Samsung Developing Authentication Using Blood Pressure

Samsung is taking authentication to another level: The company recently applied for a patent covering a device authentication method that would measure a user’s blood pressure to verify their identity.

According to TechRadar, the patent states that “the arterial conduction paths of different users are almost never identical,” which would make using passwords and PIN codes unnecessary.

Many tech companies are moving toward biometrics to verify identity. In the case of authentication using blood pressure, the scanners would be located in the usual places: in the back of a smartphone or smartwatch case. The software processing the blood flow data “would be used to generate a waveform pattern for the authentication application that must be matched,” according to Pocketnow.

Of course, a person’s blood pressure changes depending on their situation, and the software will be able to take this into consideration. “Standard deviations and algorithms will take account for diastolic and systolic peaks. Ultimately, though, it’s [a] more sensitive metric that’s based on relatively anonymous data – the app can be tuned to match for a certain threshold of accuracy to the master pattern,” explained Pocketnow.

Blood pressure authentication, coupled with fingerprint scanning, could make it harder for hackers to steal data on a person’s mobile device.

Last year, Samsung published a patent for a sensor on the wrist that would be able to “read” a user’s veins to verify identity. The sensor takes a picture of the wrist (possibly scanning the back of someone’s hand to match vein structure) and other characteristics, and uses it to verify the user by comparing it to a vein image in its memory. It could also read and verify a user’s pulse.

In the case of both blood pressure and vein authentication, there is no guarantee that Samsung will ever actually release the technology.