Abstract
Identification is the action to attribute “identity” to an item. “Identity” is the state of being identical, say, to be the same, of persons or things. An item can be the same in the sense that it is the same of itself, which is called absolute identity (A is A), or that it is the same of something else, which is called relative identity (A is B). When we state that A is A, we mean that there is only one A considered under two different perspectives. Conversely when we state that A is B, we actually mean that A has some attributes of B. In other words relative identity can be conceptualised as the inclusion of an individual in a set, whose members share some relevant attributes and are thus the same under that specific account.
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Notes
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The philosophical debate on the notion of identity is vast, ranging from Heraclitus, to Hume, Leibnitz, Wittgenstein, Heidegger, Quine, Derrida, to cite a few. Discussing this debate is definitely beyond the scope of this introduction.
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Philosophers often distinguish between perdurance and endurance. One calls “perdurance” the thesis according to which objects have temporal parts, which change over time. According to this perspective objects have different modal properties, say, they are fourth dimensional objects. This may allow explaining why they can change over time although they remain the same, being time just one the various properties of an object, like colour or shape. One calls “endurance” the opposite, more conventional, thesis according to which objects have only spatial parts, say they are three dimensional. According to this second perspective the notion of identity over time is destined to remain rather puzzling (P. T Geach, “Identity”, Review of Metaphysics 21 (1967/1968): 3Y12).
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V. G. Childe “The Urban Revolution”, Town Planning Review 21 (1950): 3–17.
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Charles Gates, Ancient Cities: The Archaeology of Urban Life in the Ancient near East and Egypt, Greece and Rome (London: Routledge, 2003).
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The administration of justice is a primary way for ruling conflicts within a state’s territory, which is essential for preventing state’s self-disintegration. Yet justice must be administered on an individual basis, which demands identification of individuals. This is well illustrated by early myths. In ancient Greek, for instance, the sole gods who can write and read were the judges of the netherworld.
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J. Goody, The Logic of Writing and the Organization of Society (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986).
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Till the birth of the nation state, the concept of national borders was quite vague and chiefly related to military issues. To a certain extent, governments were scarcely interested in who inhabited within their borders. Only after European religion wars in seventeenth century, the issue of border control became relevant.
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Of course this is largely theoretical because they were still used in establishing ID schemes. The history of how nation states kept on using these categories largely overlaps with the main twentieth century atrocities.
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In a true bureaucratic frenzy some modern governments even issue a Certificate of Life (also called a Proof of Life) to confirm that an individual is still alive. There are countless consequences of the bureaucratic approach to civil identity. The most horrible event of the twentieth century, the Shoa, was made possible chiefly by the existence of an effective, largely automated, bureaucratic apparatus for certifying identities, as Edwin Black has convincingly argued in IBM and the Holocaust (New York: Crown Publishing, 2001).
- 10.
International Air Transportation Association. Fact sheet: IATA – International Air Transport Association, 2010. http://www.iata.org/pressroom/facts_figures/fact_sheets/iata.htm (accessed August 18, 2011).
- 11.
United Nations World Tourism Organization. UNWTO world tourism barometer, 2009. http://unwto.org/facts/eng/pdf/barometer/UNWTO_Barom09_1_en_excerpt.pdf (accessed August 18, 2011).
- 12.
International Labour Organization. Towards a fair deal for migrant workers in the global economy. International Labour Conference, 92nd Session, 2004. Report VI. http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/-dgreports/-comm./documents/meetingdocument/kd00096.pdf (accessed August 18, 2011).
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Bar Codes include: (a) linear bar codes, which consist of vertical black lines and white spaces that carry data. Linear bar codes are interpreted using software and special devices such as laser scanners; (b) 2 Dimensional Bar Codes, which use similar technology as linear bar codes but carry about 100 times more data.
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Optical Memory Cards (OMC) use optical read/write technology similar to the familiar CD-ROM production process except an OMC can have data written to it in a sequential order on many occasions until all available memory space has been filled. The standard OMC is credit card sized with a recording surface encapsulated between two protective layers that form the outside of the card. The card provides durable storage that is not affected by electromagnetic interference and the protective layer is resistant to various chemical solvents, dirt, rain, heat, cold, and severe impact. The OMC reader/writer is usually a small breadbox sized unit attached to a Personal Computer (PC).
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Contact Memory Buttons are similar to a floppy disc in that it has a read and write capability. In addition, their design protects them from almost all types of environmental damage. They are significantly more costly (about 600 times more than a bar code). They also require the user to touch the device when reading or writing to it.
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Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is a small radio transceiver combined with a memory unit. Since each unit has a discrete address, communication is accomplished with a single device at a time.
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Radio Frequency Data Capture use a built-in radio, where a bar code scanner can talk directly to the host computer and pass messages back and forth, similar to real-time receipt processing.
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Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS) are made up by several chemical and environmental sensors on a credit card-sized radio transceiver.
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A smart card contains an integrated circuit chip, with a microprocessor that is able to read, write and calculate. It also may include one or more methods of storing information, such as a magnetic strip, digitized photo or bar code.
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Satellite tracking systems have been proposed (and used in UK and USA) to closely monitor sex offenders, persistent juvenile offenders, hooligans, illegal aliens.
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Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are remotely piloted or self-piloted aircraft that can carry cameras, sensors, communications equipment or other payloads. They have been used in a reconnaissance and intelligence-gathering role since the 1950s. Today they are also used for combat missions.
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The term “symbol” means “to bring together” and originally the Greek word for “symbol” meant a plank, which was broken, in order for friends to recognize each other by mail. For example, if a messenger came from a friend to ask for help, he was to bring the second part of the broken plank, and if it matched the first part, then indeed it was a meeting with a friend.
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Various overviews of biometric modalities and techniques are available. See, e.g., The Handbook of Biometrics, ed. Anil K. Jain, Patrick Flynn and Arun A. Ross (New York: Springer, 2008).
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Measurable physical properties are discrete elements that can be put in bi-univocal correspondence with a set of numbers. Physical properties are organized in a dimensional system built upon seven base quantities, which include Length, Mass, Time, Electric Current, Temperature, Amount of Substance, and Luminous Intensity. Other physical quantities are all derived from these base quantities by multiplication and division.
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Natural properties of non living objects are often considered non-specific enough to ensure precise and conclusive identification; consequently we don’t use them to identify inanimate objects. However recent research has found that most objects contain a unique physical identity code formed from microscopic imperfections in their surface. This covert ‘fingerprint’ can be read using a portable laser scanner, using a technique called ‘Laser Surface Authentication’ (P. R. Seem, J. D. R. Buchanan, and R. P. Cowburn “Impact of surface roughness on laser surface authentication signatures under linear and rotational displacements”, Optics Letters 34 (2009): 3175–3177, ISSN:0146–9592.
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The same holds true for muzzle patterns of cattle, patterns of black and white feathers in penguins, footprints of fishers, zebra and tiger stripes, etc. (http://www.bromba.com/knowhow/BiometricAnimals.htm)
- 27.
R.V. Yampolskiy, “Behavioral, Cognitive and Virtual Biometrics,” in Computer Analysis of Human Behavior, ed. A.A. Salah and T. Gevers, 347–385 (London: DO Springer-Verlag London, 2011).
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Signs are patterns used to convey messages. “I define a Sign as anything which is so determined by something else, called its Object, and so determines an effect upon a person” (C. S. Peirce, 1908, A Letter to Lady Welby, SS 80–81. http://www.helsinki.fi/science/commens/dictionary.html).
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Although Pierce’s distinction has been variously criticised and modified, it still remains the most commonly accepted taxonomy.
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Mordini, E., Tzovaras, D., Ashton, H. (2012). Introduction. In: Mordini, E., Tzovaras, D. (eds) Second Generation Biometrics: The Ethical, Legal and Social Context. The International Library of Ethics, Law and Technology, vol 11. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-3892-8_1
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