Can State Surveillance Be Otherwise? Unpacking the Politics of Personal Identification Numbers

• In Event: Future of Politics and Politics of the Future - I

Abstract

All citizens and residents living in the Nordic countries are assigned unique personal identification numbers, and for most people their existence is a mundane part of everyday life. In critical analyses of such technologies, the normalisation of intrusion, the erosion of privacy, or the chilling effects of surveillance are all discussed at length, while explorations of state-assigned numbering technologies as productive forces remain rare. Personal identification numbers simplify tasks crucial for the functioning of the welfare state, and many such tasks benefit citizens and residents. However, for any institution which discriminates based on ethnicity, religion, language, gender, or another category readily available to the state, personal identification numbers also provide a convenient method for sorting subjects.

In this paper, I unpack the politics of personal identification numbers using examples from the Nordic countries. I show that while the numbers expose a fundamental tension between care and control within welfare states, many reasons exist for considering their potential for empowering citizens and residents. At the same time, democracies do not always elect governments concerned with preserving democracy, and since the politics of those who inherit the state infrastructure may differ greatly from those who set the wheels in motion, I argue that it remains essential to attend to the politics of infrastructures with an eye to the future.

Author

• Baki Cakici, IT University of Copenhagen