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GCN Home > 08/15/05 issue

DHS to foreign visitors: Give me 10

By Alice Lipowicz, PostNewsweek Tech Media

Agency to start scanning, checking 10 fingerprints instead of just two

Homeland Security Department secretary Michael Chertoff’s new requirement that all first-time visitors to the United States provide 10 fingerprints—rather than the current two required from most—is getting high marks from security experts for its ability to provide more meticulous identification and improved security.

But the conversion is likely to be complex, the technology will be expensive to implement and the system could be inconvenient for incoming travelers, according to those same observers.

Chertoff announced the new standard last month as part of the strategy to overhaul the agency’s organization. The plan calls for first-time visitors to scan, or enroll, 10 prints, while subsequent visits would require only two fingerprints for verification.

“This will dramatically improve our ability to detect and thwart terrorists trying to enter the United States, with no significant increase in inconvenience,” Chertoff said.

Reaction has been mostly positive. Requiring 10 fingerprints “is a strong first step to identifying terrorists at our borders,” wrote the 13 Democrats on the House Homeland Security Committee in a response to Chertoff’s reorganization plan.

Improved compatibility

The 10-fingerprint standard has long been used by the FBI and has been recommended for identity verification systems by the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

Chertoff’s plan to provide a link between the two-fingerprint IDENT reference system used by the U.S. Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology program and the FBI’s Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification system comes after months of criticism from Congress, federal agencies and the media about incompatibilities between the systems.

One difference between the systems is that U.S. Visit now uses flat fingerprints while IAFIS uses rolled fingerprint images. The Justice Department’s inspector general issued a report last year stating that integrating the databases would take years and cost many millions of dollars, a position DHS rejected when it announced the two systems’ “integration” last October.

A key distinction between the systems is that IAFIS uses a fingerprint data exchange algorithm that provides a much more accurate match than IDENT, because IAFIS data must hold up in court rather than meet the lower accuracy standard required to deny a visa.

“Right now whenever a person submits the two fingerprints and they generate a hit on the two fingerprints that go against IDENT, they require them to give ten prints, for comparison with law enforcement databases [including IAFIS]. Then they can determine whether the hit was a significant issue,” according to a senior federal fingerprint system specialist, who added that some IDENT hits are trivial.

Diplomatic posts in Mexico have been using the 10-fingerprint process for all visa applicants since 1998, the specialist said. “This will reduce false positives and increase the accuracy of the process.”

More news on related topics: Authentication / Identity Management, Biometrics, Homeland Security, Identity Management, IT Management, IT Security



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