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Body, biometrics and identity
Abstract
According to a popular aphorism, biometrics are turning the human body into a passport or a password. As usual, aphorisms say more than they intend. Taking the dictum seriously, we would be two: ourself and our body. Who are we, if we are not our body? And what is our body without us? The endless history of identification systems teaches that identification is not a trivial fact but always involves a web of economic interests, political relations, symbolic networks, narratives and meanings. Certainly there are reasons for the ethical and political concerns surrounding biometrics but these reasons are probably quite different from those usually alleged.
... These patterns are innate from birth and remain unique to each individual, even identical twins who share many of their genes, and they remain unchanged throughout life unless they are damaged by external factors such as wounds and scars. These properties and the relative ease of acquisition compared to other biometric traits make it one of the most widely used in the field of biometric authentication worldwide [1][2][3][4][5][6]. ...
... Each fingerprint possesses a distinct ridge pattern, but certain common structures can be identified across human fingerprints in detail, making categorization possible. These structures, referred to as minutiae in the field of fingerprint recognition, represent key feature points [2,3,22]. Before the development of computer-based information processing technologies, fingerprint identification was conducted using analog methods. ...
... Each fingerprint possesses a distinct ridge pattern, but certain common structures can be identified across human fingerprints in detail, making categorization possible. These structures, referred to as minutiae in the field of fingerprint recognition, represent key feature points [2,3,22]. The typical types of fingerprint minutiae are illustrated in Figure 10. ...
The frustrated total internal reflection (FTIR) optical fingerprint scanning method is widely used due to its cost-effectiveness. However, fingerprint image quality is highly dependent on fingertip surface conditions, with moisture generally considered a degrading factor. Interestingly, a prior study reported that excessive moisture may improve image quality, though their findings were based on qualitative observations, necessitating further quantitative analysis. Additionally, since the FTIR method relies on optical principles, image quality is also influenced by the wavelength of the light source. In this study, we conducted a preliminary clinical experiment to quantitatively analyze the impact of moisture levels on fingertips (wet, dry, and control) and light wavelengths (red, green, and blue) on FTIR fingerprint image quality. A total of 20 male and female participants with no physical impairments were involved. The results suggest that FTIR fingerprint image quality may improve under wet conditions and when illuminated with green and blue light sources compared to dry conditions and red light. Statistical evidence supports this consistent trend. However, given the limited sample size, the statistical validity and generalizability of these findings should be interpreted with caution. These insights provide a basis for optimizing fingerprint imaging conditions, potentially enhancing the reliability and accuracy of automatic fingerprint identification systems (AFIS) by reducing variations in individual fingerprint quality.
... Ένα άτομο μπορεί να διεκδικήσει τα δικαιώματά του, μόνο εάν είναι επίσημα αναγνωρίσιμο, δηλαδή εάν έχει δημόσια ταυτότητα. Πολλοί άνθρωποι είμαστε θύματα της ψευδαίσθησης ότι η προσωπική ταυτοποίηση από μόνη της απειλεί τις βασικές μας ελευθερίες και παραβιάζει την ιδιωτική μας ζωή, ενώαντίθετα-δεν θα υπήρχε ελευθερία και ιδιωτική ζωή εάν δεν υπήρχε δημόσια ταυτότητα (Mordini & Massari, 2008 Η ανάγκη για την ταυτοποίηση των ανθρώπων χρονολογείται ήδη από την αρχή του ανθρώπινου πολιτισμού, όταν οι πρώτες αστικές κοινωνίες της Μέσης Ανατολής και της Κίνας, αναπτύσσονταν και οι άνθρωποι είχαν συχνές αλληλεπιδράσεις μεταξύ τους. Καθώς οι άνθρωποι δεν αναγνωρίζονταν μεταξύ τους, εκείνοι ειδικά που ταξίδευαν έξω από τις πόλεις τους (π.χ. ...
... Στην εποχή που διανύουμε, τα κράτη έχουν την δύναμη να καθορίζουν εθνικές ταυτότητες, ονόματα, επώνυμα καθώς και γονικές σχέσεις και να εκχωρούν ακόμα δικαιώματα και υποχρεώσεις στα άτομα βάσει των ονομάτων που αναγράφονται στα δελτία ταυτότητάς τους ( Mordini, 2008). ...
... Αντίθετα, η βιομετρία μας επιτρέπει να δημιουργήσουμε ψηφιακές ταυτότητες, εξασφαλίζοντας τις προσωπικές μας ελευθερίες και τα δικαιώματα των ανθρώπων. Σίγουρα, η συγκεκριμένη τεχνολογία, όπως και η κάθε τεχνολογία έχει τους κινδύνους της, ωστόσο αν χρησιμοποιηθεί με σωστό τρόπο θα ωφελήσει αισθητά όλο τον κόσμο, μέσω των διάφορων εφαρμογών της (Mordini & Massari, 2008). ...
Με την ραγδαία ανάπτυξη της τεχνολογίας, αναπτύσσεται παράλληλα και η επιστήμη της βιομετρίας. Η βιομετρία είναι η επιστήμη που σχετίζεται με την αναγνώριση και την ταυτοποίηση των ατόμων βάσει των φυσικών ή συμπεριφορικών χαρακτηριστικών τους. Με την σειρά τους, τα βιομετρικά συστήματα επικυρώνουν με ακρίβεια την γνησιότητα αυτών των χαρακτηριστικών των ατόμων με αποτέλεσμα να έχουν πληθώρα εφαρμογών. Ωστόσο, αναφορικά με την διαχείριση των βιομετρικών δεδομένων τίθενται ηθικά και κοινωνικά ζητήματα. Τέτοια παραδείγματα είναι η ιδιωτικότητα, η αυτονομία, η διαφάνεια και ο κοινωνικός αποκλεισμός ατόμων διαφορετικών ομάδων, για παράδειγμα του γηραιότερου ηλικιακού πληθυσμού. Ανάλογα ερωτήματα τίθενται και για το πώς χρησιμοποιούνται τα βιομετρικά δεδομένα των προσφύγων από διάφορους οργανισμούς και κυβερνήσεις οι οποίες έχουν αναβαθμίσει τα συστήματα ταυτοποίησης στα σύνορα, με σκοπό την υψηλότερη ασφάλεια. Συνεπώς, ενώ η επιστήμη της βιομετρίας έχει συντελέσει στην βελτίωση του βιοτικού επιπέδου και της ασφάλειας των ανθρώπων, δύνοντας λύσεις σε πολλά προβλήματα, παραλληλα έχει αποτελέσει και αντικείμενο συζήτησης σχετικά με το αν παραβιάζει τα ανθρώπινα δικαιώματα.
... The concept of function creep can play an important part in this process. Combining the studies of Mordini and Massari (2008) and Dahl and Saetnan (2009), five elements contribute to the existence of function creep. First, there needs to be a change in the political arena to trigger the need to use the technology for different purposes. ...
... This absence can result in the system 'being driven only by different interests of various stakeholders' (Mordini and Massari 2008, 490). The final element is what is Mordini and Massari (2008) call a 'slippery slope effect'. Substantial changes in the application of technology do not happen in an instance. ...
... 3 This indicates Amigo-boras was to be used for a clearly defined purpose that matches the mission statement of the MSM checks. On a first glance, the idea of a policy vacuum as described by Mordini and Massari (2008) does not seem to apply to this case study. However, in the same year in a response to a report of the Committee Integral Oversight of Return, 4 the Minister of Immigration, Integration and Asylum makes a different statement regarding the use of Amigo-boras: ...
As migration is increasingly seen as a matter of security, migration control and crime control seem to be merging, a process also referred to as crimmigration. To distinguish between migrants that are wanted and those who are not, new technologies are introduced regularly and existing technologies are increasingly interconnected. This could lead to what is called function creep: technology developed for a specific purpose over time being used for other purposes as well. This article aims to explore the relation between crimmigration and function creep by examining a case study of a smart camera system called Amigo-boras used by the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee. While originally designed to assist in enforcing migration law, recent developments allow the RNM to use Amigo-boras for crime control purposes as well. This article will uncover what the rationales behind this function creep in the use of the Amigo-Boras system are/were – both from a street-level and policy-level perspective – and how these relate to crimmigration. The data shows that concerns of cross-border crime are an important reason to use Amigo-boras for more than just migration control. As a result, a significant element of crime control is introduced in Dutch migration control, pushing the crimmigration process further.
... Subsequent decades saw the integration of other biometric modalities, such as iris recognition, facial recognition, and voice recognition, and the creation of advents like liveness detection and multimodal biometrics into technological applications. Mainly, the digital age ushered in a paradigm shift in biometric identification, enabling unprecedented levels of accuracy, efficiency, and scalability (Wayman, 2007;Mordini & Massari, 2008). ...
... In recent years, considerable philosophical examination has been directed towards biometrics' pertinent ethical and political considerations, particularly those stemming from issues of privacy, bias, and security in data collection (Lyons, 2008;Karkazis & Fishman, 2017). Additionally, scholars have delved into the metaphysical aspects raised by biometrics, with a specific focus on matters related to personal identity (van der Ploeg, 1999; Mordini, 2017;Mordini & Massari, 2008;Kind, 2023). In this part, we identify past thinkers and ideas that parallel and inform current understandings of biometrics. ...
This research embarks on a journey through the epochs of human history and thought, unraveling the historical, philosophical, and cultural threads that have woven the fabric of identity verification over time. From ancient philosophical wisdom to the intricacies of modern biometrics, it seeks to illuminate the evolving nature of identity in an increasingly digital world, all while considering the ethical and cultural implications that this odyssey entails. As we traverse this intellectual landscape, we uncover connections between our past and the pixels of our seemingly Sci-Fi biometrically-filled future.
... Biometrics is defined as the science of establishing and verifying the identity of an individual based on their physical, chemical or behavioural attributes (Jain et al., 2007). Some of the features that are measured in biometrics include DNA, facial features, fingerprints, eye retinas and irises, hand geometry, handwriting, veins and voice (Jain, 2006;Mordini & Massari, 2008). ...
... The main concerns previously identified in the literature relate to data security. Here the concerns raised are not with the use of biometric technologies per se, but in how they are applied and how the resulting data is used (Mordini & Massari, 2008;Wickins, 2007). For instance, ensuring that personal health records are appropriately protected from unauthorized use and patient confidentiality is maintained are both considered critical. ...
Biometrics is the science of establishing the identity of an individual based on their physical attributes. Ethical concerns surrounding the appropriate use of biometrics have been raised, especially in resource-poor settings. A qualitative investigation was conducted to explore biometrics clients (n = 14), implementers (n = 12) and policy makers as well as bioethicists (n = 4) perceptions of the ethical aspects of implementing biometrics within the healthcare system in Malawi. Informed use, privacy and confidentiality as well as perceptions of benefits and harms were identified as major issues in the application of biometrics. Implementation of biometrics within the healthcare system in Malawi poses a range of potential ethical issues and practical challenges that impact on equitable uptake. There is a need for more research to explore the benefits and harms of biometrics in practice. Improved community engagement and sensitization should be a required component of biometrics introduction in Malawi.
... This allows representing bodily attributes (including those that were traditionally considered qualitative, such a skin color, or walking style) as measurable physical properties. 2 Two or more individuals could be subsequently compared in quantitative terms to ascertain whether they share the same properties as far as specific bodily attributes are concerned. From such a comparison, one could deduce whether two (apparent) individuals are actually the same individual, whose attributes were captured in different fractions of time, say, one could identify the individual (in the literally sense of assessing whether there is only one individual, considered under different accounts, instead of two or more distinct individuals). ...
... The main conceptual differences between pre-digital and digital biometrics is that digitalization allows performing the comparison (1) always in quantitative terms, avoiding qualitative assessment; (2) automatically, by exploiting ad hoc computer algorithms; (3) on a huge number of bodily attributes, unthinkable in the pre-digital era. 2 Physical properties are discrete elements that can be put in bi-univocal correspondence with a set of numbers. There are seven base physical properties, Length, Mass, Time, Electric Current, Temperature, Amount of Substance, and Luminous Intensity. ...
Ethical issues raised by forensic biometrics partly overlap with general ethical implications of biometrics. They include issues related to collecting, processing, and storing, personal data, privacy, medical information, and respect for body integrity, risks of misuse and subversive use, and respect for human dignity. There are, however, also ethical issues specifically raised by forensic biometrics. One of them is particularly intriguing. It concerns the nature of biometric evidence and to what extent biometric findings could be accepted as an evidence in court. At a first glance, this problem could seem purely legal, without major ethical implications. Yet, at a deeper analysis, it turns out to have significant ethical components. I will focus on them and on some recent policy developments in this field.
... In few developing countries in Africa such as Botswana, South Africa, Nigeria and some other countries such as Malaysia, India, Italy, Iran and Saudi Arabia; the prospects of biometric technology were examined and emphases was on identification and understanding the factors that are significant in explaining the intention to adopt biometric technology and to explore the potential role of biometric technologies in driving service excellence, productivity and security (Mordini and Massari, 2008;Uzoka and Ndzinge, 2009;Hoogen, 2009;Soh et al., 2010;Alhussain and Drew, 2012;Pooe and Labuschagne, 2011;Hosseini and Mohammadi, 2012;Sarma and Singh, 2010;Ahmad and Harri, 2012;Olaniyan et al., 2011;Tiwari et al., 2013;Gelb and Clark, 2013;Leong, 2008;Sharma, 2013). Their results showed that the following factors among others have significant impact on the intention to adopt a biometric technology: ease of use, communication, size of organisation and type of organisation, perceived credibility, personal innovativeness, perceived risk towards new technology, computer self-efficacy, perceived usefulness, digital and cultural gap, lack of trust in technology, its potential for misuse. ...
... Striking examples include the impacts of peer influence and technology facilitating conditions on the intention to adopt biometric technology. Some aspects of the results point to a seeming trend in developing countries adoption research, which may not be true for those in developed countries (e.g., Uzoka and Ndzinge, 2009;Leong, 2008;Mordini and Massari, 2008;Chu and Rajendran, 2009;Tiwari et al., 2013;Sharma, 2013). A major point of emphasis here is the influence of perceived usefulness on technology adoption. ...
Biometric technology (BT) is a component of information security and person identification. Individual acceptance and adoption of BT is fundamental to successful implementation of BT by organisations. There has been a fairly moderate but improving pace of adoption of technology in developing countries. This study investigates factors affecting users' intention to use BT in a developing country based on the modified version of the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT). Results show that simpler biometric methods (e.g., fingerprinting) have higher level of utilisation than more complex ones (e.g., DNA). The intention to adopt biometrics is influenced by perceived ease of use, security, resource facilitating conditions, self-efficacy, and compatibility. Technology facilitating condition andawareness were found to exert some level of impact, while perceived usefulness, awareness, peer influence and complexity did not show any statistical influence on the intention to adopt BT.
... In few developing countries in Africa such as Botswana, South Africa, Nigeria and some other countries such as Malaysia, India, Italy, Iran and Saudi Arabia; the prospects of biometric technology were examined and emphases was on identification and understanding the factors that are significant in explaining the intention to adopt biometric technology and to explore the potential role of biometric technologies in driving service excellence, productivity and security (Mordini and Massari, 2008;Uzoka and Ndzinge, 2009;Hoogen, 2009;Soh et al., 2010;Alhussain and Drew, 2012;Pooe and Labuschagne, 2011;Hosseini and Mohammadi, 2012;Sarma and Singh, 2010;Ahmad and Harri, 2012;Olaniyan et al., 2011;Tiwari et al., 2013;Gelb and Clark, 2013;Leong, 2008;Sharma, 2013). Their results showed that the following factors among others have significant impact on the intention to adopt a biometric technology: ease of use, communication, size of organisation and type of organisation, perceived credibility, personal innovativeness, perceived risk towards new technology, computer self-efficacy, perceived usefulness, digital and cultural gap, lack of trust in technology, its potential for misuse. ...
... Striking examples include the impacts of peer influence and technology facilitating conditions on the intention to adopt biometric technology. Some aspects of the results point to a seeming trend in developing countries adoption research, which may not be true for those in developed countries (e.g., Uzoka and Ndzinge, 2009;Leong, 2008;Mordini and Massari, 2008;Chu and Rajendran, 2009;Tiwari et al., 2013;Sharma, 2013). A major point of emphasis here is the influence of perceived usefulness on technology adoption. ...
... The identification of an identity by identifiers such as " legal names, locations, tokens, pseudonyms " has emerged during the " course of modern history " (Mordini & Massari, 2008, p. 488). Mediaeval and pre-colonial India practised a " phatuk bundee " (gatechecking ) form of policing. ...
... A metric should [satisfy] at least four basic requirements: 1) collectability (the element can be measured); 2) universality (the element exists in all persons); 3) unicity (the element must be distinctive to each person); [and] 4) permanence (the property of the element remains permanent over time). (Mordini & Massari, 2008, p. 489) This metric can be used to generate an access code, to enter a system (e.g. a computer, service delivery system or a building), that stands for who one is; something nontransferable , and something singular, i.e. one's own body (Fuller, 2003). This access code can override or complement photographic or electronic ID cards or passwords. ...
At various points in its existence, the Indian state has deployed technologies to govern the nation. Recently, the state has undertaken a number of large-scale projects to make use of digital technology. The most controversial of these is the Unique Identity (UID) project, which is registering biometric, along with demographic, information about residents. This paper seeks to understand what is at stake politically in this technological intervention. It aims to explore the political logics and consequences of such a biometric system. It argues that UID re-imagines the economy and the state–citizen relationship as a series of transactions. Theoretically, the main thrust of this paper is to understand the “general economy of power”, as Michel Foucault calls it, which is unfolding in India around the issues of capitalist growth, inequality, social protection and terrorism—and UID signals the technological potential for the convergence of these concerns.
... And this is where the tension comes between foundational questions around the uses of identification as an instrument of control and the need to regulate access to resources. Interspersed with this discussion are parallel debates on citizenship and security -who belongs and who doesn't (see also Ajana 2015, Dalberto & Banégas, 2021Mordini & Massari, 2008). ...
Biometric digital identity systems have been promoted as a solution for Africa's development challenges. By providing accurate and reliable identification of citizens, these systems are expected to enable better planning and resource allocation by states. However, this optimistic view overlooks the border logic embedded in the design and deployment of these systems. In this article, the author critically examines the assumptions and implications of biometric digital identity systems in Africa. By broadening the debate on the intersection of African 'mobilities', responsible innovation , and the deployment of biometric technology, the author attempt to pry open the 'black box' of national digital identity systems and contends that the diffusion of these systems in Africa is driven more by the Global North's border interests than by the local populations' development needs.
... See also the discussion of persistence versus evidence in Olson [9]. 5 Available online at https://www.iso.org/obp/ui/#iso:std:iso-iec:2382:-37:ed-2:v1:en KIND -177 ...
The vast advances in biometrics over the past several decades have brought with them a host of pressing concerns. Philosophical scrutiny has already been devoted to many of the relevant ethical and political issues, especially ones arising from matters of privacy, bias, and security in data collection. But philosophers have devoted surprisingly little attention to the relevant metaphysical issues, in particular, ones concerning matters of personal identity. This paper aims to take some initial steps to correct this oversight. After discussing the philosophical problem of personal identity, the ways in which the notion of biometric identity connects with, or fails to connect with, the philosophical notion of personal identity is explored. Though there may be some good reasons to use biometric identity to track personal identity, it is contended that biometric identity is not the same thing as personal identity and thus that biometrics researchers should stop talking as if it were.
... Biometrics can also be significantly more problematic than traditional forms of authentication (e.g., passwords and other identifiers such PIN codes, hardware devices, etc.) because one cannot change his or her biometric data (Prabhakar et al., 2003). Importantly, biological information is effectively public information: we are leaving biological information everywhere, e.g., fingerprints, DNA, recordings of our gait, photographs of our faces or irises-from which advanced computer algorithms can extract a biometric template (Mordini and Massari, 2008). Fingerprints are easily stolen, copied, or lifted. ...
The design and management of digital identity is a complex challenge. On the one hand, it requires a clear understanding of the parameters that are involved in identity management. On the other hand, it requires the cooperation of many stakeholders. In particular, this involves those public authorities and private organisations that need to be aligned to define technical standards, develop identification infrastructures and maintain them. A shared understanding of fundamental concepts that define identity in the digital age is then a prerequisite. Such a complimentary reflection and evaluation of what the emergence of distributed-ledger technologies means from the perspectives of human rights, human dignity, as well as individual and collective autonomy are essential to ensure their use for good purposes. While technical capabilities are important, they are increasingly insufficient without guiding theoretical frameworks. Sound governance mechanisms which respect, protect and promote human rights such as privacy are equally essential. The COVID-19 pandemic has only further increased the desire to use data to understand and manage our societies (Zwitter and Gstrein, 2020), which also increases the degree to which we are defined through data and our access to digital services.
... However, despite their high recognition performance, static biometrics have been recently overwhelmed by the new generation of biometrics, which tends to cast light on more natural ways for recognizing people by analyzing dynamic behavioral traits Biometric systems are based on the use of certain distinctive human traits, be they behavioral, physical, biological, physiological, psychological, or any combination of them. Biometric information (especially raw images) can expose sensitive information such as information about one's health origin and this information can then provide a basis for unjustified discrimination of the individual data subjects [5]. Accuracy recognition should be preserved (or degraded smoothly) when protected templates are involved. ...
... Biometrics can also be significantly more problematic than traditional forms of authentication (e.g., passwords and other identifiers such PIN codes, hardware devices, etc.) because one cannot change his or her biometric data (Prabhakar et al., 2003). Importantly, biological information is effectively public information: we are leaving biological information everywhere, e.g., fingerprints, DNA, recordings of our gait, photographs of our faces or irises-from which advanced computer algorithms can extract a biometric template (Mordini and Massari, 2008). Fingerprints are easily stolen, copied, or lifted. ...
After introducing key concepts and definitions in the field of digital identity, this paper will investigate the benefits and drawbacks of existing identity systems on the road toward achieving self-sovereign identity. It will explore, in particular, the use of blockchain technology and biometrics as a means to ensure the “unicity” and “singularity” of identities, and the associated challenges pertaining to the security and confidentiality of personal information. The paper will then describe an alternative approach to self-sovereign identity based on a system of blockchain-based attestations, claims, credentials, and permissions, which are globally portable across the life of an individual. While not dependent on any particular government or organization for administration or legitimacy, credentials and attestations might nonetheless include government-issued identification and biometrics as one of many indicia of identity. Such a solution—based on a recorded and signed digital history of attributes and activities—best approximates the fluidity and granularity of identity, enabling individuals to express only specific facets of their identity, depending on the parties with whom they wish to interact. To illustrate the difficulties inherent in the implementation of a self-sovereign identity system in the real world, the paper will focus on two blockchain-based identity solutions as case studies: (1) Kiva's identity protocol for building credit history in Sierra Leone, and (2) World Food Programme's Building Blocks program for delivering cash aid to refugees in Jordan. Finally, the paper will explore how the combination of blockchain-based cryptocurrencies and self-sovereign identity may contribute to promoting greater economic inclusion. With digital transactions functioning as identity claims within an ecosystem based on self-sovereign identity, new business models might emerge, such as identity insurance schemes, along with the emergence of value-stable cryptocurrencies (“stablecoins”) functioning as local currencies.
... Dignity thus attaches to what scholars have called the narrative dimensions of identitythe social, cultural and economic aspects (Ajana, 2013;Mordini & Massari, 2008), which are often disregarded in the moment of biometric mediation. I trace the compromise of dignity through the hardships faced by welfare beneficiaries as a form of anxieties of recognition, which comprise: 1. hardships faced during Aadhaar compliance i.e., Enrolling in Aadhaar, linking Aadhaar to ration cards and other analogue ID documents and ensuring one's details in the Aadhaar database are up to date, 2. Failed/falsified biometric authentication using fingerprints on an ongoing basis. ...
The data privacy debate in India has evolved with respect to the government’s biometric identity programme, Aadhaar that enrols welfare-dependent, poor populations to grant them access to government benefits. While legal challenges to Aadhaar by civil society groups argued that the biometric identity infrastructure creates conditions of mass surveillance and violation of individual privacy, the Indian Supreme Court in 2018 ruled that the government was justified in restricting individual privacy for the collective good of providing welfare in a transparent and corruption-free manner. Given the disproportionate burden on these populations to prove their identities to the state, this paper draws on a close reading of legal and policy texts, and activist documentation to argue that there is a need to move beyond the narrative of mass surveillance as privacy violation. Data privacy interests of the welfare-dependent emerge in the moment of biometric authentication, which creates anxieties of recognition when their authentication attempts fail or are deliberately falsified. Often, to have better social mobility, they are compelled to be physically mobile in order to enrol or update their records under conditions of physical disability and meagre socioeconomic means. These anxieties illuminate their privacy interests through a compromise of dignity or dignified living, a formulation articulated in the 2018 Aadhaar verdict. The paper makes a critical contribution to the global conversation on data privacy through a discussion of the Indian case that demonstrates the privacy-recognition nexus in local contexts.
... With regard to the dataset used, there are some limitations. Generally, biometrics systems must comply with four requirements: (1) collectability; (2) universality; (3) unicity; and (4) permanence [46]. Our results clearly guarantee requirements 1-3. ...
Biometric systems designed on wearable technology have substantial differences from traditional biometric systems. Due to their wearable nature, they generally capture noisier signals and can only be trained with signals belonging to the device user (biometric verification). In this article, we assess the feasibility of using low-cost wearable sensors—photoplethysmogram (PPG), electrocardiogram (ECG), accelerometer (ACC), and galvanic skin response (GSR)—for biometric verification. We present a prototype, built with low-cost wearable sensors, that was used to capture data from 25 subjects while seated (at resting state), walking, and seated (after a gentle stroll). We used this data to evaluate how the different combinations of signals affected the biometric verification process. Our results showed that the low-cost sensors currently being embedded in many fitness bands and smart-watches can be combined to enable biometric verification. We report and compare the results obtained by all tested configurations. Our best configuration, which uses ECG, PPG and GSR, obtained 0.99 area under the curve and 0.02 equal error rate with only 60 s of training data. We have made our dataset public so that our work can be compared with proposals developed by other researchers.
... 'Governance depends on identification but identification increasingly depends on biometrics' (Lyon 2008: 499). Mordini and Massari (2008) have suggested that forensic and biometric technologies are capable of 'turning the human body into a passport or a password … Identification is not a trivial fact but always involves a web of economic interests, political relations, symbolic networks, narratives and meanings' (Mordini and Massari 2008: 488). ...
This book addresses a significant gap in the literature and provides a comprehensive overview of the sociology of forensic science. Drawing on a wealth of international research and case studies, this book explores the intersection of science, technology, law and society and examines the production of forensic knowledge. This book explores a range of key topics such as: The integration of science into police work and criminal investigation, The relationship between law and science, Ethical and social issues raised by new forensic technology including DNA analysis, Media portrayals of forensic science, Forensic policy and the international agenda for forensic science. This book is important and compelling reading for students taking a range of courses, including criminal investigation, policing, forensic science, and the sociology of science and technology.
... De Cette même frayeur est aussi à l'origine de l'opposition des usagers contre plusieurs projets gouvernementaux de conservation des données biométriques comme démontré dans [Dom04]. -Le détournement d'usage [MM08]) est un autre risque de violation de vie privée. ...
En référence à la sécurité informatique, la biométrie concerne l’utilisation des caractéristiques morphologiques ou comportementales pour déterminer ou vérifier l’identité d’un utilisateur.Récemment, des discussions sur la sécurité des systèmes biométriques ont émergé. Le stockage des données de référence pose de sérieux problèmes de sécurité et d’invasion de vie privée : manipulation d’informations sensibles, reconstruction de la biométrie d’origine à partir du modèle stocké, construction d’un échantillon biométrique falsifié, utilisation secondaire des informations biométriques (surveillance, discrimination, etc.) ou l’impossibilité de révoquer l’identifiant biométrique lorsqu’un vol d’identité à eu lieu.La sécurité du modèle biométrique est l’une des tâches les plus cruciales dans la conception d’un système biométrique sécurisé. Considérant la modalité d’empreintes digitales, nous proposons dans cette thèse deux types de solution à ce problème. La première au niveau algorithmique et la seconde au niveau architectural.Dans l’approche fonctionnelle ou algorithmique, nous traitons des schémas de protection des modèles biométriques. Il s’agit d’un nouveau concept dont le but est de générer une biométrie révocable en appliquant des transformations, idéalement à sens unique. Plusieurs schémas de biométrie révocable ont été proposés dans la littérature, mais pour l’heure, des efforts sont attendus pour améliorer leur fiabilité. Un schéma de biométrie révocable est une chaine de traitement qui inclut les phases d’extraction des caractéristiques, de transformation et de comparaison. Toutes ces phases sont traitées dans cette thèse. Principalement, nous nous intéressons aux descripteurs de texture d’empreintes digitales. Un premier schéma révocable, en utilisant une description de la texture globale de l’empreinteest proposé. Pour améliorer les résultats, ce schéma est étendu aux minuties. Une approche de transformation par projection aléatoire est ensuite opérée.L’une des diffcultés est d’évaluer correctement le schéma de biométrie révocable généré. Nous proposons un modèle d’évaluation basé sur un ensemble de métriques quantitatives, pour mesurer les critères de sécurité et de protection de vie privée souhaités.Dans la seconde solution, nous proposons d’utiliser une architecture fermée pour le système de vérification biométrique. Les cartes à puce sont utilisées pour une meilleure gestion des données d’authentification de l’utilisateur. Un système de biométrie révocable avec un algorithme de comparaison sur la carte est proposé. Un tel système offre des avantages combinés de révocabilité et de confidentialité du modèle biométrique. Nous utilisons une JavaCard que nous gérons conformément à la norme PKCS15 pour plus d’interopérabilité.Nous proposons ensuite d’étudier les possibilités de menaces de vie privée dans l’application des passeports biométriques. Nous concluons par le fait que la biométrie révocable serait souhaitable pour améliorer la protection des données biométriques contenues dans la puce du passeport.
... Function creep describes the phenomenon where the use of technology or system is extended/shifted beyond its original purpose and context, and often also related personal data (including biometric data) is used by the government (or another dataprocessing body) beyond the scope for which it was initially intended and thus communicated in public. The main concerns here are not linked only to privacy violation e.g. the use of personal data without consent and for purposes other than those for which it was collected, but to state abusing its authority over its citizen (e.g., [8]). ...
Using large-scale web survey in six countries we study the societal readiness and acceptance of specific technology options in relation to the potential next generation of ePassports. We find that the public has only limited knowledge of the electronic data and functions ePassports include, and often have no clear opinion on various potential uses for ePassports and related personal data. Still, the public expects from ePassports improvements in protection from document forgery, accuracy and reliability of the identification of persons, and protection from identity theft. The main risks the public associates with ePassports includes the possible use of personal information for purposes other than those initially stated, and covert surveillance. Compared to earlier studies, our research shows that issues of possible privacy invasion and abuse of information are much more perceived by the public. There is a weak correlation between a persons' level of knowledge about ePassports and their willingness to accept the use of advanced biometrics, such as fingerprints or eye iris images, in different identity management and identity checking scenarios. Furthermore, the public becomes more undecided about ePassport applications as we move from the basic state of the art towards more advanced biometric technologies in various scenarios. The successful pathway to greater acceptability of the use of advanced biometrics in ePassports should start from the introduction of perceivably high-benefit and low-risk applications. As the public awareness is low, citizens' belief in government benevolence, i.e. the belief that the government acts in citizens' best interest, comes out as an important factor in the overall context.
... Given that the technology is likely to embrace surveillance, and the growing concern on deployment of surveillance technology, it is likely that there will be ethical considerations that affect not just biometrics [72,45], but also soft biometrics. Of particular interest is ethnicity which becomes less stable in a modern multicultural society. ...
Innovation has formed much of the rich history in biometrics. The field of soft biometrics was originally aimed to augment the recognition process by fusion of metrics that were sufficient to discriminate populations rather than individuals. This was later refined to use measures that could be used to discriminate individuals, especially using descriptions that can be perceived using human vision and in surveillance imagery. A further branch of this new field concerns approaches to estimate soft biometrics, either using conventional biometrics approaches or just from images alone. These three strands combine to form what is now known as soft biometrics. We survey the achievements that have been made in recognition by and in estimation of these parameters, describing how these approaches can be used and where they might lead to. The approaches lead to a new type of recognition, and one similar to Bertillonage which is one of the earliest approaches to human identification.
The use of emotion recognition technologies in the workplace is expanding. These technologies claim to provide insights into internal emotional states based on external cues like facial expressions. Despite interconnections between autism and the development of emotion recognition technologies as reported in prior research, little attention has been paid to the particular issues that arise for autistic individuals when emotion recognition technologies are implemented in consequential settings like the workplace. This article examines recent literature on autism and on emotion recognition technologies to argue that the risks of the use of emotion recognition technologies in the workplace are heightened for autistic people. Following a brief overview of emotion recognition technologies, this argument is made by focusing on the issues that arise through the development and deployment of emotion recognition technologies. Issues related to the development of emotion recognition technologies include fundamental problems with the science behind the technologies, the underrepresentation of autistic individuals in data sets and the problems with increasing this representation, and annotation of the training data for the technologies. Issues related to implementation include the invasive nature of emotion recognition technologies, the sensitivity of the data used, and the imposition of neurotypical norms on autistic workers through their use. The article closes with a call for future research on the implications of these emergent technologies for autistic individuals.
Lay abstract
Technologies using artificial intelligence to recognize people’s emotional states are increasingly being developed under the name of emotional recognition technologies. Emotion recognition technologies claim to identify people’s emotional states based on data, like facial expressions. This is despite research providing counterevidence that emotion recognition technologies are founded on bad science and that it is not possible to correctly identify people’s emotions in this way. The use of emotion recognition technologies is widespread, and they can be harmful when they are used in the workplace, especially for autistic workers. Although previous research has shown that the origins of emotion recognition technologies relied on autistic people, there has been little research on the impact of emotion recognition technologies on autistic people when it is used in the workplace. Through a review of recent academic studies, this article looks at the development and implementation processes of emotion recognition technologies to show how autistic people in particular may be disadvantaged or harmed by the development and use of the technologies. This article closes with a call for more research on autistic people’s perception of the technologies and their impact, with involvement from diverse participants.
Technological development has never been so rapid as today. Due to the emerging technologies, their users gain considerable advantages in their everyday life. At the same time, such facilitation has an effect on our privacy and entails a risk of a wide range of information becoming easily available to unauthorised entities or persons. However, the risk is even greater when the scope of data required to get access to a particular solution becomes broader. In some cases, the amount of data requested from the user seems largely redundant. In this context, it is worth mentioning, for example, biometric data increasingly used for authentication of the user wishing to access applications by means of fingerprint scanning or facial recognition. The question is whether this is really necessary in all situations, or possibly in some circumstances the use of biometrics may pose a greater threat to privacy than to the information protected this way. The author presents the current restrictions on the use of biometric data, along with their assessment.
By combining securitization literature and literature from the field of border criminologies, this article reflects upon the ongoing securitization of intra-EU East–West mobility. The European Union is built on the inherent tension between the (economic) benefits and risks of one of its core principles: the principle of free movement. The two enlargements of the EU that led to the inclusion of several countries located in Central and Eastern Europe further increased this tension and led countries in Western Europe to officially reconstruct intra-Schengen borders. By looking into recent practices of (border) policing in the Netherlands, this article illustrates how CEE nationals are subjected not only to a securitized discourse around their mobility but also to securitized policing practices that aim to create a division between ‘core’ and ‘non-core’ Europeans while at the same time distinguishing between possible ‘crimmigrant’ others and bona fide travellers.
Biometrics covers a variety of technologies used for the identification and authentication of individuals based on their behavioral and biological characteristics. A number of new biometric technologies have been developed, taking advantage of our improved understanding of the human body and advanced sensing techniques. They are increasingly being automated to eliminate the need for human verification. As computational power and techniques improve and the resolution of camera images increases, it seems clear that many benefits could be derived through the application of a wider range of biometric techniques for security and surveillance purposes in Europe. Facial recognition technology (FRT) makes it possible to compare digital facial images to determine whether they are of the same person. However, there are many difficulties in using such evidence to secure convictions in criminal cases. Some are related to the technical shortcomings of facial biometric systems, which impact their utility as an undisputed identification system and as reliable evidence; others pertain to legal challenges in terms of data privacy and dignity rights. While FRT is coveted as a mechanism to address the perceived need for increased security, there are concerns that the absence of sufficiently stringent regulations endangers fundamental rights to human dignity and privacy. In fact, its use presents a unique host of legal and ethical concerns. The lack of both transparency and lawfulness in the acquisition, processing and use of personal data can lead to physical, tangible and intangible damages, such as identity theft, discrimination or identity fraud, with serious personal, economic or social consequences. Evidence obtained by unlawful means can also be subject to challenge when adduced in court. This paper looks at the technical and legal challenges of automated FRT, focusing on its use for law enforcement and forensic purposes in criminal matters. The combination of both technical and legal approaches is necessary to recognize and identify the main potential risks arising from the use of FRT, in order to prevent possible errors or misuses due both to technological misassumptions and threats to fundamental rights, particularly—but not only—the right to privacy and the presumption of innocence. On the one hand, a good part of the controversies and contingencies surrounding the credibility and reliability of automated FRT is intimately related to their technical shortcomings. On the other hand, data protection, database custody, transparency, accountability and trust are relevant legal issues that might raise problems when using FRT. The aim of this paper is to improve the usefulness of automated FRT in criminal investigations and as forensic evidence within the criminal procedure.KeywordsBiometricsPrivacyDignityForensicsFacial recognitionInfallibility
The human face, real and imagined, has long figured into various forms of cultural and personal recognition—to include citizenship, in both the modern and the ancient world. But beyond affiliations related to borders and government, the human face has also figured prominently into biometrics that feed posthuman questions and anxieties. For while one requirement of biometrics is concerned with “unicity,” or that which identifies an individual as unique, another requirement is that it identify “universality,” confirming an individual’s membership in the species. Shakespeare’s sonnets grapple with the crisis of encountering a universal beauty in a unique specimen to which Time and Nature nonetheless afford no special privilege. Between fair and dark lies a posthuman lament over the injustice of natural law and the social valorizations arbitrarily marshaled to defend it.
Advances in technology have a substantial impact on every aspect of our lives, ranging from the way we communicate to the way we travel. The Smart mobility at the European land borders (SMILE) project is geared towards the deployment of biometric technologies to optimize and monitor the flow of people at land borders. However, despite the anticipated benefits of deploying biometric technologies in border control, there are still divergent views on the use of such technologies by two primary stakeholders–travelers and border authorities. In this paper, we provide a comparison of travelers’ and border authorities’ views on the deployment of biometric technologies in border management. The overall goal of this study is to enable us to understand the concerns of travelers and border guards in order to facilitate the acceptance of biometric technologies for a secure and more convenient border crossing. Our method of inquiry consisted of in-person interviews with border guards (SMILE project’s end users), observation and field visits (to the Hungarian-Romanian and Bulgarian-Romanian borders) and questionnaires for both travelers and border guards. As a result of our investigation, two conflicting trends emerged. On one hand, border guards argued that biometric technologies had the potential to be a very effective tool that would enhance security levels and make traveler identification and authentication procedures easy, fast and convenient. On the other hand, travelers were more concerned about the technologies representing a threat to fundamental rights, personal privacy and data protection.
Biometric identity registration technologies are spreading throughout the world. Developing countries in particular, have recently been seen to construct biometric population registers in partnership with international donor organizations. This article traces the temporal entanglements produced by transnational policy mobilities in the inception and implementation of Ghana's national biometric identity registration project. In 2008, Ghana famously introduced the first biometric banking system in Africa. Yet, the e-zwich payment system marked only the first step towards the current ‘craze’ for biometric identity registration in the West African country. Among the numerous biometric identity documents circulating in Ghana's national and subnational institutions, the national Ghanacard is the most interesting identity registration project in the country, both in terms of its population-wide reach and the complex constellation of institutions, actors and ideas competing within the project. With a focus on the temporalities of policymaking, the article examines the project's fundamental future orientation, the temporal context of its production with its specific possibilities of imagining and acting upon certain matters, and the rhythms and schedules of project implementation. By doing so, it draws attention to some of the ways in which competing sets of ideas shape large-scale investments in technology and infrastructure in Africa.
Biometrics are the unique characteristics of the individual that differentiate him or her from any other person. Down and Sands [1] explained that the physiological characteristics refer to the inherited traits that are shaped in the early embryonic stages of the human development. Physical biometrics include, among other things, DNA, fingerprints, hand geometry, vein patterns, face structure, skin luminescence, palm prints, iris patterns, periocular features, retina patterns, ear shape, lip prints, heartbeats, tongue prints, and body odor/scent [2]?[8]. Behavioral characteristics are not inherited but acquired and learned throughout the life of the individual [1]. These include, but also are not limited to, signature, handwriting, vocal prints, keystroke dynamics, and gait?body motion [3]. As a result, the biometrics of a person cannot be stolen, forgotten, or forged. It is what we are [2].
The South African government provides a social assistance programme that pays out monetary grants to qualifying persons. In 2012, the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) who manages these social grants, instituted a new form of identification that required the capturing of biometric features such as fingerprints and voice samples, to better identify the grant recipients in order to reduce fraud. This paper describes the development of a framework for an appropriate implementation of biometrics for the social grant programme taking into account the security requirements as well as the vulnerability of the grant recipients.
We consider the problem of generating a biometric image from two different traits. Specifically, we focus on generating an IrisPrint that inherits its structure from a fingerprint image and an iris image. To facilitate this, the continuous phase of the fingerprint image, characterizing its ridge flow, is first extracted. Next, a scheme is developed to extract “minutiae” from an iris image. Finally, an IrisPrint, that resembles a fingerprint, is created by mixing the ridge flow of the fingerprint with the iris minutiae. Preliminary experiments suggest that the new biometric image (i.e., IrisPrint) (a) can potentially be used for authentication by an existing fingerprint matcher, and (b) can potentially conceal and preserve the privacy of the original fingerprint and iris images.
In this chapter we will review the latest developments in biometrics based on behavioural traits and spatio-temporal fusion of sensory information of the human body. We deal with the societal impact of conceptualizing and of using particular biometric systems, and claim that each biometric scenario comes with its own reality-changing implications. We also claim that technological developments in security neglect the human aspect and in their attempt to produce solutions with quantifiable measures of success they overlook non-quantifiable, yet essential ingredients of everyday existence, thereby creating disembodied, ephemeral scenarios and use-cases. We look at what is missing from the presently dominant, ‘clean’ paradigm, and project the possible results of continuing along this trajectory. We seek alternatives, we explore how biometric technology can be used for an ambient lifestyle, and we draw attention to the concerns that are buried under the worn-out discourse of a positivist approach.
The Aadhaar or Unique Identification Numbers initiative of the Government of India presages a new model of biological citizenship as much as it announces the arrival of India as a technological society, one where social problems such as meagre public distribution systems and primary health services are solved through technical means. Through a series of propositions about the increased use of biometrics for identification purposes, the cultures of surveillance that centre in and around the body are explored.
This book offers a detailed exploration of three examples of humanitarian uses of new technology, employing key theoretical insights from Foucault.We are currently seeing a humanitarian turn to new digital technologies, such as biometrics, remote sensing, and surveillance drones. However, such humanitarian uses of new technology have not always produced beneficial results for those at the receiving end and have sometimes exposed the subjects of assistance to additional risks and insecurities. Engaging with key insights from the work of Foucault combined with selected concepts from the Science and Technology Studies literature, this book produces an analytical framework that opens up the analysis to details of power and control at the level of materiality that are often ignored in liberal histories of war and modernity. Whereas Foucault details the design of prisons, factories, schools, etc., this book is original in its use of his work, in that it uses these key insights about the details of power embedded in material design, but shifts the attention to the technologies and attending forms of power that have been experimented with in the three humanitarian endeavours presented in the book. In doing so, the book provides new information about aspects of liberal humanitarianism that contemporary critical analyses have largely neglected. This book will be of interest to students of humanitarian studies, peace and conflict studies, critical security studies, and IR in general.
The hypothesis of the study was that human dentition is unique. This study was performed to analyze whether biometric methods using measurements and proportions are suitable for dental identification. The use of 3D models with specialized systems for computer aided engineering (CAE) and Reverse Engineering (RE) allowed for a number of point surface and volume comparative analyses. “Mapping” was carried out next on the dentition models. This procedure results in a set of curves and points depicting the characteristic features of the teeth and their edges respectively. Based on the “mapping” the so-called “biometric dental rosette” was created for the dentition models. The “biometric dental rosette” was created for maxillary and mandibular dentition models. Every rosette was individual thus unique. The method allowed for positive identification of all the volunteers. The presented studies are of preliminary character, and the continuation is necessary.
“Biometric Dental Rosette” – a term invented by the authors and used in print for the first time.
Amid good intentions, such as providing humanitarian assistance to refugees, the use of biometric technology in humanitarian refugee management may entail various risks for the implicated refugee populations. Drawing on insights from science and technology studies, this article introduces a distinction between risks stemming from technology failure and risks stemming from successful uses of biometric technology. The article thus departs from the literature in which technology failure has been in focus by showing that analysing the effect of technology success adds an important dimension to our analysis of the range of risks that may emerge in the context of humanitarian technology uses. The usefulness of this distinction is then illustrated through an analysis of the use by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) of iris recognition in the repatriation of Afghan refugees; besides risks of failure at the implementation stage, risks also emerged once refugees had successfully registered their biometric data with UNHCR. To recognize how humanitarian refugee biometrics produces digital refugees at risk of exposure to new forms of intrusion and insecurity, we need to appreciate how successful technology can have critical implications arising from how technology is constituted in and constitutive of social phenomena.
At various points in its career, the Indian state has deployed technologies to govern the nation. Recently the state has undertaken a number of large scale projects to install digital technology. The most controversial of these is the Unique Identity Project, which is registering the biometric, along with demographic, information of the residents. In this paper, I will try to understand what is politically at stake in this technological intervention. I would like to explore the political logics of biometric system and its consequences. I will argue that UID re-imagines the economy and the state-citizen relationship as a series of transactions. Theoretically, the main thrust of this paper is to understand the “general economy of power”, as Michel Foucault calls it, which is unfolding in India around the issues of capitalist growth, inequality, social protection, and terrorism — and UID explores the technological possibility of the great convergence of these concerns.
Biometric implementations have emerged as an improved solution in many spheres of life where security controls are necessary for authentication. However, not all human mannerisms and features can be used as a biometric measure. For example, the movement of an elbow will not satisfy the requirements for a useful biometric. There are a number of characteristics which are deemed important and that may be taken into account when choosing a human mannerism or feature to be used as a biometric for the purposes of identification. Some characteristics are more necessary than others. For example, the uniqueness of the fingerprint is more important than its acceptance as an identification mechanism by the public at large. One can find a number of these suggested characteristics in the literature and place them into various categories. The primary category will be its inherent nature but there may also be a technical and a procedural category. Technical considerations are where the typical technical implementation of the biometric may add further characteristics to the biometric. Finally, there may be procedural actions that will further have an influence on the biometric implementation. A categorized technical or procedural characteristic should add quality to the original inherent characteristics for any particular biometric. If a biometric feature and its further implementation (technical and/or procedural) satisfy a certain subset of these categorized characteristics which are deemed more important, then this may constitute a better choice than that which appears to satisfy a different subset of characteristics. This paper looks at the characteristics found in the literature and attempts to categorize them as inherent, technical or procedural in nature. The paper will subsequently look at some of the more popular biometric features and their inherent characteristics that have been found in the literature. Readers of this paper will be able to select appropriate biometric - eatures based on the characteristics that are identified in this paper.
Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to document the development path of a specific concept during its first 20 years.
Design/methodology/approach
– Evidence was extracted of the citation-counts of relevant articles, uses of the term in other articles that do not cite the original articles, and uses of terms with similar meanings. Examination of the data took into account insights from epidemiology, memetics and diffusion of innovations theory.
Findings
– The concept has had insufficient impact to overcome the weaknesses in theory and practice that it was intended to address. It has lacked champions. It has proven to be sufficiently fit to survive, but not to flourish.
Research limitations/implications
– Google Scholar has a wide catchment area, and hence provides a basis for tracking the path of development of new ideas. However, the tools remain fairly blunt, and do not, for example, enable efficient extraction of patterns of citation over time, or the nature of the uses made of terms by the citing articles.
Practical implications
– Neologisms take on a life of their own, losing the associations that they were intended to have with other ideas, and shedding their embedment in a body of theory. For a new term to successfully project a meme, its proponent must enthuse a critical mass of early adopters to apply it, and to generate a further round of adopters.
Originality/value
– Concepts are seldom tracked over time. This paper shows that a new term and its associated body of theory require more than publications in top-level journals if they are to have significant impacts on academic research and industry practice.
Purpose
– The paper is a conceptual investigation of the metaphysics of personal identity and the ethics of biometric passports. The paper aims to discuss these issues.
Design/methodology/approach
– Philosophical argument, discussing both the metaphysical and the social ethics/computer ethics literature on personal identity and biometry.
Findings
– The author argues for three central claims in this paper: passport are not simply representations of personal identity, they help constitute personal identity. Personal identity is not a metaphysical fact, but a set of practices, among them identity management practices (e.g. population registries) employed by governments. The use of biometry as part of these identity management practices is not an ethical problem as such, nor is it something fundamentally new and different compared to older ways of establishing personal identity. It is worrisome, however, since in the current political climate, it is systematically used to deny persons access to specific territories, rights, and benefits.
Originality/value
– The paper ties together strands of philosophical inquiry that do not usually converse with one another, namely the metaphysics of personal identity, and the topic of identity in social philosophy and computer ethics.
This paper introduces the special issue on information systems, identity and identification. In addition to introducing the papers in the special issue, it provides a state-of-the-art review of research into identity and identification to contextualise the contributions of the special issue papers. The paper reviews research themes in personal and organisational identity as well as research challenges in identification before considering the interplay between these two strands.
Since 1993, the Canadian government has used biometric screening to identify migrants crossing in and out of Canadian territory. Recently, however, the government has sought to enhance the scope of biometric screening through a number of proposed acts and programs. Of particular interest is the 2013 Temporary Resident Biometrics Project. The Project will require that foreign nationals provide enhanced biometric details, including fingerprints and facial capture, which will be shared with other governmental departments such as the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and Canada Border Services Agency. Although the Canadian government has made reference to increasing vulnerabilities in their capacities of identification and verification, it is unclear exactly why the enhanced surveillance and governance of noncitizens is necessary. We argue that the increasing deployment of biometrics is part of a larger global program designed to promote and manage temporary, short-term labor. We explore this use of biometrics by contextualizing the arguments advanced by the Temporary Resident Biometrics Project within the larger neoliberal discourse of market uncertainty and risk management. The working theory draws from Callon's thesis of hybrid forums to investigate the economization of biometric screening and, in turn, how the state's relationship and obligations to noncitizens are increasingly defined through the rhetoric of a market-driven economized service. A brief overview of the Canada–U.S. NEXUS program serves to demonstrate the Project's relevance to understanding how surveillance is being used to manage global flows of labor.
It has been an appealing but challenging goal in research on attribute-based encryption (ABE) and attribute-based signatures (ABS) to design a secure scheme with short ciphertexts and signatures, respectively. While recent results show that some promising progress has been made in this direction, they do not always offer a satisfactory level of security, i.e. achieving selective rather than full security.
In this paper, we aim to achieve both full security and short ciphertexts/signatures for threshold access structures in the ABE/ABS setting. Towards achieving this goal, we propose generic property-preserving conversions from inner-product systems to attribute-based systems. We first give concrete constructions of fully secure IPE/IPS with constant-size ciphertexts/signatures in the composite order groups. By making use of our IPE/IPS schemes as building blocks, we then present concrete constructions of fully secure key-policy ABE (KP-ABE) and ciphertext-policy ABE (CP-ABE) with constant-size ciphertexts, and a fully secure ABS with constant-size signatures with perfect privacy for threshold access structures. These results give rise to the first constructions satisfying the aforementioned requirements. Our schemes reduce the number of pairing evaluations to a constant, a very attractive property for practical attribute-based systems. Furthermore, we show that our schemes can be extended to support large attribute universes and more expressive access structures.
By the middle of the twenty-first century around one third of the European population will be aged 65 or over. This poses two main challenges to biometrics. First, the quality of an image capturable from an older person is likely to be inferior to that of a younger person, leading to increased failure to capture or failure to enroll rates. Second, since biometric features alter over time, 'within-person variation' and 'template ageing' lead to significant system performance degradation. As society ages the need for solutions becomes increasingly urgent. This paper addresses a major societal and ethical issue this need provokes.
This paper discusses the social and ethical aspects of biometrics, using mainly a historical approach. A description is provided as regards the origins and development of the word. Reference is made to the various ways in which it has been interpreted, sometimes very different one from another, and finally to the meaning currently attached to it. The most relevant ethical and social implications are highlighted by giving a brief overview of the contents of the main institutional documents produced both on an international and domestic level in the various countries. The analyses contained in these reports also bring to the fore the main challenges which society shall have to deal with, in the near future and on a long-term basis, as a consequence of the extremely rapid diffusion of those technologies which use biometric data request.
The work of Giorgio Agamben, one of Italyâs most important and original philosophers, has been based on an uncommon erudition in classical traditions of philosophy and rhetoric, the grammarians of late antiquity, Christian theology, and modern philosophy. Recently, Agamben has begun to direct his thinking to the constitution of the social and to some concrete, ethico-political conclusions concerning the state of society today, and the place of the individual within it. In Homo Sacer, Agamben aims to connect the problem of pure possibility, potentiality, and power with the problem of political and social ethics in a context where the latter has lost its previous religious, metaphysical, and cultural grounding. Taking his cue from Foucaultâs fragmentary analysis of biopolitics, Agamben probes with great breadth, intensity, and acuteness the covert or implicit presence of an idea of biopolitics in the history of traditional political theory. He argues that from the earliest treatises of political theory, notably in Aristotleâs notion of man as a political animal, and throughout the history of Western thinking about sovereignty (whether of the king or the state), a notion of sovereignty as power over âlifeâ is implicit. The reason it remains merely implicit has to do, according to Agamben, with the way the sacred, or the idea of sacrality, becomes indissociable from the idea of sovereignty. Drawing upon Carl Schmittâs idea of the sovereignâs status as the exception to the rules he safeguards, and on anthropological research that reveals the close interlinking of the sacred and the taboo, Agamben defines the sacred person as one who can be killed and yet not sacrificedâa paradox he sees as operative in the status of the modern individual living in a system that exerts control over the collective ânaked lifeâ of all individuals.
Homo Sacer: Sovereign Power and Bare Life Simians, Cyborgs and Women: The Reinvention of Nature Fatal Strategies: Revenge of the Crystal
- G Agamben
51 http://www.infoshop.org/inews/stories.php?story=04/01/17/ 2017978> [Accessed 21 May 2008]. 52 G. Agamben. 1998. Homo Sacer: Sovereign Power and Bare Life. Trans. Daniel Heller-Roazen. Stanford: Stanford UP. 53 E.g. D.J. Haraway, ed. 1991. Simians, Cyborgs and Women: The Reinvention of Nature. New York: Routledge. 54 E.g. J. Baudrillard. 1990. Fatal Strategies: Revenge of the Crystal. Sydney: Power Institute Pub. 55 See W. Pietz. 1985. The Problem of the Fetish. Res: Anthropology and Aesthetics. 9: 5–17.
The invention of the Passport-Surveillance, Citizenship and the State. Cambridge: Cambridge UP. 63 Ibid, five years after the Revolution, France enacted the first law in the west that fixed identity and citizenship to the birth certificate
- Torpey
Torpey. 2000. The invention of the Passport-Surveillance, Citizenship and the State. Cambridge: Cambridge UP.
63 Ibid.
64 On August 4, 1794, five years after the Revolution, France enacted
the first law in the west that fixed identity and citizenship to the birth
certificate. See J. Caplan & J. Torpy, op. cit. note 40.
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E.g. J. Baudrillard. 1990. Fatal Strategies: Revenge of the Crystal.
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See W. Pietz. 1985. The Problem of the Fetish. Res: Anthropology and
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Do the various biometric data that we have just considered constitute authentic human identification? Or do they contribute on the contrary to instrumentalizing the body and in a way dehumanizing it by reducing a person to an assortment of biometric measurements
- E G French
E.g. the French National Consultative Ethics Committee for Health
and Life Sciences, 2007, Biometrics, Identifying Data and Human
Rights. OPINION N° 98. Available at; http://www.ccne-ethique.fr/
docs/en/avis098.pdf: [Accessed 23 Aug 2007] 'Do the various biometric
data that we have just considered constitute authentic human identification? Or do they contribute on the contrary to instrumentalizing the
body and in a way dehumanizing it by reducing a person to an assortment of biometric measurements?'
Machine-Readable Bodies, Biometrics, Informatization and, Surveillance
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See I. van der Ploeg. 2008. Machine-Readable Bodies, Biometrics,
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E. Mordini, ed. Amsterdam: IOS Press, Nato Series, in press.