School fingerprinting :: Just a bit of fun!
30 03 2007
I have received a letter from the Head Teacher at my school in reply to my original letter (Click on the thumbnail opposite).
What strikes me is that she provides quotes which are taken directly from the user manual of the system, as if they are independent views! I find this quite astonishing.
She then goes on to say that the fingerprinting is “a bit of fun” for the children. She really has no idea of the implications! Sure, it’s great fun. Just hand out your biometric readings to anyone kids. Hey kids, can I take some DNA sample while I’m at it? Just for a bit of fun. Don’t worry this needle won’t hurt…
She also states, “parents and carers were informed of the system we would be using by letter, and no objections have been received, apart from your letter”.
However, that the letter was only sent out after they had installed the system. No consent was sought and only a few days later they fingerprinted the children! So, they gave very little time for anyone to raise any concerns.
The parents letter I have drafted will go out this afternoon, all going well.
View Tarique Naseem's profile
Posts
If it’s really “just a bit of fun”, why did the school go to great lengths in their original letter to stress that in their view it was in accordance with European Human Rights legislation? And how on earth would a primary school teacher know that? I wonder who told her. It certainly wasn’t the DfES or the Information Commissioner, for they haven’t as yet issued any guidance on the issue. In fact, leading barristers I have consulted with take quite the opposite view.
And as for the rest, Kim Cameron, who is Architect of Identity and Access in the Connected Systems Division at Microsoft, states that “it is absolutely premature to begin using “conventional biometrics†in schools”. (see http://www.identityblog.com/?p=733 )
I wonder how the head teacher would respond to that? Or whether the governors have been consulted?
Well, our local MP (Labour) has just written to me and “shares the horror at the prospect of children being fingerprinted”.
He then goes onto say that he has now written to the Director of Education in Kirklees, enclosing a copy of my letter, and will get back to me with any developments.
The head teacher at the school has yet to reply to any of my queries, but then that’s not surprising as I doubt she actually has the knowledge to answer any of the points raised!
I’ve been away for a while but I had no idea this kind of shit was going on.
Sad indeed.
Confirms much of what a friend recently said about the uk after moving back.
Passports expire after 10 years, email addresses come and go, PIN numbers can be changed (although if I ever change mine I won’t be able to use any of my plastic cards again as I’m too old to remember a different number…), but the one thing you can’t change is your fingerprints.
A few years ago (post 9-11), being a Brit, I had to give mine to the US immigration service just to visit Seattle. I regret it to this day.
Good luck with the fight, although I expect you’ll be banged up as a dissident by the thought police.
Isn’t it ironic that when you complain about things like this they think *you* are the one suggesting something crazy?
Wouldn’t happen in Star Trek y’know…