Glossary

A

Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA):

a Florida state agency responsible for the licensure of the state's health care facilities, as well as Medicaid and other health care-related programs. 

American Bankers Association (ABA):

a federal channeling agency that regulates individuals and institutions related to the banking industry.

Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS):

a biometric system of electronically storing fingerprints in a database for identification purposes.

Arch:

a pattern in a fingerprint where a ridge runs from one side of the finger to the other side without making a backward turn.

Artifact:

any information not present in the original object or image, inadvertently introduced by image capture, processing, compressions, transmission, display and printing.

B

Background Check:

the process of authenticating information provided by an applicant through criminal, commercial or financial records.

Broker / Dealer:

FINRA member firms that are in the business of buying and selling securities.

Bifurcation:

a pattern in a fingerprint where a single ridge divides to form two ridges.

Biometrics:

the science and technology of measuring and analyzing biological data.

Branchings:

friction ridge bifurcation; divergence of a friction ridge path.

Bridge:

a connecting friction ridge between, and at generally right angles to, parallel running ridges.

Bulb of the Fingers:

the portion of the friction skin on the tips of fingers or thumbs, from one side of the nail to the opposite side of the nail.

C

Central Registration Depository (CRD):

a computerized system in which FINRA maintains the employment, qualification and disciplinary histories of more than 650,000 securities-industry professionals.

Channeling Agency:

an agency authorized to receive, process and transmit fingerprints directly to the FBI for a federal background check.

CJIS:

Criminal Justice Information Services Division. The CJIS Division was established to serve as the focal point and central repository for criminal justice information services in the FBI. It is the largest division within the FBI.

Classification:

the act of categorizing items into groups. This could include labeling fingerprints as an arch, a loop or a whorl; could include labeling parts of a palm print as interdigital, thenar or hypothenar; or could be the process of using an alpha-numeric system to categorize prints.

Collection Site:

a place selected by either the employer or the employee for the purpose of having the employee’s fingerprints collected for a state or federal background check.

Core:

the center of a fingerprint ridge pattern.

Criminal Justice Information System (CJIS):

a division of the FBI that centralizes several databases of local, state and federal information maintained by each state’s Department of Justice.

D

Dactylography:

the scientific study of fingerprints as a means of identification.

Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF):

a state agency that protects children, the elderly and the disabled from abuse and neglect; assists families with food, shelter and medical needs; and provides substance abuse and mental health treatment.

Delta:

a pattern in a fingerprint where there is a triangulation or a dividing of the ridges.

Demographic Information:

characteristic information used for identification purposes, such as “eye color” or “height/weight.”

Dorsal:

the backside of the hand, the nonpalmar side.

Dot:

an isolated friction ridge unit whose length approximates its width in size.

Double Impression:

a double impression can refer to either overlapping prints or double taps.

Double Tap:

a subtle double impression where additional friction ridges will coincide or be close to running in the same direction as the existing ridge flow.

E

Electronic Fingerprint Transmission (EFT):

the electronic transmission to a channeling agency of a person’s digital fingerprints, along with all appropriate demographic information.

Ending Ridge:

a single friction ridge that terminates within the friction ridge structure.

Epidermal Ridges:

ridges on the bottom of the epidermis corresponding to the surface friction ridges and surface furrows. They are the root system of the surface ridges and furrows. The epidermal ridges that correspond to the friction ridges are referred to as primary ridges and the epidermal ridges that correspond to the surface furrows are referred to as secondary ridges. Epidermal ridges are sometimes referred to as papillary ridges.

Epidermis:

the outer layer of the skin.

F

Faulds, Dr. Henry:

a British physician who was the first to suggest the use of fingerprints for criminal identification.

Flats:

a method of collecting fingerprints by pressing the fingers straight down onto a collection surface without rolling the fingers; a.k.a. “slaps.”

Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF):

a state agency that protects children, the elderly and the disabled from abuse and neglect; assists families with food, shelter and medical needs; and provides substance abuse and mental health treatment.

Fingerprint:

the characteristic dermal ridges of a finger used for identification purposes.

FINRA:

a federal channeling agency that regulates brokerage and securities firms and is overseen by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Friction Ridge:

a raised portion of the skin consisting of one or more connected ridge units; these ridges make up a fingerprint impression.

Friction Ridge Examiner:

an examiner that analyzes, compares, evaluates and verifies friction ridge impressions for the purpose of identification or exclusion. Examinations can be one-to-one or one-to-many and can range from simple to complex.

Friction Ridge Flow:

the flow or curvature of the friction ridges. Also referred to as Level 1 detail.

Friction Ridge Path:

the paths or deviations of a friction ridge (endings and bifurcations). Also referred to as Level 2 detail.

Friction Ridge Shapes:

the shapes (width and contour) of the ridges. Also referred to as Level 3 detail.

Furrows:

valleys or depressions between friction ridges.

G

Galton, Sir Francis:

an English scientist that developed a system for classifying and identifying fingerprints that is still used today.

Glandular Folds:

folds on the underside of the epidermis that correspond to the friction ridges, a.k.a. primary ridges.

H

Hypothenar:

pertaining to the prominent portion of the palm, above the base of the little finger.

I

IAFIS:

the FBI's Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System.

Illegible Print:

a set of fingerprints that does not contain enough identification points or is not of sufficient quality to be used for identification purposes.

Insurance Agent/Broker:

An individual licensed to sell insurance coverage to a consumer.

Island:

a pattern in a fingerprint where a ridge line stands alone and does not touch another ridge line.

L

Latent Print:

a transferred impression of friction ridge detail that is not readily visible to the naked eye; A generic term used for a friction ridge impression that was not intentionally recorded.

Legible Print:

a set of fingerprints that contain necessary identification points and is of sufficient quality to be used for identification purposes.

Level 1 detail:

general overall pattern shape, i.e., circular, looping, arching or straight.

Level 2 detail:

individual friction ridge paths and friction ridge events (e.g., bifurcations, ending
ridges and dots).

Level 3 detail:

friction ridge dimensional attributes (e.g., width, edge shapes and pores).

Livescan:

the process of collecting fingerprints electronically.

Livescan to Print:

the process of collecting fingerprints electronically and then printing out onto a printcard.

Loop:

a pattern in a fingerprint that consists of one delta and one or more curving ridge lines that enter from one side, re-curve and pass through the side from which they entered.

Loop – Radial:

the flow of the pattern runs in the direction of the radius bone of the forearm (toward the thumb).

Loop – Ulnar:

the flow of the pattern runs in the direction of the ulna bone of the forearm (toward the little finger).

M

Minutiae Points:

ridge characteristics of a fingerprint that occur at either a ridge bifurcation or a ridge ending, and are used in matching or identifying a person’s fingerprints.

Money Transmitter:

an individual who engages as a business in accepting and transmitting currency by any means through a financial agency or institution.

N

NCIC:

National Crime Information Center, part of the CJIS.  Base for the alpha/numeric fingerprint classification system.

NGI:

Next Generation Identification. The updated version of IAFIS, the FBI’s national computerized fingerprint system.

NIST:

National Institute of Standards and Technology, an agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce, was founded in 1901 as the nation's first federal physical science research laboratory.

NMLS:

Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System, the sole legal system of record for mortgage licensing in all participating states, the District of Columbia and U.S. Territories.

O

Originating Agency Identification (ORI) Number:

a nine-character identifier assigned to channeling agencies by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) needed for processing fingerprint-based background checks.

Overlays:

overlapping prints.

P

Printcard:

designed for fingerprint collection by rolling each finger in ink and then onto a card.

R

Registered Representative:

an employee of a FINRA-registered firm who gives advice on which securities to buy and sell, and who collects a percentage of the commission income he or she generates.

Rolls:

a method of collecting fingerprints by rolling each individual finger from side to side on the collection surface.

S

Slaps:

a method of collecting fingerprints by pressing the fingers straight down onto a collection surface without rolling the fingers; a.k.a. “flats.”

T

Thenar:

the fleshy mass on the palm of the hand at the base of the thumb.

V

Volunteer & Employee Criminal History System (VECHS):

a Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) program implemented to provide qualified organizations in Florida with state and national criminal history record information on applicants, employees and volunteers who work with children, the elderly and the disabled.

W

Whorl:

a pattern in a fingerprint that consists of two or more deltas and the ridges create a circular pattern.

Whorl – Accidental:

with the exception of the plain arch, a fingerprint pattern consisting of two different types of patterns with two or more deltas.

Whorl - Central Pocket Loop:

a type of fingerprint pattern that has two deltas and at least one friction ridge which makes, or tends to make, one complete circuit, which may be spiral, oval, circular or any variant of a circle. An imaginary line drawn between the two deltas must not touch or cross any recurving friction ridges within the inner pattern area.

Whorl - Double Loop:

a type of fingerprint pattern that consists of two separate loop formations with two separate and distinct sets of shoulders and two deltas.

Whorl – Plain:

a type of fingerprint pattern that consists of one or more friction ridges which make, or tends to make, a complete circuit, with two deltas, between which, when an imaginary line is drawn, at least one recurving friction ridge within the inner pattern area is cut or touched.