Dactyloscopy

Short history of dactyloscopy

The idea of Englishman William Gershel about the invariance of the papillary drawing of palmar surfaces of skin of the person is the cornerstone of a method of dactyloscopy. The English anthropologist Francis Galton achieved introduction of dactyloscopy as a method of registration of criminal offenders in England in 1895. On April 18, 1902 dactyloscopy was for the first time applied in Denmark to identification of the criminal. The different countries of the world entered at themselves dactyloscopic methods within the next one and a half-two decades. France was one of the last. In Russia dactyloscopy is applied since 1906.

Since the end of the 20th years of the last century of FBI developed different automated systems of identification on fingerprints. The AFIS system was as a result created (Automated Fingerprint Identification System is the system of the automated identification of fingerprints). Originally the AFIS system was based on record of fingerprints on punched cards and had no opportunity to compare fingerprints, and automation consisted only in their classification by separate groups.

With the advent of the first operating system in the late seventies in FBI began to use scanning of cards with fingerprints. Using the AFIS system for identification at first rough comparison was carried out, then — exact, and then on the basis of the received results — final comparison by the visual analysis of prints by forensic experts. Development of the computer equipment allowed to use a fingerprint instead of the password for verification of the personality, providing thereby reliable protection of digital information against malefactors.

Dactyloscopy scopes

• Criminalistics.
• Data protection in separate computers and local networks.
• Strictly personified systems of vote (for example, in City Councils).
• Confirmation of the rights of the owner of the electronic card.
• The electronic signature in banking activities.
• Systems of accounting of working time.

Use of dactyloscopy for verification and data protection

Now fingerprint scanners are widely adopted. Dactyloscopy is the method of identification allowing to organize confidential data protection of the user without big costs. Readers of fingerprints install on notebooks, cell phones, in a mouse, keyboards, flash drives and also apply in the form of the separate external devices and terminals which are on sale complete with the AFIS systems.

The principle of operation of the fingerprint scanner includes four basic stages:

• record (scanning) of fingerprints;
• selection of parts of a papillary pattern on several points;
• conversion of the written characteristics to the corresponding form;
• comparison of the written biometric characteristics with a template;
• making decision on coincidence or mismatch of the written biometric sample with a template.

Classification of fingerprint scanners

1) Optical:

• FTIR scanners
• Fiber optic
• Optical lingering
• Roller
• Contactless

2) Semiconductor (semiconductors change properties in places of contact):

• Capacity
• Sensitive to pressure
• Thermo-scanners
• Radio-frequency
• Lingering thermo-scanners
• Capacity lingering
• Radio-frequency lingering

3) Ultrasonic (ultrasound returns through different periods, being reflected from grooves or lines).

Semiconductor and ultrasonic scanners are more high-speed, but the last more expensively and meet less often.

Advantages of use of dactyloscopy to verification and data protection

• Complexity of counterfeit of a print.
• Invariance of a print.
• Compactness of the scanner.
• Small volume of the identification code.

Examples of means of identification on a fingerprint

• Biosmart-FinGuard
• SACcat
• Secure Touch
• BioMouse
• BioLink U-Match Mouse