Many schools have begun to use student tracking technology. Some of these practices include scanning fingerprints, detecting a specific vein in the palm, or reading the iris of an eye. This is possible through the use of biometric scanners. These methods are then used for taking attendance, to know where the student is located, or when they are conducting transactions at school, like buying lunch. Another option is the use of student ID cards that contain RFID or radio frequency chips.
School officials were looking for greater ways to approach security. RFID technology, for example, is one great piece of the puzzle. It’s a tool used alongside trained personnel and video cameras. Strategies like this have become even more important after dangerous school events like the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.
While some feel safe with infrastructures like biometric scanners and RFID, others challenge it’s necessity. Select lawmakers would argue this is just another form of government surveillance and parents should have the right to opt out. In Florida, a school system introduced a program that scanned the retinas of their students eyes as a way to know where they were on the school bus. Parents were not aware or able to provide consent for this to occur. As lawmakers stepped in, a ban was imposed on Florida schools which rejected the use of biometric identification. There is concern that this sensitive data could be hacked by governments and businesses. A dispute also exists when acknowledging that animals and prisoners are monitored with biometrics. Perhaps it is unethical for school children to fall in this same category.
Restrictions are continuously being applied to this form of security. Fry, the CEO of identiMetrics insists that parents have access to a higher level of transparency regarding the usage of these methods. They need to have the option to decline if they are uncomfortable with their children using these systems. The discussions should happen before the full program is deployed in the school system.
