FBI NGI (Next Generation Identification)
Definition
The FBI's biometric repository system, fully operational from 2015, replacing IAFIS. Contains over 175 million ten-print records, 30 million palmprint records, and associated iris, face, and SMT records. Operated by the FBI's Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) Division.
- Operator
- FBI CJIS Division
- Fully operational
- 2015
- Replaced
- IAFIS
- Ten-print records
- Over 175 million
- Palmprint records
- 30 million
Common questions
What did NGI add over IAFIS beyond just fingerprints?+
NGI expanded the repository to include palmprints, iris images, facial images and scars/marks/tattoos (SMT) data alongside ten-prints, and improved fingerprint matching accuracy, letting investigators search across multiple biometric modalities rather than fingerprints alone.
Who can submit searches to NGI, and are the records limited to convicted offenders?+
Authorized federal, state and local law enforcement agencies submit searches through CJIS. The database includes civil records such as background-check and licensing submissions in addition to criminal booking records, so not every entry represents a criminal history.
Related terms
- AFIS (Automated Fingerprint Identification System)
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- Bozorth3
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- Cold-Case Hit
- An AFIS identification event where a crime scene latent previously returned as no identification (NI) matches against a ten-print record enrolled into...
- I-24/7
- Interpol's secure global police communications network connecting 196 member countries. Used by national fingerprint bureaus to submit searches against and receive candidates...
- IDENT1
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- NAFIS (National Automated Fingerprint Identification System, India)
- The NCRB-operated national fingerprint database deployed from 2022, integrating criminal fingerprint records across all 28 state FSLs, 5 CFSLs, and state police...
- NIST ELFT-EFS (2012)
- The NIST Evaluation of Latent Fingerprint Technologies: Extended Feature Sets, a large-scale evaluation of both automated AFIS algorithms and human examiner performance....
- Similarity Score
- The numerical output of an AFIS matching algorithm indicating the degree of minutiae correspondence between a query and a candidate. Higher scores...
- UIDAI Aadhaar Biometric Repository
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