The Technology of Facial Recognition

by Andrea Campbell

Television and movies are famous for zeroing in on the technologies of the present and future. Some are outrageous such as the vertical mid-air computer manipulation screens and the holograms used for facial reconstruction--fascinating but most cities’ law enforcement and forensic science divisions are cash-strapped, so fantasy is more the reality. There is one thing though that criminal justice has been good at, and that’s compiling information, mainly data in regards to identification.

The History of Identification

In 1924, the Criminal Justice Information Services created an FBI Identification division that began with the collection of fingerprints. Prior to that, things were fairly unsophisticated and rather chaotic in terms of holes--states were responsible for their own mug shots and fingerprint collections and since information was collected manually, if a perpetrator crossed state lines, his slate was temporarily clean. The need for centralization and an organized repository wasn’t really met until as late as 1999. Instead of mug shots, photographs and criminal history traveling through the U.S. mail and processed manually, the IAFIS (Integrated Automated Fingerprint System), system improved all that. Now with the launch of IAFIS, it made it easy to search, process and store data electronically. Wherever a suspect went, his identification could follow.

The New Generation

With the advent of a growing demand for identification services, the FBI stepped up its criminal justice data system with its new Next Generation Identification or NGI program. Previously, the technology infrastructure was fast becoming obsolete. Just as you have to stay current with upgrading your computer software and equipment--with all the identification requests the FBI receives, they were struggling to fulfill their mission. So while NGI attempts to shore up its reputation, staying a global leader in biometrics is a feat. Because biometric submissions come from tribal, local, state, federal, international and other intelligence systems, the rapidly expanding database is a race--and the timeline for upgrade was posed as a multi-year time frame developed with incremental phases (or one step at a time).

Our Identification Rights

Generally what happens as new technologies evolve, its development has a tendency to stop on people’s rights, that is to say, their right to privacy, searches or just by being required to submit to varied forms of ID.

There are federal codes however, that provide much-needed authorization for such information and it can be found in U.S. Code, number 28 to be more precise, and it outlines how to acquire, collect, classify and preserve such identification and crime records. The exchange of this data between agencies must follow guidelines set out in section 534 of the same code, and section 3771 outlines the authorization for the FBI director to develop new approaches, techniques and devices.

Several of the program increments for the NGI platform have been completed like: increasing the true match rate of fingerprints to 99.6 percent and providing the ability to process less than ten prints as well. Another program named RISC (or the: Repository for Individual of Special Concern) was also completed that helps to ID wanted persons, suspected terrorists, persons of special interest and sex offenders. A National Palm Print directory is on the agenda for next spring, 2013, and Increment 4 called Rap Back, Facial and Scars, Marks and Tattoo search capabilities should be up and running summer 2014. The National Rap Back service is all about notifying searchers about folks who are already in the criminal system, and will include Facial and SMT--Scars, Marks and Tattoo--designs for investigation purposes.

Next Generation for Facial Recognition

A pilot program debuted in 2012 for facial recognition, but should be fully operational summer of 2014. This will make possible image-based facial recognition searches of the FBI’s national repository. What comes back from a search will be a list of candidates to investigate. The bank of photos are based on criminal mug shots that were taken as a part of the booking process during arrest. The concerns have been that photos from other sources like Facebook, or surveillance cameras would be used but the FBI site says they will not use those as sources. Currently the National Repository holds approximately 12.8 million searchable frontal photos. The FBI claim that only authorized criminal justice agencies can query, and the requests are processed in what’s referred to as a, “lights out” manner, meaning that no one person prepares the ranked candidates list--it is constructed without human intervention.

A government act called the “Interstate Photo System Privacy Impact Assessment” (PIA) is in a renewable phase as any evolutionary changes that have since come into fruition will be reevaluated since June 2008. States that have already sampled the facial recognition as part of a pilot program will still need to execute a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that reiterates why they need the information and how they intend to use it. The Facial Recognition pilot should be fully functional summer 2014.

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What’s in a Face? Biometrics and Facial Identification

by Andrea Campbell 

We've all seen facial biometrics in the movies where a security camera picks out a terrorist subject or supposed perpetrator, reads their face and maps out a facial recognition identifier for law enforcement. It’s really flashy, cool and fast. Does it work that way? Well, yes and no. Let’s start at the beginning. 

Security and Biometrics

In the past, security measures have used a card, a token or key to get into closed doors. Other methods involve a password, code or something you must type in, like a series of numbers. The goal for biometrics is heightened security; meaning, it involves the identity of an actual person to gain entry. The word biometrics means it is some physical characteristic, or personal trait used to trigger an automatic recognition. We already use biometrics with fingerprints, a written signature, voice recognition or a retinal scan. Other lesser-used body differentials are someone’s gait, their ears, hand or finger geometry, or even their odor.


Several Keys

The key to biometrics' usefulness is that the characteristic must be measurable, and once presented to a sensor, can be converted into a quantifiable digital format. It is only good if it can be automated down to a number of seconds for retrieval. A system is called robust, if it can read traits that are subject to change. For example, the iris of the eye won’t change significantly over time, and it is more robust than someone’s voice. Plus, the more distinctive the identifier is, the better. A retinal scan would be more distinctive than hand or finger geometry.

Biometrics needs to perform two functions: identify and verify. In order to satisfy an identification it must work against records in a database, which it can search through for results, such as mugshots that are used by police. This comparison is called a "one to many" search and presents a best match result. Verification, on the other hand, is a system that relies on input from the user, generally via the password or another form of identity. This would be a "one to one" search, such as would be done with a computer allowing someone access using a private code. 

Did You Know? 


The police in Tampa Bay, Florida, used Indentix’s facial recognition software to screen at Super Bowl XXXV in January 2001. The search was for potential terrorists and criminals in attendance. The results? The system found 19 people with pending arrest warrants. Facial recognition is often able to operate with the used of surveillance cameras or closed circuit television (CCTV).

(Photo Courtesy of the Federal Bureau of Investigation) 

How Does It Work?

Facial recognition can be used to locate criminals, terrorists or missing children by using a five-step methodology. First, the image must be captured. This can be accomplished by scanning a photograph or using a camera to acquire a live picture of a subject. Fast moving video can also be turned into still shots. Next the software program seeks to detect the location of any faces in the acquired image, and it looks for two eyes and a mouth set into an oval shape. Once a face has been targeted, it is analyzed using spatial geometry. There are different methods available depending on the software, but this it is commonly referred to as the eigenface method. The system has templates that generate unique features for comparisons. That is to say, algorithms identify faces by extracting the landmarks of someone’s face and using the relative position, size and shape of eyes, nose, cheekbones and jaw. In other words, it measures the distance between the eyes, the depth of eye sockets, the shape of cheekbones, etc., but it actually ignores facial hair or hairstyles. These are then compared to a database of known faces, and finally, the scores are looked at by the end user for a determination. 

Better Than People


The software algorithms are generally better than people estimations. People are very good at recognizing people they know from surveillance film. With unfamiliar faces, however, not so good. The reasons for this are believed to be that people just aren’t good at it and they have a short attention span. To test this point, a British study used trained supermarket cashiers to screen shoppers. The shoppers were of four types. One had a shopping card with a recent photo, another had a card with modifications to their photo such as a minor hairstyle change or the addition of glasses. A third shopper’s card was issued that was actually of a different person who resembled them somewhat, and, finally, a shopper was issued a card where the only similar characteristic was the same sex and race as the shopper.

When the various cards were presented to the checkout clerks, more than half of the fraudulent cards were accepted. The breakdown was as follows. 34 percent of the cards that did not look like the shopper were accepted, 14 percent of the cards where the appearance had been altered were accepted, and 7 percent of the unchanged cards were rejected by the clerks. Time plays a factor too, as a human being's ability to detect critical signals drops rapidly after the start of a task, so that within 35 minutes their focus to task drops significantly. 

Current Uses 


A London borough uses a CCTV system, German Federal Police use it at a fully automated border station at an airport, Australia also has a system called SmartGate, and casinos and United States law enforcement agencies employ systems. It’s also been used at highly publicized trials, and to ensure fair counts for elections in Mexico.

The IAFIS (Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System) has an Interstate Photo File of 9,695,672 photos for over 5,629,772 records. The U.S. Department of State operates one of the largest face recognition systems in the world with more than 75 million photographs, and it is actively used for visa processing.

Results Are Weaker


The results of biometric facial recognition are still weaker and less efficient than the other methods, but police like it because it doesn’t require aid or consent from the test subject, and it can be installed in public places. 

Faces Are Public 


How do you feel about having your image captured, however? There is some controversy, but the privacy issue raised here is not protected by the U.S. Constitution. Under current law, the type of facial recognition used by law enforcement to monitor public places is legal because according to the United States Supreme Court, a person does not have a reasonable expectation of privacy because the physical characteristics used, such as one’s facial characteristics, voice, and handwriting, are constantly exposed to the public. 

New Technology 

A newly emerging trend, claimed to achieve previously unseen accuracies, is three-dimensional face recognition. This technique uses 3-D sensors to capture information about the shape of a face. You may also see technology developed as a security measure at ATMs, where a webcam image would be compared to a photo card.

When Madeleine McCann disappeared at Praia de Luz in Portugal, the British police asked visitors at the Ocean Club Resort to provide any photographs they may have taken in an attempt to identify the abductor of the missing child as part of the investigation, as some modern cameras have a focus and measure component.

Hey, even Facebook has a program that identifies faces in photos and allows you to tag other people you may know. I’m just saying, it’s going to be everywhere. 


Other Resource:

Bonsor, Kevin, and Ryan Johnson.  "How Facial Recognition Systems Work"  HowStuffWorks, January 2011.

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Retinal Scanning: An Aid to Identification is Here

by Andrea Campbell

We’ve all seen the futuristic movies with the retinal scanners—usually a chemist character uses the eye reader as a way to enter a facility that houses dangerous chemicals. The camera quickly scans the chemist’s eye and with a swoosh he is admitted into the secure room. Cool, huh? Well, the future is already here.

Biometrics

Reading the iris of a person’s eye with retinal scanning is part of identification that is referred to as “biometrics.” Identification through biometrics uses a biological, physiological, or behavioral characteristic in order to confirm a person’s identity. Fingerprinting is the best known, including today’s automated clear screen systems that can read prints without having to ink-up the hand. Under the umbrella of biometrics is also DNA matching, voice recognition, handwriting analysis, facial reading or recognition programs, and, of course, iris and retinal scans.

According to the U.S. Patent service, using the iris as a biometric marker was researched and patented by Drs. Leonard Flom and Aram Safir in 1987. Because of the Flom and Safir patent, and the lack of a publicly accessible data set of images, little further research or information existed until later on when in 1994, Dr. John Daugman of Cambridge University, produced the mathematical formulas—the Daugman algorithm—which are used to measure the varying characteristics that are etched into the human eye.

Then the Iris Challenge Evaluation (ICE) emerged in 2006. A face recognition and vendor test, ICE was a survey of research used to determine the state-of-the-art capability of automatic iris recognition technology, and a way to establish a performance baseline against which to measure future progress. The independent evaluations have provided an unbiased assessment of the state-of-the-art in the technology and have identified the most promising approaches. If you like to decipher complicated reports you can pick up one here:

http://iris.nist.gov/ice/ice2006.htm

Usage

The National Institute of Justice says that retinal scanning can be used for confirming and securing the identity of individuals for:

• Court appearances

• Inmate processing

• Identification of visitors to any justice facility or educational institution

• Confirmation of identification of those with multiple, false or no identity documentation

• Mortuary identification (especially in a critical incident)

• “Wants and warrants” verification

• Sex offender tracking

• Criminal history checks

• And queries across criminal justice information system databases

In the field, the collection of biometrics can help officers with routine duties such as traffic stops, it can eliminate the misidentification of subjects, save time and money by reducing transportation and processing for identification, and mobilize image captures and transmissions.

Pipe Dream Realized

In Golden, Colorado, the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office was looking for a new way to automate tracking of jail inmates. They needed a tool that was practical, accessible and easy to use. Special Duty Officer James Prichett explains, “In 2005, our jail had a capacity for 1,300 inmates and housed an average of 1,153. On a typical day, staff booked from 50 to 80 persons and handled the final release of approximately 50 inmates. Additionally, approximately 200 inmates were released daily from the facility with passes to work, seek employment, and pursue educational opportunities.” Jefferson County is not alone; these tracking activities are common to large corrections facilities.

But how would it work?

As explained in the law enforcement and corrections periodical Tech Beat, basically iris scanning begins by having the subject look into a mirror mounted on a stationary or handheld device. Using simple audio voice commands, the system gives the subject straightforward directions, such as “come closer,” or “step back,” in order to achieve proper positioning of the iris, which usually takes just a few seconds. Behind the mirror, a high-resolution digital camera captures the iris image, and the system tells the operator that successful capture has occurred. The device then makes an encoded template and compares it with all iris templates stored in the database.

"Once the system captures the iris image, matches are made in less than four seconds,” Prichett says. “Given a template match, indicating that the subject has been enrolled in the system, the operator may display on the device screen basic information about the inmate such as height, weight, date of birth, former address, and work-release facts. Once the system and our mainframe are integrated, perhaps within a year, information such as police record, gang affiliation, active warrants, photograph, and fingerprints will also be instantly available on the screen. If the subject is not already enrolled, the device prompts the operator to enter enrollment information.”

No inmate has been wrongly released or mismatched since the jail started relying on iris biometrics. Says Prichett, “Our experience at the jail is that iris scanning is fast, efficient, and accurate.”

How accurate is retinal scanning?

According to a report issued by Newswise and Loyola University Health System, in retinal scanning, a person looks into a scanner and a ray of light is reflected off the retina, at the back of the eye.

"The configuration of retinal blood vessels is unique to each individual and cannot be altered," says Dr. Brian Proctor, an ophthalmologist at Gottlieb Memorial Hospital in Melrose Park, Illinois.

“You can’t change the back of your eye, so it definitely is a proof-positive method of identification,” Proctor says. “Use of retinal scanning as a means of identification has been around for awhile; technology has now caught up with the idea and advanced computerization including database availability can make this a reality.”

Proctor regularly performs a version of retinal screening in the diagnosis and treatment of certain eye conditions and in preparation for complicated eye surgeries.

Several U. S. senators have proposed retinal scanning as an identification method to aid in immigration reform.

* * *

Sources: Newswise and Loyola University Health System

L. Flom and A. Safir, “Iris recognition system,” U.S. Patent 4,641,349, 1987.

Tech Beat National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center, Fall 2006 “The Eyes Have It”

Additional information about publications and resources relating to biometric technologies are available through the National Institute of Justice website at http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/nij/topics/biometrics/pubs.htm.

International Biometric Group, “Independent testing of iris recognition technology,”

International Biometric Group, Tech. Rep., May 2005. Available:

http://www.ibgweb.com/reports/public/ITIRT.html

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The Extreme Measures Taken to Hide Fingerprints

by Andrea Campbell

John Herbert Dillinger got an extraordinary share of newspaper headlines as a notorious bank robber in the 1930s. His violent gang terrorized the Midwest between fall 1933 and summer 1934. They robbed banks, killed 10 men, wounded seven others, and staged three jail breaks, during which Dillinger killed one sheriff and wounded two guards. It is believed that he tried to obliterate his fingertips, but FBI agents say they were still able to match what was left of his prints.

From the moment fingerprints became the most reliable way to identify criminals and match evidence to crime, criminals have been trying to get rid of them.

IT STARTS IN THE WOMB

Friction ridge patterns that create fingerprints start in about the fourth month of pregnancy. Their purpose is to help us grip objects we pick up. They remain the same throughout our lifetimes, although they  grow larger until we become adults. Then they stay distinctively ours until we decompose.
 

Jim Patten, a staff writer for The (Lawrence, Mass.) Eagle-Tribune, tells the story of Edgardo Tirado, who, in a February 7, 2008, drug arrest, surprised police when he took off his gloves in the booking room. Lawrence police Detective Daron Fraser says, “I thought right away this guy is hiding from something in his past and is not who he says he is.” When the gloves came off, Tirado showed the booking agent thick stitches in rows on the tips of his fingers and thumbs (photo right). His story wasn’t credible; he told officers the wounds came from defending himself in a knife fight and claimed the other man had cut his fingertips and thumbs. As to where the fight took place, he wouldn’t say. While the police had their doubts, next day information came in from an officer who had dealt with the man earlier.

 
According to reporter Mimi Hall, writing for USA TODAY, “It was after dark when Border Patrol agents in Douglas, Arizona, nabbed Mateo Cruz-Cruz allegedly jumping the fence from Mexico. At first, they noticed nothing unusual about his fingers. But when they got him to the station to take his prints, special operations supervisor Ulysses Duronslet says, the agents made a gruesome discovery: "The tips of the 25-year-old man’s fingers were blackened and burned.” Apparently, Cruz-Cruz had a prior conviction for sexual assault of a minor in Iowa and was deported in March of 2004.
 
Officials claim finding more and more criminals who alter their fingerprints by burning the tips, using acid or other corrosives. A 2007 federal court recently sentenced Dr. Jose L. Covarrubias, of Nogales, Mexico, to 18 months in prison for replacing the fingerprints of a fugitive named Marc T. George with skin from the bottom of his feet. Although a U.S. citizen, Dr. Covarrubias holds a Mexican medical license. The 49-year-old doctor faced a maximum sentence of five years in prison. George, a Jamaican national who was involved in a drug ring, was caught and arrested sneaking across the U.S.-Mexico border May 2006, bandaged and limping badly from the painful procedure. He was facing money-laundering charges.

Every time our government ratchets up efforts to catch and identify people, Manuel Padilla, chief border patrol agent in New Orleans, says: “Whenever we do something, there’s always a counteraction to try to beat it.” Since 9/11 and our government’s tightened security measures, more people are taking similar steps to erase fingerprints, just as John Dillinger did when he tried to burn off his prints with corrosive acid in the '30s. 

 WE COUNTER
 
 When officers suspect something suspicious while printing, they inquire further. Today, in more serious crimes, the printing procedure involves taking full palm prints. Eagle-Tribune writer Patten says that in 2006, police used facial recognition software technology at the Middleton jail to identify a prisoner who had bitten off his fingertips to avoid being deported. (Photo above left. Source: Andover Police Department and an IAI Presentation; Courtesy, Mr. K. J. Burke).
 

The software breaks up facial images and assigns them numeric values, similar to the AFIS system for fingerprints. Of course, in the case of Middleton jail, officials also took a digital picture of the prisoner's hands and fed the image into the computer.

IT'S EVERYWHERE
 

In Calais, France, migrants hoping to get into Great Britain are also mutilating their hands, often trying to remove layers of skin to prevent analysis. Prefect Gerard Gavory claimed that at least 57 asylum seekers questioned in the port town over the past few weeks “had their finger prints removed.” Often polyurethane glue or cuts with razors are used. The most common method however, was burning all 10 on a stove burner. In response, a joint database within the European Union, called Eurodoc, stores asylum-seekers' prints. Gavory added: “We're not sending them to their deaths, but towards peaceful zones. In organizing a return, we will be sending a strong signal to the Afghans. At the moment they have a sense of complete impunity in Calais.”

HOW TO SOLVE THIS PROBLEM?

Criminals often don’t realize that altering their fingertips in extreme ways also makes them more distinctive and, ironically, thus recognizable. History’s most famous case is Robert J. Phillips, aka Roscoe Pitts, who in 1941 had his fingertips sutured to his chest for weeks in an effort to smooth out his prints. A long time-criminal doing bank robberies and burglaries, Phillips made his New Jersey physician perform this painful operation. Phillips, however, was identified on the basis of the unaltered peripheral skin areas surrounding his fingertips and the pattern on the second joint of his fingers.

Another more recent example, this time rather successful, is Randolph Clifton Kling. Kling managed to obtain 83 driving licenses after altering both his appearance and thumb print. He got by for more than a decade, until finally arrested in 2000.

So what’s next? Likely biometrics — using patterns from the retina and iris. Facial recognition use is becoming more widespread; and, of course, vocal or voice recognition is always an option when circumstances merit. All these systems have their problems though, and so far, DNA is the most reliable. That is, until someone figures out how to manipulate our genes.

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