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LeaveThemKidsAlone.com LTKA - against schools fingerprinting our children |
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>> 10 Things You Should Know About Schools Fingerprinting Children <<"Give me a child until he is seven, and I will give you the man." variously attributed to Francis Xavier, St. Ignatius of Loyola (1557), and others "When an opponent declares, 'I will not come over to your side', I calmly say, 'Your child belongs to us already..." Anon (1933) We are a group of parents aiming to stop schools fingerprinting children without asking. We've had help and messages of support from all the UK's major opposition parties, and we're looking to build a broad consensus. "Is this for real??" Isla Geddes, via email Sadly, yes! Read what the BBC said What did you do at school today? "I had my fingerprints taken ..." |
27-09-2006 Walt Disney World to start fingerprinting everyone
Officials claim that the company is not actually taking "fingerprints," but rather, mathematical representations of fingerprints. A little maths never hurt anymore, right? Except when it can be tied to an individual's identity, a record of their whereabouts, and corresponding physical traits.
10-09-2006 "How can it be that children can't be inspected for head lice, or have their photographs taken, all in the name of child protection and human rights, but have a piece of biometric data taken without a second thought. It's difficult to argue sensibly with anyone who's argument clearly doesn't hold water." Concerned parent, Wiltshire, via email
16-09-2006 A FEW SCHOOLS HAVE CATEGORICALLY REJECTED BIOMETRICS
07-10-2006 School biometric manufacturers fight back Education Executive
07-09-2006 1400 more children ALL fingerprinted TODAY only a few days after parents are given notice - at a single school (Porth Comprehensive in South Wales) just one of more than 20 schools this week alone!
17-09-2006 "OK, they may have lied to us about WMD, mobile phone masts, MMR and so on, but the very idea of fingerprinting children at school without asking their parents first sets a new low. It's just so inherently creepy it sends a chill down my spine. A hearts and minds campaign against four-year-olds. Nothing more, nothing less. It breaks all the taboos. How could anyone stoop so low?" Concerned parent, North London
Do Biometrics have a role for school registration? by Andrew Clymer,
computer security expert (8 years with Cisco Systems, Visa, Fidelity, Merrill Lynch, etc)
19-09-2006 So just what data do schools collect about MY child??
11-09-2006 Would you trust a system that could be fooled with play-doh??
17-09-2006 Another very cool way to track your pupils???
07-09-2006 Mother's shock at school fingerprint scheme The Messenger
14-09-2006 Teachers break silence on fingerprinting children The Register
14-09-2006 Pupils aged five being fingerprinted The Hertford Advertiser
11-09-2006 Civil rights row over school fingerprints The Herald
07-09-2006 Yet another school gives parents just 5 days' notice of fingerprinting!
29-08-2006 London school to fingerprint all students The Register
08-09-2006 Fingerprinting Students Reveals U.S. Patriot Act's Long Reach
06-09-2006 Battle to wipe son's DNA from database Cheshunt Mercury
06-09-2006 An education in biometrics IT Weekly
29-09-2006 "I've always been proud to be British but this has made me deeply ashamed. Is there nothing they won't stoop to?" Concerned parent, North London, via email
23-06-2005 Pentagon recruiting kids with mass data mining scheme The Register
31-08-2006 Celebrity children will get database privacy Daily Telegraph
31-08-2006 Child database that shields celebrities runs foul of law The Times
31-08-2006 List could put kids at risk The Times
31-08-2006 Home Office admits to five database breaches from law firm Pinsent Masons
28-08-2006 Personal use of ID database by Government employees The Register
16-08-2006 DfES states schools MUST obtain consent Liverpool Daily Post
21-07-2006 Guantanamo firm enters schools The Times Educational Supplement
Company connected with notorious US army interrogations taking British pupils' fingerprints.
28-08-2006 Student fingerprinting - not so VeriCool
15-08-2006 A school dismisses parents' fears with total contempt
26-09-2006 Nursery installs fingerprint scan
21-07-2006 Fingerprint security at day nursery!!
30-07-2006 Millions of children to be fingerprinted, The Observer
Do Biometrics have a role for school registration? by Andrew Clymer,
computer security expert (8 years with Cisco Systems, Visa, Fidelity, Merrill Lynch, etc)
"I was very concerned to read of the issues you raise about the introduction of the Junior Librarian Scheme at St Matthew's school and share your worries about the introduction of the scheme without informed parental consent being requested beforehand." David Howarth, MP for Cambridge, where LTKA was founded in June 2006.
"Frankly, using fingerprints without parental consent is at the least insensitive, and at worst, quite possibly illegal - think of this - How would the school staff feel if the parents were to have the teacher's fingerprints and home addresses without permission?" Jon Crowcroft, Marconi Professor of Communications Systems, University of Cambridge
"Are we sending our kids to school or to prison? ... It's utterly outrageous that children as young as five are being targeted." Phil Booth, No2ID
"You may ask, why stop with library systems, when schools have so many concerns with registration, attendance, and security? I assure you, we are way ahead of you. Watch this space..." Lynn Stevens, Customer Services Manager of Micro Librarian Systems, September 2000
Based on our experiences and those of parents at other schools, we now have a simple, effective STEP BY STEP plan that you can put into effect if your primary or secondary school or college has implemented, or tries to implement, fingerprinting or iris scanning without proper consultation. Contact us with details of what's happening at your school and we'll be happy to help. Remember, schools want you to think you're the only one with concerns. Our poll suggests otherwise. Speaking out will not affect your child's progress at school but will safeguard their future. |
"What is assured as being harmless when it is introduced gets used more and more in a way which is sometimes alarming." Kenneth Clarke, former Conservative Chancellor of the Exchequer and Home Secretary
"At best, the technology is overkill and a waste of taxpayer money. At worst, it sets a dark precedent, conditioning students at a young age to embrace the idea of Big Brother-style biometric tracking. If ever there was a generation that would not oppose a government system for universal ID, it's this one." Chris Hoofnagle, associate director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center in Washington DC
31-07-2006 EU states to fingerprint children from day one of their life, The Register
30-07-2006 Children may be fingerprinted under EU passport plan, The Daily Mail
13-08-2006 Gummi Bears Trick a Fingerprint Scanner PC World
02-08-2006 An Essay on Fingerprinting of (Adult) School Volunteers
21-07-2006 Crime of the future--biometric spoofing? ZDNet Asia
01-08-2006 Biometrics and digital identity
We are delighted to report that Broad Oak Primary School in East Didsbury, Manchester, does not use, nor has ever considered using fingerprinting or other biometric technologies. The Chair of Governors has contacted LTKA stating "Not only do we not have any kind of fingerprinting system, this school has never ever discussed at any time such a potential system." A recent entry on our Schools page should have referred to Broad Oak School in Partington which is using the Vericool system and we apologise for any confusion or distress this may have caused.
"Education, Education, Education" Tony Blair "Consent, Consent, Consent" Concerned parents
We are campaigning to have the widespread use of biometrics in schools debated in Parliament, and henceforth strictly regulated and closely monitored, with a statutory requirement for explicit parental consent wherever biometrics are used.
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