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SWIPE addresses the gathering of data from drivers' licenses, a form of data-collection that businesses are starting to practice in the United States. Bars and convenience stores were the first to utilize license scanners in the name of age and ID verification. These businesses, however, admit they reap huge benefits from this practice beyond catching underage drinkers and smokers with fake IDs. With one swipe—that often occurs without notification or consent by the cardholder—a business acquires data that can be used to build a valuable consumer database free of charge. Post 9/11, other businesses, like hospitals and airports, are installing license readers in the name of security. And still other businesses are joining the rush to scan realizing the information contained on drivers' licenses is a potential gold mine. Detailed database records, of course, also benefit law enforcement officers who can now demand this information without court order thanks to the US Patriot Act. SWIPE brings attention to these practices and enables people to see exactly what is stored on their mysterious strip. Many people are unaware that personal data is even encoded on their license, and, if they do realize this, they probably do not know exactly what information is there. SWIPE illustrates how this information is used and why businesses and government crave it. Our hope is to encourage thinking beyond the individual self ("I do not care if a bar database has my name and address and time of visit...") toward understanding databases as a discursive, organizational practice and an essential technique of power in today's social field. With public knowledge there is a chance for public voices, and ultimately resistance!
Swipe website:
http://www.we-swipe.us/about.html
Swipe Toolkit (a Turbulence Commission):
http://turbulence.org/Works/swipe/
www.beatrizdacosta.net
Biography
Beatriz da Costa is a Interdisciplinary Artist and Tactical Media Practitioner. Coming from a sculptural and emergent technology background, Beatriz has incorporated robotic technology into her art and cultural practice and is interested in the use of various technologies within a critical public context. Her dedication to a participatory cultural practice represents a key component of her work. Beatriz has also been involved in a variety of biotech initiatives conducted in collaboration with Critical Art Ensemble. Current projects include Swipe, a collaborative project with Brooke Singer and Jamie Schulte, concerned with the social implications of driver's license data collection and Zapped, addressing the use of radio frequency identification in a consumer context.
Beatriz has performed and exhibited work at the Henry Art Gallery in Seattle, The New Museum in New York, ISEA 2002 in Japan, and the World Information Organization in Belgrade.
She recently joined the faculty of UC Irvine as an Assistant Professor in ACE, a new graduate program in Art, Computation and Engineering. |
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