2006/648/EC: Commission Decision of 22 September 2006 laying down the technical specifications on the standards for biometric features related to the development of the Visa Information System (notified under document number C(2006) 3699)

• Articles: 3

Article 1

The technical specifications on the standards for biometric features related to the development of the Visa Information System are set out in the Annex to this Decision.

Article 2

This Decision is addressed to the Kingdom of Belgium, the Czech Republic, the Federal Republic of Germany, the Republic of Estonia, the Hellenic Republic, the Kingdom of Spain, the French Republic, the Italian Republic, the Republic of Cyprus, the Republic of Latvia, the Republic of Lithuania, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, the Republic of Hungary, the Republic of Malta, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Republic of Austria, the Republic of Poland, the Portuguese Republic, the Republic of Slovenia, the Slovak Republic, the Republic of Finland and the Kingdom of Sweden.

Schedules & Appendices

ANNEX

ANNEX

1.   Objective

This annex sets forth minimum requirements relating to standards and input formats that are to be met when capturing and transmitting data to the CS-VIS. Further specifications will be developed at a later stage when the detailed technical specifications of the future Biometric Matching System (BMS) will be defined.

2.   File and compression format

The input format of alphanumeric data and fingerprint images is compliant with the ANSI/NIST-ITL 1 — 2000 specified format. The latest interpretation of this format was developed by the Interpol AFIS Expert group in October 2005 (version 4.22b). The compression format to be used is WSQ.

3.   Devices

CS-VIS will be compatible and interoperable with live scan devices, used at the national level, which are capable of capturing and segmenting up to ten flat individual fingerprints.

3.1.   Resolution

The minimum acceptable resolution is 500 dpi with 256 grey levels.

4.   Requirements

The following requirements, for use with live scan devices, must be met.

4.1.   Quality

The CS-VIS will be developed with quality thresholds for accepting fingerprints from NS-VIS. A check on quality must be performed locally prior to sending the images to the CS-VIS, which must meet the specifications that will be defined. Fingerprint images that do not meet the quality threshold determined by the CS-VIS will be rejected. The quality threshold may be modified in time.

4.2.   Segmentation

Segmentation is the process of partitioning each multi-finger image into multiple single-finger images. Segmentation must be performed at the national level before the quality check, as quality checks can only be performed on single finger images.

The CS-VIS will be developed to accept segmented fingerprint images only.

4.3.   Sequencing

Sequencing is the process of identifying specific fingers for each flat fingerprint image to ensure proper identification and sequence. The CS-VIS will be developed to store the order of transmitted segmented and sequenced fingerprint images.