The Highland News reports that Drakies Primary School in Inverness, Scotland, has spent £1000 on fingerprint scanners for their school library.
The below comment is, as far as I know, the first mention in the media of police having accessing school fingerprint databases. Police can use children's biometric databases in England and Wales without informing parents. It does state here that the police have to get permission from the school and parents, Scottish law is different to English and Welsh law so this may well be the case in Scotland - but not in England and Wales (see questions 50 and 51).
... a spokeswoman for the National Policing Improvement Agency said: "If the police have reason to suspect a child has committed a crime then as part of their investigation with permission of the school and the parent, the police can request access to the data if they have reason to believe it will help them with their investigation."
There is no relevance to the argument that fingerprints aren't stored - a biometric identifier is stored which carries the exact same implications as if a fingerprint was stored.
Friday, September 28, 2007
Monday, September 17, 2007
Leeds pupils bullied to give up their prints
A parent from Leeds forwarded both myself and Leave Them Kids Alone details of how their 11 year old son's new school dealt with her concerns over a biometric lunch system, installed over the summer break.
The vendors of the lunch system treated the children without respect, the schools evaded questions, she got told by the bio-company "It is the law, it was passed in parliament in June this year. If you don't believe me, I can prove it" (what?!) and some courageous pupils refused on human rights grounds - good for them!
The email in full is on the LTKA [link temporarily removed] site, but here are some parts of the email that, quite frankly, makes my blood boil in the way the children were treated - but yet an admirable response in their stanse:
(parent) ...I had a telephone conversation with a very bright young girl who also attends this school. She refused to have her fingerprints taken, as did her friend. (Their human rights decision - she said) They have also heard of a few others who have refused too. They didn't agree with the way that the system had been sneaked into school and with no parental consent form. They were very scared, yet refused to cooperate. They were then threatened with the isolation unit, no school trips and wouldn't be allowed to enter into the school without the prints.
But.... my point is, they still refused! The girl said that many of her friends were very scared, they didn't like it and didn't want to have it done, yet they were still bullied into it (........ including her younger brother)
She said that they rounded up the kids like sheep for the slaughter, doing all the youngest first. The teenagers who are in their final year of school are going to be fingerprinted tomorrow. (14/09/2007) She also mentioned that apart from the science teachers, all the other teachers were completely in the dark about what was going on.
Courageous kids eh? bless em :-)
And this cashless system is supposed to 'prevent 'bullying eh?... the schools implementation of this scheme, in itself, raises some very serious questions!
The vendors of the lunch system treated the children without respect, the schools evaded questions, she got told by the bio-company "It is the law, it was passed in parliament in June this year. If you don't believe me, I can prove it" (what?!) and some courageous pupils refused on human rights grounds - good for them!
The email in full is on the LTKA [link temporarily removed] site, but here are some parts of the email that, quite frankly, makes my blood boil in the way the children were treated - but yet an admirable response in their stanse:
(parent) ...I had a telephone conversation with a very bright young girl who also attends this school. She refused to have her fingerprints taken, as did her friend. (Their human rights decision - she said) They have also heard of a few others who have refused too. They didn't agree with the way that the system had been sneaked into school and with no parental consent form. They were very scared, yet refused to cooperate. They were then threatened with the isolation unit, no school trips and wouldn't be allowed to enter into the school without the prints.
But.... my point is, they still refused! The girl said that many of her friends were very scared, they didn't like it and didn't want to have it done, yet they were still bullied into it (........ including her younger brother)
She said that they rounded up the kids like sheep for the slaughter, doing all the youngest first. The teenagers who are in their final year of school are going to be fingerprinted tomorrow. (14/09/2007) She also mentioned that apart from the science teachers, all the other teachers were completely in the dark about what was going on.
Courageous kids eh? bless em :-)
And this cashless system is supposed to 'prevent 'bullying eh?... the schools implementation of this scheme, in itself, raises some very serious questions!
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Schools right to fingerprint without consent?
Chris Woodhead, who was the Chief Inspector of Schools in England from 1994 until 2000, answers this parent query on the Times Online website.
Although schools may not have the right morally, schools, with the support of the Labour Government Education Dept, are being told that they are operating within the law which enables tham to 'fingerprint' children without informing parents - until this assumed right is tested in a court of law.
My 15-year-old son’s school recently informed parents that it would be introducing technology which uses pupils’ fingerprints to pay for school dinners. The school say they want to discourage children from bringing cash into school. How is that schools can keep this sort of personal information that could lead to identity theft? Where do parents stand in demanding their child’s fingerprints be removed from the system? Fiona Byrne, Leicestershire
The school has no right to fingerprint your son without your consent. You can therefore demand that his fingerprints are removed from its records.
I worry that our children will come to assume that those in authority have a right to demand any information they desire.
Although schools may not have the right morally, schools, with the support of the Labour Government Education Dept, are being told that they are operating within the law which enables tham to 'fingerprint' children without informing parents - until this assumed right is tested in a court of law.
Friday, September 14, 2007
India installing fingerprint systems in 40,000 schools
We think we've got it bad in in Britain and the USA with using biometrics with children in schools, at a completely disproportionate rate to the adult population that use biometric systems. (Perhaps because adults have a grasp of their rights maybe?)
But move over UK and USA - enter India. 40,000 schools are to be using such biometric fingerprint systems within 3 years. That's some contract.
With there only being around 25,000 schools in the UK this gives a sense of perspective to the speed and growth of the biometric industry going into schools in India.
Unsurprisingly these fingerprint systems are being foisted on "one of the most backward districts of Gujarat having predominant tribal population and low literacy" - so no complaints there then!
In this particular setting I can partly understand why biometric technology is being deployed here, but I would hope that, as a tool, it is not abused as well, as the people that are using this are clearly some of the worlds most vunerable.
But move over UK and USA - enter India. 40,000 schools are to be using such biometric fingerprint systems within 3 years. That's some contract.
With there only being around 25,000 schools in the UK this gives a sense of perspective to the speed and growth of the biometric industry going into schools in India.
Unsurprisingly these fingerprint systems are being foisted on "one of the most backward districts of Gujarat having predominant tribal population and low literacy" - so no complaints there then!
In this particular setting I can partly understand why biometric technology is being deployed here, but I would hope that, as a tool, it is not abused as well, as the people that are using this are clearly some of the worlds most vunerable.
"The pilot project covers 680 primary schools, 70 Cluster Resource Centres (CRCs) and 4 Block Resources Centres (BRCs) in Narmada district, one of the most backward districts of Gujarat having predominant tribal population and low literacy. It will cover around 2,508 teachers and 76,000 students.
The expanded project is expected to cover around 40,000 schools, which are to be covered, in a phased manner, in the coming 2-3 years."
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Oh no....
Clayton school district in Missouri, are, next month, going to install fingerprint scanners in school lunch lines.
Oh dear...
"It's not a fingerprint," said Howie O'Neil, departing business administrator and board secretary.
"It's a mathematical algorithm based on a of couple points on the fingers and this cannot be traced by anybody or passed on."
Duh!
Oh dear...
"It's not a fingerprint," said Howie O'Neil, departing business administrator and board secretary.
"It's a mathematical algorithm based on a of couple points on the fingers and this cannot be traced by anybody or passed on."
Duh!
Friday, September 07, 2007
New US legislation halts school fingerprint technology
This from the Chicago Tribune:
Shortly after rolling out a new lunch program that allows pupils to pay for hot meals with a scan of their fingerprint, Wilmette school officials put the system on hold after learning that a new Illinois law limits the use of biometric information to protect children's privacy.
Illinois General Assembly SB1702, specifically dealing with school biometric databases, came into effect on the 1st August this year.
Adam Denenberg, the school district's director of technology and media is quoted in the article saying, "...no fingerprints are stored or could be obtained by police."
However, a child's biometric fingerprint algorithm, stored on a school database, can be accessed by police, as SB1702, section 5(B), on page 4, details:
(5) A prohibition on the sale, lease, or other disclosure of biometric information to another person or entity, unless:
(B) the disclosure is required by court order.
Shortly after rolling out a new lunch program that allows pupils to pay for hot meals with a scan of their fingerprint, Wilmette school officials put the system on hold after learning that a new Illinois law limits the use of biometric information to protect children's privacy.
Illinois General Assembly SB1702, specifically dealing with school biometric databases, came into effect on the 1st August this year.
Adam Denenberg, the school district's director of technology and media is quoted in the article saying, "...no fingerprints are stored or could be obtained by police."
However, a child's biometric fingerprint algorithm, stored on a school database, can be accessed by police, as SB1702, section 5(B), on page 4, details:
(5) A prohibition on the sale, lease, or other disclosure of biometric information to another person or entity, unless:
(B) the disclosure is required by court order.
Monday, September 03, 2007
Schools dinners drop by 250,000
The number of secondary school children taking school meals has dropped by 250,000 in the past two years.
The Local Authority Caterers Association (LACA) National School Meals Survey have some interesting statistics:
In Primary Schools the number eligible for free school meals has dropped from 17.3% to 15.9% and the uptake from 14.2% to 13.1%.
In Secondary Schools the number eligible for free school meals dropped from 14.4% to 13.1% and the uptake from 10.6% to 9.6%.
The service is under immense pressure and already being seen by many private contractors as a non-viable operation.
LACA’s concern is that this may well be the case too for public sector caterers. It is not inconceivable that local authorities would consider abandoning the [food] service as budgets are unable to sustain the costs involved with the introduction of the New School Food Standards, particularly if Secondary students can continue to obtain, on the way to school and in break times, the food and drink items banned in school.
Why on earth would a school buy a biometric cashless system when clearly this is an area NOT to invest in at present, but manufacturers claims that such systems boost school meal uptake fly in the face of these recent LACA figures.
The Local Authority Caterers Association (LACA) National School Meals Survey have some interesting statistics:
In Primary Schools the number eligible for free school meals has dropped from 17.3% to 15.9% and the uptake from 14.2% to 13.1%.
In Secondary Schools the number eligible for free school meals dropped from 14.4% to 13.1% and the uptake from 10.6% to 9.6%.
The service is under immense pressure and already being seen by many private contractors as a non-viable operation.
LACA’s concern is that this may well be the case too for public sector caterers. It is not inconceivable that local authorities would consider abandoning the [food] service as budgets are unable to sustain the costs involved with the introduction of the New School Food Standards, particularly if Secondary students can continue to obtain, on the way to school and in break times, the food and drink items banned in school.
Why on earth would a school buy a biometric cashless system when clearly this is an area NOT to invest in at present, but manufacturers claims that such systems boost school meal uptake fly in the face of these recent LACA figures.
Sunday, September 02, 2007
Fingerprinting in Australian schools
Fingerprint biometrics in Australian schools is coming and civil liberties groups aren't happy about it.
"Australian Education Union state secretary Mary Bluett said the swipe card technology was too expensive for most state schools, but advances in fingerprint technology meant it would eventually be introduced throughout secondary schools.
The push for biometric security measures comes from a school photography company, Academy Attendance Systems which is offering technology that scans a student's thumbprint..." I bet it is!
Civil Liberties Council President Cameron Murphy says fingerprint logging is also a concern.
“It’s just not appropriate to be forcing school students to hand over their fingerprints so that they can be logged and on their way in and way out but also kept on a database for the rest of their life,” he said.
"Australian Education Union state secretary Mary Bluett said the swipe card technology was too expensive for most state schools, but advances in fingerprint technology meant it would eventually be introduced throughout secondary schools.
The push for biometric security measures comes from a school photography company, Academy Attendance Systems which is offering technology that scans a student's thumbprint..." I bet it is!
Civil Liberties Council President Cameron Murphy says fingerprint logging is also a concern.
“It’s just not appropriate to be forcing school students to hand over their fingerprints so that they can be logged and on their way in and way out but also kept on a database for the rest of their life,” he said.
Monday, August 27, 2007
USA installs school scanners over summer break
States in the USA have taken advantage of the summer break by installing fingerprint biometric scanner for lunches, in Ohio, Florida, West Virginia and Maryland.
Kathy Thomas, at Gilpin Manor Elementary school, said in this article some parents objections to the new system might be based on inaccurate information.
Mmm...based on her view I'd say she is the one inaccurately educated about the fingerprint systems. See these international computer expert's views on using school biometric systems.
She says, “The new system uses a student’s fingerprint to create a corresponding identification number based on certain unique points of the print,” she said. “But it’s not actually recording the fingerprint itself, and we’re not storing anyone’s fingerprints in our computers.” - Yes you are. It's a digital biometric identifier of a child's fingerprint, not noseprint, earprint or footprint - it's a fingerprint - law enforcement and governments use similiar biometric systems because it stores a "fingerprint".
This picture accompanied the article, let's see... there clearly is a computer with an image of a fingerprint on it, the print is recorded initially and a biometric identifier of the child's fingerprint is stored that is absolutely unique to that child and can be used in law i.e, Police can access school biometric databases if they wish.
Kathy Thomas, at Gilpin Manor Elementary school, said in this article some parents objections to the new system might be based on inaccurate information.
Mmm...based on her view I'd say she is the one inaccurately educated about the fingerprint systems. See these international computer expert's views on using school biometric systems.
She says, “The new system uses a student’s fingerprint to create a corresponding identification number based on certain unique points of the print,” she said. “But it’s not actually recording the fingerprint itself, and we’re not storing anyone’s fingerprints in our computers.” - Yes you are. It's a digital biometric identifier of a child's fingerprint, not noseprint, earprint or footprint - it's a fingerprint - law enforcement and governments use similiar biometric systems because it stores a "fingerprint".
This picture accompanied the article, let's see... there clearly is a computer with an image of a fingerprint on it, the print is recorded initially and a biometric identifier of the child's fingerprint is stored that is absolutely unique to that child and can be used in law i.e, Police can access school biometric databases if they wish.Kathy Thomas then goes on to say.. "School officials, for instance, cannot provide law enforcement with a copy of a student’s fingerprint from the system because no actual prints are recorded." Wrong - I don't know about US law but certainly in the UK police are able to access a school biometric database, if they believe it will help solve a crime, without parental knowledge.
With regard to the USA, interestingly CSI NY , the tv series, (I think series 3 episode 10 entitled "Sweet 16") ran a sub-plot where a teenage girl was joyriding in a car and non of the fingerprints in the car were on the police database (AFIS). The school had a biometric database and the CSI squad ran it through the school database to check the print and found the joyrider via that.Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Child fingerprinted without parents knowledge
As Gloucester County Council decide whether or not to endorse the recent governments advice to schools on biometric systems one family in Gloucester finds out that their son was fingerprinted without their knowledge, for library use.
The parents are rightly furious.
Roberta Smart said: "They should certainly have asked before doing anything like this. I would have refused. Systems can also be hacked into, and identity fraud takes place often. Will our children be next?
These are youngsters and for them this is just the way things are done. That is why parents, who know it isn't, need to take a stand." Absolutely!
Certain comments on the 'this is gloucestershire.co.uk' website have been made by people uneducated on this issue, ignorant of the potential risks with these systems - however this is encouragingly balanced with informed comments.
Ignorance is driven by this practice of schools taking children's biometrics without properly consulting parents.
The parents are rightly furious.
Roberta Smart said: "They should certainly have asked before doing anything like this. I would have refused. Systems can also be hacked into, and identity fraud takes place often. Will our children be next?
These are youngsters and for them this is just the way things are done. That is why parents, who know it isn't, need to take a stand." Absolutely!
Certain comments on the 'this is gloucestershire.co.uk' website have been made by people uneducated on this issue, ignorant of the potential risks with these systems - however this is encouragingly balanced with informed comments.
Ignorance is driven by this practice of schools taking children's biometrics without properly consulting parents.
Thursday, August 16, 2007
ACLU voices concerns as Indiana schools use fingerprint scanners
The Herald Argos in Indiana, USA, have reported that biometric systems are to be implemented in the La Porte and New Prairie school corporations.
"Some parents were unaware of the fingerprint scan until contacted by The La Porte County Herald-Argus Tuesday. Parents at Olive have not received detailed information on the technology.
La Porte spent between $100 and $200 each for 15 scanners and pays $5,738 each year for software licensing."
Parents are concerned about the cost and ACLU have voiced their concerns regarding children surrendering their privacy at a younger and younger age. A CLU and parents across states in the USA, have helped convince schools officials in Boulder, Colo, and in Taunton, Mass. to abandon plans to use biometrics in schools.
Parents, such as Joy Robinson-Van Gilder and Patti Crossman, have been paramount in these changes of school board attitudes towards the casual biometric fingerprinting of children in schools.
"One person leading the campaign against this technology in Boulder was Joe Pezzillo, 38, a computer software developer involved with the technology.
He said that just because the finger isn’t dipped in ink and placed on paper doesn’t change the fact that it is a fingerprint.
“The fact of the matter is there is a unique identifier to identify your child whether it is stored as a number or a picture of the fingerprint,”
“You cannot change a fingerprint. It will uniquely identify the child for the rest of their life.” "
"Some parents were unaware of the fingerprint scan until contacted by The La Porte County Herald-Argus Tuesday. Parents at Olive have not received detailed information on the technology.
La Porte spent between $100 and $200 each for 15 scanners and pays $5,738 each year for software licensing."
Parents are concerned about the cost and ACLU have voiced their concerns regarding children surrendering their privacy at a younger and younger age. A CLU and parents across states in the USA, have helped convince schools officials in Boulder, Colo, and in Taunton, Mass. to abandon plans to use biometrics in schools.
Parents, such as Joy Robinson-Van Gilder and Patti Crossman, have been paramount in these changes of school board attitudes towards the casual biometric fingerprinting of children in schools.
"One person leading the campaign against this technology in Boulder was Joe Pezzillo, 38, a computer software developer involved with the technology.
He said that just because the finger isn’t dipped in ink and placed on paper doesn’t change the fact that it is a fingerprint.
“The fact of the matter is there is a unique identifier to identify your child whether it is stored as a number or a picture of the fingerprint,”
“You cannot change a fingerprint. It will uniquely identify the child for the rest of their life.” "
Monday, August 13, 2007
Gloucestershire County Council rethinking recent UK Government guidelines
Despite the UK Government recently issuing guidance for schools using biometric systems Gloucestershire County Council are deciding whether to issue their own guidance to schools in their area.
With a total of 8,400 children already fingerprinted in the Gloucestershire area, some just four years old, members of all political parties in the county council have created draft guidelines to help schools decide whether to use fingerprinting.
This article reports that Gloucestershire County Council, "...strongly recommends schools should consider the implications of the biometric data before making a decision.Liberal democrats at Gloucestershire County Council have welcomed the draft guidelines, but say they should go further.
Lib Deb leader councillor Jeremy Hilton, said:
"Using biometric technology in schools introduces a number of serious and unnecessary risks.
"Personally I would encourage schools not to introduce fingerprinting."
Jackie Hall, lead cabinet member for children and young people, will decide whether to endorse the [government] guidelines in September.
With a total of 8,400 children already fingerprinted in the Gloucestershire area, some just four years old, members of all political parties in the county council have created draft guidelines to help schools decide whether to use fingerprinting.
This article reports that Gloucestershire County Council, "...strongly recommends schools should consider the implications of the biometric data before making a decision.Liberal democrats at Gloucestershire County Council have welcomed the draft guidelines, but say they should go further.
Lib Deb leader councillor Jeremy Hilton, said:
"Using biometric technology in schools introduces a number of serious and unnecessary risks.
"Personally I would encourage schools not to introduce fingerprinting."
Jackie Hall, lead cabinet member for children and young people, will decide whether to endorse the [government] guidelines in September.
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