Biometric modality: Fingerprint – key considerations
One-to-one (1:1) verification applications
Fingerprints have been used to authentic documents and establish the identity of signatories for centuries in many countries and cultures around the world. They have provided and continue to provide a reliable one-to-one (1:1) verification process especially in societies where illiteracy rates are high e.g. land contracts. This paper-based approach has been developed and modified in the modern era with the automatic scanning and authentication of fingerprints on electronic devices.
Fingerprint biometric applications have also spread beyond traditional law enforcement and border management functions and are now used in a variety of ways to manage identity and control access to premises, devices and systems throughout civil society.
NB See Sections 1 Overview (page 1) and 9 Annex (page 20) of the Biometrics Institute’s Understanding Biometrics guide for more information regarding one-to-one and one-to-many modes.
One-to-many (1:N) identification applications
Fingerprints are one of the oldest forms of biometric identification. The first manual classification systems were developed separately in Argentina and India in the 1890s and computerisation followed in the mid 20th century. As a result, fingerprints form the largest biometric databases globally. Matching a fingerprint or fingerprints to a record held in a large database is known as one-to-many (1:N) identification and automated fingerprint search systems have been deployed for a variety of different applications in many countries around the world to manage identity effectively in law enforcement, border management and civil registration systems. Civil registration systems are designed to provide a unique identity for each citizen and facilitate their engagement with government services and commercial entities alike. In modern digital economies biometric registration is being used to underpin digital transactions in the public and private sectors.
The ability of states to collect, search and potentially share fingerprints obtained from both their citizens and foreign nationals has, however, raised concerns regarding civil liberties and privacy rights (Refer to the Biometrics Institute Good Practice Framework B.1.1/3/4 and B.3.1 and the Biometrics Institute Three Laws of Biometrics – formulate policy then processes and then the technology).
Law enforcement applications
Law enforcement fingerprint databases usually comprise sets of finger and palm prints taken from persons arrested for offences as well as finger/palm marks (aka latent prints) recovered from crime scenes. The quality of these crime scene marks is highly variable and specialised AFIS algorithms are used to cope with this aspect. It should be noted that a standard biometric system designed for 10 Prints processing would not be able to search crime scene marks effectively without installing this extra software. The AFIS will produce a candidate list of potential matches that are subject to adjudication by expert examiners and, in common with DNA and increasingly face analysis, this entire process would normally be governed by a Quality Management System operating to International Standards Organization (ISO) protocols.
Fingerprint use cases | Fingerprint overview | Other modalities
