REMOVABLE SWIPE-IMAGING DEVICE AND METHOD FOR IDENTIFYING SAME

A removable swipe-imaging device and a method for identifying the device are disclosed. The removable swipe-imaging device is for limiting access to protected area to authorized individuals. The removable swipe-imaging device comprises a sensing pad with an integrated processor for processing sensed biometric image data; the processor comprising an encoding circuit for encoding the sensed biometric image data in response to a challenge received from a host processor, the encoded sensed image data for being transmitted to the host processor and decoded based on the challenge. The method for identifying the device comprises the steps of: providing a biometric sample to the sensor; capturing a biometric image indicative of the biometric sample for generating biometric image data; generating a challenge, the challenge stored in a storage medium in communication with a host processor; providing the generated challenge to the imaging sensor; encoding the biometric image data within the sensor in dependence upon the challenge; and, transmitting the encoded biometric image data to the host processor.