Patent attributes
A fingerprint identification system comprising: an IC card having a tamper-resistance; and a reader/writer having a tamper-resistance for reading/writing information from/into the IC card. In the reader/writer, a fingerprint image, as read by a fingerprint input unit, is preprocessed in a preprocessing unit, and extracted intermediate information is transmitted to the IC card. This IC card compares the intermediate information with the fingerprint information, and makes authentication information usable for an electronic authentication upon matching. By this electronic authentication with applications, the fingerprint identification system, which has a high level of safety and can reduce the cost is provided.