Mandatory Fingerprints
**Mandatory Fingerprints** is an interactive installation designed for Amnesty International, drawing attention to the growing use of biometric surveillance in China. The project focuses specifically on the collection and use of fingerprint data, confronting users in a unique and immersive way with the scale of mass surveillance.
Concept and Experience
The installation begins by scanning the user’s own fingerprint. This symbolic act immediately confronts users with the personal and invasive nature of biometric control. They then choose a country to compare with China.
First, the installation shows how biometric data is used relatively on a limited scale in the selected country. This is followed by the dynamic ‘Biometric Speed Run’: a visual race that illustrates the enormous pace of biometric data collection in China. The animation makes the scale and speed of this development tangible, highlighting just how overwhelming the amount of biometric data being collected can be.
Below, you can watch one of the six videos that are part of the installation.
Awareness and Reflection
After experiencing the visualization, visitors are invited to sign a petition against the expansion of biometric surveillance. This is done in a confrontational way: instead of simply signing their name, visitors press their own fingerprint onto the paper using ink. This paradoxical act challenges them to critically reflect on their own biometric data and the implications of collecting and using it.
With this petition, the fewer fingerprints, the better. In this way, the number of signatures becomes a subtle measure of the awareness created by the installation. The project highlights a striking contrast between what people believe and what they actually do. Even when someone is opposed to biometric surveillance, it turns out to be surprisingly easy to voluntarily leave behind a unique piece of biometric information.
The project was presented as part of a public exhibition. Below is a selection of photographs showing both the installation and visitors interacting with it.