Forensic profiling
Encyclopedia
Forensic profiling refers to the study and the exploitation of traces
in order to draw a profile
relevant to the supporting of various security tasks, mostly in the criminal justice
system. The term forensic in this context refers to "information that is used in court as evidence" . The traces originate from criminal or litigious activities themselves. However traces are information that is not strictly dedicated to the court. They may increase knowledge in broader domains linked to security that deal with investigation, intelligence, surveillance, or risk analysis .
Forensic profiling is different than offender profiling
, which only refers to the identification of an offender to the psychological profile of a criminal.
In particular, forensic profiling should refer to profiling practices
in general, i.e., to "The process of ‘discovering’ correlations between data in data bases that can be used to identify and represent a human or nonhuman subject (individual or group), and/or the application of profiles (sets of correlated data) to individuate and represent a subject or to identify a subject as a member of a group or category" .
A distinction of forms of profiles that are used in a given context is necessary before evaluating applications of data mining
techniques for forensic profiling.
of the individual and to the protection of fundamental freedoms
. Indeed, criminal data, i.e., data which are collected and processed for suppressing criminal offences, often consists of personal data. One of the issues is the re-use of personal data collected within one criminal investigation for another purpose than the one for which it was collected.
Several methods-including technical, legal, and behavioral-are available to address some of the issues associated with forensic profiling. For instance, in Europe the European Convention on Human Rights
provides a number of instruments for the Protection of Individuals with regard to Automatic Processing of Personal Data.
Trace evidence
Trace evidence is evidence that occurs when different objects contact one another. Such materials are often transferred by heat induced by contact friction....
in order to draw a profile
Profile
- Computing and technology :* Profile , a concept in Unified Modeling Language* Apple ProFile, a hard drive* User profile refers to the computer representation of user information...
relevant to the supporting of various security tasks, mostly in the criminal justice
Criminal justice
Criminal Justice is the system of practices and institutions of governments directed at upholding social control, deterring and mitigating crime, or sanctioning those who violate laws with criminal penalties and rehabilitation efforts...
system. The term forensic in this context refers to "information that is used in court as evidence" . The traces originate from criminal or litigious activities themselves. However traces are information that is not strictly dedicated to the court. They may increase knowledge in broader domains linked to security that deal with investigation, intelligence, surveillance, or risk analysis .
Forensic profiling is different than offender profiling
Offender profiling
Offender profiling, also known as criminal profiling, is a behavioral and investigative tool that is intended to help investigators to profile unknown criminal subjects or offenders. Offender profiling is also known as criminal profiling, criminal personality profiling, criminological profiling,...
, which only refers to the identification of an offender to the psychological profile of a criminal.
In particular, forensic profiling should refer to profiling practices
Profiling practices
Profiling refers to the whole process of construction and application of profiles generated by computerized profiling technologies. What characterizes profiling technologies is the use of algorithms or other mathematical techniques that allow one to discover patterns or correlations in large...
in general, i.e., to "The process of ‘discovering’ correlations between data in data bases that can be used to identify and represent a human or nonhuman subject (individual or group), and/or the application of profiles (sets of correlated data) to individuate and represent a subject or to identify a subject as a member of a group or category" .
Profiling techniques
Forensic profiling is generally conducted using datamining technology, as a means by which relevant patterns are discovered, and profiles are generated from large quantities of data.A distinction of forms of profiles that are used in a given context is necessary before evaluating applications of data mining
Data mining
Data mining , a relatively young and interdisciplinary field of computer science is the process of discovering new patterns from large data sets involving methods at the intersection of artificial intelligence, machine learning, statistics and database systems...
techniques for forensic profiling.
Data available for forensics profiling
The data available to law enforcement agencies are divided into two categories :- Nominal data directly designates persons or objects (recidivists, intelligence files and suspect files, stolen vehicles or objects, etc.) and their relations. Nominal data may also be obtained in the framework of specific investigations, for instance a list of calls made with a mobile phoneMobile phoneA mobile phone is a device which can make and receive telephone calls over a radio link whilst moving around a wide geographic area. It does so by connecting to a cellular network provided by a mobile network operator...
(card and/or phone) that cover a certain period of time, a list of people corresponding to a certain profile, or data obtained through surveillances; - Crime data consist of traces that result from criminal activities: physical traces, other information collected at the scene, from witness or victims or some electronic traces, as well as reconstructed descriptions of cases (modus operandi, time intervals, duration and place) and their relations (links between cases, series).
Types of forensics profiling
- DNA profiling Used for the identification of individuals on the basis of their respective DNA profiles.
- Digital Image Forensics. This covers: image source identification (which is based on specific characteristics of the image acquisition device or technology) and malicious post-processing or tampering (which aim is for instance to verify the integrity of particular features) .
- Illicit drug profiling, which refers to the systematic extraction and storage of chemical attributes of drugs seized in order to obtain indications on the manufacture and distribution processes, the size and the evolution of the market).
- Forensic Information Technology (forensic IT), which refers to the analysis of the digital traces that people leave when using Information TechnologyInformation technologyInformation technology is the acquisition, processing, storage and dissemination of vocal, pictorial, textual and numerical information by a microelectronics-based combination of computing and telecommunications...
. - Offender profilingOffender profilingOffender profiling, also known as criminal profiling, is a behavioral and investigative tool that is intended to help investigators to profile unknown criminal subjects or offenders. Offender profiling is also known as criminal profiling, criminal personality profiling, criminological profiling,...
, i.e. psychological profiling of the criminal.
Forensic profiling issues
The use of profiling techniques represents threats to the privacyPrivacy
Privacy is the ability of an individual or group to seclude themselves or information about themselves and thereby reveal themselves selectively...
of the individual and to the protection of fundamental freedoms
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
. Indeed, criminal data, i.e., data which are collected and processed for suppressing criminal offences, often consists of personal data. One of the issues is the re-use of personal data collected within one criminal investigation for another purpose than the one for which it was collected.
Several methods-including technical, legal, and behavioral-are available to address some of the issues associated with forensic profiling. For instance, in Europe the European Convention on Human Rights
European Convention on Human Rights
The Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms is an international treaty to protect human rights and fundamental freedoms in Europe. Drafted in 1950 by the then newly formed Council of Europe, the convention entered into force on 3 September 1953...
provides a number of instruments for the Protection of Individuals with regard to Automatic Processing of Personal Data.
See also
- DNA profiling
- ForensicsForensicsForensic science is the application of a broad spectrum of sciences to answer questions of interest to a legal system. This may be in relation to a crime or a civil action...
- Forensic identificationForensic identificationForensic identification is the application of forensic science, or "forensics", and technology to identify specific objects from the trace evidence they leave, often at a crime scene or the scene of an accident. Forensic means "for the courts"....
- ProfilingProfilingProfiling, the extrapolation of information about something, based on known qualities, may refer specifically to:* Profiling practices * Forensic profiling, used in several types of forensic sciences* Offender profiling...
- Profiling practicesProfiling practicesProfiling refers to the whole process of construction and application of profiles generated by computerized profiling technologies. What characterizes profiling technologies is the use of algorithms or other mathematical techniques that allow one to discover patterns or correlations in large...
- Trace evidenceTrace evidenceTrace evidence is evidence that occurs when different objects contact one another. Such materials are often transferred by heat induced by contact friction....
- Offender profilingOffender profilingOffender profiling, also known as criminal profiling, is a behavioral and investigative tool that is intended to help investigators to profile unknown criminal subjects or offenders. Offender profiling is also known as criminal profiling, criminal personality profiling, criminological profiling,...
- Use of social network websites in investigations