UK kids have the right to opt out of school fingerprinting (even if their parents are OK with it)

boing
21

I think you’ve just perfectly encapsulated 3rd-wave ‘capitalism’ in a nutshell.

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22

They had this at my daughter’s secondary school. It broke constantly, thus denying people lunch.

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23

My secondary school (early 2000’s) had a fingerprint scanner for library book checkout, it was somewhat temperamental. That’s the most common usage I’ve seen for them in UK schools. I’ve never heard of them being used for anything related to behaviour/vandalism, but it may have happened.

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24

Here we are.

This is the one step forward that we get, for the avalanche of steps back.

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25

Yes, lunch payment in my daughter’s UK secondary school.
The biometric system is used as a cash or swipe-card replacement.

Here’s what happens:

  1. Student chooses lunch, takes it to cashier
  2. Cashier totals the prices while student has thumbprint read from biometric scanner
  3. Cashier’s screen displays student’s name and photo, checks it matches individual and payment is taken from student’s account
  4. Student eats lunch

Is this really sinister? The previous system was cash-based and was far slower. A swipe-card system would be equivalent, but would cost the school more administering the cards (significant when 2,000 cards are issued). The reader failure rate seems very low (surprisingly).

Also, the refusal rate at this school was tiny (less than 1 per 200). A handful of students (my daughter included) opted out. Almost no parent or child saw it as an issue (nor did the school or staff members).

26

I find it dismaying that children are made to pay for lunch in a place they have no choice but to be all day, especially considering that the quality of most school cafeteria food is poor enough that adults would only eat it under duress.

We got (decent in hindsight) free lunch in elementary, but that was an expensive private school; in public high school there was a cafeteria that I think charged money, but I wouldn’t know since I always went off the grounds to get Chinese or pizza or something. $2 for a slice and a Coke and put your surplus into Xevious or Spy Hunter.

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27

I’m not at all surprised, considering how willingly people give up their 10 fingerprints, spread their legs for the TSA and have no problem with the German tax office to have more or less direct access to their bank statements.

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28

Please, 2,000 RFID tags cost next to nothing, are a reliable technology and offer the same amount of security with less costs, since you have to protect less data.

Or you could, y’know, simply make lunch a flat rate or entirely free for all students.

29

I haven’t been back in the UK for too long, but a few years ago at least it was quite common for people serving food in restaurants to also take cash. That was the case in the canteen at my high school when I was a student. If nothing else, using RFID tags or biometric data should reduce the amount of food poisoning from poor hygiene in that area.

30

Upfront costs are probaby similar, however, the ongoing cost of assigning administrative staff to replace/invalidate lost cards is significant. An hour per day? Probably reasonable. Is £2k+ per year. Thumbprint looks cheaper now.

Lunches are typically under £2 for a set meal. Making that free is £500k per year. Schools have fixed budgets. What should schools cut? 5 experienced teachers? The entire music department?

Not all sutdents buy a full lunch (some bring sandwiches, just buy a little, or are absent), so a flat rate would be seen a retrograde step.

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