Patent ID: 7720262

Claim:
A method for recording reference fingerprint data for a person, comprising the steps of: receiving at least two fingerprint images that depict at least partially different areas of one and the same finger of the person; storing, in a first computer-readable recording medium of a first computer processing device, data from said at least two fingerprint images as at least two alternative sets of reference fingerprint data, that comprise data from at least partially different areas of the finger, for use in checking the identity of the person, wherein said at least two alternative sets of reference fingerprint data are stored in the first computer-readable recording medium of the first computer processing device in which checking of the person's identity is to be carried out, and each of the sets of reference fingerprint data comprises public data that can be communicated from the first computer processing device to a second computer processing device during the check, and also private data that is used exclusively in the first computer processing device during the check; and checking, in the first computer processing device, whether said at least two fingerprint images together cover an area of the finger that is larger than a predetermined area and, if so, giving an indication to the person that the recording has been completed.