Overview

An examination of the public's perceptions of biometric identification technology in the context of privacy, security, and civil liberties. The use of biometric technology for identification has gone from Orwellian fantasy to everyday reality. This technology, which verifies or recognizes a person's identity based on physiological, anatomical, or behavioral patterns (including fingerprints, retina, handwriting, and keystrokes) has been deployed for such purposes as combating welfare fraud, screening airplane passengers, and identifying terrorists. The accompanying controversy has pitted those who praise the technology's accuracy and efficiency against advocates for privacy and civil liberties. In America Identified, Lisa Nelson investigates the complex public responses to biometric technology. She uses societal perceptions of this particular identification technology to explore the values, beliefs, and ideologies that influence public acceptance of technology. Drawing on her own extensive research with focus groups and a national survey, Nelson finds that considerations of privacy, anonymity, trust and confidence in institutions, and the legitimacy of paternalistic government interventions are extremely important to users and potential users of the technology. She examines the long history of government systems of identification and the controversies they have inspired; the effect of the information technology revolution and the events of September 11, 2001; the normative value of privacy (as opposed to its merely legal definition); the place of surveillance technologies in a civil society; trust in government and distrust in the expanded role of government; and the balance between the need for government to act to prevent harm and the possible threat to liberty in government's actions.

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9780262014779

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Biometric identification in all its forms is becoming increasingly important to our brave new world of constant surveillance. In this highly approachable, wonderfully insightful book, Lisa Nelson walks us through an issue that should be of concern to policy makers, science studies scholars, and indeed all citizens. Geoffrey C. Bowker, Professor and Senior Scholar in Cyberscholarship, University of Pittsburgh Societal perception of identification technology in general, and biometrics in particular, is a fascinating area of study. This book provides an excellent perspective on this topic, treating questions related to privacy, anonymity, trust, and paternalism in the context of biometrics. America Identified carefully discusses these issues and is, therefore, a welcome addition to the biometrics literature. Arun Ross, Lane Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering, West Virginia University

Biometric identification in all its forms is becoming increasingly important to our brave new world of constant surveillance. In this highly approachable, wonderfully insightful book, Lisa Nelson walks us through an issue that should be of concern to policy makers, science studies scholars, and indeed all citizens. --Geoffrey C. Bowker, Professor and Senior Scholar in Cyberscholarship, University of Pittsburgh Societal perception of identification technology in general, and biometrics in particular, is a fascinating area of study. This book provides an excellent perspective on this topic, treating questions related to privacy, anonymity, trust, and paternalism in the context of biometrics. America Identified carefully discusses these issues and is, therefore, a welcome addition to the biometrics literature. --Arun Ross, Lane Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering, West Virginia University

Biometric identification in all its forms is becoming increasingly important to our brave new world of constant surveillance. In this highly approachable, wonderfully insightful book, Lisa Nelson walks us through an issue that should be of concern to policy makers, science studies scholars, and indeed all citizens.

Author Information

Lisa S. Nelson is an associate professor in the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Pittsburgh.

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