New ID card systems are proliferating around the world. These mayuse digitized fingerprints or photos, may be contactless, using ascanner, and above all, may rely on computerized registries ofpersonal information. In this timely new contribution, David Lyonargues that such IDs represent a fresh phase in the long-termattempts of modern states to find stable ways of identifyingcitizens.
New ID systems are "new" because they are high-tech.But their newness is also seen crucially in the ways that theycontribute to new means of governance. The rise of e-Government andglobal mobility along with the aftermath of 9/11 and fears ofidentity theft are propelling the trend towards new ID systems.This is further lubricated by high technology companies seekinglucrative procurements, giving stakes in identification practicesto agencies additional to nation-states, particularly technical andcommercial ones. While the claims made for new IDs focus onsecurity, efficiency and convenience, each proposal is alsocontroversial. Fears of privacy-loss, limits to liberty, governmentcontrol, and even of totalitarian tendencies are expressed bycritics.
This book takes an historical, comparative and sociological lookat citizen-identification, and new ID cards in particular. Itconcludes that their widespread use is both likely and, withoutsome strong safeguards, troublesome, though not necessarily for thereasons most popularly proposed. Arguing that new IDs demand newapproaches to identification practices given their potential forundermining trust and contributing to social exclusion, David Lyonprovides the clearest overview of this topical area to date.