Fingerprinting takes an image of a person's fingertips and records its characteristics. Whorls, arches, and loops are recorded along with patterns of ridges, furrows, and minutiae. Information is processed or stored as an image or as an encoded computer algorithm. In most cases no image of the fingerprint is actually created, only a set of data that can be used for comparison. User presses his finger gently against a small reader surface (optical or silicon) the reader is attached to a computer and takes the information from the scan and sends it to the database.