The High Stakes of Biometric Surveillance

Link: Dia Kayyali at Tech Policy.Press.

An important call to action in the current political context:

"Amidst a global shift towards the far-right and authoritarianism, there are clear indications from oppressive governments around the world that biometrics will be used to harm human rights, regardless of their accuracy or fairness. At this point, biometrics are not simply an individual issue that can be avoided through personal decisions; they have become a political crisis that demands direct action and legislative intervention."

Anyone who knows the history of authoritarian governments knows how dangerous it is to allow people to be systematically categorized with their deep personal details available for retrieval. That's how some of the world's worst atrocities have been committed. And as surreal as that possibility might seem - at least to folks who aren't in Global Majority nations who have had to contend with it for generations - the prospect is becoming more and more real.

Here in the US, privacy legislation is woefully inefficient. But as the author points out, gaps have been filled in:

"States, and even some counties and cities, have stepped in with privacy laws, as well as transparency laws related to the acquisition of some types of surveillance technology, and even bans on facial recognition in some places. Pursuing these types of policies at the local level is one way communities in the US can resist the Trump Administration."

Hopefully we'll see more and more of this, but the current situation should be a lesson to us all. We need our legislative frameworks and hard rules to function well even under the worst actor. When we find ourselves on firmer democratic ground, it's time to harden our privacy posture for good.

[Link]