Digital fingerprint

A digital fingerprint is the drawing formed by the lines of the Peau of the Doigt S, the palms of the hand, the toes or the plant of the feet (dermoglyphes). A digital fingerprint is usually the deposit of substances eccrines left by the contact of the finger with a surface. It can however also be caused by substances present on surface, like pigments or other substances coloured or malleable (print in relief). A contamination of the finger by sébacées substances is also possible. One obtains it for example by applying Encre to the fingers then by supporting the fingers thus coated on a support (like Papier).

Quasi-single character of a digital fingerprint in fact a biometric tool very much used for the identification of the individuals in Legal medicine and for the Scientific police.

Indeed, the probability so that two people have the same digital fingerprint is very weak, even on the scale of the human population (several billion individuals). Francis Galton estimated at 1/64 billion the probability so that two individuals have the same digital fingerprints. Moreover, its character Aléatoire is freed from the risks of resemblances between individuals sharing the same genetic inheritance: individuals Homozygote S like twins or triplets for example will have each one a set of digital fingerprints which will be clean and different for them from that of the other individuals of the same phratry.

The digital fingerprints supplemented the analysis of the Anthropométrie.

History

The first use of the digital fingerprints as means of identification goes up with 1877 with the the Indies where the British William Herschel have the idea to use them to prevent that the recipients of pension of the army do not touch it several times. At that time, they are also used to authenticate official documents.

Sir Francis Galton improves this technique and Scotland Yard will open the first file of digital fingerprints in 1901 under the direction of the police chief Edward Henry.

In France, it is in 1902, after a special police investigation, that the digital fingerprints became one of the principal evidence at the time of the police investigations.

The criminologist Alphonse Bertillon, founder of the Anthropométrie suggested with the artists in 1914 affixing a digital fingerprint on their works to avoid any counterfeit.

In France, there exists since 2003 a Fichier automated of the digital fingerprints, computerized and centralized, held by the various French police forces.

Civil applications

Prospects in biometrics

Beyond the traditional Anthropometry (measurements, photograph, description, dermoglyphes…) the police service direct itself towards the constitution of files containing the other characteristics of an individual in order to be able to be sure to identify it completely. These files would contain:

the genetic prints (DNA),
iridal prints (iris),
voice prints…

Certain researchers even thought of establishing such files for the distinguishing marks (Tatouage S, beauty spots,…)

Notes and references of the article

See too

Biometrics

External bonds and documents