Why Fingerprints are so Good for use in Biometrics
To understand why fingerprints are so good for use in biometrics
you must first learn what makes a fingerprint unique. Below
is a picture of a fingerprint. All the lines and patterns
are unique.
There are many criteria that must be accounted for before
a physical or behavioral trait can be considered suitable
for use in biometrics. Perhaps the most important criteria
are individuality and permanence. Fingerprints have been well
proven on both counts.
The main two criteria that make fingerprints so suitable
for biometrics are their individuality and permanence.
Individuality
Fingerprints have been routinely compared worldwide for more
than 140 years. In that time, no two fingerprints on any two
persons (including identical twins) have been found to be identical.
In fact, a piece of skin from your fingers, palms, or soles
of your feet that measures no bigger than the size of a 10c
piece ($AU) will contain enough information to positively
identify you from every other person on the planet.
Permanence
Fingerprint ridges are formed during the 3rd to 4th month of
fetal development. These ridges consist of individual characteristics,
including ridge endings, whorls, bifurcations and dots.
After the fingerprint is formed its individual characteristics
never change for the rest of your life. They simply expand
proportionately in all directions as you grow, meaning that
your fingerprint maintains a proportionate scale for its entire
existence. |
