School apologises after pupils were ‘frogmarched’ to be fingerprinted so they could eat in canteen
Laura Clark writes in the Daily Mail:
A school has provoked uproar after taking children’s fingerprints without permission from their parents.
Pupils were ‘frogmarched’ to be fingerprinted so they could use touch screens in the canteen to have money deducted from their account, thereby speeding up lunch queues.
Capital City Academy in Brent, north London, was later forced to apologise and wiped all prints it obtained before asking for consent.
It also introduced an opt-out for parents uncomfortable with the technology, allowing pupils to enter a four-digit pin code instead of scanning their print.
The revelation comes as teachers today warned schools are routinely taking children’s fingerprints without permission from their parents.
March 30th, 2010 at 16:47
Ah, Bent Council strikes again. They certainly have form (see “Private Eye”, passim).