Fingerprint Biometrics

Harnessing the power of Fingerprint Biometrics

Fingerprint recognition is the most effective and largely utilised method of biometrics used to identify and verify the identity of an individual. This is because fingerprints are one of those inexplicable twists of nature that all human beings happen to naturally have built-in, literally at their fingertips. All humans have tiny ridges and valleys of skin on their fingertips, formed through a combination of genetic and environmental factors, building unique fingerprints for each human being. Even identical twins have unique fingerprints. Such unique biometric trait set the platform to build fingerprint recognition systems. Over the several years of advancement in finger recognition technology, several types of fingerprint sensors like Optical, Ultrasonic, Passive capacitance, Active capacitance etc. were industrialized. Optical fingerprint sensors use imaging technology, capturing a digital image of the print using visible light. Ultrasonic sensors make use of the principles of medical ultrasonography using very high frequency sound waves in order to create visual images of the fingerprints. Capacitance sensors rely on principles associated with capacitance in order to form fingerprint images. To function accurately, the fingerprint scanner systems are coupled with software that uses highly complex algorithms to recognize and analyse the captured fingerprint image. Benefits of fingerprint identification technology in automation systems include:

• A fingerprint cannot be guessed like guessing a password 
• Fingerprints are much harder to fake than identity cards 
• Fingerprints cannot be misplaced like misplacing an access card 
• Fingerprints cannot be forgotten like forgetting a password 
• Comparatively small space is required to store a biometric template 
• More history, research, and design 
• Relatively inexpensive with high levels of accuracy 

Effective usage of fingerprint identification technology: Fingerprint identification is widely accepted in, Law Enforcement Forensics, Civil Identification, Background Checking, Employment, Adoption/Foster Parenting, Border Control/Visa Issuance, work force management, Physical Access Control, Logical/Network Access Control, Identity Verification for International Travel Documents (passports, visas), Device Access Control (e.g., PDAs, mobile devices), Identity Theft Protection, Payments Authorization etc.