A biometrics security method and apparatus are disclosed that restrict the
ability of a user to access a device or facility using a portion of
biometric data to validate the user's identity. Upon a user request to
access a secure device or facility, the central biometric security system
initially sends a first request for a specific sample of a portion of the
user's biometric information. The specific sample may be identified, for
example, using a set of image coordinates. A second request is also sent
to retrieve the biometric prototype from a database of registered users.
The central biometric security system then compares the user biometrics
portion with the corresponding biometrics prototype portions. The user
receives access to the requested device if the user biometrics portion(s)
matches the corresponding biometrics prototype portions. In one variation,
the biometric security system transmits a security agent to the user's
computing device upon a user request to access a remote device. The
security agent serves to extract user biometric portions in accordance
with the sampling request from the central biometric security system. In
another variation, a local recognition is performed before a remote
recognition to reduce the risk of a failed server side recognition due to
a poor biometrics feature.
