Automated fingerprint identification
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Automated fingerprint identification is the process of using a computer to match
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 against a
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 ...
of known and unknown prints in the fingerprint identification system. Automated fingerprint identification systems (AFIS) are primarily used by law enforcement agencies for criminal identification purposes, the most important of which is the identification of a person suspected of committing a
crime In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definit ...
or linking a suspect to other unsolved crimes. Automated fingerprint verification is a closely related technique used in applications such as attendance and access control systems. On a technical level, verification systems verify a claimed identity (a user might claim to be John by presenting his PIN or ID card and verify his identity using his fingerprint), whereas identification systems determine identity based solely on fingerprints. AFISs have been used in large-scale civil identifications, the chief purpose of which is to prevent multiple enrollments in an electoral, welfare, driver licensing, or similar system. Another benefit of a civil AFISs is to check the background of job applicants for sensitive posts and educational personnel who have close contact with children.


Deployed systems

The United States
Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System The Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS) is a computerized system maintained by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) since 1999. It is a national automated fingerprint identification and criminal history system. IAFI ...
holds the fingerprint sets collected in the United States, and is managed by the
FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...
. Many states also have their own AFISs. AFISs have capabilities such as latent searching, electronic image storage, and electronic exchange of fingerprints and responses. Many other countries and entities — including
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
, the
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
, 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 ...
,
Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...
,
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
,
Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
,
Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
,
Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
,
Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
,
Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
,
Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...
,
Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
,
Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
,
Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...
,
Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...
,
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
,
Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...
, the
International Criminal Police Organization The International Criminal Police Organization (ICPO; french: link=no, Organisation internationale de police criminelle), commonly known as Interpol ( , ), is an international organization that facilitates worldwide police cooperation and cri ...
, and various states, provinces, and local administrative regions — have their own systems, which are used for a variety of purposes, including criminal identification, applicant background checks, receipt of benefits, and receipt of credentials (such as passports). In Australia, the system is called the
National Automated Fingerprint Identification System The National Automated Fingerprint Identification System (NAFIS) is an Australian fingerprint and palm print database and matching system to assist law enforcement agencies across Australia and the Department of Immigration and Border Protection ...
. European police agencies are now required by a European council act to open their AFISs to each other to improve the war on terror and the investigation of cross-border crime. The act followed the Prüm treaty, an initiative between the countries Belgium, Germany, Spain, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Austria. While technically not being an AFIS itself, the Pruem treaty's decentral infrastructure allows AFIS queries on all European criminal AFISs within a reasonable time.


Fingerprint-matching algorithms

Fingerprint-matching algorithms vary greatly in terms of Type I (false positive) and Type II (false negative) error rates. They also vary in terms of features such as image rotation invariance and independence from a reference point (usually, the "core", or center of the fingerprint pattern). The accuracy of the algorithm, print matching speed, robustness to poor image quality, and the characteristics noted above are critical elements of system performance. Fingerprint matching has an enormous computational burden. Some larger AFIS vendors deploy custom hardware while others use software to attain matching speed and throughput. In general, it is desirable to have, at the least, a two-stage search. The first stage will generally make use of global fingerprint characteristics while the second stage is the minutia matcher. In any case, the search systems return results with some numerical measure of the probability of a match (a "score"). In ten-print searching, using a "search threshold" parameter to increase accuracy, there should seldom be more than a single candidate unless there are multiple records from the same candidate in the database. Many systems use a broader search in order to reduce the number of missed identifications, and these searches can return from one to ten possible matches. Latent to tenprint searching will frequently return many (often fifty or more) candidates because of limited and poor quality input data. The confirmation of system-suggested candidates is usually performed by a technician in forensic systems. In recent years,{{When, date=May 2014 though, "lights-out" or "auto-confirm" algorithms produce "identified" or "non-identified" responses without a human operator looking at the prints, provided the matching score is high enough. "Lights-out" or "auto-confirm" is often used in civil identification systems, and is increasingly used in criminal identification systems as well.


Skepticism

For many years, the
FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...
have presented the claim that fingerprint identification is a fully accurate and dependable source for profiling and identification. The belief in this technique was based on the assumption that there are no two fingerprints that are the same and that every person has their own unique pattern. However, there is no scientific evidence or studies that have been done to support this claim.Frontline. (2012). "The Real CSI." 17 April 2012. Web. 20 August 2018. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91GbKc0ijHU This can also be applied to other forms of forensic identification, such as bite mark analysis — also known as forensic dentistry, which can be seen in a case o
Levon Brooks
In terms of fingerprint identification,
FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...
agents who are responsible for examining the prints to determine the points of similarity in order to tell if they have secured a match, varies from examiner to examiner and from laboratory to laboratory. The decision process, unfortunately, is entirely subjective to the individual running the tests and there is no way to ensure that the examiner will not be susceptible to observer bias. In 2004, after the Madrid train bombings, there were partial fingerprints identified from the bags of the explosives that had been left at the station. After careful consideration, it was determined by the
FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...
that the fingerprints left on the bag had matched to an individual in Portland, Oregon named
Brandon Mayfield Brandon Mayfield (born July 15, 1966) is a Muslim-American convert in Washington County, Oregon, who was wrongfully detained in connection with the 2004 Madrid train bombings on the basis of a faulty fingerprint match. On May 6, 2004, the FBI ar ...
. This case, however, went on to change the entire outlook of fingerprint identification within the FBI, as it was later determined that he had been wrongly arrested. Because of this, the FBI is no longer able to testify that fingerprint identification is a 100% accurate technique for profiling, and should therefore be considered very carefully by anyone who uses it.


See also

*
EURODAC European Dactyloscopy (Eurodac) is the European Union (EU) fingerprint database for identifying asylum seekers and irregular border-crossers. After the European Parliament approved the last EURODAC reform poposed by far-right party Vox (December 2 ...
, an EU-wide system for storing and matching fingerprints of asylum seekers *
Fingerprint recognition 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 ...
* Fingerprint Verification Competition *
Pattern recognition Pattern recognition is the automated recognition of patterns and regularities in data. It has applications in statistical data analysis, signal processing, image analysis, information retrieval, bioinformatics, data compression, computer graphi ...


References


External links


Screen shot of AFIS system used in Peru
as of January 2007. From the articl
Peru now uses AFIS fingerprint system ...
Retrieved 2010-05-10.

Belarus
Online Fingerprint Identification sdk
Saurabh
SourceAFIS fingerprint matcher
Biometrics Forensic techniques Fingerprints