Would a National Biometric Authentication Scheme Work? 178
Ian Lamont writes "The chair of Yale's CS department and Connecticut's former consumer protection commissioner are calling for the creation of a robust biometric authentication system on a national scale. They say the system would safeguard privacy and people's personal data far more effectively than paper-based IDs. They also reference the troubled Real ID program, saying that the debate has centered around forms of ID rather than the central issue of authentication. The authors further suggest that the debate has led to confusion between anonymity and privacy: 'Outside our homes, we have always lived in a public space where our open acts are no longer private. Anonymity has not changed that, but has provided an illusion of privacy and security. ... In public space, we engage in open acts where we have no expectation of privacy, as well as private acts that cannot take place within our homes and therefore require authenticating identity to carve a sphere of privacy.' The authors do not provide any suggestions for specific biometric technologies, nor do they discuss the role of the government in such a system. What do you think of a national or international biometrics-based authentication scheme? Is it feasible? How would it work? What safeguards need to be put in place?"
Work for Political Spying Like on Obama's Passport (Score:3, Informative)
Re:It would work to... (Score:5, Informative)
No. You fundamentally misunderstand privacy. Privacy is not "being alone."
Privacy is the existence of social boundaries that we (generally) agree not to cross.
Examples: I invade a lady's privacy when I look up her skirts without her permission. I invade your privacy if I open your mail without your permission. I invade your privacy if I read your medical records without your permission. All of this can happen with you, me and the issue in question all out in the public space.
These are things we can do, but we agree not to do, because we recognize the fundamental right to privacy as existing in open society, not just in the home or when we are alone. Private means that you retain control by social convention over information which relates to your existence, and in turn, were I to obtain access by any means without your permission, I would have crossed the social boundary for that issue. That is the very core of "violating someone's privacy."
Anonymity is another social boundary. We have -- in the past -- recognized that others have the right to proceed about their day without having to inform others who they are and what they are doing. This boundary, like any other social boundary, can be crossed (violated, more like) by simple, easy actions on the part of invaders of privacy. But anonymity is not a thing unto itself, it is simply another facet of privacy.
The following should help you develop a better understanding of what privacy actually is: More on privacy. [ideaspike.com]