Technologies of passport control

Megele, Claudia (2011) Technologies of passport control. In: Anti-Immigration in the United States. Arnold, Kathleen, ed. Greenwood. ISBN 9780313375217. [Book Section]

Abstract

After September11, 2001 security became a primary objective of U.S. and other governments. Subsequently, biometric and e-passports were considered as a viable and reliable solution in order to eliminate counterfeit passports and facilitate the identification of travelers. e-passports contain specific descriptive data, digitalized photo and biometric data of the passport holder on a contactless chip placed inside the cover of the passport. The exact information stored on the passport’s chip vary from country to country and can include digitalized photo, facial recognition patterns and fingerprint scans of the passport holder. The chip may also store iris recognition patters although most passports do not use this technology. The combination of personal data, such as name, date of birth, passport’s validity and passport number, which are visually readable on the physical passport pages, are used to generate a digital key to access the biometric data that is stored on the chip.

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Philosophers such as Giorgio Agamben argue that the use of biometric data is emblematic of the shift in society’s cultural paradigm to one centered around security objectives and preventive and repressive action that at times requires proof of innocence rather than guilt – a shift from a civilized society based on mutual trust to a dehumanized society governed by technologies of surveillance and based on generalized suspicion. Such privacy advocates consider the use of biometric data comparable to the tattooing of Jewish prisoners in Auschwitz concentration camp during Nazi Germany.

Philosophers such as Giorgio Agamben argue that the use of biometric data is emblematic of the shift in society’s cultural paradigm to one centered around security objectives and preventive and repressive action that at times requires proof of innocence rather than guilt – a shift from a civilized society based on mutual trust to a dehumanized society governed by technologies of surveillance and based on generalized suspicion. Such privacy advocates consider the use of biometric data comparable to the tattooing of Jewish prisoners in Auschwitz concentration camp during Nazi Germany. ... Civil right advocates propose that security can only be enhanced through strengthening of social fabric ....

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