Biometric State

Biometric State PDF Author: Keith Breckenridge
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1316123944
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 265

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Book Description
Biometric identification and registration systems are being proposed by governments and businesses across the world. Surprisingly they are under most rapid, and systematic, development in countries in Africa and Asia. In this groundbreaking book, Keith Breckenridge traces how the origins of the systems being developed in places like India, Mexico, Nigeria and Ghana can be found in a century-long history of biometric government in South Africa, with the South African experience of centralized fingerprint identification unparalleled in its chronological depth and demographic scope. He shows how empire, and particularly the triangular relationship between India, the Witwatersrand and Britain, established the special South African obsession with biometric government, and shaped the international politics that developed around it for the length of the twentieth century. He also examines the political effects of biometric registration systems, revealing their consequences for the basic workings of the institutions of democracy and authoritarianism.

Biometric State

Biometric State PDF Author: Keith Breckenridge
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1316123944
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 265

Get Book Here

Book Description
Biometric identification and registration systems are being proposed by governments and businesses across the world. Surprisingly they are under most rapid, and systematic, development in countries in Africa and Asia. In this groundbreaking book, Keith Breckenridge traces how the origins of the systems being developed in places like India, Mexico, Nigeria and Ghana can be found in a century-long history of biometric government in South Africa, with the South African experience of centralized fingerprint identification unparalleled in its chronological depth and demographic scope. He shows how empire, and particularly the triangular relationship between India, the Witwatersrand and Britain, established the special South African obsession with biometric government, and shaped the international politics that developed around it for the length of the twentieth century. He also examines the political effects of biometric registration systems, revealing their consequences for the basic workings of the institutions of democracy and authoritarianism.

Security, Risk and the Biometric State

Security, Risk and the Biometric State PDF Author: Benjamin Muller
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1135161399
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 323

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Book Description
This book examines a series of questions associated with the increasing application and implications of biometrics in contemporary everyday life. In the wake of the events of 9/11, the reliance on increasingly sophisticated and invasive technologies across a burgeoning field of applications has accelerated, giving rise to the term 'biometric state'. This book explores how these ‘virtual borders’ are created and the effect they have upon the politics of citizenship and immigration, especially how they contribute to the treatment of citizens as suspects. Finally and most importantly, this text argues that the rationale of 'governing through risk' facilitates pre-emptory logics, a negligent attitude towards 'false positives', and an overall proliferation of borders and ubiquitous risk, which becomes integral to contemporary everyday life, far beyond the confined politics of national borders and frontiers. By focusing on specific sites, such as virtual borders in airports, trusted traveller programs like the NEXUS program and those delivered by airlines and supported by governmental authorities (TSA and CATSA respectively), this book raises critical questions about the emerging biometric state and its commitment and constitution vis-à-vis technology of ‘governing through risk’. This book will be of interest to students of biopolitics, critical security, surveillance studies and International Relations in general. Benjamin J. Muller is assistant professor in International Relations at Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, Canada. He completed his PhD in the School of Politics and International Studies at Queen’s University Belfast, Northern Ireland, in 2005.

Identification and Citizenship in Africa

Identification and Citizenship in Africa PDF Author: Séverine Awenengo Dalberto
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1000380084
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 404

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Book Description
In the context of a global biometric turn, this book investigates processes of legal identification in Africa ‘from below,’ asking what this means for the relationship between citizens and the state. Almost half of the population of the African continent is thought to lack a legal identity, and many states see biometric technology as a reliable and efficient solution to the problem. However, this book shows that biometrics, far from securing identities and avoiding fraud or political distrust, can even participate in reinforcing exclusion and polarizing debates on citizenship and national belonging. It highlights the social and political embedding of legal identities and the resilience of the documentary state. Drawing on empirical research conducted across 14 countries, the book documents the processes, practices, and meanings of legal identification in Africa from the 1950s right up to the biometric boom. Beyond the classic opposition between surveillance and recognition, it demonstrates how analysing the social uses of IDs and tools of identification can give a fresh account of the state at work, the practices of citizenship, and the role of bureaucracy in the writing of the self in African societies. This book will be of an important reference for students and scholars of African studies, politics, human security, and anthropology and the sociology of the state.

Biometric State

Biometric State PDF Author: Keith Breckenridge
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107077842
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 265

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Book Description
A groundbreaking study of South Africa's role as a site for global experiments in biometric identification throughout the twentieth century.

When Biometrics Fail

When Biometrics Fail PDF Author: Shoshana Magnet
Publisher: Duke University Press
ISBN: 0822351358
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 226

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Book Description
This book examines the proliferation of surveillance technologies&—such as facial recognition software and digital fingerprinting&—that have come to pervade our everyday lives. Often developed as methods to ensure "national security," these technologies are also routinely employed to regulate our personal information, our work lives, what we buy, and how we live.

Biometric Systems

Biometric Systems PDF Author: James L. Wayman
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 1846280648
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 380

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Book Description
Biometric Systems provides practitioners with an overview of the principles and methods needed to build reliable biometric systems. It covers three main topics: key biometric technologies, design and management issues, and the performance evaluation of biometric systems for personal verification/identification. The four most widely used technologies are focused on - speech, fingerprint, iris and face recognition. Key features include: in-depth coverage of the technical and practical obstacles which are often neglected by application developers and system integrators and which result in shortfalls between expected and actual performance; and protocols and benchmarks which will allow developers to compare performance and track system improvements.

Our Biometric Future

Our Biometric Future PDF Author: Kelly A. Gates
Publisher: NYU Press
ISBN: 0814732798
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 276

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Book Description
Since the 1960s, a significant effort has been underway to program computers to “see” the human face—to develop automated systems for identifying faces and distinguishing them from one another—commonly known as Facial Recognition Technology. While computer scientists are developing FRT in order to design more intelligent and interactive machines, businesses and states agencies view the technology as uniquely suited for “smart” surveillance—systems that automate the labor of monitoring in order to increase their efficacy and spread their reach. Tracking this technological pursuit, Our Biometric Future identifies FRT as a prime example of the failed technocratic approach to governance, where new technologies are pursued as shortsighted solutions to complex social problems. Culling news stories, press releases, policy statements, PR kits and other materials, Kelly Gates provides evidence that, instead of providing more security for more people, the pursuit of FRT is being driven by the priorities of corporations, law enforcement and state security agencies, all convinced of the technology’s necessity and unhindered by its complicated and potentially destructive social consequences. By focusing on the politics of developing and deploying these technologies, Our Biometric Future argues not for the inevitability of a particular technological future, but for its profound contingency and contestability.

Biometric Technologies and Verification Systems

Biometric Technologies and Verification Systems PDF Author: John R. Vacca
Publisher: Elsevier
ISBN: 0080488390
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 655

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Book Description
Biometric Technologies and Verification Systems is organized into nine parts composed of 30 chapters, including an extensive glossary of biometric terms and acronyms. It discusses the current state-of-the-art in biometric verification/authentication, identification and system design principles. It also provides a step-by-step discussion of how biometrics works; how biometric data in human beings can be collected and analyzed in a number of ways; how biometrics are currently being used as a method of personal identification in which people are recognized by their own unique corporal or behavioral characteristics; and how to create detailed menus for designing a biometric verification system. Only biometrics verification/authentication is based on the identification of an intrinsic part of a human being. Tokens, such as smart cards, magnetic stripe cards, and physical keys can be lost, stolen, or duplicated. Passwords can be forgotten, shared, or unintentionally observed by a third party. Forgotten passwords and lost "smart cards" are a nuisance for users and an expensive time-waster for system administrators. Biometric security solutions offer some unique advantages for identifying and verifying/ authenticating human beings over more traditional security methods. This book will serve to identify the various security applications biometrics can play a highly secure and specific role in.* Contains elements such as Sidebars, Tips, Notes and URL links* Heavily illustrated with over 150 illustrations, screen captures, and photographs* Details the various biometric technologies and how they work while providing a discussion of the economics, privacy issues and challenges of implementing biometric security solutions

Biometric Security

Biometric Security PDF Author: Jiankun Hu
Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
ISBN: 144387499X
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 497

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Book Description
Modern biometrics delivers an enhanced level of security by means of a “proof of property”. The design and deployment of a biometric system, however, hide many pitfalls, which, when underestimated, can lead to major security weaknesses and privacy threats. Issues of concern include biometric identity theft and privacy invasion because of the strong connection between a user and his identity. This book showcases a collection of comprehensive references on the advances of biometric security technology. It compiles a total of fourteen articles, all contributed by thirty-two eminent researchers in the field, thus providing concise and accessible coverage of not only general issues, but also state-of-the-art solutions. The book is divided into five parts: (1) Biometric Template Protection, which covers cancellable biometrics and parameter management protocol; (2) Biometric Key and Encryption, focusing on biometric key generation and visual biometric cryptography; (3) Biometric Systems Analysis, dealing with biometric system security, and privacy evaluation and assessment; (4) Privacy-Enhanced Biometric Systems, covering privacy-enhanced biometric system protocol design and implementation; and (5) Other Biometric Security Technologies. The book will be of particular interest to researchers, scholars, graduate students, engineers, practitioners and developers interested in security and privacy-related issues in biometric systems. It will also be attractive to managers of various organizations with strong security needs.

Biometric Recognition

Biometric Recognition PDF Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309142075
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 182

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Book Description
Biometric recognition-the automated recognition of individuals based on their behavioral and biological characteristic-is promoted as a way to help identify terrorists, provide better control of access to physical facilities and financial accounts, and increase the efficiency of access to services and their utilization. Biometric recognition has been applied to identification of criminals, patient tracking in medical informatics, and the personalization of social services, among other things. In spite of substantial effort, however, there remain unresolved questions about the effectiveness and management of systems for biometric recognition, as well as the appropriateness and societal impact of their use. Moreover, the general public has been exposed to biometrics largely as high-technology gadgets in spy thrillers or as fear-instilling instruments of state or corporate surveillance in speculative fiction. Now, as biometric technologies appear poised for broader use, increased concerns about national security and the tracking of individuals as they cross borders have caused passports, visas, and border-crossing records to be linked to biometric data. A focus on fighting insurgencies and terrorism has led to the military deployment of biometric tools to enable recognition of individuals as friend or foe. Commercially, finger-imaging sensors, whose cost and physical size have been reduced, now appear on many laptop personal computers, handheld devices, mobile phones, and other consumer devices. Biometric Recognition: Challenges and Opportunities addresses the issues surrounding broader implementation of this technology, making two main points: first, biometric recognition systems are incredibly complex, and need to be addressed as such. Second, biometric recognition is an inherently probabilistic endeavor. Consequently, even when the technology and the system in which it is embedded are behaving as designed, there is inevitable uncertainty and risk of error. This book elaborates on these themes in detail to provide policy makers, developers, and researchers a comprehensive assessment of biometric recognition that examines current capabilities, future possibilities, and the role of government in technology and system development.