Normalizing extraordinary technologies in the risk society: Perceptions of biometric passports in Canada
Creators: name: Duff, Jennifer
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 2009
Subjects: subject: Political Science, General.
subject: Sociology, Criminology and Penology.

description: Contemporary society is plagued with perceived risks and feelings of uncertainty. In traditional societies, people relied on kinship, norms, and shared identity to establish ties and manage the risks of the collective. Technology is increasingly sought to manage risks as present day society is thought to be facing manufactured, virtual, and borderless risks not experienced in previous eras. Technologies, such as biometric identification systems, operate within a network society capable of processing and disseminating information like never before. The science behind the various types of technological systems enable greater risk detection but also reinforce the public's fear of crime as these technologies highlight the omnipresence of risk. Greater awareness of risk ultimately heightens fear of crime and creates anxiety amongst the public towards expert systems that cannot effectively manage the risks they detect. Van Loon (2000) identifies the increasing reliance on technology to manage risks at a time when science is facing severe criticism as a central paradox within the risk society. Therefore, the focus of the current study is to expand the current knowledge regarding how extraordinary technologies that were once used to identify immigrant and marginalized populations have permeated all facets of society. More specifically, the current study examines biometric technologies that are increasingly used to securitize the identity of the whole population, to control access to restricted areas, and to secure items of personal property. To investigate the normalization of extraordinary technologies and the nature of the hypothesized ambivalent relationship people have towards science, the current study utilizes a group-administered student questionnaire. Students' were asked about their perceptions of risk, safety, and biometric technologies in order to gain a greater understanding of the factors that contribute to the acceptance or non-acceptance of biometric passports in Canada before their issuance in 2011. In the current study it was hypothesized that people who possessed certain individual characteristics such as anxiety towards expert systems, previous victimization, negative perceptions of safety, or a lack of familiarity with biometrics would be less accepting of biometric passports. It was also hypothesized that finger scans would be the biometric identifier of choice as finger scans have been slowly integrated into multiple facets of society over a long period of time. Trust in expert systems was found to be of central importance in the acceptance of finger scan passports, while potential discriminatory consequences of biometric passports contributed to the ambivalent relationship people have towards science. Despite their association with criminal investigations finger scans were preferred over the use of facial scanning for various purposes including for use on biometric passports.