IDENT1 is the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

's central national

database In computing, a database is an organized collection of data stored and accessed electronically. Small databases can be stored on a file system, while large databases are hosted on computer clusters or cloud storage. The design of databases sp ...

for holding, searching and comparing

biometric Biometrics are body measurements and calculations related to human characteristics. Biometric authentication (or realistic authentication) is used in computer science as a form of identification and access control. It is also used to identify in ...

information on those who come into contact with the

police The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and t ...

as detainees after being

arrested An arrest is the act of apprehending and taking a person into custody (legal protection or control), usually because the person has been suspected of or observed committing a crime. After being taken into custody, the person can be questi ...

. Information held includes

fingerprint A fingerprint is an impression left by the friction ridges of a human finger. The recovery of partial fingerprints from a crime scene is an important method of forensic science. Moisture and grease on a finger result in fingerprints on surfac ...

s, palm prints and scene of crime marks. It replaced the old system known as the National Automated Fingerprint Identification System (NAFIS), and works in partnership with Livescan technology. According to the

National Policing Improvement Agency The National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA) was a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom, established to support police by providing expertise in such areas as information technology, information sharing, and recruitment. It was ...

, IDENT1 currently contains the fingerprints of 7.1 million people and makes 85,000 matches with data recovered from crime scenes per year. Verified over 1.5 Million arrestee identifications per year. Checks more than 2,000 identities from Lantern mobile devices per month. Checks 40,000 identities per week for

UK Visas and Immigration UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) is a division of the Home Office responsible for the United Kingdom's visa system. It was formed in 2013 from the section of the UK Border Agency that had administered the visa system. History The then Home Secre ...

. IDENT1 was developed by US defence company

Northrop Grumman Northrop Grumman Corporation is an American multinational aerospace and defense technology company. With 90,000 employees and an annual revenue in excess of $30 billion, it is one of the world's largest weapons manufacturers and military techn ...

, who were awarded the £122m contract in December 2004. The deal was expected to last for eight years, with an additional three "option" years.

References

Biometric databases Fingerprints Government databases in the United Kingdom Law enforcement in the United Kingdom {{law-enforcement-stub

See also

References