Liverpool councillors sever all ties with biometric technology in schools

This from the Liverpool Echo:

"A meeting of the full council will be asked to express its formal “opposition to the fingerprinting of children by schools” and a ban on any local authority-led promotion of its use save for a criminal investigation.

Picton ward councillor Andrew Makinson who is behind the motion said the £20,000 average cost of installing it could be better spent on school staff.

He said government mishaps with personal information was proof all systems were vulnerable.

Council leader Warren Bradley stressed it had always been down to individual schools to adopt the technology.

He added: “It would be wrong to implement a policy and support something which could potentially be of detriment to the protection of our children.”"

Biometric systems 100% safe?

Nunnery Wood High School in Worcester is planning to use children's fingerprints for logging pupils in and out of school and for cashless catering systems.

The system is on trial at the moment with a view to it being fully implemented in 12 months but there are concerns from parents, one parent, Angie Wilkes, stated that:

“Biometric data, when included on UK passports, was hacked within two weeks by Lukas Grunwald, a consultant with a German security company, using a piece of software costing £105,”

You can understand her concerns, yet the school insisted that "the system is 100 per cent safe" - mmm... no system is 100% safe.

"Headteacher Alun Williams said the school had taken advice from government agency Becta, and had carried out rigorous research. " If the Head has done rigorous research he will know that the systems are not 100% safe.

As far as BECTA carrying out rigorous research on biometric systems in schools - they simply haven't. Their advice given July 2007 was given with no research into these systems whatsoever, I know that as a fact as the Freedom of Information Act was used to see what research they had done - zilch.

So for all you Head Teachers out there thinking that BECTA know about these systems, think again.

Busy summer

I've have a had a some weeks off blogging over summer - been 'bloggling' vacant, I've had time to address home garden and upstairs room decorating-ish!

Been quite interesting over summer ... a few schools bringing biometrics in without parents being fully aware.

I wonder how many of you parents, especially with children going to high school, have have notification or permissiom/consent slips for the giving over or your children's biometric data for basic administrative functions within school?

As children start school the biometric systems employed by schools are not always made aware to new parents and pupils? Why would they be - if it's not a requirement of law (?)

Registration? Library? School dinners? School trips? School Vending Machines?

I (we), as parents, have just had 'permsission' forms to send back to our children's school, signed, for food tasting, crossing the road, photographs taken, video taken, swimming lessons, basket/football/rugby/ball tournaments off and on site, oh and a "contract" re behaviour. (there was even a slip to send back stating that I had received the above forms stating the above and diary dates!)

No mention that our school has a biometric system for library use. A three year old system, and that a biometric fingerprint is used enable extraction and reading of a library book for those from 4 years old.

However my children tell me now that the biometric libary system in their primary school is no longer in use. They use barcodes now... pupils rarely even/not ever comment on the 'thumb print gadet that was'... - it's a "has been" event to them, not even that.

Getting a library book out is the main event for them - not how they get it out.

Ousedale Secondary School, Newport Pagnell, is planning to use biometric fingerprints from it's pupils to access to canteen. The MKNews reports that the school "has received a string of angry, anonymous letters of complaint about the scheme"

One 15-year-old pupil who contacted the paper by email said: "The Government is so insistent on snooping on us all to a point where they are fingerprinting us to buy our lunches. They are treating us like criminals."

More schools - same misinformation

Although I haven't posted here for quite a while I've been busy behind the scenes gathering some information using the Freedom of Information Act from various bodies with some interesting results on how the governments advice for schools using biometrics was constructed and we've also had some interest from the media on the subject of biometrics in schools. So although not "bloggingly vocal" - still at it!

So what has been happening?....

Seems that the media coverage over the past month or so has been constant with parents voicing their concerns across the country.

This video from the BBC site http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/7502790.stm about Caldicott Comprehensive School, Newport, Wales, where parents are protesting about fingerprint systems. The school hasn't consulted with parents at all.

Chipping Campden comprehensive in Gloucestershire, where the actor Chris Jury's child attends, is rolling out biometrics for catering and registration, as the Telegraph and Cotswold Journal reports. The Coltswold Journal states that:

"He was responding to a letter she circulated to her pupils' parents announcing biometric machines would be installed at the school." and rightly so - is this the schools idea of consultation? Telling the parents is an arrogant way of assuming consent from parents (or children for that matter).

Abbey College, Ramsey in Cambridgeshire are introducing a fingerprint cashless catering. According to the Hunts Post:

"The school has assured parents that no one has access to the information and that the data can "never be viewed as anything other than a string of numbers and letters".

Obviously the company selling the biometric system to the school hasn't informed them about research done in the United States on how fingerprints can be recovered from such systems.

As the government nor academics in the UK have not had access to any systems that are sold to schools to test whether the schools statement is true, judgement can only be taken on the basis of work that has been done in the States on this.

Abbey College school also state that "no one has access to the information" - wrong. The police can have access if they believe that it will help solve a crime. This is what the Deputy Information Commissioner, David Smith, had to say on this in May 2007 with regard to school biometric systems (see Q50 and Q51):

"The police [can] make an access request. The school looks at: "Would we breach the Data Protection Act if we respond to the police?" If they can say that not giving the information would be likely to prejudice prevention or detection of crime and does not say a level of crime, or the apprehension or prosecution of an offender, then they can give that information without breaching the Act. A low level of crime would justify that"

So think again when a school states that no one can access information.

And £30,000 is being spent in Nequay's Tretherras School in Cornwall on biometric cashless catering, with a further £1500 spent each year on the license to have the technology.

Apart from the issues of consent, who can access to information and the possible re-engineering of fingerprints the additional issue of cost is huge.

When my children were nearly fingerprinted 3 years ago , at 6 & 7 years old, there were two companies selling biometric fingerprint systems - now there are nearly 20 companies in the market place here in the UK - a market that is ultimately driven by our tax payers money. We are funding this biometric market.

Children's biometric data at risk

Just caught the below on the Thumbs down blog run by a parent, about the complete lack of security surrounding a computer with children's biometric data on - how appalling!

"A very short comment on the school’s security:

At pick up today we walked through the nursery playground. I usually go the other way, but we both went today.

The library is inside a cottage between the Nursery and the Infant School. As I walked past the cottage door, I noticed it was wide open.

Around the corner I glanced in through the library window and saw that the room was empty. 5 minutes or so later, after a significant number of parents had walked past it, the cottage door was still open.

I poked my head inside and called “Hello! Anybody there?” Quite loudly. Reply came there none, so I walked in the three steps to the library door, tried the handle and opened it. There by the door was the computer, with the thumbscanner, just to confirm it is the one with the biometric data inside.

This is the computer about which the Governors said “reasonable security measures are taken”."

School upsets parents by fingerprinting their kids

More than 700 students were fingerprinted last week by the Clinton County School District and some parents aren't happy. Parents learned about the fingerprinting only after it happened.

Unbelievable! Seems that the school authorities in the UK and USA are simply not grasping that before they go finger scanning, storing and recording our kids biometric data they must communicate with us on this or risk alienating the parent population . Some parents, in the UK, were so angered by this they went to the police.

More UK schools using childrens fingerprints

Biometric technology using children's fingerprints is well underway across the UK. When systems using biometric fingerprints can cost up to £27,000 this is certainly a big business concern (funded by our taxes!).

The Bexhill-on-sea Observer reports that William Parker Sports College in Hasting has gone fully cashless:

Biometric fingerprints will be used by both pupils and staff to pay for everything from school dinners to theatre trips.

"We will be the first school in the town to be a cashless college," said John Court. "All our catering and anything that parents have to pay for will be paid for from online student accounts."

and in the Journel Live in Tyneside...

A North Tyneside school is spending £15,000 on the latest fingerprinting technology to curb bullying at lunchtime. Every child attending Churchill Community College in Howdon, has had their thumb prints scanned ahead of the launch of the new cashless payment system after the half-term break.

The biometric system is designed to reduce bullying in schools and any potential stigma suffered by those receiving free school meals.

Was bullying so bad at Churchill Community College that they felt the need to throw £15,000 at it? Over in Lancashire it's reported that in Bowland High School:

School dinners have been given a hi-tech overhaul. Headteacher Mr Stephen Cox said:

"Although biometric identification has been used in schools for library use for a number of years, we are one of the first schools in Lancashire to embrace the technology for use in paying for school meals, while it is early days the pupils have embraced the technology and we are hoping it will enhance their lunchtime experience by speeding up service."

Misinformation and no consent - still!

Again and again the same old cr*p is spouted by schools to parents about it's not a fingerprint that's taken so don't worry.

Obviously they have not done their research and believe whatever spiel the biometric sales persons are giving them. Here's what Education Bradford say about Junior Librarian, which according to them, is recommended by the Department for Children, Schools and Families.

"Publicity material from the manufacturers states: "No image of the fingerprint itself is ever stored and the unique number that is generated during registration can never be used to recreate an image of the original scan.""

These biometric readers have not been scrutinized by the government, as Jim Knight MP admits himself, or any independent experts here in the UK [unless any of the biometric vendors can inform otherwise or offer a system for scrutiny] - however the above statement, by Junior Librarian, can be challenged as US universities have reverse engineered fingerprints from such systems.

Along the line somewhere the complete truth isn't being aired.

On top of the misinformation given to parents, and despite advice from the government and the Information Commissioner on the practice of using biometric technology with children, schools are still taking biometric fingerprints from children without informing parents.

Parents, in Keithley, when the school had taken childrens biometric fingerprints without consent were concerned enough to contact the police and Ofsted.

Little Lever School, Bolton and Long Lee School, Keithley are the recent culprits have committed the two offences of giving misleading information and not consulting parents.

So the recent government advice is working well then...

Wanted - Smith and Browns Fingerprints

Just caught this on the Privacy International site - fingerprints of Smith and Brown "wanted".

It reads:

GUILTY of reckless endangerment of our personal security by storing our fingerprints on a central ID database and risking another catastrophic data breach.

GUILTY of willful intent to undermine our right to own and control our biometrics.

etc, etc...

The fingerprints of Wolfgang Schauble, Germany's interior minister, who believes strongly in the collection of "citizens' unique physical characteristics as a means of preventing terrorism" has already been got. Look out Smith and Brown.

What's good for the goose is good for the gander surely...

Another concerned parent blogging about fingerprinting children

Another parent has set up a blog after their high school in Derry, Northern Ireland, fingerprinted pupils WITHOUT parental consent - worth a read - http://stopfingerprintingschoolchildren.blogspot.com/

"Oakgrove College Derry, a secondary school in the north of Ireland has fingerprinted most of its pupils to "help speed up school meals". Parental consent was not sought before this mass fingerprint piracy was launched. This sneak attack on civil liberties should be opposed by every parent who cares for the personal data of their children"

With no surprise at all the DCSF's (DfES) guidance is being totally ignored by schools (if they even know it exists). The Information Commissioner's Office states that schools doing this, not involving parents, is "heavy-handed".

Heavy-handed it may be but schools do it. Until the law is changed this children's biometric market grows - with every penny of it being generated by the taxes we pay.

There is a growing band of annoyed, concerned parents voicing their anger and worries on this.

The NO2ID message board on biometrics in schools is getting busier with more parents outraged that their children have been fingerprinted and posts on there from concerned students too with lots of good advice there too.

Good for the parent who's started that blog - more people should know about this.

Australian school stops fingerprinting students after allegations of intimidation

Having been away for a while seems that things have been a little busy.

In Australia it seems that some heavy handedness was used to fingerprint students for monitoring attendance levels at Ku-ring-gai High School .

A quote from one Year 12 student shows that the school maybe should be spending money on educating the children in their care as it is quite clear that this student really has not grasped how government institutions should operate, "Perhaps a lesson from this is that parents and students should involve themselves in the school community and in the decisions being made on their behalf." what?!- no, the school should be asking express permission from parents and debating whether or not this level of technology is needed and how better money can be spent.

But then when it is alleged that school staff intimidated and insulted students who were unwilling to take part in the trial, then truancy sounds like the least of the problems at Ku-ring-gai High School.

Good for student Brad Lorge who refused to be fingerprinted! "When I began to question, I was informed that I would be stupid to not comply and that there was no reason for me to not provide my fingerprint," he said. "It was intimidating. I was the only one out of the four who refused to provide my fingerprint."

..and this from an ex-student there.

Needless to say that the biometric fingerprinting system is currently on hold at the school.