BBC reports on SCRO fingerprint investigation

[Ross Anderson]

> Not directly crypto related I grant, but seeing as Ross mentioned the
> issue of fingerprint identification here....
> 
> http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/uk/scotland/newsid_801000/801354.stm

I think this is relevant to the list. It's a vintage example of our
government's response to a systemic failure of technical evidence.
Total failure to understand issues, leading to persistent denial,
followed by panic-stricken ass covering and finally the punishment of
the innocent. Rather that than change the rules which led to the
failure in the first place!

Summary of case background: a wrongful prosecution occurred as a
result of a false fingerprint match. The victim, a policewoman, called
US experts to prove a mismatch.

The underlying problem may have been technical, in that the standard
used since 1953 by the UK police (16-point match) is adequate for
comparing a crime scene dab against the records of 57 local burglars
but is probably unsatisfactory now that thousands of dabs are matched
against millions of file prints. (The error rate is claimed by
Scotland Yard to be 1 in 6 billion.)

The government initially refused to admit a mismatch and instead
claimed that the jury had been perverse. Now they have changed their
tune and called for a management shake-up of the Scottish Criminal
Records Office. The three police officers responsible for the mismatch
have been suspended and may be prosecuted for perjury.

Poor sods.

Ross