Many life situations require that a person's identity be authenticated. Examples of such life situations can include passing a security check at an airport, logging into a computer system and conducting a financial transaction. Authentication can take different forms, for example a picture ID, a password, a security code or a biometric authentication method such as a fingerprint, a voice print or a retinal scan.
During authentication of a person's identity, it can be useful to determine a current location of the person. For example, credit card companies can become suspicious of a series of transactions when a person makes credit card transactions from different geographical locations within a short time frame.