The Ultimate Biometric Of All
In my three years (perhaps even four, I have lost track) I have always made mention of the fact that the retina (or retinal recognition in our parlance) is deemed to be the “ultimate biometric of all”, given its huge amount of uniqueness and rich data. Heck, even scientific and medical studies have even confirmed that the retina amongst twins is different. And now, how unique is that? But hold your seats, there is still something yet coming out on the horizon: DNA Recognition.
While this still has some ways to go to be a proven biometric technology, it has made some substantial progress just within the last year. And I have kept all of you updated with the breakthroughs, and so today’s posting is another update. Here we go: “The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) published a revised biometric standard in November, 2011, that vastly expands the type and amount of information that forensic scientists can share across their international networks to identify victims or solve crimes . . . The new standard is the Data Format for the Interchange of Fingerprint, Facial & Other Biometric Information and is referenced as "ANSI/NIST-ITL 1-2011, NIST Special Publication 500-290." Earlier versions have been used throughout the UnitedStates and six continents to provide a common language and format for the exchange of biometric data and associated metadata—information about the biometric characteristics or how it was collected . . . This is the first international standard for the exchange of DNA data. DNA can be used for criminal case identification, such as in a rape case, or in a forensic setting to identify victims, such as those in a plane crash, where it is necessary to have an original DNA sample from the victim, or establish kinship by taking DNA samples from purported relatives. The standard handles both types of cases.” (SOURCE: http://www.findbiometrics.com/industry-news/i/9415/).
My Take
Now granted, this is really not a scientific or technical breakthrough for the use of DNA as a potential biometric. But as you can see from the above quote, what the real breakthrough is how biometric information and data can be exchanged across international borders. Some of the major law enforcement branches of our very own Federal Government, and even the government of Argentina is even starting to use this new standard. So, the immediate benefits are obvious for the law enforcement guys: The ease of sharing such data means now that the bad guys can be apprehended much quicker, no matter in what part of the world they are in.
But, this new standard is in a way, a breakthrough for DNA. This now mandates that the biometric information and data which is gleaned from DNA analysis can now be shared across international borders. So, let us fast forward now to years ahead, and imagine that DNA Recognition is now a viable biometric technology. With such unique and rich information already collected, it can now be transmitted to worldwide law enforcement agencies (especially Interpol) in just a matter of seconds. Now, officials can have the smoking gun to capture notorious suspects, especially terrorist suspects, in which they positive identification and/or verification is so crucial.
But, there are also a couple of other advantages which are now gained from this new standard. First, is what is known as the “Extended Feature Set”, which “ . . . allow for marking and exchanging a very rich set of latent ridge print—fingerprints, palmprints and footprints—information that ensures analysts use the same terminology, references and procedures to describe details such as pores and linear discontinuities.” (SOURCE: http://www.findbiometrics.com/industry-news/i/9415/).
Interesting to note here is that palmprints (I am assuming vein pattern recognition here), and even footprints are now included in the definition of Biometrics. With this, forensics experts can now share with each other, across international borders, images of entire body parts (yes, gross, but this is extremely crucial to forensics). Second, this standard now even allows for the “ . . . Information concerning the circumstances surrounding the collection of the biometric data can [to] be included.” (SOURCE: http://www.findbiometrics.com/industry-news/i/9415/). This means that any videos and audio with regards to Biometrics evidence, and even chain of custody logs can be shared within countries. This new standard is also, in the future, going to address other types of Biometrics such as Voice Biometrics and Dental Forensics.
Who knows, perhaps this attention could accelerate these fields into the limelight, and thus increase public acceptance of Biometrics in general. Now, as I mentioned before, this is not a laboratory achievement for the potential of DNA Recognition. But it is still a breakthrough, because the development of this standard by NIST means that DNA Recognition is now widely recognized as a potential Biometric. Now, we just have to make it a reality.
And once it does, the amount of evidential information it will release put courtrooms here in the United States and around the world in stand in awe to the swiftness of justice which can then be served.
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