The following are just a few of the schools all around the world that have abandoned the use of biometrics. We salute their independence and courage. If you know of any more, please let us know.

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1. All schools in Dundee

"Dundee City Council does not operate this system in any of its schools. It ran in some schools years ago, but was dropped. The scheme was analysed at the time, and it was decided not to progress with it." " City council spokesperson, 12 September 2006
 
 

2. Coleridge Primary School, Crouch End

"We started it but it wasn't very good, so we stopped." Shirley Boffey, head teacher, 14 February 2007
 
 

3. Clifton Green Primary School, York

"We decided to err on the side of caution, and operate our computerised library system without using the thumb scanner." Sheila Audsley, head teacher, 8 January 2007
 
 

4. Charles Dickens Primary School, Southwark

"The governing body wanted to be sure that it was supporting the children and the community of the school in the best possible way, and there is a view that if children are encouraged to do something in a safe context this may give them a false sense of security in a different situation." official statement from school, 15 June 2006
 
 

5. The Venerable Bede Church of England School, Ryhope

"The system was world-beating, but too slow... we do not want pupils' meals getting cold while they wait in the queue." Dr Ed Yeates, head teacher, 13 September, 2004
 
 

6. St Gregory Primary School, Sudbury

""...the fingerprinting was not that effective." Russell Clark, head teacher, 13 September, 2004
 
 

7. Westfield Primary School, Lincolnshire

according to a former pupil, "the system did not work and was scrapped", 28 Aug 2006
 
 

8. Taunton School district, Massachusetts

Planned to scan two fingerprints from each student; abandoned after mounting protests from parents and civil libertarians."I'm not against choice; I'm against scanning." Cathal O'Brien, School Committee member, 20 April 2007
 
 

9. University High School, Irvine, California

"This is not something we will be using at our schools." Ian Hanigan, district spokesman, 07 December 2006
 
 

10. Vernonia School District

Considered adding finger scanners, but scrapped the plan after parents protested the devices. "The problem was the district didn't tell parents about the program before implementing it." Gretchen Lindauer, Vernonia High School, April 19, 2005
 
 

11. Shixi Primary School, Shanghai

"Forced to scrap a fingerprint monitoring system for students last year in the wake of widespread criticism over students' privacy rights." The LA Times, 18 December 2006
"Up to now, fingerprint collection has mainly been used in the field of criminal detection. From the viewpoint of law, collecting information regarding students' fingerprint characteristics violates their human rights and infringes upon their privacy." Wu Dong, lawyer with the M&A Law firm
 
 

12. Primary School, Kowloon District, Hong Kong

"It was a contravention of our law, which is very similar to your law, which is that the function of the school is not to collect data in this manner, that it was excessive and that there was a less privacy-intrusive method to use." Roderick Woo, Justice of the Peace at the Hong Kong Office of the Privacy Commissioner, 9 November 2006