Why don't fingerprint authentication systems don't store 'hashes'? [duplicate]

Question

Usual password authentication systems do not store passwords directly on the server, but only hashes of those passwords. Why do fingerprint authentication systems not offer this possibility?

Answer 1

Password authentication systems check for full equality. If you make a typo in your password, you will not be authenticated*.

You cannot check a fingerprint for full equality; it's a 'scan' and there will always be some minor differences: perhaps you have a small cut in your finger, or you put your finger slightly rotated on the device and the digitalization process displaces a few pixels.

A hash is designed to implement the avalanche effect; a small change in the input causes a large difference in the output. That means that two slightly different passwords or two slightly different fingerprints produce two completely different hashes. If you have the hash of a fingerprint, there's no way of verifying whether it matches a slightly different fingerprint.

*_{: such a verification system would work by verifying the hash with not only the hash of the actually entered password, but also the hash of all possible typos.}