- The Chinese were using biometrics in the 14th century.
- Chinese merchants used ink palm prints and footprints as a way to differentiate young children from one another.
- In Western cultures, biometrics was not used until the late 19th century.
- In the West, "photographic memory" was heavily relied upon for identification until Alphonse Bertillion developed the anthropometric system.
- Anthropometric system: the first precise, scientific system that was widely used to identify criminals.
- The anthropometric system worked by precisely measuring certain lengths and widths of the head and body, as well as recording scars and tattoos.
- Flaws in the anthropometric system forced Western police forces to turn to fingerprinting, which eventually led to today's biometric systems.
