Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock (
) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.
ANSI/NIST-ITL Standard History
The first version of the standard, ANSI/NBS-ICST 1-1986 was published by NIST (formerly the National Bureau of Standards) in 1986. It was a minutiae-based standard. Revisions to the standard were made in 1993, 1997, 2000, 2007, 2011 and 2025. Updates to the standard are designed to be backward compatible, with new versions including additional biometric modalities and associated data. All of these versions use "Traditional" encoding.
In 2008, XML encoding of the standard was introduced, based upon the 2007 version. The 2007 and 2008 versions of the standard were designed to be the same except for the encoding. The XML encoding was developed using the naming conventions of the National Information Exchange Model (NIEM). Thus, this encoding is referred to as "NIEM-conformant XML."
In 2009, a minor supplement to the 2007 and 2008 versions was approved that extended the codes for friction ridge images to include multiple finger capture.
In November 2011 a new version of the standard was approved. This version focused on the content of the transmission, with encoding rules handled as annexes. Thus, there was no need for separate versions of the standard as was the case for 2007 (Traditional format) and 2008 (NIEM-conformant XML). The 2011 version of the standard also included additional modalities (DNA and plantar) as well as the extended feature set (EFS) for Type-9 record; forensic image markups for face and iris; new metadata fields such as geoposition of sample collection; biometric data hashing; an information assurance record; associated context record; original source record and data handling logs; images of all body parts in the Type-10 record and more. In 2013, the standard was updated to ANSI/NIST-ITL 1-2011:Update 2013. The Forensic Dental and the Forensic and Investigatory Voice Supplements were approved. In 2015, the standard was updated to ANSI/NIST-ITL 1-2011:Update 2015.
In 2025 a new version of the standard was approved which supports contactless friction ridge capture and many other improvements, especially to the minutiae metadata record. The Encoding & Tooling Working Group is preparing the XML and also a JSON encoding for this version. An addendum is planned to encompass additional updates that were not sufficiently developed to be included in the final 2025 version. Work on the content for the addendum is ongoing, and parties interested in participating can biometrics-editor [at] nist.gov (email the editor) for information.
Current Standard:
2025
ANSI/NIST-ITL 1-2025
Prior versions of the ANSI/NIST-ITL Standard
2015
ANSI/NIST-ITL 1-2011 Update: 2015
2013
ANSI/NIST-ITL 1-2011 Update: 2013
2011
ANSI/NIST-ITL 1-2011
2007 - 2009
ANSI/NIST-ITL 1-2007
Reference data files(zip file of 30 examples with associated README file)
CTA and CTS for ANSI/NIST-ITL 1-2007 - Conformance Testing Information
ANSI/NIST-ITL 1-2008
Part 2: XML Version (ANSI/NIST-ITL 1-2008)
XML files, with NIEM subset. (Remove ActivityAugmentationype and ProtectionOrderAugmentationtype for it to work correctly with JAXB and Java. In this version transactionCategoryCode (TOT) uses an enumeration type for TOTCodeSimpleType and is not substitutable.)
ANSI/NIST-ITL 1a-2009
ANSI/NIST-ITL 1a-2009 addendum to ANSI/NIST-ITL 1-2007
2000
Superceded Standard
1993 - 1997
Data Format for the Interchange of Fingerprint Information (ANSI/NIST-CSL 1-1993)
ANSI/NIST-ITL 1a-1997 Addendum to ANSI/NIST-CSL 1-1993
1986
Fingerprint Identification - Data Information for Information Interchange (ANSI/NBS-ICST 1-1986)
ANSI/NIST-ITL Links:
Homepage
Application Profiles
Canvass Method
ANSI/NIST Charter
Standard References
ANSI Workshops
National Information Exchange Model (NIEM):
Contacts
-
ANSI/NIST-ITL Standard Liaisons