WEBVTT - Biometrics: Digital Fingerprinting 0:00:04.200 --> 0:00:07.200 Get in touch with technology with text Stuff from how 0:00:07.280 --> 0:00:14.640 Stuff Work dot com. Either everyone, and welcome to Text Stuff. 0:00:14.680 --> 0:00:18.320 I'm Jonathan Strickland and I'm La. And you know, we 0:00:18.400 --> 0:00:22.920 had to actually verify our identities before walking into the podcast, 0:00:23.000 --> 0:00:25.759 which is just standard operating procedure here in How Stuff Works. 0:00:25.800 --> 0:00:28.440 Oh right, it's a it's a blood sample, retina scan, 0:00:28.680 --> 0:00:32.320 and fingerprint before we're allowed to enter any doors. Yeah, 0:00:32.320 --> 0:00:35.560 it's really awkward. That's why most of us no longer 0:00:35.680 --> 0:00:37.360 wait till the last minute to have to run to 0:00:37.400 --> 0:00:40.720 the bathroom because disaster can strike. But it does mean 0:00:40.800 --> 0:00:43.240 that we thought, hey, we should talk about biometrics, and 0:00:43.280 --> 0:00:45.200 then we started looking into it and getting really excited, 0:00:45.200 --> 0:00:51.400 and then we realized, hey, there's a lot to talk about, right. Biometrics, 0:00:51.440 --> 0:00:58.080 of course, being the measurable biological or behavioral characteristics used 0:00:58.120 --> 0:01:01.000 for for any given individual. Yes, this is what how 0:01:01.040 --> 0:01:05.400 the FBI says, this is what the biometrics are. So, uh, 0:01:05.440 --> 0:01:07.200 you know, it's one of those things where we knew 0:01:07.240 --> 0:01:09.600 it was a huge topic and we decided to narrow 0:01:09.640 --> 0:01:14.600 it down. So today we're specifically focusing on your fingerprints, 0:01:14.640 --> 0:01:17.920 well not your fingerprints, I mean, I mean everyone's fingerprints. No, 0:01:18.120 --> 0:01:20.320 see the person sitting next to you, No, not that one, 0:01:20.400 --> 0:01:23.800 the other one, that person's fingerprints. That's that's the one 0:01:23.840 --> 0:01:28.520 we're concentrating on. So yeah, because everyone has has different fingerprints, 0:01:28.560 --> 0:01:30.959 I mean like everyone, right, And this is something that 0:01:31.040 --> 0:01:33.640 has been known for a while but then forgotten and 0:01:33.680 --> 0:01:35.840 then rediscovered. So we're going to talk about that because 0:01:35.840 --> 0:01:38.440 it's kind of funny. So these days we think of 0:01:38.520 --> 0:01:41.360 biometrics as sort of those automated ways to verify your 0:01:41.400 --> 0:01:44.679 identity based on some sort of biological characteristic, like you know, 0:01:44.720 --> 0:01:48.640 the eye scan or the fingerprints scan or whatever. Vocal 0:01:48.800 --> 0:01:52.480 scans as well, you know, like the voice imprint. Lots 0:01:52.520 --> 0:01:56.520 of different Hollywood versions of this. But you know, again, 0:01:56.560 --> 0:02:00.200 going into that fingerprint approach, we thought that, you know, 0:02:00.240 --> 0:02:02.880 we we look at not just how we've defined it 0:02:02.880 --> 0:02:05.840 and how stuff works, but look at a whole history 0:02:05.840 --> 0:02:09.560 of fingerprinting. U We're not the first podcast to do this, 0:02:09.600 --> 0:02:12.640 by the way, certainly not. Josh and Check of Stuff 0:02:12.800 --> 0:02:16.639 you Should Know did an episode on April called how 0:02:16.720 --> 0:02:20.400 Fingerprinting Works, and they go pretty deeply into the history 0:02:20.440 --> 0:02:22.760 and say many pithy things. So if you would like 0:02:22.800 --> 0:02:25.520 to check that episode out. You can go to Stuff 0:02:25.520 --> 0:02:28.160 you Should Know dot com right and just stick around 0:02:28.160 --> 0:02:30.079 because we're gonna say some pithy things too. We are 0:02:30.080 --> 0:02:32.120 going to cover some of the history, kind of a 0:02:32.240 --> 0:02:35.480 quick overview. But first I thought I would read a 0:02:35.560 --> 0:02:38.679 couple of little excerpts from our article on how fingerprint 0:02:38.760 --> 0:02:40.880 scanners work, because there are a couple that I thought 0:02:40.880 --> 0:02:43.840 were really interesting from how stuff Works dot Com. Neither 0:02:43.840 --> 0:02:46.079 of us actually wrote this. Nope, Nope, I didn't write 0:02:46.080 --> 0:02:49.480 this one. This one says people have tiny ridges of 0:02:49.480 --> 0:02:52.960 skin on their fingers because this particular adaptation was extremely 0:02:53.040 --> 0:02:56.920 advantageous to the ancestors of the human species. The pattern 0:02:56.960 --> 0:02:59.720 of ridges and valleys on fingers make it easier for 0:02:59.760 --> 0:03:01.919 the ends to grip things in the same way a 0:03:02.000 --> 0:03:05.880 rubber tread pattern helps to attire grip the road. The 0:03:06.000 --> 0:03:10.440 other function of fingerprints is a total coincidence. Like everything 0:03:10.440 --> 0:03:13.440 in the human body, these ridges form through a combination 0:03:13.480 --> 0:03:16.800 of genetic and environmental factors. The genetic code and DNA 0:03:16.919 --> 0:03:18.919 gives general orders in the way skin should form in 0:03:18.919 --> 0:03:21.760 the developing fetus, but the specific way it forms is 0:03:21.800 --> 0:03:24.680 a result of random events. The exact position of the 0:03:24.680 --> 0:03:26.920 fetus in the womb at a particular moment, and the 0:03:26.960 --> 0:03:30.680 exact composition and density of surrounding amniotic fluid decides how 0:03:30.760 --> 0:03:34.120 every individual ridge will form. This, by the way, is 0:03:34.160 --> 0:03:38.400 how identical twins can have different fingerprints. Pretty cool because 0:03:38.440 --> 0:03:42.360 you know, genetically they're identical, but their fingerprints are different, 0:03:42.400 --> 0:03:48.920 still different. Interesting. So looking at this history, you might think, Okay, 0:03:49.000 --> 0:03:53.560 I've heard about fingerprinting, particularly when it applies to law enforcement. 0:03:53.640 --> 0:03:55.640 That's probably where a lot of people are familiar with it. 0:03:55.680 --> 0:03:58.680 Besides the verification. Sure, sure, and uh and a couple 0:03:59.040 --> 0:04:02.720 popular media pieces have talked recently about Um. I mean 0:04:02.880 --> 0:04:05.160 you you get things like Ripper Street or Sleepy Hollow 0:04:05.520 --> 0:04:09.280 having characters going like this new fingerprinting thing in the amazing, 0:04:09.560 --> 0:04:13.760 amazing age of Victoria. Um, not not so much. Actually, 0:04:13.800 --> 0:04:16.159 so fingerprints people, Well, first of all, people have been 0:04:16.200 --> 0:04:19.920 aware of them for ages because we're curious folks, you know, 0:04:20.040 --> 0:04:24.320 human beings. We we were very curious and narcissistic. We 0:04:24.440 --> 0:04:27.200 like to learn stuff, and we like to look at ourselves. 0:04:27.760 --> 0:04:31.400 And how do I know that this dates back? Are 0:04:32.040 --> 0:04:34.839 ages and ages and ages ago because we have prehistoric 0:04:34.880 --> 0:04:39.159 depictions found in Nova Scotia uh, and it depicted a 0:04:39.240 --> 0:04:41.960 hand with ridge patterns on the skin. Now, that does 0:04:42.000 --> 0:04:46.720 not mean that the ancient Nova Scotians were familiar with 0:04:46.760 --> 0:04:50.359 the fact that all the fingerprints were unique and therefore 0:04:50.440 --> 0:04:53.440 no two individuals had the same ones, but at least 0:04:53.440 --> 0:04:56.400 show that, you know, yeah, they noticed them. Yeah, but 0:04:56.560 --> 0:05:00.360 the ancient Babylonians may have actually used ping of prints 0:05:00.360 --> 0:05:04.400 to differentiate people. Um, we've found fingerprints in clay to 0:05:04.400 --> 0:05:08.159 to sign business transactions, and the ancient Chinese used inked 0:05:08.160 --> 0:05:12.000 fingerprints for both business purposes and child identification. And in 0:05:12.080 --> 0:05:17.600 the thirteen hundreds in Persia, official government documents often included fingerprints, 0:05:18.400 --> 0:05:22.000 probably to indicate they were authorized and official. Now, according 0:05:22.040 --> 0:05:24.920 to the US Marshall's Office, which has an entire web 0:05:24.920 --> 0:05:28.800 page devoted to fingerprinting in the history of it, one 0:05:28.880 --> 0:05:32.120 government official in Persia at that time made the observation 0:05:32.120 --> 0:05:34.800 that no two fingerprints were alike, which obviously would be 0:05:34.880 --> 0:05:38.440 very important if you're making a document official or authorized. 0:05:39.000 --> 0:05:42.560 But it wasn't until the eighteen eighties that that amazing 0:05:42.600 --> 0:05:46.240 Age of Victoria previously mentioned that we got some kind 0:05:46.240 --> 0:05:50.000 of official classification system, right. It wasn't until the modern 0:05:50.080 --> 0:05:53.200 era that we started seeing it in UH story. It 0:05:53.839 --> 0:05:55.520 wasn't even in wide use at the beginning. It was 0:05:55.600 --> 0:05:59.520 just kind of exploratory. Dr. Henry Faulds back in eighteen 0:05:59.600 --> 0:06:03.200 eighty posed using fingerprints for identification as well as a 0:06:03.240 --> 0:06:07.359 means of classifying them. So he forwarded these ideas to 0:06:07.520 --> 0:06:12.320 a certain Charles Darwin, very important historical figure in his 0:06:12.360 --> 0:06:14.720 own right. But Darwin at the time was towards the 0:06:14.800 --> 0:06:16.760 end of his life and felt that he did not 0:06:16.960 --> 0:06:21.400 have the necessary UH time and energy to devote to 0:06:21.440 --> 0:06:23.800 this thought. It was really interesting, however, so he forwarded 0:06:23.839 --> 0:06:27.679 the information along to a cousin of his named Francis Galton. 0:06:28.200 --> 0:06:31.920 So false would write a scientific paper about his methods 0:06:32.040 --> 0:06:36.599 and actually identified a fingerprint. Ascertain the identity of the 0:06:36.640 --> 0:06:42.600 person who left that fingerprint on bottle of alcohol shouldn't 0:06:42.600 --> 0:06:45.760 come as any surprise. I guess who brings it all together? 0:06:45.960 --> 0:06:50.640 It does. Then in three Mark Twain would would use 0:06:50.720 --> 0:06:55.040 this this new startling scientific information in a story. Yeah, 0:06:55.080 --> 0:06:58.000 it was in Life on the Mississippi, and in that 0:06:58.480 --> 0:07:00.640 one of the elements of that stories of order is 0:07:00.680 --> 0:07:03.880 identified through the use of fingerprints. And he would revisit 0:07:03.920 --> 0:07:07.800 the idea in a book called Putting Head Wilson. Putting 0:07:07.839 --> 0:07:11.320 Head Wilson. Yea, so it's interesting. Now this was before 0:07:11.880 --> 0:07:15.600 anyone was actually using uh, fingerprints in any kind of 0:07:15.600 --> 0:07:18.640 criminal investigations on an official basis. It had not been 0:07:19.680 --> 0:07:22.720 science fiction, really was it kind of was so so 0:07:22.800 --> 0:07:25.680 that was exciting. But but soon in eighteen eighty eight, 0:07:25.960 --> 0:07:30.080 Sir Francis Galton, remember the cousin to Charles Darwin, who 0:07:30.120 --> 0:07:33.600 had received information about this about ten years previous, um 0:07:33.680 --> 0:07:36.120 began his own study of fingerprints. Yep. He wrote a 0:07:36.120 --> 0:07:38.800 book in eighteen ninety two and put forth a formal 0:07:38.920 --> 0:07:44.200 classification system and identify the tiny characteristics used to differentiate fingerprints, 0:07:44.200 --> 0:07:48.320 which now we call Galton's details. He also observed that 0:07:48.360 --> 0:07:51.200 fingerprints don't change over the lifetime of a person, so 0:07:51.240 --> 0:07:52.840 the ones you have when you're a kid are the 0:07:52.880 --> 0:07:56.840 same ones you have when you're old. Originally wanted to 0:07:57.000 --> 0:08:00.640 kind of link fingerprints to certain types of traits like 0:08:00.760 --> 0:08:05.480 intelligence or heredity, which is so racist. Yeah, kind of essentially, 0:08:06.040 --> 0:08:08.760 I think this was almost in an attempt. And I 0:08:08.760 --> 0:08:10.920 don't know enough about Galton to say this for sure, 0:08:11.000 --> 0:08:15.880 but it seems like an attempt to justify certain society's 0:08:16.320 --> 0:08:19.600 beliefs in certain people, that kind of thing. Yeah, it 0:08:19.680 --> 0:08:23.200 wasn't necessarily so racist, but um, but it's kind of 0:08:23.280 --> 0:08:25.480 it kind of runs in that direction. Yeah, because I mean, 0:08:25.520 --> 0:08:28.320 the idea that you could identify a person's intelligence based 0:08:28.320 --> 0:08:31.800 on their fingerprints already seems a little sketchy, And in fact, 0:08:31.960 --> 0:08:35.560 he did determined that there was no connection. There was 0:08:35.600 --> 0:08:38.360 no there were no identifier marks in a person's fingerprints 0:08:38.360 --> 0:08:40.640 that would give you any clue as to that person's 0:08:40.679 --> 0:08:45.600 intelligence or genetic background. However, he did figure out that 0:08:45.640 --> 0:08:48.480 there were a lot of differences and that people didn't 0:08:48.600 --> 0:08:52.440 weren't likely to have the same fingerprints. Yeah, unlikely, in 0:08:52.480 --> 0:08:56.360 the order of one in sixty four billion, that's pretty unlikely. 0:08:57.400 --> 0:09:01.320 So in eight we get the first use of fingerprints 0:09:01.440 --> 0:09:06.640 in a criminal investigation on an official level. Uh one vs. 0:09:06.800 --> 0:09:10.640 Tech And I'm sure I butchered his last name. Who 0:09:10.679 --> 0:09:12.920 was a police officer in Argentina used them in a 0:09:13.000 --> 0:09:16.719 murder investigation. It was actually a really tragic case, but 0:09:17.320 --> 0:09:21.839 the discovery meant that he was able to solve this 0:09:22.000 --> 0:09:25.400 mystery and prove that the person that was believed to 0:09:25.440 --> 0:09:28.600 have been the murderer was in fact not the killer. 0:09:29.120 --> 0:09:32.160 So Uh, not only was it the first use, but 0:09:32.200 --> 0:09:36.040 it was a pretty dramatic example of it. Now, between 0:09:36.360 --> 0:09:39.240 we're gonna skip to nineteen eighteen, but between the late 0:09:39.320 --> 0:09:43.000 nineteenth century and the early twentieth century he started to 0:09:43.000 --> 0:09:48.160 see fingerprints get adopted into various legal organizations all around 0:09:48.160 --> 0:09:50.440 the world. The United Kingdom and the United States were 0:09:50.520 --> 0:09:52.559 leading the way, but it was all over the place. 0:09:53.200 --> 0:09:56.840 So by nineteen eighteen you have Edmund Lekard who says 0:09:56.920 --> 0:10:00.280 that you only need twelve points of similarity between an 0:10:00.320 --> 0:10:03.560 individual's fingerprint and a target fingerprint to serve as a 0:10:03.600 --> 0:10:08.880 positive identification. Now you may have heard about those twelve 0:10:08.920 --> 0:10:12.360 points of singularity, that this is somehow like a legal thing, 0:10:12.400 --> 0:10:14.320 that if you were able to meet those twelve points 0:10:14.360 --> 0:10:16.679 of singularity, you have the legal basis to say this 0:10:16.720 --> 0:10:23.600 person did this. Uh, not necessarily a legal definition at all. 0:10:23.640 --> 0:10:28.320 In fact, UH, countries have very very different ways of 0:10:28.360 --> 0:10:30.839 saying whether or not a fingerprint is a valid match 0:10:30.920 --> 0:10:34.600 for another one, and some, like the United States, do 0:10:34.720 --> 0:10:38.560 not have a minimum number of resemblances that need to 0:10:38.600 --> 0:10:40.920 be there in order for you to call it a match. Now, 0:10:41.000 --> 0:10:45.719 usually law enforcement agencies rely on experts who give their 0:10:45.760 --> 0:10:48.520 expert opinion and therefore putting their own reputation on the 0:10:48.559 --> 0:10:51.160 line as to whether or not something matches. And of 0:10:51.160 --> 0:10:56.280 course now these days we rely very heavily on digital information, 0:10:56.360 --> 0:11:00.640 which with very very complex and intelligent i'll rhythms, that 0:11:00.720 --> 0:11:03.800 will that will do some really interesting like work. Yeah, 0:11:03.840 --> 0:11:06.960 and so with that, you know, the the level of 0:11:07.320 --> 0:11:11.280 a confidence grows quite a bit. So, uh, just so 0:11:11.360 --> 0:11:13.920 you know that twelve points of similarity not necessarily a 0:11:14.040 --> 0:11:18.840 legal standard. Nineteen four, that's when Congress enabled had an 0:11:18.840 --> 0:11:21.720 act that established the new division for the Federal Bureau 0:11:21.800 --> 0:11:25.160 of Investigation also known as the f b I. UH 0:11:25.160 --> 0:11:28.920 and this division was called the Identification Division. I bet 0:11:28.960 --> 0:11:31.520 you can guess what it did. So it became kind 0:11:31.520 --> 0:11:35.040 of a centralized fingerprint file for the entire country. So 0:11:35.559 --> 0:11:39.760 not it wasn't necessarily uh standard procedure for every law 0:11:39.840 --> 0:11:43.400 enforcement agency out there to send a copy to the FBI. 0:11:43.960 --> 0:11:47.520 But that's kind of what started to happen, so that, uh, 0:11:47.559 --> 0:11:51.319 there could be this sort of cooperation between different departments 0:11:51.360 --> 0:11:54.800 which often wouldn't have any communication with each other. Sure sure, 0:11:54.880 --> 0:11:57.480 by ninety six, the FBI would have processed more than 0:11:57.520 --> 0:12:01.920 a hundred million fingerprint cards. Yeah, not just processed, but 0:12:02.040 --> 0:12:05.000 they did that by hand, right, right, and it would 0:12:05.000 --> 0:12:12.040 be two million by two million physical cards with fingerprints 0:12:12.040 --> 0:12:14.360 on them. I mean, just imagine how many, Like how 0:12:14.440 --> 0:12:16.520 how much storage you need just for me? It's two 0:12:17.080 --> 0:12:21.400 I can't even I can't even imagine it. But by 0:12:21.559 --> 0:12:26.839 the FBI introduced the Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System or 0:12:27.120 --> 0:12:31.240 if SO. It's the largest fingerprint database in the world, 0:12:31.360 --> 0:12:35.240 and its computer automated. It takes about twenty seven minutes 0:12:35.320 --> 0:12:38.440 for the system to comb through every single file in 0:12:38.480 --> 0:12:41.839 its database to find out if there is a potential match. 0:12:42.240 --> 0:12:45.800 During a criminal investigation, it's different. If it's a civil case, 0:12:46.120 --> 0:12:49.600 it's actually like more than an hour. But for criminal investigation, 0:12:50.160 --> 0:12:52.480 for all the criminal files that are storing this database, 0:12:52.480 --> 0:12:55.040 twenty seven minutes from the time you actually input the 0:12:55.800 --> 0:12:59.600 suspects fingerprint. I imagine that's a lot faster than whatever 0:12:59.679 --> 0:13:02.800 in her and they sent down to the basement, Well yeah, 0:13:02.800 --> 0:13:04.800 because I mean you would have to narrow down the 0:13:04.840 --> 0:13:09.640 person quite a bit before you could ever start coming right, 0:13:10.240 --> 0:13:13.480 this is a man, So cut out all the women 0:13:13.600 --> 0:13:16.320 and then go like there are seventy million of them 0:13:16.320 --> 0:13:18.800 down there. Uh yeah, that would be that would be 0:13:18.800 --> 0:13:22.640 a daunting task. So in the digital age, we can 0:13:22.679 --> 0:13:26.240 actually analyze this stuff way better than we ever could, 0:13:26.280 --> 0:13:28.040 Like you don't have to use the naked eye anymore 0:13:28.080 --> 0:13:30.480 and try and find those little ridges and stuff. You 0:13:30.480 --> 0:13:34.800 can actually rely very heavily upon computer systems. And once 0:13:34.840 --> 0:13:39.479 we started getting those computer systems in place, they pretty 0:13:39.520 --> 0:13:44.000 soon thereafter became um commercially available. Yeah. Yeah, we had 0:13:44.040 --> 0:13:47.200 some fingerprint verification systems that have been around for a 0:13:47.240 --> 0:13:50.120 few decades now. On the consumer level, they've only been 0:13:50.160 --> 0:13:53.079 available fairly recently. And you might be thinking, oh, yeah, yeah, 0:13:53.120 --> 0:13:56.079 the iPhone five s because it has that that fingerprint 0:13:56.120 --> 0:13:58.640 scanner where you can use that to log into your phone. 0:13:58.920 --> 0:14:03.040 That's the first smart ohne to ever use that, right, Nope, no, no, 0:14:03.160 --> 0:14:05.880 there's actually a mobile device. The first mobile device that 0:14:05.920 --> 0:14:08.520 I found was a one that dated from two thousand three, 0:14:08.559 --> 0:14:11.960 the H and Boy. The name of this is phenomenal. 0:14:12.120 --> 0:14:15.720 HP names their products in such catchy ways. It's the 0:14:15.960 --> 0:14:23.320 HP I pack, I p a Q P PC pocket PC. 0:14:24.000 --> 0:14:26.760 Oh yeah, it just rolls off the tongue. Yeah, it 0:14:26.760 --> 0:14:28.680 really is. I mean, with a name like that, how 0:14:28.680 --> 0:14:33.160 could you resist I phone my phone. So at any rate, 0:14:33.200 --> 0:14:36.960 this was the first mobile device to incorporate finger scanning technology. 0:14:37.160 --> 0:14:38.480 But it was also sort of the edge of a 0:14:38.560 --> 0:14:42.280 boom for the technology. UM it was being extended for 0:14:42.280 --> 0:14:44.200 for wide consumer use at the time. I mean, you know, 0:14:44.280 --> 0:14:46.360 keyboards and mice had UM, laptops had him. You can 0:14:46.400 --> 0:14:50.160 buy a USB scanner for multipurpose use and encrypt everything 0:14:50.240 --> 0:14:54.360 with your fingerprint, right, you could end up creating, for example, 0:14:54.440 --> 0:14:56.840 with a copier, you could end up telling people, all right, 0:14:57.280 --> 0:15:00.600 this group of folks are authorized to make copy. Anyone 0:15:00.600 --> 0:15:03.000 who's not on this list cannot make copies. And you 0:15:03.000 --> 0:15:04.760 would walk up to make copies. And if you weren't 0:15:04.800 --> 0:15:08.680 on that list, then I guess no fun Christmas party 0:15:08.720 --> 0:15:11.720 Shenanigans for you. But but but but also opening this up 0:15:11.720 --> 0:15:14.560 to the consumer market meant that a lot of people 0:15:14.680 --> 0:15:18.200 started finding the flaws in the technology. Oh yes. In 0:15:18.200 --> 0:15:22.120 December five, clarks And University researchers announced that they could 0:15:22.120 --> 0:15:28.440 fool of the world's fingerprint scanners using an incredibly sophisticated, 0:15:29.000 --> 0:15:34.640 expensive substance. Yeah, they could just go out to toy 0:15:34.680 --> 0:15:38.200 store and buy some Plato and essentially make a copy 0:15:38.360 --> 0:15:41.280 of a fingerprint and put it on any optical scanner, 0:15:41.280 --> 0:15:43.200 and we'll talk about the optical scanners in a little bit. 0:15:43.640 --> 0:15:48.080 And it worked really well. So that gave people some 0:15:48.120 --> 0:15:50.280 pause and thought, maybe we should come up with something 0:15:50.320 --> 0:15:55.240 besides optical scanners too, because fingerprint identification is a great idea. 0:15:55.720 --> 0:15:57.440 But if it's if it's that easy to fool, we 0:15:57.440 --> 0:15:59.680 have to find a different way of measuring it. So 0:16:00.040 --> 0:16:03.840 then there was a totally different expose on September twenty one, 0:16:04.000 --> 0:16:07.840 two thousand and six, when our beloved MythBusters decided to 0:16:08.160 --> 0:16:10.920 do a fingerprint scanner scam of their own. They decided 0:16:10.920 --> 0:16:12.560 to see if they could fool one. And this one 0:16:12.640 --> 0:16:14.760 was a little different. It wasn't just an optical scanner. 0:16:14.800 --> 0:16:18.360 It was supposed to also detect sweat from pores in 0:16:18.400 --> 0:16:21.200 the fingertips. Okay, so so you can't just use a 0:16:21.280 --> 0:16:24.800 lump of plato or photograph. You have to have something 0:16:24.840 --> 0:16:28.200 that sweats has to have to otherwise it's never gonna work. 0:16:28.400 --> 0:16:31.680 So what did they do. They made a latext copy 0:16:31.880 --> 0:16:35.040 of a fingerprint and then they did a very sophisticated 0:16:35.160 --> 0:16:40.560 thing in order to simulate sweat. Yeah, and it worked. 0:16:41.240 --> 0:16:45.680 So if you can't play dough it, lick it, I 0:16:45.720 --> 0:16:48.440 guess is the moral of that story. I think I 0:16:48.720 --> 0:16:50.880 think that that's really what we all should learn from 0:16:50.880 --> 0:16:54.320 this today. Probably, So anyway, they're still seeing this kind 0:16:54.360 --> 0:16:57.120 of technology being rolled out, but it's not just an 0:16:57.160 --> 0:17:00.760 optical scanners, and even optical skins have gotten a lot 0:17:00.800 --> 0:17:03.000 better than they were back in two thousand and five. 0:17:03.520 --> 0:17:05.920 So we're gonna we're gonna cover exactly how they work. 0:17:05.960 --> 0:17:08.639 But before we do that, let's take a quick break 0:17:08.880 --> 0:17:11.959 to thank our sponsor. Alright, I had just talked about 0:17:12.119 --> 0:17:14.439 optical scanners, and those are one of the ones that 0:17:14.480 --> 0:17:18.080 are the easiest to explain and uh and fairly common 0:17:18.119 --> 0:17:21.919 even today. In fact, not my work computer, but my 0:17:22.000 --> 0:17:25.040 home computer has in my home laptop has a little 0:17:25.080 --> 0:17:26.960 optical scanner. So if I want to log in, I 0:17:27.000 --> 0:17:30.440 can just swipe my finger across it. So optical scanners 0:17:30.640 --> 0:17:34.720 use something that is found in digital cameras and camcorders 0:17:34.800 --> 0:17:38.760 called a charge coupled device or c c D. Now, 0:17:38.840 --> 0:17:41.960 essentially that's a light sensor. It's got an array of 0:17:42.000 --> 0:17:46.320 things called photo sites. Now that's light sensitive diodes, and 0:17:46.400 --> 0:17:49.400 it's works pretty much the way you would imagine. So photons, 0:17:49.440 --> 0:17:52.840 those little particles of light when they make a collision 0:17:52.880 --> 0:17:56.479 with these photo sites, it generates a little electrical signal 0:17:56.920 --> 0:17:59.840 and those can then be compiled and converted into a 0:18:00.000 --> 0:18:02.800 digital image. And it's essentially the same process that digital 0:18:02.840 --> 0:18:06.320 cameras used to take pictures. And here's the thing though, 0:18:06.680 --> 0:18:09.919 So if I put my finger on an optical scanner, 0:18:09.960 --> 0:18:13.600 I'm actually blocking light. And unless you happen to be 0:18:13.880 --> 0:18:18.840 et the extraterrestrial, your finger probably isn't emitting light. So 0:18:18.880 --> 0:18:21.600 how the heck is it getting this picture? Well, it 0:18:21.720 --> 0:18:24.359 uses a flash, yeah, except in this case of flash 0:18:24.440 --> 0:18:26.880 is probably like a single LED or for some scanners 0:18:26.880 --> 0:18:30.520 maybe an array of LEDs light emitting diodes in other words, 0:18:31.320 --> 0:18:34.399 and so that provides the light that is necessary to 0:18:34.480 --> 0:18:38.120 take this image. And uh, then the c c D 0:18:38.480 --> 0:18:41.679 creates an image of your fingertip. However, it's a little funky. 0:18:42.080 --> 0:18:45.520 It's inverted, right. The dark areas are going to represent 0:18:45.600 --> 0:18:48.239 the ridges that the raised portions of your fingertip, and 0:18:48.280 --> 0:18:50.840 the light areas are going to represent the values. Yeah, 0:18:50.840 --> 0:18:52.800 so it's kind of like looking at a negative, a 0:18:52.800 --> 0:18:56.680 photo negative. Uh. And it makes sense because stuff that's 0:18:56.720 --> 0:18:59.159 reflecting more light is going to create a lot a 0:18:59.200 --> 0:19:03.600 bigger electra called signal bus creating that. You know, the 0:19:03.920 --> 0:19:06.159 charge couple device is going to make that into a 0:19:06.240 --> 0:19:09.240 darker portion the valleys. The light is not as much 0:19:09.280 --> 0:19:11.040 of it's going to reflect back, so you get a 0:19:11.080 --> 0:19:14.200 weaker electrical signal. That's why it gets lighter. Uh So, 0:19:15.000 --> 0:19:19.280 if you were to scan your finger and UM and 0:19:19.320 --> 0:19:21.520 it tells you that it's a good scan, because most 0:19:21.560 --> 0:19:24.679 of these devices also have some sort of fail safe 0:19:24.680 --> 0:19:27.640 in them that will alert you if there wasn't enough 0:19:28.440 --> 0:19:32.119 enough differentiation between the dark and light parts, right, that 0:19:32.200 --> 0:19:34.760 the same way that you're that your camera UM sometimes 0:19:34.840 --> 0:19:38.000 will take a picture that's that's overdeveloped or underdeveloped, the 0:19:38.040 --> 0:19:40.320 same thing can happen here. Yeah, So if you wanted to, 0:19:40.840 --> 0:19:43.359 like if you most of the software has let error 0:19:43.359 --> 0:19:46.119 function built into it, so it can tell and it 0:19:46.119 --> 0:19:47.720 will ask you to scan again, right, So then you 0:19:47.720 --> 0:19:49.840 would scan again. So if it's the first time you're 0:19:49.920 --> 0:19:52.480 using it, then you would also end up creating a 0:19:52.520 --> 0:19:54.639 profile in some way. It might not be you, it 0:19:54.720 --> 0:19:58.160 might be an administrator, but something that links the fingerprint 0:19:58.240 --> 0:20:01.000 to who you are and what says you are supposed 0:20:01.040 --> 0:20:05.120 to have will happen then on subsequent uses, what will 0:20:05.160 --> 0:20:07.600 happen is that when you scan your finger it will 0:20:07.640 --> 0:20:11.879 go through its database of of identities that have fingerprints 0:20:11.920 --> 0:20:15.080 attached to them look for you. If you're there, then 0:20:15.119 --> 0:20:18.440 it will authorize you for whatever use you're allowed. So, 0:20:18.760 --> 0:20:22.440 for instance, on my home computer, I've given myself very 0:20:22.480 --> 0:20:25.440 strict restrictions because I am not to be trusted. Uh, 0:20:25.480 --> 0:20:27.919 And so all I'm able to do is play a 0:20:28.040 --> 0:20:33.080 pirated copy of Flappy Bird. That's not true, I don't 0:20:33.080 --> 0:20:35.879 have Flappy Bird. But at any rate, you know that's 0:20:36.080 --> 0:20:40.000 the basic You know, that's the basic procedure, right, and 0:20:40.000 --> 0:20:42.840 and so if your finger print is not found in 0:20:42.880 --> 0:20:45.679 that database, you get an error. So either you have 0:20:45.760 --> 0:20:48.119 to swipe it again or or scan it again if 0:20:48.119 --> 0:20:50.639 it's not swipe all depends on what kind of scanner 0:20:50.680 --> 0:20:54.560 you're at, or you end up saying the jig is up, 0:20:54.920 --> 0:20:58.040 you got me, I don't really belong here, and then 0:20:58.080 --> 0:21:01.960 you run away. Um. So that that's the basic thing, 0:21:02.240 --> 0:21:05.960 and what they're looking for. It's not the entire pattern 0:21:06.359 --> 0:21:10.080 of your fingertip. It's looking for for a specific minutia 0:21:10.320 --> 0:21:13.080 about it. Uh. Certain types of patterns and it and 0:21:13.119 --> 0:21:15.480 it depends on the software that the scanner is using. 0:21:15.680 --> 0:21:19.320 Um it might be the places where the ridges converge 0:21:19.600 --> 0:21:22.679 um or or split apart at the end, or um 0:21:22.720 --> 0:21:24.399 any any other kind of detail. It's going to be 0:21:24.480 --> 0:21:27.080 unique to you. Right. So in other words, all has 0:21:27.119 --> 0:21:29.440 to do is say, hey, there are these three points 0:21:29.440 --> 0:21:33.399 on this fingertip, uh that are unique that that's all 0:21:33.440 --> 0:21:36.560 I'm concerned about. And if the fingerprint that scan has 0:21:36.600 --> 0:21:38.760 those three points, I know it's this person and they 0:21:38.760 --> 0:21:41.680 can be let through by constraining on the minutia, then 0:21:41.680 --> 0:21:43.399 you really cut down on all the rest of the 0:21:43.480 --> 0:21:46.800 data that's necessary to have a verification. Right, you can 0:21:46.840 --> 0:21:49.880 kind of throw everything else out and concentrate on that 0:21:49.960 --> 0:21:52.520 and right. Uh And and they're pretty good, like we said, 0:21:52.560 --> 0:21:55.000 though they can sometimes be fooled by a really high 0:21:55.080 --> 0:21:58.600 quality picture of a fingerprint. Right. So what if you 0:21:58.800 --> 0:22:02.399 instead of looking at a picture, you were to measure 0:22:02.440 --> 0:22:08.000 the fingerprint in some other way, such as capacitance right, 0:22:08.160 --> 0:22:11.800 because capacitense touch screens are totally a thing. Yeah, so 0:22:12.480 --> 0:22:15.840 it's very similar to what a regular capacityans touch screen is. 0:22:15.840 --> 0:22:17.560 So you know, there are different ways of doing touch 0:22:17.600 --> 0:22:19.680 screens as well. There's somewhere you have to use pressure. 0:22:20.359 --> 0:22:22.080 With the benefit of that is you could be wearing 0:22:22.080 --> 0:22:26.800 gloves and still work a pressure version. The downside is 0:22:26.840 --> 0:22:30.840 that when people are expected to apply pressure to delicate material, 0:22:30.960 --> 0:22:34.639 they sometimes destroy it completely, right, or it'll at least 0:22:35.440 --> 0:22:40.919 decrease the lifespan of that object by quite a bit. Capacitance, however, 0:22:41.400 --> 0:22:46.439 uses weak electric fields, So when you make contact with 0:22:46.600 --> 0:22:49.600 a screen, a touch screen, that's using capacitance. Uh see, 0:22:49.600 --> 0:22:52.840 you're a conductor. I don't mean that you conduct trains, 0:22:53.000 --> 0:22:55.399 Nor do I mean that you Maybe you do. Maybe 0:22:55.400 --> 0:22:58.680 you do, Maybe you do. Maybe you conduct orchestras. Maybe 0:22:58.680 --> 0:23:01.199 you conduct orchestras on a train. I don't know, but 0:23:01.240 --> 0:23:02.879 I know what I'm talking about. If you do, call us, 0:23:02.880 --> 0:23:05.160