An embodiment of a method for processing finger-detection data produced by a touch screen includes: computing the area of the finger-data map and extracting the main axes from the finger-data map, computing the lengths and orientations of the main axes, determining from the main axes a major axis having a major-axis orientation, computing a geometrical center and a center of mass of the finger-data map, computing an eccentricity of the finger-data map as a function of the lengths of the main axes outputting the major-axis orientation as indicative of the finger-orientation direction in the plane of the screen, outputting the mutual position of the geometrical center and the center of mass of the finger-data map as indicative of finger-pointing direction along the finger-orientation direction in the plane of the screen, and outputting a combination of the eccentricity and the area of the finger data map as indicative of finger orientation with respect to the plane of the screen.