may be stored temporarily or for a long period of time on a recording medium (not shown), even if not explicitly stated in the above description. Furthermore, the storage of information on this recording medium (not shown) may be performed by each component or a storage unit (not shown). Furthermore, the reading of information from this recording medium (not shown) may be performed by each component or a reading unit (not shown).

Furthermore, in the above embodiments, if the information used by each component, such as thresholds, addresses, and various setting values used by each component in processing, may be changed by the user, the user may or may not be able to change that information as appropriate, even though this is not explicitly stated in the above description. If the information is changeable by the user, the change may be realized, for example, by a reception unit (not shown) that receives a change instruction from the user, and a change unit (not shown) that changes the information in response to that change instruction. The reception unit (not shown) may receive the change instruction from an input device, may receive information transmitted via a communication line, or may receive information read from a specified recording medium, for example.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications are possible, all of which are within the scope of the present invention.

Some components and functions of the above-described embodiments may be omitted.

The specific information is not limited to information entered by the person to be authenticated, and may be acquired based on various information related to the person to be authenticated. For example, the specific information may be acquired using attribute values related to predetermined attributes pre-stored in the user information storage unit as user information related to the person to be authenticated. For example, the specific information may be identified from related information related to products purchased by the person to be authenticated, which corresponds to information indicating the preferences of the person to be authenticated (an example of specific information) stored as user information. More specifically, for example, if the user information stored for a certain person to be authenticated is that they like pudding, the specific information acquisition unit may be configured to acquire specific information that identifies related information related to pudding or related information related to Western-style confectionery based on the user information. This reduces the number of operations required of the user, making the personal authentication device easier to use.

As described above, the personal authentication device of the present invention has the advantage of being able to perform personal authentication using authentication information that the person being authenticated can easily remember, making it useful as a personal authentication device, etc.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 100 Personal authentication device 110 Storage unit 115 User information storage unit 117 Authentication information storage unit 120 Reception unit 130 Acceptance unit 140 Processing unit 141 Related information acquisition unit 143 Related information output unit 145 Specific information acquisition unit 147 Authentication information storage unit 151 Input information acceptance unit 153 Personal authentication unit 170 Transmission unit 600 Terminal device

Claims (13)

a related information acquisition unit that acquires related information related to the behavior of a person to be authenticated, the related information being of a predetermined type, without requiring the person to be authenticated to input information;
a specific information acquisition unit that acquires specific information that identifies one or more pieces of related information input by the person to be authenticated based on information about the person to be authenticated;
an authentication information storage unit in which the related information specified by the specific information is stored as authentication information corresponding to the person to be authenticated;
an input information receiving unit that receives authentication input information input by a user;
an identity authentication unit that authenticates that the user is an individual corresponding to the authentication information based on a correspondence relationship between the authentication input information and the authentication information stored in the authentication information storage unit,
An identity authentication device in which the related information acquisition unit acquires, as the related information, at least one of information other than an image that is related to the behavior of the person being authenticated, and an image that is prepared in advance and corresponds to the information other than an image, but is not an image taken by the person being authenticated. The behavior of the person to be authenticated is
The use of a store or facility by the authenticated person;
a purchase of a product by the authenticated person;
An activity that affects the amount of activity acquired by a device worn by the person to be authenticated;
Activities that affect the health of the certified person;
The personal authentication device according to claim 1 , comprising at least one of: a related information output unit that outputs the related information acquired by the related information acquisition unit to the person to be authenticated when a predetermined output condition is satisfied;
The personal authentication device according to claim 1 , wherein the specific information acquisition unit acquires the specific information input in response to the output of the related information by the related information output unit. the related information output unit outputs a selection screen displaying two or more pieces of related information to the person to be authenticated;
The personal authentication device according to claim 3 , wherein the specific information acquisition unit acquires the specific information based on a selection operation on the selection screen. The personal authentication device according to claim 3 or 4, wherein the related information output unit acquires related information to be recommended to the person to be authenticated from the related information acquired by the related information acquisition unit, and outputs the related information to the person to be authenticated. The personal authentication device described in claim 5, wherein the related information output unit acquires historical information regarding the behavioral history of the person to be authenticated, and acquires related information to be recommended to the person to be authenticated based on the historical information. The personal authentication device described in any one of claims 3 to 6, wherein the output condition includes that personal authentication has been performed for the person to be authenticated. the output condition includes that the person to be authenticated has performed a predetermined action;
8. The personal authentication device according to claim 3, wherein the related information output unit outputs, to the person to be authenticated, guidance information used for inputting specific information that identifies related information related to the behavior of the person to be authenticated. The personal authentication device of claim 8, wherein the related information output unit outputs bonus information regarding the granting of a bonus to the authenticated person when outputting the guidance information. The personal authentication device described in claim 8 or 9, wherein when the specific information acquisition unit acquires the specific information input using the guidance information, it performs processing to grant a benefit to the person to be authenticated. the specific information acquisition unit acquires the specific information input by the person to be authenticated for each behavior scene of the person to be authenticated,
the authentication information storage unit stores the authentication information in association with information identifying the behavior scene;
11. The personal authentication device according to claim 1, wherein the personal authentication unit is configured to perform the personal authentication based on the authentication information corresponding to an identifier that identifies a behavior scene for which personal authentication is performed. An identity authentication method performed using a related information acquisition unit, a specific information acquisition unit, an authentication information storage unit, an authentication information accumulation unit, an input information acceptance unit, and an identity authentication unit,
a related information acquisition step in which the related information acquisition unit acquires related information related to the behavior of the person to be authenticated, the related information being of a predetermined type, without requiring the person to be authenticated to input information;
a specific information acquisition step in which the specific information acquisition unit acquires specific information input by the person to be authenticated that identifies one or more pieces of related information;
an authentication information storage step in which the authentication information storage unit stores the related information identified by the identification information in the authentication information storage unit as authentication information corresponding to the authenticatee;
an input information receiving step in which the input information receiving unit receives authentication input information input by a user;
an authentication step in which the authentication unit authenticates that the user is a person to be authenticated corresponding to the authentication information based on a correspondence relationship between the authentication input information and the authentication information stored in the authentication information storage unit;
In the related information acquisition step, the related information acquisition unit acquires, as the related information, at least one of information other than an image that is related to the behavior of the person being authenticated, and an image that is prepared in advance and corresponds to the information other than an image, but is not an image taken by the person being authenticated. A computer that can access the authentication information storage unit,
a related information acquisition unit that acquires related information related to the behavior of a person to be authenticated, the related information being of a predetermined type, without requiring the person to be authenticated to input information;
a specific information acquisition unit that acquires specific information that identifies one or more pieces of related information input by the person to be authenticated;
an authentication information storage unit that stores the related information identified by the identification information in the authentication information storage unit as authentication information corresponding to the person to be authenticated;
an input information receiving unit that receives authentication input information input by a user;
an identity authentication unit that authenticates that the user is a person to be authenticated corresponding to the authentication information based on a correspondence relationship between the authentication input information and the authentication information stored in the authentication information storage unit;
The related information acquisition unit is a program that acquires , as the related information, at least one of information other than an image that is related to the behavior of the person being authenticated, and an image that is prepared in advance and corresponds to the information other than an image, but is not an image taken by the person being authenticated.