Patent ID: 8224128

Claim:
A portable information terminal device comprising: an imaging module for photographing an object; a characteristic information storage module for storing characteristic information extracted from face images as registered characteristic information in advance; an authentication processing module for processing authentication by using said registered characteristic information on the basis of an image photographed by said imaging module; and an error history management module for causing an authentication failure storage module to store history information obtained when authentication has failed in said authentication process as authentication failure information, wherein said authentication processing module including: a characteristic extraction module for extracting characteristic information from said photographed image; matching degree calculation module for obtaining a numerically expressed matching degree by comparing characteristic information extracted by said characteristic extraction module with said registered characteristic information stored in said characteristic information storage module; and matching degree determination module for comparing said matching degree with an authentication threshold value, said error history management module causes said authentication failure storage module to store authentication failure information only when said characteristic information extracted by said characteristic extraction module and said matching degree is determined to be smaller than said authentication threshold value by said matching degree determination module, a predetermined number of plural authentication failure information can be stored in said authentication failure storage module in the descending order from the latest authentication failure information, said error history management module determining whether authentication has failed before or after a fixed period of time after previous authentication failure information has been stored, and said error history management module causes said authentication failure storage module to store authentication failure information when authentication has failed after a fixed period of time after previous authentication failure information has been stored, and to not store authentication failure information when authentication has failed before the fixed period of time after previous authentication failure information has been stored.