Lib Dem Peter Welch speaks out over fingerprinting in Southend schools (From Southend Standard)

Lib Dem Peter Welch speaks out over fingerprinting in Southend schools

8:30am Wednesday 25th November 2009

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A PROSPECTIVE MP has slammed the use of fingerprinting children in Southend’s schools.

Liberal Democrat candidate for Southend West, Peter Welch, has warned of the danger of pupil fingerprinting, which is being used in an increasing number of schools across the borough.

He said: “This doesn’t seem to have given rise to any debate on the council. but it is a serious invasion of privacy.”

Referring to comments made by civil liberties campaigner Henry Porter in a national newspaper, Mr Welch said: “He wrote in the Guardian that with the daily reports of data loss and security breaches, the case against the needless accumulation of personal data has been made so convincingly it is surprising schools are still spending public money on systems which they cannot guarantee are in any way secure.

“In my opinion he got it exactly right.”

Southend Liberal Democrat councillor Mike Grimwade, who leads for the Liberal Democrats on Southend Borough Council on education matters, said he would be investigating the matter.

“The minimum assurance we need is that no child who opts out of giving biometric data is going to be discriminated against,” he said.

Southend Council’s corporate director of children and learning, Paul Greenhalgh said: “The decision whether to use fingerprints to help pupils access services is made by the schools themselves. A small number of schools in the borough use this system for issuing library books or free school meals.

“When pupils put their finger on the scanner, their fingerprint is converted into a number. This means the fingerprint data cannot be used for any other purpose.

“The number then informs the staff whether or not – for instance – the pupil is eligible for a free school meal.

“We are not aware of any specific cases where a pupil is being denied entitlement as a result of choosing not to take part in the fingerprint system.”

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