Slashdot Mirror
Iris Scanning For New Jersey Grade School
coolphysco1010 writes "When a parent arrives to pick up their child at one of three grade schools in the Freehold Borough School District, they'll need to look into a camera that will take a digital image of their iris. That photo will establish positive identification to gain entrance into the school..The Teacher-Parent Authorization Security System (T-PASS), a software application developed by Eyemetric Identity Systems, was installed on the front office computers at each of the three schools."
I can't imagine the countless hours photographing people into the database and asking Mrs. Robinson to remove her sunglasses would actually stop a child abductor. Besides, he could just drive another mile to any other grade school and commit his felonies there.
But in the State-Congress after someone said exactly what I said, someone else yelled "won't anyone think of the children?" and the bill was signed. Seems that phrase overrides any kind of common sense.
The voice of the next generation. "In this tower, in my mind..." Babble - Tower
This is money well spent. Schools should spend more and more on these high-tech widgets to support the vendors and developers of such technology. Who needs books, computers, better teacher salarys. Everyone knows that the real needs are for more complex security systems and more control over the doors to our schools, especially elementary schools.
Not only do you need to worry about actually getting all of the parents involved which can become a headache in and of itself, but what about when Uncle John is in town and volunteers to help out by going to pick up the kids? Is he going to need to check in with the school first, show some credentials, get authorization from the parents, then have his iris photographed and recorded? And if it is easier than that for him to get a temporary day pass, how will you make it harder for any child abductor playing the part?
Also, what if the technology breaks? Or let's talk about the huge lines that will form in order to get all the parents into the parking lot - even if the technology runs perfectly smoothly (which we all know it ALWAYS does... technology NEVER fails). Since all of the kids get out of school at the same time, the majority of the parents will all arrive at the same time and cause a huge bottle neck.
How will they keep the child abductors from going in on foot and walking out with the child to their car parked outside of the lot? Not all abductees are quickly snatched and shoved into a car. Some are convinced that the criminal is really a friend of the family and go along quite willingly. So unless they are surrounding the school with barbed wire fences and have a guard at the entrance and exit, you won't stop the criminal from entering. If you do, then you are turning our schools into prisons which can't be good for the children. But I guess that's not what they meant when they said think of the children...
The entire thing is a logistical nightmare and if you ask me, doesn't add all that much security. I should rephrase that, it doesn't add enough security to warrant the inconvenience. And all of this is without even touching the big brother conspiracy theory argument.
"A wolf's eyes can see into your soul"
My writing
Pretty soon the RFID implants will become mandatory, or nearly so. If we put up with fingerprinting for drivers licenses, retinal scans to get kids from school, there's only RFID left. I remember an article about how "liberating" it was to have an RFID chip, and how much easier it'll make our life. I figure I'll hold out as long as I can.
"It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education." -Albert Einstein
This is a sad commentary on what is important in the post 9/11 US.
What terrible thing could have happened that would make a school district shell out $369,000 and hire two technicians for an eye scanner? It is not like schools don't have funding problems, with music and arts programs being cut left and right, and teacher aaleries not competitive.
Isn't the retnal scanner overkill? Apparently not. The superintendant says, "We had a swipe-card system that operated the doors, but the technology was obsolete." What would make them think a swipe card system is obsolete? Most hotels and many businesses in the US use swipe cards for access.
What a freaking waste.
I just can't believe how wrong this is! For one, stranger abductions are actually rather rare. A much more common case is known and trusted adults. These are people who would likely be in the database and so will have no problem.
Now the second problem. Are they saying that the classes have gotten large and impersonal enough that the teachers have never met their students' parents before or that there are so many parents to meet that they won't remember them all? How can a school meet it's responsability to care for grade school aged children if it's so under-staffed that they don't even know who the parents are? Perhaps all that cash should be spent on reducing class size?
Thirdly, don't their staff care enough about the kids to not deliver them into the hands of strangers? Surely if the child doesn't know the person, they'll hesitate to just go home with them. I would think that the shchool should have contact info for the parents and trusted others and would be willing to make a phone call in case of doubt?
I suppose they'll just continue replacing adequate caring staff and a nurturing environment with m achines and databases with final arbitration power. Then they'll wonder why the kids grow up to be anti-social. These are human children, not standardized parts on an assembly line. A personal touch is called for.
No, the way that the money is handed out comes from various programs. The money for an iris scanning system comes from a program designed to increase security in schools. Textbooks come from the general education fund. Teacher training comes from the teachers themselves (It's called college. You know, that place you go to after high school to learn what you need to know for your intended career? Future teachers get grants to help pay for college by agreeing to teach in areas where teachers are desperately needed, such as inner-city schools.) Computer access comes from another government program (albeit, flawed). This program will purchase computers and establish internet access for schools.
If you are really concerned that schools aren't getting what they need, help them out. Donate to your local school district.
Also, whenever a referendum comes up where a new schools is needed (whether due to old buildings falling apart or overpopulation) and the government is offering up a matching grant for that purpose, please vote for it. That money can only be earmarked for two things: Building schools and building prisons. If you don't build one you need to build the other. Which one would you prefer? (BTW, the government doesn't have to ask to build prisons)
> what part of asking for identification "having their privacy infringed"?
This is NOT just "asking for identification," ID is a little plastic card with your picture on it. They are requiring intrusive "ID" to take their own child home. The parents have more right to ask for the ID of people at the school than the school does that of the parent.
Take your same statement and apply it to "the police" asking for the ID of "random person walking down the street." Is it a privacy infringement then? Of course it is. "Well, that's a government official." So is a public school employee.
I don't think that many would disagree with you in the fact that scanning irises and then recognizing that image later is "cool" and may even "work as designed". However, you're ignoring the real questions here: should we be doing this at all? What are the wider social implications to going down this brave new world?
You blithely state that this system is a great step towards safer schools. Do you really think so? Do you even have kids? I do, I have two. It doesn't make me an authority to represent all parents, but I do know this: I would fight this damn system until I was blue in the face if anyone here ever tried to bring it in. It wouldn't make me feel any safer about my kids at all, and the money can surely be used for countless more worthy projects in the school.
Here's another interesting anecdote for you: there are two of those "mega play center" places near where I live. One of them had wrist bands for every adult and kid that enters the place (with the adult one being tied to the kids) and it also has security cameras. The other one has no security at all - just walk out with your kids any time you would like. Guess which one gives parents a false sense of security, and which one actually forces them to be aware of where their kids are at all times? And finally, guess which one had actual cases of kids being sexually molested right within the ball pit? (the pedophiles had learned where the camera's blind spots were).
Go wave your "this is cool technology" flag somewhere else.
Most drug dealers do not even dream of that business.
A grade school makes it real by spending that amount of money
for the illusion of security.