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Phoenix school nixes biometric program

Friday, January 25, 2008

Espiritu Community Schools in Phoenix decided to use fingerprints to track school lunches so it could receive federal aid. But the school started collecting fingerprints from students before notifying parents.

Predictably, parents were concerned. “Since when does anyone have the right to fingerprint our children, especially without parents’ permission?” said Shirley Wallace.

The school has since canceled the program and caused n state senator to proposed legislation that would make it illegal for schools to collect biometrics from students.

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Biometric Signature ID (BSI) announced positive results from a study of their software-only approach to biometric authentication for students using PCs. The new solution utilizes gesture biometrics via a user’s mouse and is envisioned to provide distance-learning students a more effective and secure means of accessing personal student files, discussion groups and other private areas of school networks.

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The Palos Heights School District 128 in Chicago is using GPS technology to track its students allowing the district to keep up with the student–when he or she first entered the school bus and when the student exited the district’s care.

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A Dubai school bus operator is planning the installation of a smart card system to improve the safety of some 40,000 students traveling to and from school every day.

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A primary school in Manchester, UK is piloting a program in which students as young as four years old use fingerprints rather than library cards to check out books from the school library. The new program is meeting some opposition, according to a Popular Science article, in the form of concerned parents and privacy advocating groups.

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Bright Way College in Jankipuram in India has implemented a system developed by biometrics developer GI Biometric Solutions in hopes of better protecting its students from being sent home with people that are not supposed to be picking up the children, such as kidnappers, according to a Times of India article.

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The New Canaan Public School District in Connecticut is in planning to participate in a “technology experiment,” which would utilize RFID technology to track students, staff and school property, according to local news report.

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