Biometrics identification? It’s everywhere right now, even in your pocket or handbag. You use it to unlock your mobile devices, make online purchases, and access secure facilities. Biometrics identification has stretched its benefits and use cases to national-scale projects.

Government institutions currently use an automated biometric identification system, abbreviated as ABIS. This system is used for national-scale or large-scale biometric identification. So, what is an automated biometric identification system? What are its use cases in national-scale projects? Read on to learn more.

ABIS: Automated Biometric Identification System

ABIS performs a one-to-many comparison of a probe (sample to samples) in a database with many biometric templates. Known as biometric identification, this process enables matching and comparison of a live sample against numerous existing biometric templates to discover a record of a given person and verify their identity.

Automated biometric identification isn't the same as one-to-one verification, which includes one user sample and one biometric template. An ABIS answers several key questions, including:

• Who are you?
• Are you really the one?

How an Automated Biometric Identification System Functions

An Automated biometric identification system compares different identifiers like iris, face, and fingerprint belonging to a person to existing samples in a database. Every individual’s iris, face, and fingerprint has unique features or characteristics.

That means it is easier to associate biometric modalities with a single individual. Biometric search utilizes algorithms that compare physical characteristics in probe samples to characteristics in stored or existing templates.

National-Scale Project Use Cases of ABIS

Two main types of ABIS exist in the public sector. They include:

Civil ABIS

Civil ABIS isn’t used for criminal investigation. This system doesn’t have the ability to submit video surveillance footage or latent fingerprints for search. Use cases for a civil automated biometric identification system primarily involve voluntary submission of biometrics as a section of an enrolment process. A good example is a border management system.

Civil ABIS can be used as an identity-proofing measure toward prevention of benefits fraud. They prevent individuals with existing identities from creating false aliases by collecting fingerprint samples or performing scams through facial recognition systems at the enrollment level.

Criminal ABIS

The main feature that makes criminal ABIS unique is its ability to analyze and process latent fingerprints and compare them against those of stored or existing databases of fingerprint samples. These days, video surveillance can be collected for comparison against stored facial image samples.

Law enforcement agencies currently enroll biometric data from suspects as part of the booking. They use examiner workstation applications in investigations to prepare biometric information for search. Also, they use it to interpret and refine outcomes.

Do you still want to learn more about an automated biometric identification system? Check a multi-biometric ABIS example here. You’ll learn more about biometric solutions that offer reliable and accurate civil identification based on iris, face, palmprint, and fingerprint recognition.