To all,
"Palm Prints May Finger Crooks"
Wired News Online (11/02/99); Philipkoski, Kristen
NEC Technologies announced on Nov. 1 that its Automated
Palmprint Identification System (APIS) is ready for use. APIS
will enable law enforcers to use a high-speed computer system
to compare and match palmprints found at the scene of a crime
to a remote database made up of prints taken when suspects are
booked. The San Francisco Police Department participated in an
18-month trial program with NEC, during which it compiled a
database of 30,000 palm prints. During the trial, the database
correctly matched 57 out of 80 palmprints, and listed the
correct identity of the print among the top three
possibilities 99 percent of the time. Michael Gaynor of the
SFPD said that APIS has enabled the department to increase its
crime scene identifications to 25 percent, a figure he
anticipates will increase to 35 percent. Law enforcement
agencies can purchase APIS for a cost of $1 million to $20
million, depending on options. Although APIS is already on
sale, NEC soon will link individual departments' databases to
the National Crime Information Center and the FBI, although
the Federal agency has no current plans to use APIS itself.
Marc Rotenberg of the Electronic Privacy Information Center
acknowledged that APIS could be a boon to law enforcers, but
cautioned that governments must take care not to misuse the
technology.
nlectc.org
steve |
