TY - JOUR
T1 - Reframing biometric surveillance
T2 - From a means of inspection to a form of control
AU - Marciano, Avi
N1 - Funding Information: This article draws on my doctoral dissertation, which I wrote at the Department of Communication at the University of Haifa, under the supervision of Dr. Rivka Ribak. I want to thank her for the dedicated mentorship and guidance. Publisher Copyright: © 2018, Springer Nature B.V.
PY - 2019/6/15
Y1 - 2019/6/15
N2 - This paper reviews the social scientific literature on biometric surveillance, with particular attention to its potential harms. It maps the harms caused by biometric surveillance, traces their theoretical origins, and brings these harms together in one integrative framework to elucidate their cumulative power. Demonstrating these harms with examples from the United States, the European Union, and Israel, I propose that biometric surveillance be addressed, evaluated and reframed as a new form of control rather than simply another means of inspection. I conclude by delineating three features of biometric technologies—complexity, objectivity, and agency—that demonstrate their social power and draw attention to the importance of studying biometric surveillance.
AB - This paper reviews the social scientific literature on biometric surveillance, with particular attention to its potential harms. It maps the harms caused by biometric surveillance, traces their theoretical origins, and brings these harms together in one integrative framework to elucidate their cumulative power. Demonstrating these harms with examples from the United States, the European Union, and Israel, I propose that biometric surveillance be addressed, evaluated and reframed as a new form of control rather than simply another means of inspection. I conclude by delineating three features of biometric technologies—complexity, objectivity, and agency—that demonstrate their social power and draw attention to the importance of studying biometric surveillance.
KW - Algorithms
KW - Biometric technologies
KW - Identity management
KW - Privacy
KW - Social sorting
KW - Surveillance
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85058163191&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s10676-018-9493-1
DO - https://doi.org/10.1007/s10676-018-9493-1
M3 - Article
SN - 1388-1957
VL - 21
SP - 127
EP - 136
JO - Ethics and Information Technology
JF - Ethics and Information Technology
IS - 2
ER -