Fingerprints (was: Re: biometrics)

[ji at research.att.com]

Last week I had to go to my local INS office to get fingerprinted
(part of the green card process is getting your fingerprints OK'ed by
the FBI (and also presumably stored for future reference)).  The
process is computerised, with a low-res scan of all the fingers taken
once, and then each finger is individually rolled and scanned on a
much higher resolution scanner.  

The process took about 20-30 minutes;  each finger had to be wiped
with some cleaning fluid, the glass on top of the scanner also had to
be wiped between scans, and a fingerprinting technician had to roll
each of my fingers with the right amount of pressure to get a clear
image of the fingerprint.  Even with immediate feedback on a large
screen showing the fingerprint and how good the scan was, some fingers
took as many as five tries to get an acceptable fingerprint.

Now, this was a special-built device whose only purpose is to scan
fingerprints, operated under ideal conditions by a trained
technician.  Draw your own conclusions about the effectiveness of
mass-produced fingerprint scanners that would be integrated in other
devices.

/ji

--
 /\  ASCII ribbon  |  John "JI" Ioannidis * Secure Systems Research Department
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