Anyone else seen this website: http://www.leavethemkidsalone.com/

It highlights the way some schools and colleges are forcing their pupils to have their fingerprints taken for ID purposes, without informing parents or obtaining permission.

Cheers
Gary

If anyone did that to my kids I'd be furious

huh ?

Deb

I'll be asking my daughter when she gets home

Sorry if I am being really dim here, but what on earth do schools need childrens finger prints for

Dawn x

If they do that with my kids they'll find themselves answering an assault charge and then with 3 empty places as I'll take the kids out and home ed them.

What Ms-Fi said but with one empty place instead of three!

For the most part it seems to be as a way of replacing the traditional library card system. Kids have to have their fingerprint scanned to be identified by the system, but you can see it quickly being adopted into other procedures such as register taking and examination entry.

There's a lot of concern over who actually holds the biometric data, whether it is secure and that it won't be used for anything else. There is also the civil liberties issue, of whether someone should be compelled to supply their biometric data without an alternative being offered, and without the parents' consent.

Cheers
Gary

If they did that to any of my kids without consent or offering an alternative

George Orwell was'nt to far out BB is here
duncan

Glad I HE...I understand some primary schools use it as part of the school lunch programme.

makes me glad I am not in the UK!

what I can't understand is why it is necessary for library use etc .... must have cost millions to implement, and that money could have been used for better things - such as buying books???? what on earth is wrong with giving the kids a library card anyhow?

I can remember when library used a simple system of having you write your name and classroom on a paper card...worked fine lol. What is wrong witha barcoded library card anyway?

How long before they are taking dna samples to establish whether or not kids have the smart genes required to get good exam results - before allowing them into school?

I would hope that I have instilled enough understanding of her civil liberties in my daughter's mind that she would not give her consent for this. In which case if the school insisted, she would be well within her rights to report it to the police as assault.

If the school came up with any policy that involved compulsory fingerprinting, I would be banging on the head's door to register my opposition and seeking written assurance that my daughter would not be included without her informed consent. I would also want to know details of how the data was stored, how long for, who had access to it, etc etc etc.

Nic

We have had a letter from my Ds1s secondary school asking permission to scan DSs fingerprints for the library.They explained the various security procedures to protect this information,and they made it clear that either the parents or children had the right to opt out and have atraditional library card if they preferred.
I am pretty sure it would not be lawful without parental consent.