Database-centric chain-of-custody in biometric forensic systems

Abstract

Biometric systems gain more and more attention in everyday life regarding authentication and surveillance of persons. This includes, amongst others, the login on a notebook based on fingerprint verification, controlling of airports or train stations, and the biometric identity card. Although these systems have several advantages in comparison to traditional approaches, they exhibit high risks regarding confidentiality and data protection issues. For instance, tampering biometric data or general misuse could have devastating consequences for the owner of the respective data. Furthermore, the digital nature of biometric data raises specific requirements for the usage of the data for crime detection or at court to convict a criminal. Here, the chain-of-custody has to be proven without any doubt. In this paper, we present a database-centric approach for ensuring the chain-of-custody in a forensic digital fingerprint system. © 2011 Springer-Verlag.