NGI
Definition
Next Generation Identification: the FBI's AFIS system launched 2014, successor to IAFIS; holds over 160 million ten-print criminal records plus palm prints, iris images, and face photos.
- Agency
- FBI
- Launched
- 2014
- Predecessor
- IAFIS
- Ten-print records
- Over 160 million
- Additional modalities
- Palm prints, iris images, face photos
Common questions
What did NGI add beyond fingerprint matching that IAFIS lacked?+
NGI expanded the FBI's biometric holdings to include palm prints, iris images, and facial photographs alongside ten-print records, allowing a single system to support multi-modal biometric searches rather than fingerprints alone.
Does an NGI match by itself establish identity in court?+
No. An NGI search returns a candidate list for human examiner review, and it is the examiner's independent comparison and conclusion, not the automated ranking, that is offered as evidence of identity.
Who can submit searches to NGI?+
Authorised federal, state, local, and international law enforcement and criminal justice agencies submit through established channels, and NGI also supports civil applicant background checks separate from criminal investigative searches.
Related terms
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- Analysis, Comparison, Evaluation, Verification: the four-stage method for latent print examination used by accredited forensic fingerprint laboratories. Analysis examines the latent in...
- AFIS
- Automated Fingerprint Identification System: a digital database and search engine that encodes friction ridge minutiae from ten-print cards and latent impressions, returning...
- Biometrics
- The measurement and statistical analysis of biological characteristics for identity verification or identification; forensic modalities include fingerprint, palm print, face, iris, voice,...
- ENFSI FWG
- ENFSI Fingerprint Working Group: the inter-laboratory coordination body within the European Network of Forensic Science Institutes that harmonises fingerprint examination methodology, runs...
- Forensic Voice Comparison
- The examination of two or more voice recordings to assess whether they share a common speaker source, using auditory-acoustic analysis and/or automatic...
- Galton Features
- The set of observable ridge events catalogued by Francis Galton in his 1892 monograph, including ridge endings, bifurcations, and enclosed formations. The...
- Henry Classification System
- The fingerprint filing and retrieval system developed by Edward Henry with Haque and Bose in Bengal in the 1890s and adopted by...
- Latent Print
- An invisible or barely visible impression of friction ridge skin deposited on a surface by eccrine sweat and sebum, requiring a development...
- NAFIS
- National Automated Fingerprint Identification System: India's centralised fingerprint database operated by the NCRB, launched 2022, designed to aggregate state police and CFSL...