Face scanners to speed up pupil registration and queues for lunches were helping to create a Big Brother regime in schools, it was claimed yesterday.
Infra-red recognition systems - similar to those introduced at passport controls - are able to scan children's faces as they approach the school entrance. They can also recognise them as they buy dinners or borrow library books. The system scans children's faces as they enter their schools
Aurora, the biometric firm which has developed the system, will begin trials of its product in St Neots Community College, Cambridgeshire next week. The school will initially use the technology to help them identify late-comers.
But the use of facial recognition systems in schools merely for administrative convenience was condemned by campaigners, who attacked Big Brother-style surveillance and warned about the risk to pupils of identity theft. Aurora will also showcase the system at the Bett education technology show in London next week to gauge teachers' reactions. It says it is 'hopeful' of a positive response since the system is 'ultra-fast', can verify an identity in 1.5 seconds and is more accurate than a human.
Schools using the technology would first take an infra-red photograph of students which would be stored on a secure system, possibly alongside their names. Students approaching the recognition device, which can be attached to a wall or positioned on a desk, can be identified from up to a metre away. Their faces are scanned using an invisible infra-red light.
Paul Coase, Aurora's sales and marketing manager, said: 'The data is stored on a school managed and controlled server. At St Neots it is incredibly secure and it's encrypted. That is pretty standard across local authorities and schools. The kind of data that's stored is a grainy infra-red image of a student. The image is stored as an encrypted biometric template. As it's encrypted, it's almost impossible to extract any information from.'
Schools have previously experimented with fingerprint scanners and even radio transponder chips embedded in school uniforms but the new system goes further. Official guidance to schools says they do not have to seek parental consent before introducing biometric systems although heads should ensure they 'normally involve' parents in decisions to introduce the technology.
But campaigners said facial recognition technology was appropriate to protect national security - not to issue children with library books or check their absenteeism... (Source: Daily Mail)
Infra-red recognition systems - similar to those introduced at passport controls - are able to scan children's faces as they approach the school entrance. They can also recognise them as they buy dinners or borrow library books. The system scans children's faces as they enter their schoolsAurora, the biometric firm which has developed the system, will begin trials of its product in St Neots Community College, Cambridgeshire next week. The school will initially use the technology to help them identify late-comers.
But the use of facial recognition systems in schools merely for administrative convenience was condemned by campaigners, who attacked Big Brother-style surveillance and warned about the risk to pupils of identity theft. Aurora will also showcase the system at the Bett education technology show in London next week to gauge teachers' reactions. It says it is 'hopeful' of a positive response since the system is 'ultra-fast', can verify an identity in 1.5 seconds and is more accurate than a human.
Schools using the technology would first take an infra-red photograph of students which would be stored on a secure system, possibly alongside their names. Students approaching the recognition device, which can be attached to a wall or positioned on a desk, can be identified from up to a metre away. Their faces are scanned using an invisible infra-red light.
Paul Coase, Aurora's sales and marketing manager, said: 'The data is stored on a school managed and controlled server. At St Neots it is incredibly secure and it's encrypted. That is pretty standard across local authorities and schools. The kind of data that's stored is a grainy infra-red image of a student. The image is stored as an encrypted biometric template. As it's encrypted, it's almost impossible to extract any information from.'
Schools have previously experimented with fingerprint scanners and even radio transponder chips embedded in school uniforms but the new system goes further. Official guidance to schools says they do not have to seek parental consent before introducing biometric systems although heads should ensure they 'normally involve' parents in decisions to introduce the technology.
But campaigners said facial recognition technology was appropriate to protect national security - not to issue children with library books or check their absenteeism... (Source: Daily Mail)
