Application and Agreement to Participate in 

Minutiae Interoperability Exchange III 

Last Updated: 28 February 2019 

1 Who Should Participate

1.1. Organizations that develop interoperable fngerprint minutiae matching and/or extraction software (“Organizations”) and that have not participated in the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) 

Minutiae Interoperability Exchange (MINEX) test (“MINEX III”) for at least 90 days after the completion 

date of the Organization’s last participation in MINEX III. 

1.2. Organizations seeking testing compatible with NIST Special Publication 800-76-2 Annex A. This is also referred 

to as Personal Identity Verifcation (PIV). 

1.3. Organizations seeking testing compatible with ISO/IEC 19795-4. 

1.4. Anonymous participation will not be permitted. This means that signatories to this document, Minutiae 

Interoperability Exchange III – Application to Participate (“Agreement”), acknowledge that they understand 

that the results (see Section 6) of the test of the Submission will be published with attribution to their 

Organization. 

2 How to Participate

2.1. In order to participate in MINEX III, an Organization must provide the information requested in Section 8 of 

this Agreement identifying the Responsible Party, the Point of Contact, and the Organization’s International 

Biometrics & Identifcation Association (IBIA) Biometric Organization Identifer. The organization must 

print, sign, and send this Agreement to the location designated in Section 8. 

2.1.1. The Responsible Party is an individual with the authority to commit the Organization to the terms in 

this Agreement. 

2.1.2. The Point of Contact is an individual within the Organization with detailed knowledge of the Participant’s Submission. 

2.1.3. The IBIA Biometric Organization Identifer is an ASN.1 object identifer component assigned and 

registered by the IBIA for the Organization, as specifed in ISO/IEC 19785 Part 2. 

2.2. Upon receipt of the signed Agreement by NIST, the Organization will be classifed as a “Participant” in 

MINEX III. 

2.3. Participant shall provide a single submission (“Submission”), as specifed in the document Minutiae Interoperability Exchange III — Test Plan and Application Programming Interface (“Test Plan”) available at https:

//github.com/usnistgov/minex/raw/master/minexiii/testplan.pdf. A Submission shall include all executable code, validation templates, confguration fles, documentation, and all other fles required by NIST 

and the Participant to validate and execute the tests specifed in the Test Plan. 

2.4. The Submission need not be used in a production system or be commercially available. However, the 

Submission must be, at a minimum, be a stable implementation capable of conforming to the Test Plan that 

NIST has published for MINEX III. 
Application and Agreement to Participate in MINEX III 28 February 2019

2.5. Digital fles in the Submission must be encrypted before transmitting to NIST. Instructions for transmission can be found on the How to Participate page of the MINEX III website, https://www.nist.gov/itl/

iad/image-group/participation-minex-iii. Generic encryption instructions can be found in the Image 

Group’s Encrypting Software for Transmission to NIST document available at https://www.nist.gov/itl/iad/

image-group/products-and-services/encrypting-softwaredata-transmission-nist. A box for the Participant’s public key fngerprint is included on the Agreement. Submissions that are not signed and encrypted 

with the public key fngerprint listed on the Agreement will not be accepted. 

2.6. Submissions must be compliant with the Test Plan, NIST test hardware, and NIST test software. 

3 Points of Contact

3.1. The MINEX III Liaison is the U.S. Government point of contact for MINEX III. 

3.2. All questions should be directed to minex@nist.gov, which will be received by the MINEX III Liaison and 

other MINEX III personnel. 

3.3. These questions and answers may be posted on the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page of the MINEX III 

website at the discretion of the MINEX III Liaison. 

4 Access to MINEX III Sample Data

4.1. The MINEX III Sample Dataset is supplied to Participant to assist in preparing for MINEX III. 

4.2. The fngerprints in the MINEX III Sample Data are representative of the MINEX III Test Data only in format. 

Image quality, collection device, and other characteristics may vary between the Sample and Test Datasets. 

5 Access to MINEX III Test Data

5.1. Participant will not have access to MINEX III Test Data. 

6 Release of MINEX III Results

6.1. After the completion of MINEX III testing, the U.S. Government will publish all results obtained, along with 

the Organization’s name on the MINEX III website. 

6.2. Participant will be notifed of their results via the Responsible Party and the Point of Contact provided on 

the Agreement. 

6.3. After the release of MINEX III results, Participant may use the results for their own purposes. Such results 

shall be accompanied by the following phrase: “Results shown from NIST do not constitute an endorsement 

of any particular system, product, service, or company by the U.S. Government.” Such results shall also 

be accompanied by the Internet address (URL) of the MINEX III website (https://www.nist.gov/itl/iad/

image-group/minutiae-interoperability-exchange-minex-iii). 
Application and Agreement to Participate in MINEX III 28 February 2019

7 Additional Information

7.1. Any data obtained during MINEX III, as well as any documentation required by the U.S. Government from 

the Participant (except the Submission), becomes the property of the U.S. Government. Participant will not 

acquire a proprietary interest in the data and/or submitted documentation. The data and documentation 

will be used for the purposes of the MINEX III test. 

7.2. Participant agrees that they will not fle any MINEX III-related claim against MINEX III sponsors, supporters, 

sta ̇, contractors, or agency of the U.S. Government, or otherwise seek compensation for any equipment, 

materials, supplies, information, travel, labor and/or other Participant-provided services. 

7.3. The U.S. Government is not bound or obligated to follow any recommendations that may be submitted by 

the Participant. The U.S. Government, or any individual agency, is not bound, nor is it obligated, in any way 

to give any special consideration to Participant on future contracts or other fnancial assistance. 

7.4. NIST is conducting MINEX III pursuant to 15 U.S.C. §272 (b)(8), (c)(2), and (c)(14). 

7.5. By signing this Agreement, Participant acknowledges that they understand any test details and/or modifcations that are provided on the MINEX III website supersede the information in this Agreement. 

7.6. Participant may withdraw from MINEX III at any time before their Submission is received by NIST, without 

their participation and withdrawal being documented on the MINEX III website. 

7.7. NIST will use the Participant’s Submission only for the agreed-upon MINEX III test, and in the event errors 

are subsequently found, to re-run prior tests and resolve those errors. 

7.8. NIST agrees not to use the Participant’s Submission for purposes other than indicated above, without express 

permission by the Participant. 

8 Application Submission

8.1. Please mail the completed and signed Agreement to: 

Minutiae Interoperability Exchange Test Liaison 

National Institute of Standards and Technology 

ITL – IAD – Image Group (774.03) 

100 Bureau Drive, Mailstop 8940 

Gaithersburg, MD 20899-8940 
Application and Agreement to Participate in MINEX III 28 February 2019

Organization Name IBIA Biometric Organization ID

0x

Responsible Party

Full Name

Address (Line 1)

Address (Line 2)

Address (Line 3)

Phone Number Fax Number E-mail Address

Point of Contact Check if same as Responsible Party above: 

Full Name

Address (Line 1)

Address (Line 2)

Address (Line 3)

Phone Number Fax Number E-mail Address

Participant must complete the box below per the instructions for transmission of encrypted content to 

NIST, as defned in Section 2 and at https://www.nist.gov/itl/iad/image-group/products-and-services/

encrypting-softwaredata-transmission-nist. If preferred, Participant may fax their public key fngerprint 

to the MINEX III Liaison at (301) 975-5287. 

Public Key Fingerprint

Participant

NIST

448F 3828 719D B6B0 FDC5 3DE6 715B 6C72 062A 520A

With my signature, I hereby request consideration as a Participant in the Minutiae Interoperability Exchange 

(MINEX) III test, and I am authorizing my Organization to participate in MINEX III according to the rules and 

limitations listed in this Agreement. 

With my signature, I also state that I have the authority to accept the terms stated in this Agreement. 

Signature of Responsible Party Date