To help solve missing children cases, a technology in which one can register a child’s fingerprint with a smartphone, and also check the identity of a child that has been found through a smartphone will be developed. (Image : Kobizmedia / Korea Bizwire)
SEOUL, Oct. 12 (Korea Bizwire) – To help solve missing children cases, a technology in which one can register a child’s fingerprint with a smartphone, and also check the identity of a child that has been found through a smartphone will be developed.
The National Police Agency announced that it will be embarking on a project next year to further develop a mobile application called ‘Safety Dream’. A budget of 1 billion won has been allocated to the project.
‘Safety Dream’ is an application that parents can use to register their children’s information in a police database in case a child goes missing. The application was developed by the police, and data such as the child’s fingerprints, picture, special features and parents’ contact information can be registered.
However, existing versions of the app didn’t offer a way to add digital fingerprints, necessitating an extra step of visiting a police station.
The new technology under development picks out special features from a fingerprint using pictures of a child’s hand taken by parents, and registers the information in the Missing Child Profiling System.
In addition, police can scan and query the identity of a child that is found using the system.
Law enforcement agencies have made efforts to increase the number of children registered since July 2012, investing 11.3 billion won to visit preschools and kindergartens all over the nation to registering the fingerprints of children. Even so, the portion of children currently registered is only 25.7 percent.
However, with the new technology, there is no need for police officers to visit a school to take fingerprints. Officials are anticipating that the registration rate will soar once the new system is fully implemented.
Another advantage of the new system is that the time taken to identify a child can be reduced, as police can check a child’s fingerprints using the application. Until now, to identify a child, the police needed a fingerprint scanner or had to take the child to the nearest police station that had the device. Police are actually expecting a cut in costs in the long run, since there will be no need to purchase the devices needed to register fingerprints.
By Francine Jung (francine.jung@kobizmedia.co.kr)
