Conclusion

This chapter is dedicated to identifying the main outcomes of the study and reflections on the future directions of the technologies that were under investigation. In concluding we have found that first, an evolutionary process of development is present in the auto-ID technology system (TS). Incremental steps either by way of technological recombinations or mutations have lead to revolutionary changes in the auto-ID industry- both at the device level and at the application level. The evolutionary process in the auto-ID TS does not imply a ‘survival of the fittest’ approach, rather a model of coexistence where each particular auto-ID technique has a path which ultimately influences the success of the whole industry. The patterns of migration, integration and convergence can be considered either mutations or recombinations of existing auto-ID techniques for the creation of new auto-ID innovations. Second, that forecasting technological innovations is important in predicting future trends based on past and current events. Analyzing the process of innovation between intervals of widespread diffusion of individual auto-ID technologies sheds light on the auto-ID trajectory. Third, that technology is autonomous by nature has been shown by the changes in uses of auto-ID; from non-living to living things, from government to commercial applications, and from external identification devices in the form of tags and badges to medical implants inserted under the skin. This does not negate, however, the inherent qualities embedded in auto-ID technologies, predisposing them to be used in certain contexts. What we have witnessed especially in auto-ID is a movement we have termed the auto-ID trajectory: from bar codes to chip implants towards the electrophorus who will herald in the age of uberveillance. Convergence of embedded automatic identification technologies with location-based services will offer unprecedented capabilities, but these capabilities will come at a high price.

The Rise of the Electrophorus

When Jacques Ellul (1964, p. 432) predicted the use of “electronic banks” in his book, The Technological Society, he was not referring to the computerization of financial institutions or the use of Automatic Teller Machines (ATMs). Rather it was in the context of the possibility of the dawn of a new entity- the coupling of man and machine. Ellul was predicting that one day knowledge would be accumulated in electronic banks and “transmitted directly to the human nervous system by means of coded electronic messages… [w]hat is needed will pass directly from the machine to the brain without going through consciousness…” As unbelievable as this man-machine complex may have sounded at the time, forty years on visionaries are still predicting that such scenarios will be possible by the turn of the twentysecond century. A large proportion of these visionaries are cyberneticists. Cybernetics is the study of nervous system controls in the brain as a basis for developing communications and controls in sociotechnical systems.

The Socio-Ethical Implications of Automatic Identification and Location Services

The number of automatic identification (auto-ID) technologies being utilized in eBusiness applications is growing rapidly. With an increasing trend toward miniaturization and wireless capabilities, auto-ID and LBS technologies are becoming more and more pervasive. The pace at which new product innovations are being introduced far outweighs the ability for citizens to absorb what these changes actually mean, and what their likely impact will be upon future generations. This chapter attempts to cover a broad spectrum of issues ranging from the social, cultural, religious and ethical implications of auto-ID with an emphasis on human transponder implants. Previous work is brought together and presented in a way that offers a holistic view of the current state of proceedings on the topic.

Globalization and the Changing Face of IDentification

National security measures can be defined as those technical and non-technical measures that have been initiated as a means to curb breaches in national security, irrespective of whether these might occur by nationals or aliens in or from outside the sovereign state. National security includes such government priorities as maintaining border control, safeguarding against pandemic outbreaks, preventing acts of terror, and even discovering and eliminating identification fraud. Governments worldwide are beginning to implement information and communication security techniques as a way of protecting and enhancing their national security. These techniques take the form of citizen identification card schemes using smart cards, behavioral tracking for crowd control using closed-circuit television (CCTV), electronic tagging for mass transit using radio-frequency identification (RFID), ePassports for travel using biometrics (Figure 1), and 24×7 tracking of suspected terrorists using global positioning systems (GPS).

The Auto-ID Trajectory

This chapter considers the automatic identification (auto-ID) trajectory within the context of converging disciplines to predict the realm of likely possibilities in the short-term future of the technology. The chapter relies heavily on presenting a cross-section of research conducted primarily up until 2003 when the first commercial chip implant occurred, as a window to forecasting what kinds of technologies may become widely diffused by 2020. After showing the evolutionary development from first generation to third generation wearable computing, medical breakthroughs using implantable devices are documented. The findings of the chapter suggest that before too long, implantable devices will become commonplace for control, convenience and care-related applications. The paradigm shift is exemplified in the use of auto-ID, from its original purpose in identifying humans and objects to its ultimate trajectory with multifunctional capabilities buried within the body.

RFID Tags and Transponders

Radio frequency identification (RFID) in the form of tags or transponders is a means of auto-ID that can be used for tracking and monitoring objects, both living and non-living. One of the first applications of RFID was in the 1940s within the US Defense Force (Hodges & McFarlane, 2004, p. 59). Transponders were used to differentiate between friendly and enemy aircraft (Ollivier, 1995, p. 234; Scharfeld (1998, p. 9). Since that time, transponders continued mainly to be used by the aerospace industry (or in other niche applications) until the late 1980s when the Dutch government voiced their requirement for a livestock tracking system. The commercial direction of RFID changed at this time and the uses for RFID grew manifold as manufacturers realized the enormous potential of the technology.

Biometrics

Biometrics is not only considered a more secure way to identify an individual but also a more convenient technique whereby the individual does not necessarily have to carry an additional device, such as an ID card. As defined by the Association for Biometrics (AFB) a biometric is “...a measurable, unique physical characteristic or personal trait to recognize the identity, or verify the claimed identity, of an enrollee.” The technique is not a recent discovery. There is evidence to suggest that fingerprinting was used by the ancient Assyrians and Chinese at least since 7000 to 6000 BC (O’Gorman, 1999, p. 44). Over a thousand years ago, potters in East Asia, placed their fingerprints on their wares as an early form of brand identity and in Egypt’s Nile Valley, merchants were identified by their physical characteristics (Raina, Woodward & Orlans, 2002, p. 25). The practice of using fingerprints in place of signatures for legal contracts is hundreds of years old (Shen & Khanna, 1997 p. 1364). It is believed that the first scientific studies investigating fingerprints were conducted some time in the late sixteenth century (Lee & Gaensslen, 1994).

Barcode

Of all the auto-ID technologies in the global market today, barcode is the most widely used. In 1994, Cohen (p. 55) wrote “...barcode technology is clearly at the forefront of automatic identification systems and is likely to stay there for a long time.” It is estimated by GS1, that there are over 5 billion barcode reads each day. Despite complementary and supplementary technologies entering the barcode space, Cohen’s statement still holds true. Palmer (p. 9) agreed in 1995, that “barcode ha[d] become the dominant automatic identification technology”. Ames (1990, p. G-1) defines the barcode as: “an automatic identification technology that encodes information into an array of adjacent varying width parallel rectangular bars and spaces.” The technology’s popularity can be attributed to its application in retail, specifically in the identification and tracking of consumer goods. Before the barcode, only manual identification techniques existed. Handwritten labels or carbon-copied paper were attached or stuck to ‘things’ needing identification. In 1932 the first study on the automation of supermarket checkout counters was conducted by Wallace Flint. Subsequently in 1934 a patent was filed presenting barcode-type concepts (Palmer, 1995, p. 11) by Kermode and his colleagues. The patent described the use of four parallel lines as a means to identify different objects.

Innovation Studies

This chapter will explore literature in the field of innovation in order to establish a conceptual framework for the auto-ID trajectory research. The primary aim of this review is to provide a critical response to the literature on technological innovation. The review will also serve to: (i) identify and understand widely accepted definitions, concepts and terms, born from past innovation research as a guide for further research; (ii) review theories, theoretical frameworks and methods adopted by other researchers doing similar innovation studies (especially in the area of information technology) in order to choose an appropriate approach for this study; (iii) understand what aspects of complex high technologies (hightech) have already been explored by researchers and what aspects have been neglected and to discover any similarities or differences in existing findings.

Uberveillance

Uberveillance, also überveillance, is an above and beyond, an exaggerated, an almost omnipresent 24/7 electronic surveillance. It is a surveillance that is not only “always on” but “always with you” (it is ubiquitous) because the technology that facilitates it, in its ultimate implementation, is embedded within the human body. The problem with this kind of bodily invasive surveillance is that omnipresence in the ‘physical’ world will not always equate with omniscience, hence the real concern for misinformation, misinterpretation, and information manipulation (Figure 1). Uberveillance is an emerging concept, in the full sense of both its application and power it is not yet entirely arrived (Michael & Michael, 2006; Michael, McNamee, Michael & Tootell, 2006; M.G. Michael, 2007; M.G. Michael & K. Michael, 2009; K. Michael & M.G. Michael, 2009). For some time Roger Clarke’s (1988, p. 498) dataveillance has been prevalent: the “systematic use of personal data systems in the investigation or monitoring of the actions of one or more persons”. Almost twenty years on, technology has developed so much and the national security context has altered so greatly (Snow, 2005), that there was a pressing need to formulate a new term to convey both this present reality, and the Realpolitik (policy primarily based on power) of our times (Michael & Michael, 2007). It should be said, however, that if it had not been for dataveillance, uberveillance could not be. And for that matter, it must be emphasized that dataveillance will always be- it will provide the scorecard for the engine being used to fulfill uberveillance. The word itself gained entry into the Macquarie Dictionary in 2008 and the noun is defined as: “an omnipresent electronic surveillance facilitated by technology that makes it possible to embed surveillance devices in the human body” (Macmillan, 2009; McIlwain, 2009).