The role of fingerprinting in modern identification

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In an era of fraud and fakes, fingerprinting is one of the few (almost) fake-proof identification methods, and despite being around for centuries, it continues to thrive. Used daily to open phones and convict criminals, it is a widely used tool for crossing borders and is soon to be introduced by the EU for non-EU citizens when entering the Schengen area.

Unlike regular passwords, PINS or passports, fingerprints are unique and hard to copy, making them a strong choice for security. They sit in the family of biometrics that includes facial and vocal recognition, iris scans and vein patterns. It is increasingly used because it is so accurate and impossible to fake. There is also a growing trend for its use in the payment sector.

Fingerprints are the impressions left by the friction ridge skin at the tips of fingers, which is unique to each person. Long gone are the days of putting ink on fingers, and these days fingerprint readers capture fingerprint images using optical sensors. Capturing the image correctly is crucial to determining the final image quality, which is in turn necessary to ensure the system works.

The international standard for finger image data, ISO/IEC 29794-4, specifies finger image quality measures to ensure the images are good enough for recognition. International standards define the requirements for much of biometric technology, such as fingerprinting so that they are safe, performant and interoperable worldwide.

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