A plan to move forward with a policy for a new high-tech fingerprint tracking program for lunch lines in schools in Allen County, Ind., was approved last week, the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette reports.
A biometric scanning policy will go into effect during the 2014-15 school year, and students will be automatically enrolled in the scanning program unless their parents or guardians opt out.
The one board member who voted against the policy said he objected to the use of opting out instead of using a default of not enrolling students and having parents check a ‘yes’ box to opt in.
IdentiMetrics is the manufacturer of the scanning devices and has been helping schools with the technology since 2002, according to the company’s website.
The system takes a fingerprint and identifies several major markers, converts those markers to a number, and links the number to a student in the database. Note that actual fingerprints are never stored, and it’s not possible to determine a student’s identity using the system or reversing the process.
So far, school district officials say they haven’t heard many concerns from parents since the topic was first introduced a year ago. Still, they plan to hold several meetings to answer questions and hear any concerns that might be out there.
School officials usually hope to improve the efficiency of lunch line operations by using these quick-ID devices. “As a former school principal,” writes IdentiMetrics CEO Raymond Fry, “I’ve shared your headaches over missing ID cards, forgotten PIN codes, unauthorized building access, and the administrative challenges of handling these day-to-day demands. Now more than ever, auditable student records are being tied to accurate and timely funding and reimbursement.”
But some districts have found the technology doesn’t live up to their expectations for it. In the case of a Washington state district that gave biometric data a try in the lunch line, hoping to improve efficiency and accuracy, the district abandoned the use of the devices, primarily because parents had expressed privacy concerns, as we reported here.
One mom pointed out that hackers had bypassed the new iPhone’s fingerprint security system shortly after it came out. “It’s concerning,” she said. “If we put that information out there—it’s data. It’s somewhere.”
So far, there are no privacy objections in Fort Wayne, but the system won’t be used in four schools until the fall. Let’s see what happens.