The University of Southampton
University of Southampton Institutional Repository

Identity crisis: global challenges of identity protection in a networked world

Identity crisis: global challenges of identity protection in a networked world
Identity crisis: global challenges of identity protection in a networked world
Modern identity is valuable, multi-functional and complex. Today we typically manage multiple versions of self, made visible in digital trails distributed widely across offline and online spaces. Yet, technology-mediated identity leads us into crisis. Enduring accessibility to greater and growing personal details online, alongside increases in both computing power and data linkage techniques, fuel fears of identity exploitation. Will it be stolen? Who controls it? Are others aggregating or analysing our identities to infer new data about us without our knowledge or consent? New challenges present themselves globally around these fears, as manifested by concerns over massive online data breaches and automated identification technologies, which also highlight the conundrum faced by governments about how to safeguard individuals' interests on the Web while striking a fair balance with wider public interests. This paper reflects upon some of these problems as part of the inter-disciplinary, transatlantic ‘SuperIdentity’ project investigating links between cyber and real-world identifiers. To meet the crisis, we explore the relationship between identity and digitisation from the perspective of policy and law. We conclude that traditional models of identity protection need supplementing with new ways of thinking, including pioneering ‘technical-legal’ initiatives that are sensitive to the different risks that threaten our digital identity integrity. Only by re-conceiving identity dynamically to appreciate the increasing capabilities for connectivity between different aspects of our identity across the cyber and the physical domains, will policy and law be able to keep up with and address the challenges that lie ahead in our progressively networked world.
digital identity, identity crime, identity management, big data, profiling, mobile identity, automated identification, identity surveillance, biometrics
2212-4748
617-632
Knight, Alison
684ab072-a720-474d-a992-f761c096d6ef
Saxby, Steve
c8e98809-84e7-46c2-a775-27c98444c5f0
Knight, Alison
684ab072-a720-474d-a992-f761c096d6ef
Saxby, Steve
c8e98809-84e7-46c2-a775-27c98444c5f0

Knight, Alison and Saxby, Steve (2014) Identity crisis: global challenges of identity protection in a networked world. Computer Law & Security Review, 30 (6), 617-632. (doi:10.1016/j.clsr.2014.09.001).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Modern identity is valuable, multi-functional and complex. Today we typically manage multiple versions of self, made visible in digital trails distributed widely across offline and online spaces. Yet, technology-mediated identity leads us into crisis. Enduring accessibility to greater and growing personal details online, alongside increases in both computing power and data linkage techniques, fuel fears of identity exploitation. Will it be stolen? Who controls it? Are others aggregating or analysing our identities to infer new data about us without our knowledge or consent? New challenges present themselves globally around these fears, as manifested by concerns over massive online data breaches and automated identification technologies, which also highlight the conundrum faced by governments about how to safeguard individuals' interests on the Web while striking a fair balance with wider public interests. This paper reflects upon some of these problems as part of the inter-disciplinary, transatlantic ‘SuperIdentity’ project investigating links between cyber and real-world identifiers. To meet the crisis, we explore the relationship between identity and digitisation from the perspective of policy and law. We conclude that traditional models of identity protection need supplementing with new ways of thinking, including pioneering ‘technical-legal’ initiatives that are sensitive to the different risks that threaten our digital identity integrity. Only by re-conceiving identity dynamically to appreciate the increasing capabilities for connectivity between different aspects of our identity across the cyber and the physical domains, will policy and law be able to keep up with and address the challenges that lie ahead in our progressively networked world.

Text
Knight Saxby 11.09.14.doc - Accepted Manuscript
Download (202kB)

More information

e-pub ahead of print date: 19 November 2014
Published date: December 2014
Keywords: digital identity, identity crime, identity management, big data, profiling, mobile identity, automated identification, identity surveillance, biometrics
Organisations: Southampton Law School

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 375010
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/375010
ISSN: 2212-4748
PURE UUID: bc621074-384d-499e-8ad7-d7527c937491

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 09 Mar 2015 15:01
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 19:18

Export record

Altmetrics

Contributors

Author: Alison Knight
Author: Steve Saxby

Download statistics

Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.

View more statistics

Atom RSS 1.0 RSS 2.0

Contact ePrints Soton: eprints@soton.ac.uk

ePrints Soton supports OAI 2.0 with a base URL of http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/cgi/oai2

This repository has been built using EPrints software, developed at the University of Southampton, but available to everyone to use.

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we will assume that you are happy to receive cookies on the University of Southampton website.

×