The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has announced that it will include a biometrics concept based on iris recognition in the agency’s portfolio of personal identification services for law enforcement entities.
The FBI Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) recently launched a pilot effort on iris recognition in 2013 and plans to officially begin the new service in Oct. 2020, Federal News Network reported Wednesday.
Kimberly Del Greco, deputy assistant director for CJIS at the FBI, said that near-infrared cameras can be used to easily integrate iris imaging into current biometric procedures. Iris recognition currently generates an accuracy rate of higher than 99 percent, she added.
“The improved accuracy builds even more confidence in our systems and increases the ability for our partners to rely on face-recognition searches for vital investigative leads,” said Del Greco.
Scott Rago, the section chief of biometric services at CJIS, said law enforcement primarily collect iris images during the booking and fingerprinting process. These iris images, he added, need to be captured in with a near-infrared camera and taken less than two feet away from the subject.
The FBI is also working on leveraging machine learning and artificial intelligence to detect manipulated fingerprint data.
