Empowerment or repression? Opening up questions of identification and surveillance in Brazil through a case of 'identity fraud'

A real but typical case of identity fraud is used to open up the complex web of identification systems in Brazil. It is argued that identification has two poles related to the nature of citizenship—repression and inclusion—and that reactions from citizens to new identification schemes can be attribu...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Murakami Wood, David (Author)
Contributors: Firmino, Rodrigo (Other)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Published: 2009
In:In: Identity in the Information Society 2(2009), 3, Seite 297
Online Access: Volltext (kostenfrei)
Check availability: HBZ Gateway
Keywords:
Identity
Identification
ID cards
Surveillance
Brazil
Description
Summary:A real but typical case of identity fraud is used to open up the complex web of identification systems in Brazil. It is argued that identification has two poles related to the nature of citizenship—repression and inclusion—and that reactions from citizens to new identification schemes can be attributed to how they view the purpose of the cards in these terms. In Brazil, a sense of inclusion and citizenship based on a fear of anonymity and exclusion predominates leading to widespread support amongst even critics of state activities. However, this may be undermined by the lack of state preparation for an information society, particularly the absence of meaningful data protection laws.
DOI:10.1007/s12394-010-0038-y