Derek Clark in the media / Child fingerprinting

gawain · 17-08-2006, 09:00 AM

http://www.ilkestontoday.co.uk/ViewA...icleID=1699976

Quote:

AN MEP has slammed local education authorities for fingerprinting children using new ID technology to be introduced in September.

Derek Clark, the UK Indepedence Party MEP for the East Midlands, is to write to all education authorities in the region about the fingerprinting of school children of all ages - most of which he fears is being done without parental consent.
Mr Clark said: "We really have reached a pitiful level in this country when we are fingerprinting children at primary schools and keeping it from their parents.
"It has been brought to my attention that this practice is going on all over the country, with some 27 or more schools in the East Midlands known to have fingerprinted their pupils.
"I want to know why this is being done, how widespread it is and whether it is being carried out at the behest of of the local education authority.
"Most important of all, I want to know if schools are seeking the consent of parents before carrying out such actions."

Whhat is interesting is the blase way in which the schools describe the taking and kkeeping of what are esentially insecurebiometricdetails, "A spokesperson for Derbyshire County Council said that the fingerprinting system being used in Derbyshire schools does not keep an actual record of a fingerprint. It converts a fingerprint into a number and then remembers the number".
What on earth does the Council think a digital biometric is apart from a number?

John Page · 17-08-2006, 09:13 AM

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/c...re/5105238.stm from June.

Quote:

A row has broken out over a Cambridge school's plans to fingerprint pupils.

St Matthews School brought in the new security system as an alternative to library cards but the proposal has sparked a row with parents.

Headteacher Tony Davies said parents had been reassured that their children could not be identified as only part of the thumb would be scanned.

David Clouter, who has a child at the school, said: "It's out of proportion for borrowing a book."

He added: "With the police it's very clear what they can or cannot do but with a school no-one envisaged that children would be fingerprinted."

'Made assurances'

But Mr Davies said only a few parents were still unhappy at the voluntary scheme.

He said: "When you look at the details of how this system works it is not an issue about thumb or finger prints and identity.

"We've made assurances that no-one would be able to identify a child from the scan because so little information is taken.

"The thumb scan just generates a number from three coordinates that the system recognises and this reveals how many books have been borrowed when they visit the library.

"We have spoken to parents in detail about the system and that is why those who may have been upset are not any more."

He added that the scheme was used in schools throughout Cambridgeshire.

The scheme will be phased in during the next few weeks and is expected to be fully up and running later this year.

If the head is to be believed, it was a storm in a teacup. Now, this is from December 2004.

Quote:

School trials fingertip clock-in
A secondary school is testing a new fingertip-recognition registration system for pupils.

Impington Village College, near Cambridge, is thought to be the first state school in the UK to use the scheme.

Staff say the technology - supplied free for the trial - should help them tackle truancy and make children safer.

Cambridgeshire County Council is monitoring the trial and the system could be introduced in other schools.

Message to parents

Instead of answering names in a traditional classroom roll call, pupils scan their fingertips into a computer.

Class teachers watch children arrive and check that each fingertip scan has been logged.

If a pupil fails to register, repeated email and text messages are automatically sent to the parents' computers and mobile phones.

Staff and children at the school, which has 1,300 pupils, have had their fingertips scanned into a database.

Combat truancy

An education authority spokesman said: "The scheme should help the school combat truancy more effectively and improve children's safety."

The system will also be used to introduce a cashless-catering system to help remove the stigma of free school meals and to prevent students from having to carry money, which in turn reduces bullying, he added.

The authority hopes the system can also be used for verifying the identity of examination candidates and checking head-counts on school trips.

The computerised system will be monitored over the next few weeks.

John Page · 17-08-2006, 09:00 PM

Here is the full text of the report Gawain linked.

Quote:

Anger over dabs plan for pupils

AN MEP has slammed local education authorities for fingerprinting children using new ID technology to be introduced in September.

Derek Clark, the UK Indepedence Party MEP for the East Midlands, is to write to all education authorities in the region about the fingerprinting of school children of all ages - most of which he fears is being done without parental consent.

Mr Clark said: "We really have reached a pitiful level in this country when we are fingerprinting children at primary schools and keeping it from their parents.

"It has been brought to my attention that this practice is going on all over the country, with some 27 or more schools in the East Midlands known to have fingerprinted their pupils.

"I want to know why this is being done, how widespread it is and whether it is being carried out at the behest of of the local education authority.
"Most important of all, I want to know if schools are seeking the consent of parents before carrying out such actions."

Kirk Hallam Community Technology College is set to install a cashless system this September where pupils will scan their fingerprints at the checkout to pay for their meals.

The college is one of the first in the country to have the biometric reading system installed.

A spokesperson for Derbyshire County Council said that the fingerprinting system being used in Derbyshire schools does not keep an actual record of a fingerprint. It converts a fingerprint into a number and then remembers the number.

He added: "No fingerprinting is done of pupils without the consent of parents and the system operates without the need to keep a permanent record of a fingerprint.

"So far one school in Derbyshire – Heritage Community School in Clowne - has installed the system and, as far as we are aware, no parents have said they do not want their child to use it."

Vice-principle John Warrington, of the Kirk Hallam Technology College, defended the scheme: "The system records what pupils eat so it helps with the healthy eating campaign, and if parents want to know what their kids are eating or how much they are spending they can keep track.

"Also, it will speed the whole process up which is really beneficial for us.

"Trying to cater for over 600 students in an hour is difficult. And there won't be any problems with leaving cards or cash at home, or accidentally putting them in the washing machine - you've always got your finger on you haven't you!"

gawain · 18-08-2006, 02:41 PM

Don't you find the justifications a bit scary?

TomPhil · 20-08-2006, 11:11 AM

I remember that the library at the school I went to at the time was using fingerprints for people borrowing books about six years ago; it was involved in a trial of some software for finding the student's record based on their fingerprint. Parents were never informed or asked for permission. In the end, the system was abolished because it was quicker just to type the student's name in.

18-08-2006, 02:41 PM	#4 (permalink)
gawain Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 268	Quite Don't you find the justifications a bit scary?

20-08-2006, 11:11 AM	#5 (permalink)
TomPhil Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Stockport Posts: 498 Party: UKIP	I remember that the library at the school I went to at the time was using fingerprints for people borrowing books about six years ago; it was involved in a trial of some software for finding the student's record based on their fingerprint. Parents were never informed or asked for permission. In the end, the system was abolished because it was quicker just to type the student's name in. __________________ "A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government." In Labour we trusted and now we are busted... again. It's the economy, stupid.

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