RFI_Biometric Algorithm_Final.pdf

Notice to Industry

Federal Bureau of Investigation

Criminal Justice Information Services Division

Disclaimer:

THIS NOTICE IS FOR INFORMATION PURPOSES ONLY. THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR

PROPOSAL OR QUOTE. IT DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A SOLICITATION AND SHALL

NOT BE CONSTRUED AS A COMMITMENT BY THE GOVERNMENT. RESPONSES IN

ANY FORM ARE NOT OFFERS AND THE GOVERNMENT IS UNDER NO OBLIGATION

TO AWARD A CONTRACT AS A RESULT OF THIS ANNOUNCEMENT. NO FUNDS ARE

AVAILABLE TO PAY FOR PREPARATION OF RESPONSES TO THIS ANNOUNCEMENT.

ANY INFORMATION SUBMITTED BY RESPONDENTS TO THIS TECHNICAL

DESCRIPTION IS STRICTLY VOLUNTARY.

Introduction:

The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Criminal

Justice Information Services (CJIS) Division headquartered in Clarksburg, West Virginia is conducting market research on biometric algorithms commercially available from the industry.

Background:

Title 28 of United States Code section 534 authorizes the Attorney General to collect and preserve identification records and information for criminal justice purposes. The mission of the FBI’s

CJIS Division is to equip the FBI and its partners with the criminal justice information, including biometrics, they need to crush violent crime and protect the homeland, while at the same time protecting civil liberties. Pursuant to applicable law and policy, the FBI is prohibited from conducting investigative activity based solely on the exercise of rights guaranteed by the First

Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and is prohibited from maintaining records describing the exercise of First Amendment rights unless pertinent to and within the scope of an authorized law enforcement activity.

The CJIS Division manages its Next Generation Identification (NGI) system which is one of the world’s largest electronic repositories of biometric and criminal history information. The FBI continually looks for new scientific and technological advancements to increase the effectiveness of its identification and investigative capabilities. One method the FBI uses to stay apprised of advancements within the biometrics industry is partnering with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to evaluate performance of biometric technology. This is accomplished through the various NIST biometric vendor testing platforms, which provide industry the ability to bring their automated matching technology to NIST to have it independently tested for accuracy and performance. NIST then openly publishes their test results for consumption by the vendor community, users of this technology, and other various interested parties.

Objective:

The FBI is conducting market research on biometric matching algorithms for: (1) tenprint, (2) latent fingerprint, (3) face, and (4) iris. These algorithms support three distinct modalities:

fingerprint, face, and iris. The FBI is inviting industry to submit their algorithms, for these three distinct modalities, to the corresponding NIST biometric vendor testing platforms. The results will inform strategic business decisions made by the FBI as it relates to the NGI System.

Additionally, the FBI is also conducting market research on image-based tattoo matching algorithms. Today, the NGI System supports text-based searching of tattoo images which were submitted with the biometrics and biographic information at the time of an arrest event. The tattoos submitted to the NGI System include text descriptions of the tattoo provided by the submitting agency, and these descriptions are searchable. With recent advancements in technology, industry has leveraged artificial intelligence (AI) and other advanced methods to create automated image-based tattoo search capabilities. Image-based tattoo searching could provide a more objective and efficient search capability in support of law enforcement investigations and humanitarian efforts.

As a result, the FBI is partnering with NIST to enable benchmark testing of industry available image-based tattoo matching algorithms.

NIST is conducting the Tattoo Recognition Technology - Evaluation (Tatt-E) to assess the capabilities of image-based tattoo matching algorithms, with objectives of measuring recognition accuracy and understanding technology limitations. The details of the evaluation, including schedule, participation instructions, and application programming interface (API) can be reviewed in this document https://nigos.nist.gov/tatt-e/tatt-e_api.pdf. The API is currently open for public comment until December 31, 2025. Comments and questions may be submitted to tatt-e@nist.gov.

Vendors interested in (1) being considered in FBI market research, and (2) ultimately supplying the FBI with automated biometric matching algorithms are encouraged to submit their algorithms to NIST’s technology evaluation. Vendors are not required to submit an algorithm for all modalities, and each one submitted for a given category will be considered. Vendors who plan to submit their algorithms to NIST can submit an informal response back to the FBI. This informal response should be limited to 4 pages including an executive summary page that includes the company name, point of contact (with email and phone number), CAGE Code, DUNS number, and Unique ID. Responses should also indicate which algorithms are expected to be submitted to

NIST along with any prior NIST results. These informal responses shall be provided via email to

Teala Watkins at tmwatkins@fbi.gov. Formal responses are not required in response to this notice and will not be accepted at this time.

For more information regarding NIST’s biometric technology programs please visit the following website: https://www.nist.gov/itl/iad/image-group.

The FBI intends to release subsequent RFIs to industry to further refine our analysis of the market for these technologies. The RFIs may include refined benchmarks for accuracy and performance, outline requirements for compatibility and use within the existing environment, history of performance, price points and packaging, and other areas of focus.

https://nigos.nist.gov/tatt-e/tatt-e_api.pdf mailto:tatt-e@nist.gov mailto:tmwatkins@fbi.gov https://www.nist.gov/itl/iad/image-group