Will You Let Them Scan Your Child?

By Heather Sells
CBNNews
Nov. 14, 2006

Hundreds of schools across the U.S. are now using fingerprint scanners to identify children. It's a fast-growing trend that promises increased efficiency. But not all parents are enthusiastic.

Sandlapper Elementary in Columbia, South Carolina is all about hi-tech. From smart board and lessons to learn nursery rhymes, to security cameras and finger scanners.

Sandlapper students start their day with a fingerprint scan to pay for breakfast. They use it to check out library books. And some day, they may use it to get on the bus or into their school.

Sandlapper Principal Linda Hall said, "The main thing is efficiency and being able to spend more of our time as staff directly with students.

Industry experts predict thousands of schools will use finger scans next year. It's all part of a hi-tech explosion that took off after 9/11, when accurately identifying people became critical.

Biometrics capture a person's physical or behavioral characteristics to automatically identify them.

But what happens when parents don't want their child to be identified by a body part?

Chris and Joy Van Guilder recently moved to Earlville, Illinois with their four children. Chris is opposed to biometrics.

Chris said, "Just red flags all over. I could just feel it inside me--something is not right."

When they found out about the public school's mandatory biometrics, they couldn't believe it: children who didn't want to scan would be denied a hot lunch.

"I was devastated," said Joy. "I was like--this is unbelievable. My children cannot even eat lunch at their school."

The Van Guilders decided to take a stand. They refused to allow their children to scan, telling them the fingerprinting could eventually lead to unwanted tracking and surveillance.

Chris said, "We know this technology can be abused and used for controlling reasons."

The district would not talk with CBN News on-camera, citing possible legal action. But the Van Guilders say that several months later, it agreed to provide an alternative system.

Still, a substitute teacher's mistake proved just how vulnerable children who opt out can be.

"They rounded up all the kids in our son's class and they rescanned them all, including our son," Chris explained. "He was trying to tell the lady 'No, I'm not allowed to scan,' and she hushed him.

Privacy experts fear that ultimately, schools will require children to scan.

Lillie Coney of the Electronic Privacy Information Center said, "Your ability to say or to provide information upon demand, or to decide not to provide information upon demand is going to diminish a great deal."

Coney and others warn that fingerprint scanners condition children to accept tracking as a part of everyday life, which could lead to a loss of our everyday freedoms.

"If you train children to think 'You have to give a fingerprint,' later on they'll give a dna sample, an iris scan--anything you ask them for," said Consumer Privacy Expert Katherine Albrecht.

Illinois State Senator Miguel Del Valle took action after learning of the Van Guilder's situation.

His biometric bill requires parental permission, opt-out policies, and the protection of childrens' data.

Del Valle said, "Lists are sold of personal information and so we want to make sure that that doesn't happen with children."

Norm Rischbieter is a biometrics vendor who knows the importance of addressing privacy issues upfront.

"The biggest concern that people have," said Rischbieter, "is that we're taking and storing fingerprints. We don't store fingerprints. We're actually storing a template of numbers that we converted from our flat finger scan."

If biometric companies can convince parents that their children's information will be protected, their growth in the education world could skyrocket.

Just up the road from Sandlapper, students at Rice Creek Elementary use a cumbersome card system that eats up precious time during their 20-minute lunch period.

Students easily lose cards, damage them or grab the wrong one. It's a big headache for a lot of people. Which is why the staff at Sandlapper is so enthusiastic.

Cindy Stone, Sandlapper's cafeteria manager, said, "This is going to eliminate parents having to wonder--did my child really eat lunch?"

Stone says the finger scans also protect the anonymity of students receiving a free or discounted meal. And that could encourage more meals and more reimbursement from the federal government's $7 billion lunch program.

Outside the cafeteria, teachers and librarians say the scanner is freeing up their time.

Sandlapper Elementary Teacher Michele Taylor-Brown stated, "It's making my life a lot easier -- not having to keep up with their cards and helping them to remember any long numbers."

"All they have to have is their finger and a book, and they can check out," said Sandlapper Media Specialist Ashley Paddock.

Students at Sandlapper are not required to use the finger scan. But Principal Hall says less than 1 percent have opted out.

Ultimately, parents and schools will have to decide whether the benefits of biometrics outweigh the risks. And with more than 48 million public schoolchildren in the U.S., the stakes for families, schools and business are huge.