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Fingerprints for School Lunches
arkansas writes "CNN has a report about a new program in a few Pennsylvania schools in which students' fingerprints are used to pay for school lunches. The system's manufacturers claim the info can't be used to identify students, but the ACLU has some complaints."
In the early years we used tickets to get our lunches. Occasionally someone would forget their ticket and I'd give them one of mine and they'd make up for it the next day. Later on we had these cards we'd scan. Occasionally someone would forget their card and I'd either have the person running the machine scan mine twice or I'd pass my card back and let that person scan it themselves (depending on who was manning the machine). What would they do with a fingerprinting system? I know some principals that would rather the student not get any lunch, regardless of the numerous studies that show how not having a full stomach can affect the learning process, and make them "learn a lesson" than let me pay twice. Sure the kid forgot but give him/her a break.
To sum it up, I think the school district should provde another option for those students that don't want to give out that fingerprint. One other thought, public institutions are required to make public the information they gather from their students (sounds shity but remember that lawsuit against a school from a parent that wanted to see the schools firewall logs and the school refused? That's what the judge found). If that's the case, than would they have to make my fingerprint public? If that isn't the case, since the school is also a state institution, would they be required to give out my fingerprint to law enforcement (another state agency) if I'm accused of a crime, even without proof that I commited that crime? If they got my fingerprint and found me innocent, would they destroy that fingerprint record for me?
My $.02
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Can't quite tell, either from the CNN story, or from the vendor's page at www.foodserve.com which technology they're using, though it's clearly an optical acquisition.
[later]
Food Service provides a pointer to a document describing the process here (wouldn't you like some facts to throw at each other?) including specific discussion of how the data is manipulated in ways that would make it approach zero utility for statist uses. These statements are included:
However, it is interesting to note that the apparent OEM, Groupe SAGEM of France, is indeed in the forensic AFIS business.
Incidental note: when my work involved evaluating several of these fingerprint readers for identification, I was interested to see how many of the vendors took extra trouble to explain that their data was not compatible with forensic AFIS systems.
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lairdb
"...and to everyone else out there, the secret is to bang the rocks together, guys."
Is everything programming with you? Expand your vision a bit--the Constitution is an open source project!!!
Never take moderation advice from sigs, including this one.
This is being put up as an alternative to kids being shaken down for their lunch money. Biometrics is something the school bully can't beat out of you. This school is getting it free because it's testing the system, not providing kid's finger prints to some .gov. Don't like it? Keep paying cash (and go learn karate).
Granted, you cannot currently spend someone's finger, so the impetus for most of the bully tactics are far less. All you can get for it is a meal. But the precedent is dangerous. Just let there be one method of exchanging biometric ID for liquidity, and the human pieces-parts will start flying. after all, "it's not my finger..."
*whup* "Get along, little electrons. Heeyah!"
Of course having a set finger prints may not be bad either if the child happens to go missing. Finger printing children (while not required?) is generally encoured so if the child goes missing/abducted/etc, there is a somewhat reliable way to identify the child when he/she is found.
Okay, kid. Gimme your lunch finger or I dunk ya in the toilet. ...what? Again? DAMN YOU! That threat used ta WORK!
That's what fingerprint analysis is - comparing sets of points to other known points. That's how the FBI's fingerprint computers work. So, claiming that 'all the system does is record a set of indentifying points' is a little bit of understatement.
-jerdenn