Patent ID: 7424135

Claim:
A security check terminal comprising: a user partial biometric data acquisition device operable to: (a) obtain, from a user attempting to pass the security check, a user entire biometric data set; and (b) obtain a user partial biometric data set from the user entire biometric data set without obtaining additional biometric data from the user, the obtaining of said user partial biometric data set involving a selection of at least one from among elements of the user entire biometric data set so that said user partial biometric data set includes at least one but not all of the elements of the user entire biometric data set, the selection of the at least one element to obtain the user partial biometric data set from among elements of the user entire biometric data set being determined based on position(s) of respective storage location(s) of the at least one element from among elements of the user entire biometric data set; a reader operable to read an authorized person partial biometric data set stored on a portable device for use in enabling said user to pass said security check, said authorized person partial biometric data set comprising at least one element selected from elements of an authorized person entire biometric data set associated with said user so that said authorized person partial biometric data set includes at least one but not all of the elements of the authorized person entire biometric data set, without encoding any of the remaining elements in said authorized person entire biometric data set, said authorized person entire biometric data set being stored at an authentication apparatus, wherein the selection used in generating said authorized person partial biometric data set from said authorized person entire biometric data set is related to the selection used in generating said user partial biometric data set from said user entire biometric data set and the selection of the at least one element to generate the authorized person partial biometric data set from the elements of the authorized person entire biometric data set being determined based on position(s) of respective storage location(s) of the at least one element from among the elements of the authorized person entire biometric data set; a comparator operable to compare said user partial biometric data set with said authorized person partial biometric data set; and an authenticity signal generator operable to generate a signal indicative of whether said user is an authorized person on the basis of the comparison made by said comparator.