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Identification and surveillance, in principle thought of as two distinct activities, are currently being intertwined and even conflated. This conflation has been furthered by security-technologies presented as a highly scientific apparatus allowing for the fight against a set of very diverse, both present and future, risks. These sophisticated security-technologies identify and control individuals on the basis of their innate and unchangeable characteristics.

This issue of Cultures & Conflits focuses on the processes and the logics that have led states, internatinal organizations and individuals to resort to these new security-technologies in order to counter risks and anticipate on potential dangers. These technologies are linked to data-bases dematerializing identification and surveillance. As a consequence, the latter are becoming more and more intrusive. Are the development of biometrics and the right to privacy compatible? How does the European Union deal with this issue? What resistance movements are opposing these developments?