Shoshana Amielle Magnet
From digital fingerprinting to iris and retina recognition, biometric identification systems are a multibillion dollar industry and an integral part of post-9/11 national security strategy. Yet these technologies often fail to work. The scientific literature on their accuracy and reliability documents widespread and frequent technical malfunction. Shoshana Amielle Magnet argues that these systems fail so often because rendering bodies in biometric code falsely assumes that peopleâ€™s bodies are the same and that individual bodies are stable, or unchanging, over time. By focusing on the moments when biometrics fail, Magnet shows that the technologies work differently, and fail to function more often, on women, people of color, and people with disabilities. Her assessment emphasizes the stateâ€™s use of biometrics to control and classify vulnerable and marginalized populationsâ€”including prisoners, welfare recipients, immigrants, and refugeesâ€”and to track individuals beyond the nationâ€™s territorial boundaries. ,When Biometrics Fail, is a timely, important contribution to thinking about the security state, surveillance, identity, technology, and human rights.
Science,Technology,Nonfiction
When Biometrics Fail: Gender, Race, and the Technology of Identity