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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 |
Biometrics in UK schools(extract from ARCH's submission to the Home Affairs Committee surveillance inquiry, April 2007) "Electronic systems are increasingly used in school canteens to monitor children's individual school meal choices, and in school libraries, where children's reading habits can be monitored individually, and also by ethnicity and gender. Many of these systems use children's fingerprints, which are converted into an algorithm that is stored on the school system. Some schools are also introducing fingerprint scanners for school registration." "There is mounting protest that children's fingerprints are being taken without parental consent, and concerns that templates are transferable between systems. This raises the possibility that the data could be used by other agencies for other purposes. Although manufacturers claim that a child's fingerprint cannot be reconstructed from the algorithm, this is a red herring; all fingerprint systems now use algorithms derived from a fingerprint, rather than the fingerprint itself." "Because the data is held on school computers in relatively insecure buildings, its security cannot be guaranteed. Burglary and theft from schools is not uncommon, and the growing importance of biometrics is likely to make databases that hold biometric data a target for organised crime." "Manufacturers offer assurances that the data is encrypted using 128-bit encryption techniques, but developments in computing will undoubtedly render such assurances meaningless within a short time. Even if a child's data could be considered safe today, it is unlikely to remain so, and the problem is exacerbated if schools do not ensure the complete deletion of data from a computer hard-drive." "We have been told that guidelines for schools on the use of children's fingerprints will be published on the British Educational Communications and Technology Agency website during May; however, these will not in any way be binding on schools." "We remain deeply concerned that children's biometric data may be compromised by theft; that the data may be misused, and that children will become habituated to giving up their biometric data far too readily. In our view, the increasing importance of biometrics for security-critical functions means that they should not be used for low-level purposes." |
