Identix Incorporated

Identix Incorporated
Traded as

NASDAC (IDXX) 1985 - 1991 Pacific exch.(IDX) 1987 -2006 Amex (IDX) 1991 – 2006

Acquired by L-1 Identity Solutions in 2006 and traded on NYSE

Cash offer for NYSE traded stock by Safran (Paris), the technology became part of Morpho Systems
Industry Biometric identification
Founded Mountain View, California, U.S.
(August 1982 (1982-08))
Founder Randall C. Fowler
Area served
 Worldwide

Identix Incorporated, established in August 1982, designed, developed, manufactured, and marketed user authentication solutions by capturing and/or comparing fingerprints for security applications and personal identification. Markets included corporate enterprise security, intranet, extranet, internet, wireless Web access and security, E-commerce, government, and law enforcement agencies.

In November 1985, Identix went public and began trading on NASDAC as IDXX.[1] In 1991, the stock moved to the American Exchange[2] and the trading symbol became IDX. In 2006, Identix merged into L-1 Identity Solutions and traded on the NYSE until it was acquired by Safran of Paris with a cash tender offer and it became part of Morpho Systems.

Short History of Electronic Fingerprinting

In the 1960s, J. H. Wegstein at the National Bureau of Standards developed computer models for fingerprint representations (on cards mainly) to automate their analysis by computer. Wegstein’s work at NBS resulted in what is now used by criminal labs everywhere, known as AFIS, Automated Fingerprint Identification Systems. Automated fingerprint identification is the process of automatically matching one or more unknown fingerprints against a database of known and unknown prints. Automated Fingerprint Identification Systems (AFIS) are primarily used by law enforcement agencies for criminal identification, the most important of which include identifying a person suspected of committing a crime or linking a suspect to other unsolved crimes.

In 1972, Randall C. Fowler began working in his garage in Redondo Beach, California to develop technology for the acquisition and recording of a person’s fingerprints.[3] The intent was to provide a more reliable technique than ink to be used initially by the FBI, and later in automated fingerprint verification systems as advances in computing power became available. Automated fingerprint verification is closely related to AFIS for use in applications such as attendance and access control systems, and it was not clear at the time if the Wegstein algorithms would be appropriate for small systems or if a different approach of analysis would be appropriate.

Several optical techniques were explored and discarded over many months. After a short time Mr. Ken Ruby joined Randy Fowler in his garage and they built prototypes of optical apparatus to acquire and record fingerprints read directly from the finger. The ensuing work produced patented technology[4] [5] which eventually became the underlying basis for the founding of Identix some ten years later. The resulting Identix products eventually were used by a wide variety of security and identification systems, such as for:

1. Personal identification in laptops, access control, airport security, time and attendance systems, telephone ID, and other personal ID systems.

2. Commercial and government systems such as bank transactions, customs and border control, etc.

3. Police worldwide, known as Live-Scan Machines and booking systems.

References

  1. ↑ Public Offerings, Identix, Inc. Venture Magazine, January 1986, pp. 91.
  2. ↑ Moving up: Identix trading on the Amex, Times Tribune, Business Section, April 30, 1991.
  3. ↑ Ward, Joe, "Ex-Louisvillian Pioneers Access to Computers by Fingerprint," Courier-Journal Louisville, July 30, 1999.
  4. ↑ Patent: http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=4152056.PN.&OS=PN/4152056&RS=PN/4152056
  5. ↑ Patent: http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=4537484.PN.&OS=PN/4537484&RS=PN/4537484
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