Patent ID: 8332649
Filing Date: 2012-12-11
Classification: H04L

Abstract:
1. A signature generating device for generating digital ring signature data that certifies authenticity of information of a person, and for generating obfuscated information by obfuscating the information of the person, the signature generating device comprising: a storage unit storing attribute information concerning the person and storing a private key corresponding to the attribute information, the attribute information holding a value and being identified according to a specific concept; an obfuscated information generating circuit operable to (i) select one or more pieces of dummy information, the one or more pieces of selected dummy information being identified by the same specific concept as the attribute information and holding one or more values that are different from the value held by the attribute information, and (ii) generate the obfuscated information that includes the attribute information and the one or more pieces of selected dummy information, each of the one or more pieces of selected dummy information being for obfuscating the attribute information and being unrelated to the person; a public key obtaining circuit operable to obtain a public key corresponding to the attribute information and operable to obtain one or more public keys respectively corresponding to the one or more pieces of selected dummy information; a signature generating circuit operable to generate the digital ring signature data by performing a ring signature generation process on the obfuscated information, using (i) the private key corresponding to the attribute information, (ii) the public key corresponding to the attribute information, (iii) the one or more public keys respectively corresponding to the one or more pieces of selected dummy information, and (iv) a hash of the obfuscated information; and a presenting circuit operable to present authentication information to an external service supply device, the authentication information including the obfuscated information and the digital ring signature data and being for obfuscating the attribute information and for certifying that the attribute information of the person is included in a range that includes the one or more pieces of selected dummy information, wherein the signature generating device further comprises an obfuscation instruction receiving circuit operable to receive an obfuscation instruction indicating a selection condition for selecting dummy information, wherein the one or more pieces of selected dummy information satisfy the selection condition indicated by the obfuscation instruction, wherein the selection condition received by the obfuscation instruction receiving circuit indicates a number of pieces of dummy information to be selected, and wherein a number of pieces of dummy information selected by the obfuscated information generating circuit equals the number of pieces indicated by the selection condition.