Compulsory fingerprinting for primary school children in Australia

Fingerprinting children in school, especially primary school children, is a contentious issue - with parents and children having the right in the UK not to participate.  Schools must seek written consent to take and process a child's biometric data.

Not so in Australia it seems.

In this article it reported that East Para Primary School has told parents they have "no choice" in the matter for a school registration system that will eventually be introduced for parents too if they want to enter the school.  The school's current newsletter states the same blerb parents have had here in the UK reassuring that no image of the fingerprint will be stored, it cannot be reconstructed and the biometric data will not be given to government or agencies... but put plainly it is a biometric mark/measure of your child's body, in this case a fingerprint, that has to stay secure, safe and never be compromised.

Giving up ones biometric may not be considered a proportionate use of personal data.  Parents should be able to decide what level of privacy they want for themselves and their children in this respect.

The article 'East Para Primary School pupils to have fingerprints scanned as part of new student attendance record-keeping program' goes on to report:

School mother Sandra Tomasin said she was disgusted by the move and immediately rang the school to ask that her Year 1 son be exempt from the program.

“They have told me that I have no choice,’’ Ms Tomasin said.

“It is an invasion of privacy. I don’t want to let it happen but I want to keep him at the school.’’

Ms Tomasin said regardless of whether or not finger prints were stored by the system, primary school children having to scan their fingers when they came and went to school was outrageous.

Sandra Tomasin is rightly outraged and should have a right for her child to attend school and NOT having to give up their biometric data.

In the UK schools fell short of giving this ultimatum as it was thought to breach Human Rights legislation by denying a service to a child because they chose not to give up their biometric data, any ultimatum of this sort was also on shaking grounds with Article 16 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child  (right to privacy) "Every child has the right to privacy. The law should protect the child’s private, family and home life." - which does apply to Australia.

The below statement was made by Privacy International in 2002 about library systems that used children's fingerprint biometrics in the UK to log books in and out.  It is still applicable now.

Legal advice for schools that feel the need to use children's biometric data

If UK schools feel the need to process children's biometric data they should take note of this very informative piece of legal advice from Browne Jacobson.  Schools cannot discriminate against pupils who are not participating in a biometric database and must offer an alternative.

My child has been home educated for the period of their high school education and recently entered back into mainstream education, now attending the local college to do AS levels.  The college botched an attempt to gain parental consent for a new biometric system, introduced September 2014 to make the college 'cashless'.  They swept the consent for biometrics into the medical and school trip consent.  Needless to say the college was informed how the consent process works after I did not sign the consent for anything.

My child can still eat as he is identified via his photograph on the school system.  We parents have to transfer money to the student account for him to pay for this.  We don't as...

• It is a hassle to transfer money - I do not need 'another' thing to do online
• I do not want a digital record to be held of his eating habits
• I am not certain where that information goes
• Food from the local sandwich shop is cheaper, fresher and it feeds the local economy

He, along with his friends, enjoys the fresh air of lunch time walking to the local sandwich shop to eat.  However, my child is still discriminated against in the college as he is unable to use the biometric vending machines (which in itself may not be a bad thing given the food contained).  I will be following this up with the college as a point.

Interestingly, through hearsay from students attending the college, the biometric system has been an epic fail with many students not participating.  Apparently the lunch sales have to dipped to only 11% of what it was previously, so much so that the lure of a mountain bike has been offer to those students buying a 'meal deal' with their fingerprint - their name goes into the draw for the bike.  Pavlovian?

I just wonder who is paying for this incentive to fingerprint the students?