Patent ID: 7979892

Claim:
A peripheral device, comprising: an input unit which allows a user to input identification information; plural function selection buttons placed on an operation panel each of which is previously associated with one of the functions and is configured to be operated by the user for selecting the associated function; a pattern information storing unit which stores one or more different pieces of individual permission information representing a permission/prohibition combination pattern of the functions while storing each pattern name previously associated with each of the permission/prohibition combination patterns and having a smaller information amount than the individual permission information; a usage permission information storing unit which previously stores information on correspondence-between the identification information of each user and one of the pattern names; and a notification unit configured, when the identification information is inputted by the user, to: read out the pattern name corresponding to the identification information of the user from the usage permission information storing unit and the individual permission information corresponding to the pattern name from the pattern information storing unit, and simultaneously notify the user which of the functions that the user is permitted to use and which of the functions that the user is not permitted to use, by simultaneously providing the function selection buttons associated with functions that the user has been permitted to use in a first state and the function selection buttons associated with functions that the user has not been permitted to use in a second state discriminable from the first state based on the individual permission information associated with the inputted identification information.