IPSI Lecture Series - Andrew Clement

IPSI is once again pleased to present its Public Lecture Series, where notable speakers from theidentity, privacy and security fields present their work and discuss contemporary issues.

September 22: Andrew Clement, Professor, U of Toronto

Designing Ontario’s enhanced drivers licence (EDL) for Privacy and Security: Integrating Technological and Policy Perspectives

Abstract:
This first lecture in the Fall 2008 series provides an overview of the issues and perspectives that recur throughout the talks that follow. Taking the terms identity, privacy and security in turn, Clement will discuss the conventional ways of interpreting and pursuing them, pointing out their tensions as well as connections in the context of our surveillance society. He will draw upon recent research in science and technology studies (STS) to open up new perspectives that can help enlighten the development of systems, practices and policies that advance the vital human rights of security, privacy and identity integrity.

Clement will use current projects as examples in the development of Canadian jurisdictional ID schemes, in particular Ontario’s proposed enhanced drivers licence (EDL) which is promoted as a passport alternative for crossing into the U.S. The Photo Card Act currently before the Ontario Legislature calls for two novel and controversial technological features – the biometric screening of driver licence applicants against a province-wide database of facial images as well as the incorporation of notoriously insecure and privacy- invasive radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags, insisted upon by the Department of Homeland Security. (see http://IDforum.ca) By highlighting these central actors and debates he hopes to encourage a more informed public discussion of the important issues at stake.

Biography:
Andrew Clement is a Professor in the Faculty of Information at the University of Toronto, where he coordinates the Information Policy Research Program and is a co-founder of the Identity, Privacy and Security Initiative. He has had longstanding research and teaching interests in the social implications of information/communication technology and human-centered systems development. His recent research has focused on public information policy, internet use in everyday life, digital identity constructions, public participation in information/communication infrastructure development, and community networking.

Clement is the principal investigator of the Performing Identities project and a co-investigator in The New Transparency: Surveillance and Social Sorting project, both funded by SSHRC.