Article ID: CBB868369028

Imagining the Biometric Future: Debates Over National Biometric Identification in Israel (2020)

unapi

From 2008 to 2017, the Israeli Ministry of Interior's attempts to create a national biometric identification system comprised of a digital database and ‘smart' national ID cards containing the index fingerprints and facial recognition data of all Israeli citizens and residents generated significant political debate. Usually, security is offered as a justification for biometric identification. In the Israeli debate, security was foundational to both claims for and against the system. Security is a major priority in Israel, and by putting it at the center of their arguments, opponents and proponents tried to lay claim to one of the most powerful legitimating tools in Israeli policymaking. They did so by articulating sociotechnical imaginaries of the system that both drew upon aspirations for security, yet offered contrasting visions of the biometric future. These imaginaries existed in a dialectical relationship; both sides used practices of imagining the future to influence the system's policy framework and technological design, and to contest the meaning of security itself by defining it and its relationship to biometric IDs and databases in different ways. Ultimately, the system's implementation in 2017 entailed a legislative and technological compromise that incorporated both sides’ visions of the future and definitions of security.

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Article Jutta Weber; Katrin M. Kämpf (2020) Technosecurity Cultures: Introduction. Science as Culture (pp. 1-10). unapi

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https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB868369028/

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Authors & Contributors
Kämpf, Katrin M.
Kloppenburg, Sanneke
Brian Hochman
Petit, Patrick
Abdulrahman Essa Al Lily
Leah Borovoi
Concepts
Technology and society
Security technologies
Surveillance
Biometric technology
Technoscience; science and technology studies
Border security
Time Periods
21st century
20th century, late
20th century
Modern
19th century
Places
United States
Israel
Saudi Arabia
Ghana
Colombia
South Africa
Institutions
United States. Department of Defense
United States. National Security Agency
United States. Central Intelligence Agency
United States. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
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