Re:For six years, man who refuses to identify himself has he...
by oceanghost on Thursday November 21, 2019 @08:15PM
(#21601578)
I did some basic research on fingerprints 15 years ago.
Fingerprints have a "birthday problem." The metrics cluster around certain values because fingerprints ARE NOT RANDOM. This is why your gym likely takes your fingerprint and your phone number for access.
Same with DNA actually. There are many, many humans whose DNA appears to be the same to our primitive tests.
You will run into this problem anytime you assume the underlying data is distributed well, but it is not, actually.
Fingerprints have a "birthday problem." The metrics cluster around certain values because fingerprints ARE NOT RANDOM. This is why your gym likely takes your fingerprint and your phone number for access.
Same with DNA actually. There are many, many humans whose DNA appears to be the same to our primitive tests.
You will run into this problem anytime you assume the underlying data is distributed well, but it is not, actually.