Patent ID: 8612769

Claim:
A method for electronically signing an electronic dataset comprising: a) providing a signature generation unit having a not-externally-readable memory that cannot be read out from outside of the signature generation unit, in which memory a first key is stored, wherein the signature generation unit is configured to carry out bi-directional data communication with a separate, data processing device, and to carry out an encryption method using the first key stored in the signature generation unit, b) providing a data processing device, which is spatially separated from the signature generation unit, and which is configured to carry out bi-directional data communication with the signature generation unit, and for providing the electronic dataset to be signed using the signature generation unit, c) capturing at least one biometric trait of a natural person, which person will electronically sign the electronic dataset using the signature generation unit, d) generating an electronic biometric dataset based on the at least one captured biometric trait in the signature generation unit, e) generating a signature capture process random value in the signature generation unit, f) encrypting the generated electronic biometric dataset in the signature generation unit using the generated signature capture process random value, g) determining whether the checksum will be generated in the signature generation unit, performing one of steps h1) and h2): h1) transmitting the encrypted biometric dataset to the data processing device, generating in the data processing device a first checksum of a combination of the encrypted biometric dataset and the electronic dataset, and transmitting the first checksum from the data processing device to the signature generation unit, and h2) transmitting the electronic dataset from the data processing device to the signature generation unit, and generating in the signature generation unit a first checksum of a combination of the encrypted biometric dataset and the electronic dataset, and performing one of steps i1)-k1) and i2)-k2): i1) encrypting the generated signature capture process random value in the signature generation unit using the first checksum, j1) encrypting the result of step i1) using the first key stored in the signature generation unit, and k1) transmitting the result of the encryption according to step j1) to the data processing device, and, if not already carried out in method step h1), transmitting the encrypted biometric dataset to the data processing device, and i2) encrypting the first checksum in the signature generation unit using the generated signature capture process random value, j2) encrypting the signature capture process random value using the first key stored in the signature generation unit, and k2) transmitting the results of the encryptions according to method steps i2) and j2) to the data processing device, and, if not already carried out in method step h1), transmitting the encrypted biometric dataset to the data processing device.