Why Livescan is the superior option for a comprehensive background check

To determine whether or not an individual has a criminal history, Live Scan Fingerprinting can be used. This involves digitally taking fingerprints and sending them straight to State Authorities and/or the FBI.  Digital fingerprints can be produced on FD-258 fingerprint cards using an FBI-approved printer.  It is possible to send these cards to other states for licencing processing. This in-depth explanation will clarify what LiveScan Fingerprinting is, how it works, and why it is increasingly necessary. 

Before you choose fingerprinting services in Florida, check out the benefits you can get from this service. 

Live scan fingerprinting: a brief history

Live scan fingerprinting has only been around for around two decades at most. Before the development of live scan fingerprinting technology, fingerprints could only be captured by ink imprints.

Setting up live scan fingerprinting equipment and digitally collecting fingerprints is only part of the process of live scan fingerprinting. It calls for a ubiquitous and reliable infrastructure in which fingerprints of individuals may be acquired from various sites and stored centrally or remotely.

Automated Fingerprint Identification Systems (AFIS) are commonly used to facilitate this. An AFIS is a database designed to store, compare, and share digital fingerprint information. Since processing millions or even billions of records might take a long time, AFIS often has access to powerful computing resources.

It is also important for law enforcement authorities to keep track of people’s identities in relation to their biometric identifiers. The FBI has the biggest collection of fingerprints and other biometric identifiers in the world. The Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS) was being developed by the FBI.

In the late 1960s, the FBI began devoting considerable time and resources to creating an automated system for fingerprint identification. In 1969, the FBI awarded the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) a contract to study automating fingerprint identification.

The FBI first actively promoted fingerprint identification in 1975, providing funds for the creation of fingerprint sensors and technologies for obtaining finer details. The exorbitant expense of digital storage meant that only the most minute details of fingerprint processing were saved. The NIST-created algorithm M40 for fingerprint machines was the first active algorithm employed by the FBI.

In 1999, the FBI’s comprehensive automated system for identifying fingerprints became live, known as IAFIS. The FBI is now able to search fingerprints taken with any system thanks to IAFIS. Additionally, it allowed for the coordination of various infrastructures. Electronic submissions of fingerprint services in Florida (for criminal history, background check, etc.) were accepted by IAFIS thanks to AFIS’s integration with fingerprint scanning technology.

When should you get a Live Scan?

Live Scan is also required for certain positions where access to sensitive information or a security clearance is necessary.

Before allowing a candidate access to confidential information, employers should verify that they do not constitute a security risk. Live Scan aids in this process by delivering a detailed and reliable background check on potential hires.

In order to safeguard a company from any potential security breaches, a thorough background check is essential. Live Scans are a quick and easy way for businesses to evaluate potential hires for roles involving access to confidential data.

What are the benefits of live scan?

Live scan fingerprinting is often used for civil purposes including employment and licencing checks. There are a number of advantages to using live scan fingerprinting over other techniques of conducting background checks, with or without the use of biometric information.

• Accurate

Live scan fingerprinting-based background checks of job and assignment applicants provide higher precision and confidence in the verification process than other methods.

If you’re hiring a babysitter, for instance, and you don’t do a live scan-based background check but instead rely on an online background check, a fake ID may easily trick you. It’s possible that this person has a criminal history and might harm you or your loved ones.

Due to increased human error and duplicate records with comparable biographic information, mistakes are possible in background checks that rely on biographic information such as name, age, and residence.

However, mistakes in data entry or incorrectly obtained records are rendered moot by biometric-based background verification via a live scan.

• Fast

Since fingerprints can now be captured electronically by live scan, it can be done much more quickly than any previous approach. If fingerprints or palm prints are provided digitally instead of printed and mailed, the turnaround time for results is reduced even more. When an individual submits their fingerprints electronically through live scan, they join the queue of other applicants undergoing background checks.

New Generation Identification (NGI) allows the FBI to handle requests for live scan fingerprinting at record speeds.

• Efficient

Law enforcement organisations still accept fingerprint submissions on paper fingerprint cards, but doing so accurately might be difficult. Fingerprinting FBI application forms looks simple at first glance, but it might take many tries to get it properly, and even then, there’s no guarantee that your submission will be approved. It is significantly more difficult to capture rolled fingerprints because even the slightest movement of the finger might cause the ridge imprints to overlap.

Submitting ink fingerprint cards to the FBI for a background check is a messy process, as anybody who has gone through it will attest. Due to the frequent occurrence of mistakes, a spare card must always be on hand. Even a minor misstep in motion can invalidate your entire application to the FBI.

You may avoid the hassle of ink and paper by using an electronic fingerprint reader and a card printing service. Alternatively, you can submit your fingerprints digitally. Live scan fingerprinting is undeniably far more efficient than paper-based submissions because it does not use ink and does not require any human efforts on the part of the submitter.

• Eco-friendly

We can all agree that paper comes from trees, and that excessive paper consumption necessitates further tree cutting. However, the paper industry’s high water use has a deleterious effect on the environment.

There is no need for, or waste of paper in, the live scan fingerprinting and electronic submission of fingerprints procedure. Submitting fingerprints electronically for a background check has a net beneficial effect on the environment.

• Consent of Applicant

It’s possible that certain government entities will ask for your criminal record without requiring a live scan, but if they do, you’ll be required to go through a live scan and produce your fingerprints or palm prints.

Conclusion

Criminal booking, identification, sexual offender registration, and background checks are just some of the many uses for live scan fingerprinting by law enforcement. It’s also used to provide permits and licences for firms in the banking, insurance, finance, etc. industries.

“Criminal history record check for a noncriminal justice purpose” encompasses the use of live scan fingerprinting for civil applications. A live scan may be required for a variety of reasons, including applying for a job or a licence, dealing with immigration or naturalisation issues, obtaining a security clearance, or even adopting a child.

Since fingerprints are taken and processed electronically in a live scan fingerprint service near me, the human mistake that can occur when using ink to make fingerprint imprints is eliminated. Without live scan fingerprinting technology, law enforcement agencies would not be as efficient as they are today in a wide variety of criminal and non-criminal applications.