Biometric recognition, or biometrics, refers to the authentication of an individual on the basis of her or his biometric traits. Among the various biometric traits (e.g., face, iris, fingerprint, and voice), fingerprint-based authentication has the longest history and has been successfully adopted in both forensic and civilian applications. Advances in fingerprint capture technology have resulted in new large-scale civilian applications (e.g., US Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology program). However, these systems still encounter difficulties due to various noise factors present in operating environments. There is also a general lack of scientific development in forensic methods, including fingerprint-based methods, in terms of identifying, incorporating, and quantifying sources of variability in the decision-making process. The purpose of this article is to give an overview of current practice in fingerprint-based recognition, its challenges, and areas of future research. © 2013 International Statistical Institute.