A dual approach that employs both fingerprint and facial recognition technology is the best option for a biometric system that would make the nation's borders more secure, according to scientists at the Department of Commerce's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).
The evaluations looked at two applications: the first is positively identifying visa applicants and the second is verifying that the holder of a visa is the person to whom the visa was issued.
Fingerprint performance was measured on an Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) database of 1.2 million prints of 620,000 individuals. The Face Recognition Vendor Tests (FRVT) 2002 measured face recognition performance of 10 vendors on a Department of State database of 121,000 images of 37,000 individuals.
Based on the evaluations, as well as practical considerations, the NIST recommends (1) the use of at least two fingerprints to positively identify visa applicants and (2) a dual system of face and fingerprints to verify the identities of visa holders at points of entry into the United States.
In its evaluation of possible future border crossing systems, NIST noted that each fingerprint or facial image would require 10 kilobytes or less of computer memory storage. A card with 32-kilobyte storage capacity could store two fingerprints and a facial image, and many existing smart cards easily could do the job.
NIST also recommends that any future visa system incorporate several existing information technology standards and specifications, including the use of public key infrastructure (PKI) systems that incorporate the Digital Signature Standard. This information scrambling would make the system tamper resistant.
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