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What is AFIS and why is it important to you and me?

(A) means automation. In the old days, a person used to have to compare two fingerprint cards to see if they matched. This “old” card system is being replaced by an automated system that can compare much faster and do much more than one person could manage at one time.

(F) means fingerprint. The fingerprint image can be captured using a card or a device that is a close cousin to a scanner. All fingerprints will eventually have to be in electronic format for the automated part to work, so the cards will be scanned.

(I) means identification. Someone is identified when the image of a fingerprint is compared to an image in the database. I say images, but as far as matching is concerned, there is usually much less information saved in the database than an actual image. There are features of fingerprints that can be saved and searched much faster than a real image.

(S) stands for system. This system is composed of computer and software. This can include scanning stations, review stations. There are many different components that work together to identify fingerprints in AFIS.

What is AFIS?

These systems are primarily used by law enforcement agencies and can be extremely large systems. The largest AFIS has hundreds of millions of fingerprints and can find matches in seconds. For this kind of processing power, systems can become quite complex.

Many agencies can come together to create one large AFIS that can be used by many people at the same time. This helps reduce costs for each agency and creates a much bigger and better system than if each agency set out to build its own AFIS. Most agencies will also network into other systems to increase efficiency and the chances of finding a match.

As time goes by, AFIS are getting faster and matching algorithms are getting more advanced and better as companies learn more and develop better systems.

Why is fingerprinting such an important aspect of identification? The most important characteristic of a fingerprint is that a fingerprint is unique in the whole world. In other words, there are no other fingerprints exactly like the ones on your fingers. Although not everyone in the world is in a fingerprint system, even the largest system does not have two fingerprints that are exactly the same. This makes it an ideal biometric (ie a feature of your body) because it can uniquely identify a single person.

Along with just the tips of the fingers, other prints are being added in AFIS, prints of palms and sides of the hand are being added.

Eventually, there will be other biometric data added to this vast ocean of fingerprint information. Iris and facial recognition to name two. DNA can even be used to identify individuals, especially since DNA is also another aspect of the human body that would be unique to every individual on the planet.

You may be wondering how AFIS works. Comparing images would be inefficient and tedious, even for a computer. Perhaps one day comparing images will make sense, but computers are not up to the task due to speed and bandwidth limitations. So what is used to compare and match fingerprints? Usually, it is only the characteristics of a fingerprint that are matched. This includes the points where the ridges end, the points where the ridges split, the direction the ridges are placed, and even the points. Selected key features are chosen in the fingerprint as minutiae points (about 200 of these are formed for a rolled fingerprint. Obviously, the more the merrier). It is these minutiae that are compared to find the best match for a fingerprint chosen by AFIS.

Fortunately, the computer never has the final say in a fingerprint match. Usually there has to be an examiner near the end of the matching process to check the computer to make sure it really is a match. At this time there is no substitute for a good examiner when it comes to deciding if two fingerprints are compatible.

After a match is found, the agency that requested the fingerprint search will usually receive a full disclosure of the person’s identity (called a rap sheet). All this can happen in less than 30 minutes. With the FBI’s new IAFIS system, this time can be drastically shortened.

AFIS is getting faster, so the time needed for a search will be shorter and shorter.

Why is AFIS important to you and me?

If you are a criminal, you may be more familiar with AFIS than you would like. If you’re not a criminal, then you may be wondering what AFIS has to do with you. Since fingerprints are such an easy biometric to capture, fingerprinting finds more and more applications in people’s daily lives, outside of legal matters.

For example, fingerprinting machines can be used to give access to areas that need to be secure, such as a government facility, a laboratory, dangerous areas where someone unfamiliar with what’s behind the door could be injured. , or even your own front door. Fingerprinting can work much better than the doorknob that has to have a key. The person who wants to gain access carries the door key with them at all times. Eliminates the need for someone to “remember your keys”. Their fingers remain on their bodies.

A fingerprint defect

Security brings up other interesting topics. Because the fingers can be removed or faked, alternative methods are still being developed. If fingerprinting were foolproof, there would be no need to record any other biometric data.

We’ve all seen the movie where the guard has his hand or finger removed and the criminal uses the appendage to get into restricted areas.

protect your property

Most people don’t realize they own their fingerprints and giving them to anyone who asks can be like giving them their favorite toy and never seeing it again. The problem with a fingerprint is that it could very well be used against you, so you should always be careful who you give it to. Make sure you do it for a good and just reason. For example, you have a job that requires you to place your finger on a finger-reading machine to enter the building where you work. This seems like fair compensation for getting into your workplace.

Most people don’t think about giving away their fingerprints. This article only recommends caution, not paranoia.

The future of fingerprints

The future of AFIS will be a machine that a person will walk into and retrieve all the biometric information, fingerprints, face, iris and really not have to do anything, just walk through it.

A machine like this would have a direct application in an airport. This machine would identify someone and then search a database of known terrorists and decide all sorts of things about the person before they even reached the end of the walking area. This would prevent a known terrorist or some other dangerous person from getting on a plane and causing trouble for a lot of people.

This same machine could also check people for dangerous or explosive devices on their person, or any other information the machine’s controllers cared to collect.

conclusion

AFIS is an exciting field of study. It is a field dominated by few companies and individuals due to the high level of technical knowledge that is required to build such a system. It is not for the lazy or the faint hearted. For more information, see the book “Automated Fingerprint Identification Systems (AFIS)” by Peter Komarinski. And remember what mom used to say all the time: “Keep your hands to yourself!”

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