Patent ID: 7587067
Filing Date: 2009-09-08
Classification: G06K

Abstract:
1. A handheld portable device for biometrically verifying user identity and monitoring user movement, comprising: an initiation module, activated by a biometric capture action, initiates the portable device for receiving biometric information of the user to begin a transaction cycle without having the user enter any other information; wherein, at a time of initiation by the biometric capture action, the portable device records the user's geographic location, a time of the geographic location measurement, and a status indicating whether user's identity was biometrically verified for the transaction in an information carrier; a biometric verification module (“BVM”) that compares the biometric information received immediately after initiation with reference biometric characteristic information of the user stored in the portable device, without requiring the user to enter an identification number; wherein the reference biometric characteristic information is captured by the portable device during an enrollment process such that the user is authorized to use the portable device and the portable device is used to identify the user by using biometric information; wherein the BVM module includes a finger print scanner for capturing images of a relevant biometric finger print area for the transaction cycle; and wherein after the comparison, the BVM module indicates whether the user's identity is verified or not; and a location module that determines the portable device's location information and the time of measurement for the transaction cycle; and after the biometric user identity verification, the location module continuously monitors the portable device location to detect if a user has traveled beyond a programmed threshold value; wherein the information carrier is a memory card that stores (i) the reference biometric characteristic information, and (ii) for the transaction cycle, stores the geographic location, the time of measurement of location, a user identity status indicating whether the user identity was verified or not; and a user identity flag; and such information is maintained in the information carrier even when the portable device is powered off; wherein one portable device is dedicated to each user for biometrically verifying the user's identity and monitoring user movement by tracking the movement of the portable device; wherein information collected for the transaction cycle is used in a data log that is used for user payroll processing; and wherein the portable device collects information for the transaction cycle even if the BVM module indicates that the user's identity could not be biometrically verified and the collected information is highlighted in the data log associated with the transaction cycle showing a non-verified status.