Identity in the modern world

Is government controlled identity good or bad?

  It is interesting that almost any technology can be used for good or evil. Most technologies are not  evil in and of them selves.  How the technology is used is what can be evil.  So what does this have to do with identity?  Who someone is can be critical in some types of financial transactions, in some types of health care, in a military, in government jobs that have a level of security or secrecy to them, and in some commercial jobs to name a few.  Identity is often used to connect some set of attributes, history, or capabilities about an individual to create a profile that is used for decisions about capabilities or access rights.  For example in the US a president must be born a US citizen and go through a vetting process about criminal activity, financial stability and allegiances to other countries.  If this information can not be correlated then it would be possible for a president elect to hide critical history about who they are from the government and in so doing possibly become president of the United States with a criminal past or allegiances that could jeopardize the country or the citizens freedoms.  The president of the United States has access to information that if put in the wrong hands could jeopardize the country and all the citizens that live in it.  In a white paper called “ID Cards – a World View” by Nathan Allonby he talks about how the commercial industry uses reward cards to track shoppers behaviors and how a “National ID card” could help governments profile their citizens to take away freedoms.  The use of a unique identifier (UID) to link multiple data bases together to profile it's citizens could be used against the citizens. How the use of an RFID tag in the card could be used to track citizens movements.  As I started this entry technology is not evil; it is how it is used. It is true that a national ID card could be used for evil and if that card is tied into other countries could even have a farther reaching effect on those that travel.  On the other hand it could be used to track health trends in a given geographic area (those that lived in a area all their lives Vs those that migrated in), help prevent fraud in a governments welfare system,  better track who is using what government services, better track who and from where are individuals moving from one town to another to trend what additional services might be needed.  During the movement of many hurricane Katrina victims it could have been good to know what communities these individuals moved too.  Those communities might have been able to ask for federal aid to support the influx of citizens from this migration to build up infrastructure.  Knowing who someone is and some attributes about that individual is critical for governments to give services (welfare, grants, drives licenses, passports, gun permits, etc..), for banks to give loans, for doctors, lawyers and other professionals to get licensed to perform their job,  and for health care services.  The ability to build a true profile on someone would greatly enhance the decision making process in each of these cases.  Much like a live virus being used for a vaccination to prevent someone from getting the disease or for chemical warfare to kill thousands it is how the live virus and technology is used.
  The more we rely on a technology the more that technology becomes the target of criminal activity.  If an ID card is the key to access services, money, or the ability to do something there will be those that try to cheat the system to make a fake that can be used.  We can use technologies and procedures to try to secure the card.  The question is always at what point is the amount of fraud at an expectable level to the cost of producing the cards?  For government ID cards one question is if there is fraud who will pay the cost of fixing the problem?  If the cost to get my good reputation back is on me the government will not care much about that fraud as long as it does not create a political event that could jeopardize their jobs.  On the other hand if the fraud is costing the government embarrassment, security, or real money it could cause them to fix the problem at their expense.  The real question is what is the planned use of the card?   Will it be for the benefits of an identity that can track attributes to better our lives or for evil?  Even if it is for the benefit of the citizens the question will be: will we let our government institute this type of solution knowing the possible risks if someone with evil intent gains access to the information?  What level of security will be around the data bases that store all the critical data? Some information once taken can not be fixed or changed.  If someone's DNA is stolen someone can not get new DNA.  If some critical medical information is leaked out to the public it can not be taken back with some type of retraction; it is public knowledge. These risks need to be addressed and publicly discussed as we move forward.  As with most technologies over time we will see the pros and cons of it.  Government smart card ID cards will become part of our lives in one way or another with some controversy over if it was good or evil.  A positive unique identity is the first step in being able to better assess who a person is based on past actions and known attributes.  If it is good or evil will have to be left up to history to tell; but, for now it is a tool that could aid in helping both governments and privet industry to better service the population.

Posted at 12:12PM Sep 09, 2009 by Edward Clay in Personal  |  Comments[1]