National ID Cards Workshop

National ID Card Systems: an International Research Workshop organized by The Globalization of Personal Data Project (GPD) in association with the Surveillance Project, Queen's University, Canada, June 7-8 2007.

National ID card systems using embedded electronic chips, enabled by biometrics and dependent on registry databases are proliferating around the world, driven by diverse concerns from identity theft, terrorism, immigration control, administrative efficiency to fraud reduction. The aim of the workshop is to explore these developments by examining not only their technical and administrative dimensions but also the historical, international, comparative, and political economy aspects of new ID card systems. In particular, the workshop aims to understand how new ID processes contribute to surveillance practices, through the classification of citizens and residents according to varying criteria, thus affecting their life-chances, status and prospects. Contributions are sought that are empirically grounded but that also make reference to appropriate explanatory and critical theory.

The workshop is convened by Colin Bennett (Political Science, University of Victoria) and David Lyon (Sociology, Queen's) who will edit the revised papers into a book for an academic publisher.

To register, please download and return the registration form:

Email surveill_at_post.queensu.ca for further information and to submit your abstract.

The workshop is funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRCC).