Patent ID: 7757076

Claim:
A computer controlled method to personalize a vehicle that is associated with a prospective member device, the method comprising: establishing a credential by exchanging a key's commitment information over a preferred channel between a credential issuing device and said prospective member device on the vehicle to pre-authenticate said prospective member device; wherein the preferred channel is a short-range communications channel that excludes telephone communication; wherein the preferred channel has a physical identification property that requires identification be based on physical proximity; wherein the preferred channel does not prevent an attacker from monitoring transmissions on the preferred channel; and wherein the preferred channel has an authenticity property that allows a legitimate party to detect the number of participants in a communication such that an attacker cannot transmit over the preferred channel without detection; verifying that a public key received from said prospective member device match said key's commitment information; provisioning said prospective member device with said credential, whereby said prospective member device becomes a member device associated with said vehicle; and securely communicating personalization information to said vehicle through said member device using said credential.