Biometrics and the United Kingdom National Identity Register: Exploring the privacy dilemmas of proportionality and secondary use of biometric information

Despite the obvious importance of privacy concerns in the information age, “privacy” remains a messy concept in the academic literature. Scholars are thus attempting to clarify and systematize the privacy concept. They have proposed two important dimensions of privacy concerns: 1) proportionality, or the adequate, relevant and non-excessive collection of personal data, and 2) secondary usage, or the prohibition of subsequent, unspecified uses of personal information. This paper takes measure of the proportionality and potential secondary uses of biometric data in the proposed United Kingdom (UK) National Identity Register (NIR). It argues that the UK Identity Cards Act 2006 fails to guard against violations of the principles of proportionality and secondary usage of biometric data. After reviewing the modern literature on informational privacy protection, I analyze biometrics and their privacy implications. I then discuss these implications in the context of the UK government’s NIR plans. The analysis yields insights into how biometrics on the proposed NIR interplay with purpose specifications, architectural concerns, knowledge asymmetries and public anxieties. I also explore potential secondary uses of the types of biometric data that could be stored in the NIR. Last, a brief note is offered about the possible means of regulating against privacy infringements

Envisioning technology through discourse: a case study of biometrics in the National Identity Scheme in the United Kingdom

Around the globe, governments are pursuing policies that depend on information technology (IT). The United Kingdom’s National Identity Scheme was a government proposal for a national identity system, based on biometrics. These proposals for biometrics provide us with an opportunity to explore the diverse and shifting discourses that accompany the attempted diffusion of a controversial IT innovation. This thesis offers a longitudinal case study of these visionary discourses. I begin with a critical review of the literature on biometrics, drawing attention to the lack of in-depth studies that explore the discursive and organizational dynamics accompanying their implementation on a national scale. I then devise a theoretical framework to study these speculative and future-directed discourses based on concepts and ideas from organizing visions theory, the sociology of expectations, and critical approaches to studying the public’s understanding of technology. A methodological discussion ensues in which I explain my research approach and methods for data collection and analysis, including techniques for critical discourse analysis. After briefly introducing the case study, I proceed to the two-part analysis. First is an analysis of government actors’ discourses on biometrics, revolving around formal policy communications; second is an analysis of media discourses and parliamentary debates around certain critical moments for biometrics in the Scheme. The analysis reveals how the uncertain concept of biometrics provided a strategic rhetorical device whereby government spokespeople were able to offer a flexible yet incomplete vision for the technology. I contend that, despite being distinctive and offering some practical value to the proposals for national identity cards, the government’s discourses on biometrics remained insufficiently intelligible, uninformative, and implausible. The concluding discussion explains the unraveling visions for biometrics in the case, offers a theoretical contribution based on the case analysis, and provides insights about discourses on the ‘publics’ of new technology such as biometrics

Stretching single polysaccharide molecules using AFM: A potential method for the investigation of the intermolecular uronate distribution of alginate?

Illustrative examples of the way in which the molecular force-extension behaviour of polysaccharides is governed by the nature of the linkage between their constituent pyranose rings are presented for a series of standard homopolymers. These results agree with previously proposed general hypotheses regarding the possibility of generating force-induced conformational transitions, and with the predictions of a model in which the inter-conversion of pyranose conformers is assumed to be an equilibrium process on the timescale of the molecular stretching. Subsequently, we investigate the potential of the technique in the characterisation of co-polymeric polysaccharides in which the nature of the glycan linkages is different between the two distinct residue types. Specifically, we explore the possibility that the ratio of mannuronic acid (M) to guluronic acid (G) in alginate chains will be reflected in their single molecule stretching behaviour, owing to their contrasting equatorial and axial linkages. Furthermore, as the technique described interrogates the sample one polymer at a time we outline the promise of, and the obstacles to, obtaining a new level of characterisation using this methodology where differences observed in the single molecule stretching curves obtained from single alginate samples reflectsomething of the real intermolecular distribution of the M / G ratio

Trait-based plant mortality and preference for native versus non-native seedlings by invasive slug and snail herbivores in Hawaii

Non-native herbivores may alter plant communities through their preferential consumption of seedlings of different species. We assessed seedling herbivory by two invasive gastropod species in Hawaii, the giant African snail (Achatina fulica) and the Cuban brown slug (Veronicella cubensis). We hypothesized that six native species would suffer greater gastropod herbivory than four non-native species, and that species with short stature, thin leaves, and lacking physical defenses would suffer the greatest mortality from gastropods. Herbivory was measured during 13-day preference trials using enclosures that each contained four different woody species (two native, two non-native) and were assigned to one of three treatments: giant African snail, Cuban brown slug, or control (no gastropod). Discriminant function analysis was used to predict gastropod-induced seedling mortality from a suite of seedling characteristics. Native species did not always experience greater herbivory than non-natives species, and seedling mortality was 0–100 %. Native Pipturus albidus and Clermontia parviflora suffered 100 % mortality from V. cubensis herbivory, and P. albidus, Psychotria hawaiiensis, and Myrsine lessertiana suffered C80 % mortality from A. fulica. Two non-natives (Fraxinus uhdei, Clidemia hirta), and two natives (Metrosideros polymorpha, Diospyros sandwicensis), suffered little damage and no mortality. Non-native Ardisia elliptica suffered 10–30 %gastropod mortality, and non-native Psidium cattleianum mortality was 0–50 %. Leaf thickness best predicted species mortality caused by slugs and snails; some thicker-leaved species suffered most. Invasive snails and slugs threaten some native and non-native seedlings by directly consuming them. Current and future plant community structure in Hawaii may in part reflect the feeding preferences of invasive gastropods

Trait-based plant mortality and preference for native versus non-native seedlings by invasive slug and snail herbivores in Hawaii

Non-native herbivores may alter plant communities through their preferential consumption of seedlings of different species. We assessed seedling herbivory by two invasive gastropod species in Hawaii, the giant African snail (Achatina fulica) and the Cuban brown slug (Veronicella cubensis). We hypothesized that six native species would suffer greater gastropod herbivory than four non-native species, and that species with short stature, thin leaves, and lacking physical defenses would suffer the greatest mortality from gastropods. Herbivory was measured during 13-day preference trials using enclosures that each contained four different woody species (two native, two non-native) and were assigned to one of three treatments: giant African snail, Cuban brown slug, or control (no gastropod). Discriminant function analysis was used to predict gastropod-induced seedling mortality from a suite of seedling characteristics. Native species did not always experience greater herbivory than non-natives species, and seedling mortality was 0–100 %. Native Pipturus albidus and Clermontia parviflora suffered 100 % mortality from V. cubensis herbivory, and P. albidus, Psychotria hawaiiensis, and Myrsine lessertiana suffered C80 % mortality from A. fulica. Two non-natives (Fraxinus uhdei, Clidemia hirta), and two natives (Metrosideros polymorpha, Diospyros sandwicensis), suffered little damage and no mortality. Non-native Ardisia elliptica suffered 10–30 %gastropod mortality, and non-native Psidium cattleianum mortality was 0–50 %. Leaf thickness best predicted species mortality caused by slugs and snails; some thicker-leaved species suffered most. Invasive snails and slugs threaten some native and non-native seedlings by directly consuming them. Current and future plant community structure in Hawaii may in part reflect the feeding preferences of invasive gastropods

Bidirectional relations of religious orientation and depressive symptoms in adolescents : a short-term longitudinal study.

Religious orientation can be divided into intrinsic and extrinsic: intrinsically oriented individuals “live their religion,” whereas extrinsically oriented individuals practice religion mainly to gain external benefits. In adults, depression has been found to correlate negatively with intrinsic religious orientation and positively with extrinsic orientation. Studies of the relation between religiosity and depression typically have not been longitudinal, conducted with adolescents, controlled for the influence of other factors associated with depression (i.e., negative cognitions), or examined the reverse relation of depression predicting religious orientation. Our four-month longitudinal study of 273 ninth-grade students addressed these issues. Results showed that higher intrinsic religious orientation measured at baseline significantly predicted lower self-reported depressive symptoms four months later, controlling for initial level of depressive symptoms and cognitive style; in contrast, extrinsic orientation and the interaction between religious orientation and life events did not significantly predict later depressive symptoms. Self-reported depressive symptoms, however, did not predict either intrinsic or extrinsic religious orientation four months later. Factors contributing to different findings for adolescents versus adults in the relation between extrinsic religious orientation and depression are suggested

Meaningful characterisation of perturbative theoretical uncertainties

We consider the problem of assigning a meaningful degree of belief to uncertainty estimates of perturbative series. We analyse the assumptions which are implicit in the conventional estimates made using renormalisation scale variations. We then formulate a Bayesian model that, given equivalent initial hypotheses, allows one to characterise a perturbative theoretical uncertainty in a rigorous way in terms of a credibility interval for the remainder of the series. We compare its outcome to the conventional uncertainty estimates in the simple case of the calculation of QCD corrections to the e+e- -> hadrons process. We find comparable results, but with important conceptual differences. This work represents a first step in the direction of a more comprehensive and rigorous handling of theoretical uncertainties in perturbative calculations used in high energy phenomenology.Comment: 28 pages, 5 figures. Language modified in order to make it more 'bayesian'. No change in results. Version published in JHE

Managing Public Expectations of Technological Systems: A Case Study of a Problematic Government Project

In this discussion piece we address how the UK government has attempted to manage public expectations of a proposed biometric identity scheme by focussing attention on the handheld, i.e., the ID card. We suggest that this strategy of expectations management seeks to downplay the complexity and uncertainty surrounding this high-technological initiative, necessitating the selective use of expertise for the purpose of furthering government objectives. In this process, government often relegates counterexpertise, if not dismissing it outright, thereby greatly politicizing the policy deliberation process. We argue that this manoeuvring by government spells trouble for both democratic deliberation on the issue of biometric identification in the UK and, more generally, expertise-based policy making in related technological ventures

On direct measurement of the W production charge asymmetry at the LHC

The prospects for making a direct measurement of the W production charge asymmetry at the LHC are discussed. A modification to the method used at the Tevatron is proposed for measurements at the LHC. The expected sensitivity for such a measurement to parton distribution functions is compared to that for a measurement of the lepton charge asymmetry. The direct measurement approach is found to be less useful for placing constraints on parton distribution functions at the LHC than a measurement of the lepton charge asymmetry.Comment: 18 pages, 10 figures, v2: references and keywords updated v3: Additional paragraph discussing inclusion of W asymmetry in global fits adde

Requirements for contractility in disordered cytoskeletal bundles

Actomyosin contractility is essential for biological force generation, and is well understood in highly organized structures such as striated muscle. Additionally, actomyosin bundles devoid of this organization are known to contract both in vivo and in vitro, which cannot be described by standard muscle models. To narrow down the search for possible contraction mechanisms in these systems, we investigate their microscopic symmetries. We show that contractile behavior requires non-identical motors that generate large enough forces to probe the nonlinear elastic behavior of F-actin. This suggests a role for filament buckling in the contraction of these bundles, consistent with recent experimental results on reconstituted actomyosin bundles.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures; text shortene