BIOMETRIC DATAShir David & Becca Ricks

WHAT ARE BIOMETRIC IDENTIFIERS?

- Measurable, distinct characteristics that are used to verify the identity of individuals, including groups that are under surveillance.

- Fingerprints, DNA, face recognition, retina scans, palm veins, hand geometry, iris recognition, voice, and gait.

PROBLEM AREA

- Biometric data is extremely sensitive. If your data is compromised, it’s not replaceable (unlike password tokens).

- Most often collected about populations that are already vulnerable, including criminals, travelers, and immigrants.

- How is that data being used? Who has access?

AUDIENCE

- Potentially everyone, but especially groups that are under surveillance or are deemed socially vulnerable.

- Individuals who haven’t yet had biometric data collected about them by a government.

The idea: Biometric resistance kit

- A toolkit of wearable objects aimed at masking and altering user’s personal biometric identity.

Receive the kitPut on the different objects

Resist biometric tracking

Wear them in public space

USER PERSONAS

Persona #1: Activist

- Works as a community organizer and activist in New York City.

- Organizes and attends rallies, protests, and other events that might be under surveillance.

- Doesn’t want the government to track which events she is attending

- Doesn’t want images of her face linked to her activities

- Doesn't use the thumbprint feature on her iPhone

- Unsure of what biometric information has been collected about her

USER PERSONAS

Persona #2: World traveler

- Writer & academic finishing her PhD. - French by nationality, but she has lived in

several countries, including the Netherlands, Germany, and Greece.

- Border crossings can be a headache, but she’s uncomfortable with sharing her fingerprint data in order to speed through the line.

- She’s thinking about emigrating to the U.S. to teach but isn’t sure she wants to give up her biometric data in exchange for a work visa.

USER PERSONAS

Persona #3: Tech early adopter

- Works for a SF-based tech company as a UX/UI designer

- Always purchases the newest technologies and is often first in line at the Apple store when the new iPhone is released

- Loves the new fingerprint feature on iPhones and Windows laptops

- Enjoys the convenience and ease of new technologies that make signing/identity verification really quick.

USER PERSONAS

Persona #4: Petty criminal

- Was arrested for jumping the MTA subway turnstile and had to spend the night in jail.

- She had never been arrested before and rarely engages in extra-legal activities

- Various data was collected about her, including 10 fingerprints and various photographs.

- After her release, she’s unsure what information the NYPD has about her and how will be tracking her behavior in the future.

THE KIT

THE KIT: FACIAL RECOGNITION

THE KIT: GAIT

THE KIT: FINGERPRINTS

- How it works: Fingerprint scans take a snapshot of the unique pattern of each individual’s finger.

- Possible interventions:

(1) Fevicol mold + glue — Trick Apple scanner by making a mold of someone’s fingerprint that anyone could slip on and wear.

(2) Silicon + fibers — Trick Apple scanner by wearing a silicon strip with fibers embedded in the silicon.

THE KIT: PALM SCANS

- How it works: Palm scanners use infrared light to scan the unique vein pattern in an individual’s palm

- Possible intervention: Create adhesive heating pads (like the ones you wear when you’re skiing) that could be stuck onto an individual’s palm in order to block the scan.

THE KIT: HAND GEOMETRY

- How it works: Hand geometry scanners take a snapshot of your hand and calculate the various distances between fingers, palm, etc. Typically used for verification, not identification.

- Possible intervention: Wear a flesh-colored glove that alters the length/location of fingers.

THE KIT: IRIS SCAN

Identity, Mian-Wei

Biononymous Guide, Heather Hagborg & Jarad Solomon

Stealth Wear, Adam Harvey

FIELD RESEARCH & INTERVIEWS

We’ve talked to the following people about our project:

- Adam Harvey, Artist & Designer, ITP graduate (TBD) - Nasir Memon, Professor, NYU Tandon School of Engineering - Kevin Gallagher, Thanos Papadop, Philip Bontrager, Students, NYU

Tandon School of Engineering - Eric Rosenthal, Professor, NYU ITP - CTO of NYU Lagone Hospital (TBD)