NO2ID

Our daughter informed us this morning that her school had taken her thumb prints yesterday! After contacting the school to ask why parental consent was not sought, I was bombarded with the really good reasons why our county council had rolled out biometric fingerprinting in all secondary schools.......reducing lunchtime queues, lost or stolen money and teaching life skills to our children! Needless to say we have requested that our daughters data be removed from the system, however the school has no plans to introduce an alternative system for pupils who opt out, so how is my child expected to access a school meal? It would appear at this moment in time that unless we comply with the biometric system our child will be unable to purchase a meal at school.....surely this is an infringement of her rights and she is now being discriminated against.....because we won't comply!

It's my understanding that with all these schemes an alternative must be offered.be
Also given the concerns many people have despite the upbeat unthinking support most schools give these schemes, it's very poor
they didn't want to let you know before the event.
A shame they can't be bombarded with data protection requests, demands to prove security, prove unrecoverable removal of data etc. just
to make it unworkable. Trouble is most will just accept this is the way things are.
What is the connection between these companies and schools/councils anyway? What's in it for them that a simple
card or photo system can't deliver equally well? Who benefits and how?

I would try to speak to other parents and see how they feel - strength in numbers and all that!

mb

Am I wrong in thinking that this very controversial issue seems to have gone very quite! Trying to get as much information as possible and everything I have read seems to date back quite a way! As parents we should be shouting loudly from the rafters.......today it is fingerprints, who knows what they will take from our children tomorrow!

I feel extremely frustrated that my county council have rolled out biometrics in all secondary schools from the start of this academic year 2010/11, even though it was widely reported that this goverment would outlaw fingerprinting of our children without parental consultation or consent!!!!! I am getting the run around from the DFES, also waiting for a response to some serious questions from Nick Gibb MP!

Any government who sanction, through thier silence, the systematic boimetric fingerprinting of our children without parental consent, in my opinion have a greater purpose and secret agenda going on!

I ask anyone out there.....as parents, how can we get the schools to stop this invasion of childrens & parents privacy?

This link might be of some use

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree ... ild-school

The finger-printing of children is definitely an alarming development. We need to fight it.

thank you for the above link "Guest123", I have already read this article but, help from any source is very welcome, in fact I have read everthing I can get my hands on. Better positioned to know what I am talking about when the time comes to ask questions of the school.

Feeling quite frustrated at the moment, in the course of 1 week I have had to deal with two very controversial topics: HPV Vaccine (Cervirax), Biometric Fingerprinting, ALL HAPPENING AT SCHOOL!!!!

This is a good idea to maximize security within the campus. This way, only athorized people/students/faculty/staff are allowed inside the school premises. Databases should however be updated every now and then as students get in and out of the school every year. The security feature wouldn't serve its purpose if a former student still has access to the system even if he/she has graduated, or transferred to another school for some reasons. I hope this system gets approved in our area..

Shane Jones

Why does that need fingerprints? Universities have authorised access only, so they have photocards to enforce this.

Perhaps you'd prefer a DNA sampling as fingerprints can be forged. /s

I have a blog here about biometrics in schools here http://www.pippaking.blogspot.com My two kids were nearly fingerpring for a library system in 2006, hence the blog. Some of us concerned parents lobbied MPs, Cons and Lib Dem when they were in opposition. Lab just wouldn't talk to us at all. (we were helped by NO2D and ARCH in the lobbying process, they were great)

Those MP's we lobbied are now in parliament. There is a Freedom Bill which will be presented to Parliament very iminently - the issue of using Biometrics in schools will be 'dealt' with in some fashion in the Bill.

... just got to wait and see...

But @concerned parent. The school will be acting illegally if they do not offer an alternative under the Human Rights Act. I can email you more details of that if you want.

dear concerned parents,throw this at the school

Section 10 of the Data Protection
i.e. is the fingerprinting of ur child causing
'unnwarrented damage and distress'

6.1 of Shedule 2 of the DPA
ask youselves, is what the school doing
prejudice to your childs 'rights and freedoms'
i.e offering no other alternative to access lunch!

as your child/children are (for the purposes
of the act and the school) data subjects,and the
school will claim they are the 'controllers'
i asked the question where do parents fit in to
the act (we dont is the simple answer,but im
fighting it) so look to EC DIRECTIVE 95/46 and
tell yourselves,the school are not 'natural and legal'
'Controllers' YOU ARE!

Sorry this is not more explanitory, but writing on
a pocket surfer an it doesent allow a lot of time
to write,i really hope you can find what im attemting
2 show you.

best of luck Chris

I wonder why they want to subject children to biometric security? Seems a bit OTT. What are they expecting? To be infiltrated by terrorist teens? As far as I'm aware there would be no legal bar to a school using such a system although I would have thought the cost would be prohibitive and its use in a school setting rather impractical.