Method and apparatus for using sensors on a portable electronic device to verify transactions

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9892412-B2
Application number	US-201615155299-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 16, 2016
Priority date	Dec 21, 2012
Publication date	Feb 13, 2018
Grant date	Feb 13, 2018

Abstract

An attempt to conduct an electronic transaction using an electronic device is detected. The electronic device contains one or more sensors, such as an accelerometer, an ambient light sensor, a gyroscope, a GPS unit, or a transceiver. In response to the detected attempt to conduct the electronic transaction, an analysis is performed using data gathered by the one or more sensors to estimate one or more current statuses of the electronic device. The estimated one or more current statuses of the electronic device are compared with one or more expected statuses of the electronic device according to a model. An alert is generated in response to the comparison indicating that some of the estimated current statuses of the electronic device are inconsistent with the expected statuses of the electronic device.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method, comprising:
detecting that an electronic device is attempting to conduct an electronic transaction;
collecting sensor data via one or more sensors of the electronic device, the one or more sensors being configured to measure one or more environmental characteristics in relation to the electronic device;
analyzing, in response to the detecting, the collected sensor data to estimate one or more current states of the electronic device;
comparing the estimated one or more current states of the electronic device with one or more expected states of the electronic device, the one or more expected states based on a transaction type of the electronic transaction that is detected as being attempted;
determining, based on the comparing indicating that at least one of the estimated one or more current states of the electronic device is inconsistent with the expected states of the electronic device, that the electronic device is not in an actual possession of an authorized user when the electronic device is attempting to conduct the electronic transaction; and
communicating an alert to the authorized user in response to the determining that the electronic device is not in the actual possession of the authorized user.

2. The method of claim I, wherein at least one of the detecting, the collecting, the analyzing, the comparing, the determining, and the communicating is performed by one or more electronic processors of the electronic device comprising a smartphone.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising: establishing a modelbased on the transaction type conducted using the electronic device.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein stablishing the nodel comprises:
detecting, using the sensor data from he one or more sensors, one or more states of the electronic device before, during, or after a previous transaction was conducted; and
correlating the transaction type with the detected one or more states.

5. The method of claim 1 , w herein the one or more sensors comprise an accelerometer and wherein the analyzing comprises determining whether a burst of movement for the electronic device was detected via accelerometer.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more sensors comprise an ambient light sensor and wherein the analyzing comprises determining whether an ambient light condition change for the electronic device was detected via the ambient light sensor.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more sensors comprise a gyroscope and wherein the analyzing comprises determining an orientation of the electronic device via the gyroscope.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more sensors comprise a Global Positioning System (GPS) unit and wherein the analyzing comprises determining a present geographical location of the electronic device via the GPS unit.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more sensors comprise a wireless transceiver and wherein the analyzing comprises determining a wireless connectivity of the electronic device via the wireless transceiver.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining, based on the comparing indicating that at least one of the estimated one or more current states of the electronic device is inconsistent with the expected states of the electronic device, that the electronic device is being surreptitiously accessed by an unauthorized entity located remotely from the electronic device, while the electronic device is in the actual possession of the authorized user when the electronic device is attempting to conduct the electronic transaction; and
communicating a further alert to the authorized user in response to the determining that the electronic device is being surreptitiously accessed.

11. A system,comprising:
a non-transitory memory; and
one or more hardware processors coupled to the non-transitory memory and configured to read instructions from the non-transitory memory to cause the system to perform operations comprising:
detecting an attempt to conduct an electronic transaction using an electronic device, the electronic device containing one or more sensors that are configured to measure one or more environmental characteristics in relation to the electronic device;
gathering sensor data via the one or more sensors of the electronic device;
analyzing, in response to the detecting, the gathered sensor data to estimate one or more current states of the electronic device;
comparing the estimated one or more current states of the electronic device with one or more expected states of the electronic device, the one or more expected states based on a transaction type of the electronic transaction that is detected as being attempted;
determining, in response to the comparing indicating that at least one of the estimated one or more current states of the electronic device is inconsistent with the expected states of the electronic device, that the electronic device is not in an actual possession of an authorized user when the electronic device is attempting to conduct the electronic transaction;
generating an alert in response to the determininp; and
communicating the alert to another device associated with the authorized user.

12. The system of claim 11 , wherein the operations further comprise:
building a model based on the transaction type conducted using the electronic device.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the building the model comprises:
determining, using the one or more sensors, one or more states of the electronic device before, during, or after a previous transaction was conducted; and
associating the transaction type with the determined one or more states.

14. The system of claim 11 , wherein the one or more sensors comprise an accelerometer, and wherein the analyzing comprises determining whether a burst of movement for the electronic device was detected via the accelerometer.

15. The system of claim 11 , wherein the one or more sensors comprise an ambient light sensor, and wherein the analyzing comprises determining whether an ambient light condition change for the electronic device was detected via the ambient light sensor.

16. The system of claim 11 , wherein the one or more sensors comprise a gyroscope, and wherein the analyzing comprises determining an orientation of the electronic device via the gyroscope.

17. The system of claim 11 , wherein the one or more sensors comprise a Global Positioning System (GPS) unit, and wherein the analyzing comprises determining a present geographical location of the electronic device via the GPS unit.

18. The system of claim 11 , wherein the one or more sensors comprise a wireless transceiver, and wherein the analyzing comprises determining a wireless connectivity of the electronic device via the wireless transceiver.

19. A non-transitory machine-readable medium having stored thereon machine-readable instructions executable to cause a machine to perform operations comprising:
detecting that an electronic device is attempting to conduct a first type of electronic transaction, the electronic device containing one or more sensors each being configured to measure a different type of environmental characteristic in relation to the electronic device;
collecting sensor data via the one or more sensors of the electronic device;
estimating, based on the collected sensor data and in response to the detecting, one or more present states of the electronic device;
accessing a transaction type of the electronic transaction that is detected as being attempted that correlates o

Assignees

• Paypal Inc

Inventors

• Doris Down Abraham
• Escobedo Miguel Angel
• Wilczynski Matthew

Classifications

• G06Q20/3224

  Transactions dependent on location of M-devices · CPC title

• G06Q20/40

  Authorisation, e.g. identification of payer or payee, verification of customer or shop credentials; Review and approval of payers, e.g. check credit lines or negative lists · CPC title

• H04W4/027

  using movement velocity, acceleration information · CPC title

• H04L43/0811

  by checking connectivity · CPC title

• H04W12/06

  Authentication · CPC title