National Automated Fingerprint Identification System (NAFIS)

1. About

• According to the Ministry of Home Affairs, NAFIS, which was developed by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), would help in the quick and easy disposal of cases with the help of a centralized fingerprint database.
• Conceptualized and managed by the NCRB at the Central Fingerprint Bureau (CFPB) in New Delhi, the National Automated Fingerprints Identification System (NAFIS) project is a country-wide searchable database of crime- and criminal-related fingerprints. 
• The web-based application functions as a central information repository by consolidating fingerprint data from all states and Union Territories.
• According to a 2020 report by the NCRB, it enables law enforcement agencies to upload, trace, and retrieve data from the database in real-time on a 24×7 basis.
• NAFIS assigns a unique 10-digit National Fingerprint Number (NFN) to each person arrested for a crime. 
• This unique ID will be used for the person’s lifetime, and different crimes registered under different FIRs will be linked to the same NFN. 
• The 2020 report states that the ID’s first two digits will be that of the state code in which the person arrested for a crime is registered, followed by a sequence number.
• By automating the collection, storage, and matching of fingerprints, along with digitizing the records of fingerprint data, NAFIS will “provide the much-needed unique identifier for every arrested person in the CCTNS (Crime and Criminal Tracking Network & Systems) database as both are connected at the backend,”.

2. Historical context of India's reliance on Fingerprints

• A system of fingerprinting identification first emerged in colonial India, where it was tested before it spread to Europe and beyond.
• At first, it was used by British colonial officials for administrative rather than criminal purposes.
• William Herschel, the chief administrator of the Hooghly district of Bengal, from the late-middle 1800s onwards, used fingerprinting to reduce fraud and forgeries, to ensure that the correct person was receiving government pensions, signing land transfer deeds, and mortgage bonds.
• The growing use of fingerprinting was deeply tied to how 19th-century British officials understood crime in India.

3. The formalization of the technology post-independence

• Upon the recommendations of the National Police Commission in 1986, the Central Fingerprint Bureau first began to automate the fingerprint database.
• It began with digitizing the existing manual records through India’s first Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFI) in 1992, called Fingerprint Analysis & Criminal Tracing System (FACTS 1.0).
• The latest iteration, FACTS 5.0, which was upgraded in 2007, was considered to have “outlived its shelf life”, according to a 2018 report by the NCRB and thus needed to be replaced by NAFIS.

4. Evolution of National Automated Fingerprint Identification System

• Upon the recommendations of the National Police Commission in 1986, the Central Fingerprint Bureau first began to automate the fingerprint database by digitizing the existing manual records. 

• FACTS 1.0:

• Digitization was carried out through India’s first Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFI) in 1992, called Fingerprint Analysis & Criminal Tracking System (FACTS 1.0)

• FACTS 5.0:

• The latest iteration, FACTS 5.0, which was upgraded in 2007, was considered to have “outlived its shelf life”, according to a 2018 report by the NCRB and thus needed to be replaced by NAFIS.

5. The evolution of fingerprint to fight crime in India

• The uniqueness of every individual’s fingerprints was first proposed in Europe by the German anatomist Johann Mayer in 1788 and was confirmed through detailed studies by the Scottish doctor Henry Faulds around the same time that Herschel had begun to implement fingerprinting as a means of identification in Bengal.
• Tracing a single set of fingerprints from a large collection of fingerprint cards required a workable system of classification.
• While similar attempts were made in England and beyond, the Bengal Police were able to create fingerprint records which replaced the use of anthropometric measurements by 1897, when the world’s first Fingerprint Bureau was established in Calcutta, four years before a similar decision was taken in England.
• The Inspector General of the Bengal Police, Edward Henry, recruited two Indian sub-inspectors, Aziz-ul-Haq and H C Bose, for this task.
• It was Haq who first devised a system of primary classification and a system for indexing names in court conviction registers.
• Henry, however, declined to acknowledge the crucial contributions of his Indian subordinates when he presented the so-called “Henry System of Classification” in England in 1901, and established a fingerprint bureau in Scotland Yard.
• It was only in 1925 that Henry admitted the invaluable efforts of Haq and Bose to the system of classification, for which the colonial state bestowed on them the titles of Khan Bahadur and Rai Bahadur respectively.

6. Advantages of fingerprint recognition

• Security – security-wise, it is a vast improvement on passwords and identity cards. Fingerprints are much harder to fake, they also change very little over a lifetime, so the data remains current for much longer than photos and passwords.  

• Ease of use – for the user they are simple and easy to use. No more struggling to remember your last password or being locked out due to leaving your photo ID at home. Your fingerprints are always with you.  

• Non-transferable – fingerprints are non-transferrable, ruling out the sharing of passwords or ‘clocking in’ on behalf of another colleague. This allows for more accurate tracking of the workforce and provides additional security against the theft of sensitive materials.  

• Accountability – using fingerprint recognition also provides a higher level of accountability at work. Biometric proof you have been present when a situation or incident has occurred is hard to refute and can be used as evidence if required.  

• Cost-effective – from a technology management perspective, fingerprint recognition is now a cost-effective security solution. Small hand-held scanners are easy to set up and benefit from a high level of accuracy.   

7. Disadvantages of the fingerprint technology

• System failures – scanners are subject to the same technical failures and limitations as all other electronic identification systems such as power outages, errors and environmental factors.  

• Cost – it is true that fingerprint recognition systems are more cost-effective than ever, but for smaller organisations, the cost of implementation and maintenance can still be a barrier to implementation. This disadvantage is lessening as devices become more cost-effective and affordable. 

• Exclusions – while fingerprints remain relatively stable over a person’s lifetime there are sections of the population that will be excluded from using the system. For example, older people with a history of manual work may struggle to register worn prints into a system or people who have suffered the loss of fingers or hands would be excluded.