"Secondly, as I stated earlier, it is not possible to recreate a fingerprint using the numbers that are stored. The algorithm generates a unique number, producing no information of any use to identity thieves. I shall quote from a statement from the Information Commissioner’s Office—a thoroughly independent source—that says in the third paragraph:
“Full fingerprint images are not stored and cannot be generated (‘reverse engineered’) from the template.”
I hope that that is clear to all those listening, because it is an important reassurance on the points that the hon. Gentleman has made." ...absolutely crystal Jim.
1. Original fingerprint scan
2. Stored fingerprint template
3. Print reconstructed from templateApril 2007
(as shown on the Leave Them Kids Alone site)
2 comments:
At the public meeting held at Morley High School, parents were reassured that only a sequence of numbers would be stored and that it could not be reversed! This was clearly stated by the biometric salesman.
Also, on the BBC Radio 4 "You & Yours" interview with regards to the biometric system at Morley High School, MP Jim Knight stated the following:
"children are not fingerprinted, there is no ink pad, all that happens is that a long number is generated from part of the finger. That can't be reversed back into a fingerprint"
Fingerprint minutiae are an intermediate "half-way" house to a template. A template is non-reversible back to minutiae. Schools deciding whether to implement fingerprint systems should ask whether minutiae data are being stored in the system, or templates only. The drawback of storing templates only is that it may lock you in to a particular vendor's fingerprint technology (fingerprint images and minutiae are inter-operable). There are other systems, such as iris recognition in which a digital photograph of the eye is taken, which do not have the forensic connotations of fingerprint. These are coming down in price and are now competitive with fingerprint.
Post a Comment