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An Introduction to the Concept of Identity

An Introduction to the Concept of Identity. Martin Rost Independent Centre of Privacy Protection (ICPP) Germany, Kiel martin.rost@datenschutzzentrum.de 2003-12-02. Overview. ICPP The semantic field of the term identity:

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An Introduction to the Concept of Identity

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  1. An Introduction to the Concept of Identity Martin Rost Independent Centre of Privacy Protection (ICPP) Germany, Kiel martin.rost@datenschutzzentrum.de 2003-12-02 FIDIS NoE - Kick-off meeting, Brussels, 2003-12-02

  2. Overview • ICPP • The semantic field of the term identity: • Constitution of identity through communication of:different but same things, continuity in change, role-conflicts • The three types of social / communicational constitution of identity • interaction system, organisational system, social subsystem • The idea of “industrialisation of communication“ as basic theory for discussing “technological supported identity management“ • standardisation and mechanisation of all socially relevant communications FIDIS NoE - Kick-off meeting, Brussels, 2003-12-02

  3. ICPP - Independent Centre for Privacy Protection • Regional authority (Germany, Schleswig-Holstein, Kiel) • 36 employees (52% lawyers, 34% technicians,14% service) • Functions and objectives: • Mainly: Monitoring the actions of regional and local authorities and also the actions of private organisations in relation to the “right to informational self-determination of individuals“. • Producing privacy protection. This could mean: • Participation in political decisions and juridical proceedings • Awarding seals of approvals and audits as part of an economical perspective • Participation in development and propagation of Privacy Enhancing Technologies (like crypto-tools, identity management technologies, P3P) FIDIS NoE - Kick-off meeting, Brussels, 2003-12-02

  4. Statement: The different is the same and the same is the different. Things are numerically different and/but characterially equal. Identity in this meaning is the sameness of different things. Semantic field of identity: 1 - the space (or better: ontology) version FIDIS NoE - Kick-off meeting, Brussels, 2003-12-02

  5. Semantic field of identity: 2 - the time version • Statement: The different is the same over the years.This is characterising everything which is living. • Identity in this meaning is continuity in change. FIDIS NoE - Kick-off meeting, Brussels, 2003-12-02

  6. Semantic field of identity: 3 - identification • Numerically different but characterially equal and continuity in change are the conditions for identification the relevant aspects of a citizen or a customer. • location and time of birth • biometrical characteristics (sex, portrait, fingerprint) • name FIDIS NoE - Kick-off meeting, Brussels, 2003-12-02

  7. Semantic field of identity: 4 - the social-psychological version • Statement: “The personal identity is constituted by handling systemically inducted role-conflicts.“ • Identity (of a person (persona: “playing a role in a mask“)) is the product of handled conflicts between the I and the different expectations of the Me. FIDIS NoE - Kick-off meeting, Brussels, 2003-12-02

  8. Partial Identities of Person “Alice” Identities Management FIDIS NoE - Kick-off meeting, Brussels, 2003-12-02

  9. The social constitution of identity • Statement: Different types of identities of a person are produced permanently through different types of communications respectively social systems: • interaction system • based on presence of people • organisational system • based on membership and the communication of decisions • social subsystem • based on the communicational reachability by symbolically generalised communication media FIDIS NoE - Kick-off meeting, Brussels, 2003-12-02

  10. The social construction of identity1 - identity in interaction systems • Depends on presence and taking part on communication (like speaking). • congruence of identity: “I am who I am. “ (the way to speak, to walk, the sound of the voice ...) • authenticity: “I am who I claim I am.“ (the way to look like ...) • identification: “Who are you? - But I am your old friend! ...“ • authentication: “Are you who you say you are?“ • Given social frames organise spontaneous interactions by giving subjects roughly schematised (but not really standardised) roles they have to play. • Subjects trust each other (or they don’t) as subjects, but they can’t trust the frames of interaction (friendship is not liable under a contract). FIDIS NoE - Kick-off meeting, Brussels, 2003-12-02

  11. The social construction of identity2a - identity in social subsystems • There are four main social subsystems in the globalised world, which operate as closed self-organised systems (Reference: Talcott Parsons / Niklas Luhmann): • economical system, • political system, • law system, • scientific system. • These systems operate on the base of different “symbolically generalised communication media“: • payment / not-payment, with prices as condition, • political power / not power, with programs as condition, • right / not right, with laws as condition, • true / not true, with theory and methods as condition. FIDIS NoE - Kick-off meeting, Brussels, 2003-12-02

  12. The social construction of identity2b - identity in social subsystems • Communications inducted by social subsystems are schematical (binary formed). According to these generalised and well-formed communications everyone has to play a generalised role as a • customer or client (economical system)and • citizen or townsman (political / law system)and • subject, individual, person, patient, creature (scientific system)and • employee (organisational systems). • Without access to money, elections, laws, and theories one cannot cultivate a complex identity in modern society. • Persons could trust in proceedings and communication media but had not in (normally unknown) persons. FIDIS NoE - Kick-off meeting, Brussels, 2003-12-02

  13. The social construction of identity3a - identity in organisational systems • The existence of organisation is based on (rules for) membership and on the operating by decisions from (earlier) decisions (with looking forward to decisions in the future). • People have to manage many role-conflicts: A personal identity grows by handling all these typically evolving conflicts and contradictions. • A person is always more and other things than that what is currently being actualised in communication. FIDIS NoE - Kick-off meeting, Brussels, 2003-12-02

  14. The social construction of identity3b - identity in organisational systems • Organisations has to coordinate structures of social subsystems with the corresponding personal and interactional attributes. Organisations (not interaction systems, not social subsystems) are addressable like persons and concentrate all different communications to decisions. • In communication with organisations one has to play a role with respect to ... • a) the generalised, binary structured social subsystems, • b) the concrete aspects (decisions) given from the previous communication. FIDIS NoE - Kick-off meeting, Brussels, 2003-12-02

  15. A functional perspective on Identity Management Applications • Statement 1: The take-off in using applications which support the management of identities should not be expected for managing interaction systems, but for organisational systems, especially for handling the user-organisation relation. These communications are well-formed and addressable. • Statement 2: An integrated all-purpose Identity Management Application should offer schemes (better: workflows) for the four main social systems and organisations: economy, politics, law, and science (in concrete: workflows for clients, citizens, subjects and employees). It also should provide a history function to tie in communication with previous communication to make them specific. FIDIS NoE - Kick-off meeting, Brussels, 2003-12-02

  16. Industrialisation of communication and social identities • When every socially relevant communication is standardised and mechanised and every social relevant role and partial identity is explicit, then one could say that the project of industrialisation is at the end. This could be in a socio-psychological perspective the main result of using an Identity Management System. • What are the implications if we are at the beginning of this ending? FIDIS NoE - Kick-off meeting, Brussels, 2003-12-02

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