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Speed of fingerprint checking

  • 28-03-2018 12:16am
    #1
    Dublinandy2
    Closed Accounts Posts: 772 ✭✭✭


    Hi All,

    Just a question out of curiosity rather than anything else for those more intelligent than me.

    I spoke to a friend who came back from holiday and said on arrival at the airport they did the usual passport scan but also took a fingerprint and photo. He said the entire process was completed in under a minute which seems super fast to me.

    I did some googling but the only answers refer to prints at a crime scene that are not the same thing and a few articles about some police in the uk having mobile scanners to check fingerprints that check against a 12 million strong database.

    This just seems like a huge number so does anyone know, can a fingerprint/s really be che ked against potentially millions of others in a minute or two?


Comments

  • #2
    ED E
    Registered Users Posts: 36,163 ✭✭✭✭ED E


    Yes.

    Its not like on CSI, they dont see a screen flicker in front of them with millions of prints. A print when entered will be saved as some sort of hash or digest that can then be stored in a sorted table in a database. Same way your bank puts in your account number and instantly get your account they can instantly see which prints are close to the test print.

    Cant find the one the UK police use ("Lantern") which is smaller, but this is the same sort of thing.



  • #3
    Mellor
    Registered Users Posts: 38,998 ✭✭✭✭Mellor


    Dublinandy2 wrote: »
    I spoke to a friend who came back from holiday and said on arrival at the airport they did the usual passport scan but also took a fingerprint and photo. He said the entire process was completed in under a minute which seems super fast to me.
    In that case there were probably scanning his print range then checking it.
    And even if they were checking, they have his passport details, so they can they can go directly to the comparison data.

    I did some googling but the only answers refer to prints at a crime scene that are not the same thing and a few articles about some police in the uk having mobile scanners to check fingerprints that check against a 12 million strong database.

    This just seems like a huge number so does anyone know, can a fingerprint/s really be che ked against potentially millions of others in a minute or two?
    Take your mobile phone number for example. There are 10 Billion possible number combinations. Staggering amount. But it's pretty trivial to look your up if they are all stored in order. Digital searching makes that instant


  • #4
    Dublinandy2
    Closed Accounts Posts: 772 ✭✭✭Dublinandy2


    Mellor wrote: »
    In that case there were probably scanning his print range then checking it.
    And even if they were checking, they have his passport details, so they can they can go directly to the comparison data.



    Take your mobile phone number for example. There are 10 Billion possible number combinations. Staggering amount. But it's pretty trivial to look your up if they are all stored in order. Digital searching makes that instant

    Yeah, thanks and to the guy before. What you both say makes sense just makes me feel old that's all.

    Appreciate the responses.


  • #5
    Experience_day
    Registered Users Posts: 359 ✭✭Experience_day


    ED E wrote: »
    Yes.

    Its not like on CSI, they dont see a screen flicker in front of them with millions of prints. A print when entered will be saved as some sort of hash or digest that can then be stored in a sorted table in a database. Same way your bank puts in your account number and instantly get your account they can instantly see which prints are close to the test print.

    Cant find the one the UK police use ("Lantern") which is smaller, but this is the same sort of thing.


    That video is frightening.


  • #6
    Capt'n Midnight
    Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 90,657 Mod ✭✭✭✭Capt'n Midnight


    Thanks to megapixel cameras people have been able to extract fingerprints from selfies on facebook


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