Identity, Security and Democracy: The Wider Social and Ethical Implications of Automated Systems for Human Identification

Many people think of personal identification as only part of the security/surveillance apparatus. This is likely to be an oversimplification, which largely misrepresents the reality. 'Personal identity' means two separate concepts, namely that an individual belongs to specific categories and also that this individual is distinguished by other persons and understood as one. In other words, there are two different aspects involved in personal recognition: distinguishing between individuals an...