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LeaveThemKidsAlone.com ©
LTKA © against schools fingerprinting our children |
| Read what the BBC said about this issue Please tell a friend |
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LeaveThemKidsAlone.com ©
LTKA © against schools fingerprinting our children |
| Read what the BBC said about this issue Please tell a friend |
>> Vital questions you need to ask your children's school about fingerprinting <<
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WARNING: Some computer security experts feel that in the future it will be possible for the information stored on school biometric systems to be used to steal your child's identity |
"I have not been able to find a single piece of published research which suggests that the use of biometrics in schools promotes healthy eating or improves reading skills amongst children. I am concerned that these reasons are being given as a justification for fingerprinting children. There is absolutely no evidence for such claims." Educationalist Dr Sandra Leaton Gray, Director of Studies, Sociology of Education, Homerton College, Cambridge, 20 Feb 2007
"Through the back door, schools are making decisions that fly in the face of deeply held commitments to privacy by throwing these kids on fingerprint programs." Professor Helen Nissenbaum, Faculty Fellow, Information Law Institute, New York University Law School, 25 September 2007
"Biometrics in schools seem[s] to be a questionable and costly solution for security-like technology looking for another home." Education consultant Patricia Deubel, PhD, adjunct faculty member in the graduate School of Education at Capella University, 10 April 2007
Leading computer security experts warn of hidden dangers
"If a child has never touched a fingerprint scanner, there is zero probability of being incorrectly investigated for a crime. Once a child has touched a scanner they will be at the mercy of the matching algorithm for the rest of their lives." Brian Drury, IT security consultant (read more from Brian Drury)
"It is absolutely premature to begin using 'conventional biometrics' in schools." Kim Cameron, architect of identity and access in the connected systems division at Microsoft, 31 March 2007 (read more from Kim Cameron - 1st quote)
"I would never condone holding large amounts of biometric information on almost any school site. Fundamentally, such information may be used one day to legally validate the individual, e.g. on a passport. Consequently the value of this information, and the length of time it has this value, is high." Dom Devitto, information security consultant (read more from Dom Devitto)
"The school districts didn't think the problem through. Either they were seduced by the technology, or by the companies that built the system... The security gained is not worth the money and privacy spent. If the goal is to make children safer, the money would be better spent elsewhere." Bruce Schneier, respected US writer and lecturer on issues surrounding security and privacy, who has testified before Congress and authored eight books and dozens of articles and academic papers. (read more from Bruce Schneier - 1st quote)
"Identity data and biometrics in particular need to handled with sensitivity (even more so when it concerns children), but even with the right political and economic safeguards the technology has to be correct. As things stand we have a scenario where inadequate technology is being used for unsuitable purposes under the umbrella of a "higher goal" that is ill advised at best." Paul Squires, Identity Solutions Architect at Enline plc (read more from Paul Squires)
"Obtaining fingerprints from students for the purpose of recording school attendance seems very extreme... I fear that it will create a backlash against the use of biometric authentication." Eugene Schultz, Ph.D., CISM, CISSP, CTO of High Tower Software, co-founder and original project manager of the US Department of Energy's Computer Incident Advisory Capability (CIAC). (read more from Eugene Schultz)
"If more than 3500 educational establishments are currently using biometrics there is considerable cause for concern." Rufus Evison, senior IT consultant and company director (read more from Rufus Evison)
Do Biometrics have a role for school registration? (download this as a pdf file)
"There is an element of risk storing thumbprint [templates] on a school computer... From a parent's perspective I see no benefit. My child is registered in school, he/she has been registered in school for the last 2-4 years, has taken books from the library, has purchased school dinners and snacks perfectly satisfactory, so is not getting anything extra for exposing his/her identity to some level of risk." Andrew Clymer, senior identity management security expert (more than 8 years with Cisco Systems, working with Visa, Fidelity, Merrill Lynch, etc) (read more from Andrew Clymer)
"Consider replacing this product with other based on more mature technology and exposing children and schools to less long term danger and liability." Kim Cameron, architect of identity and access in the connected systems division at Microsoft, 31 March 2007 (read more from Kim Cameron - 2nd quote)
"This obscure phrasing [“The data cannot be used to reconstruct the fingerprint”] is common among biometric vendors... to make people feel its more private and/or safer. Minutiae-based templates can be easily reused by the government, and there are official interchange standards (such as M1 or OATH) to help ensure systems can share and inter-operate... to ensure one company's templates work well in other peoples' matching." Terrance Boult, University of Colorado (read more from Terrance Boult)
"Such technologies [to protect against biometric spoofing and identity theft] are imperfect, and it is all a bit of an arms race with James Bond gadgets and counter-gadgets. (Remember the arms race? For each anti-ballistic missile, there was an anti-anti-ballistic missile... etc etc.)" Professor John Daugman, OBE, who developed iris recognition technology at Cambridge University (2006) (read more from Professor John Daugman)
"This welcome move by the Irish Data Protection Commissioner [guidance on biometrics in educational institutions] sends a clear message to organisations that they need to determine all the implications implementing technology can have on the rights and privacy of individuals." Brian Honan, independent security consultant based in Dublin, Ireland. (read more from Brian Honan)
"Why not start fingerprinting all pupils, taking their DNA, putting surveillance cameras in the classroom and forcing them to not let their bags unattended or else they will be blown up by a SWAT team? By establishing this kind of stuff in schools, you create little monsters and authority-obeying subjects, not people who have fun being curious and learning." Ralf Bendrath, privacy, security and internet researcher. (read more from Ralf Bendrath)
"It's important that schools teach the right lessons, and “ we're all living in a surveillance society, and we should just get used to it” is not the right lesson." Bruce Schneier, respected US writer and lecturer. (read more from Bruce Schneier - 2nd quote)
12-10-2006 GERMAN RESEARCHERS RECONSTRUCT COMPLETE FINGERPRINTS!!!!!
