Fingerprint

:This article is about human fingerprints. See also Fingerprint (disambiguation).

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A fingerprint is an imprint made by the pattern of skin on the pad of a human finger. These ridges are commonly believed to provide traction for grasping objects. No two humans, not even identical twins, have ever been found to have identical fingerprints.

Related Topics:
Finger - Twins

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Fingerprints are widely believed to be unique. Also, fingerprints do not change significantly with age. If a finger is damaged, it will normally heal in such a way that the fingerprint is restored. Because of these characteristics, a person's fingerprint can be used as a method to identify human individuals.

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Fingerprints (or more commonly, footprints) are sometimes used to identify infants, though this practice is not as common as it used to be, especially with DNA identification becoming more commonplace.

Related Topics:
Infants - DNA identification

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Fingerprints are an early example of biometrics, the science of identifying individuals by their physical characteristics. There is no clear date at which fingerprinting was first used, some examples being from prehistory. However, some significant modern dates are as follows.

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• 1880: Dr. Henry Faulds published his first paper on the subject in the scientific journal Nature in 1880. Returning to Britain in 1886, he offered the concept to the Metropolitan Police in London but was dismissed.
• 1892: Sir Francis Galton published a detailed statistical model of fingerprint analysis and identification and encouraged its use in forensic science in his book Finger Prints.
• 1892: Juan Vucetich, an Argentine police officer who had been studying Galton pattern types for a year, made the first criminal fingerprint identification. He successfully proved guilty Francisca Rojas, who had murdered her two sons, finding her bloody fingerprint in the crime scene.
• 1901: Sir Edward Henry devised the Henry Classification System used in England and Wales.
• 1902: Dr. Henry P. DeForrest used fingerprinting in the New York Civil Service.

Recently the American Federal Bureau of Investigation adopted the D9/7 wavelet-based system for efficient storage of fingerprint data, developed by Ingrid Daubechies. The FBI manages a fingerprint database called IAFIS, which currently holds the fingerprints of over one hundred and ninety-eight million subjects.

Related Topics:
Federal Bureau of Investigation - D9/7 - Wavelet - Ingrid Daubechies - IAFIS

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In the 2000s, electronic fingerprint readers have been introduced for security applications such as identification of computer users (log-in authentication). However, early devices have been discovered to be vulnerable to quite simple methods of deception, such as fake fingerprints cast in gels.

Related Topics:
2000s - Gel

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There is some controversy over the uniqueness of fingerprints. Even those who accept their uniqueness sometimes argue that the techniques used to compare fingerprints are fallible.

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Fingerprint analysis (or Dactylography, a term mainly used in the US) is the science of using fingerprints to uniquely identify someone. The pattern of ridges is thought to be unique for each person and in practice, has proved unique enough to identify the person who left the fingerprint.

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When a person touches something with his fingers, there will usually be an visible or invisible residue left on the touched surface. The residue is patterned as a copy of the person's fingerprint and can be collected for visual study and comparison. Traditionally, finely ground powders of chalk or coal have been used to make the fingerprint clearly visible. The powder adheres to the fingerprint residue but not the surrounding surface. Sometimes the prints are invisible, in which case they are called "latent fingerprints". There are chemical techniques such as cyanoacrylate fuming and ninhydrin spray that can help make them visible.

Related Topics:
Chalk - Coal - Cyanoacrylate - Ninhydrin

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Fingerprints collected at a crime scene can be used in forensic science to identify suspects.

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Fingerprint analysis emerged in the late 19th century, when it was the first method in forensic science for unique identification. As a result of its early success, it acquired a mystique of infallibility. It has only recently been subjected to systematic analysis by investigators from outside the field.

Related Topics:
19th century - Forensic science

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Fingerprint examiners have certainly disagreed with one another: the case of Shirley McKie was a notable case involving fingerprints. Experienced fingerprint experts have also made mistakes, one of the most recent and newsworthy erroneous identifications was made by the FBI linking one Brandon Mayfield to the Madrid bombings!

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Fingerprint: William West ►