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A few years ago, a school who were thinking of introducing fingerprinting
asked me for advice. I approached the firm concerned who produced a letter
they had received from the Commissioner's office dated July 2001 which
contained the following paragraphs:

'It is understandable that concerns will be raised over the use of such
technology if it is believed that it involves the holding of a database of
pupils' finger prints. However from what I understood of our discussions
although theoretically possible to use the information obtained from this
system to match fingerprints taken from the scene of a crime, the resources
this would require make this highly impractical. In the light of this, I do
not believe that the use of the ........ finger print technology to identify
library members raises any data protection concerns

Indeed since the system helps ensure the accuracy of the information held it
aids compliance with the Data Protection Act 1998'

Perhaps technology has now moved on to make the matching more practical.
However as Tim's E Mail points out what is the problem apart from the
association with criminal activity. Is a finger print any different from a
signature?

Martin Gibson
Customer Relations Team/Data Protection Officer
ICT Services
Buckinghamshire County Council
01296 382907
[log in to unmask]
www.buckscc.gov.uk




-----Original Message-----
From: This list is for those interested in Data Protection issues
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Tim Turner
Sent: 18 January 2007 08:43
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: School fingerprinting: Warning: likely to r aise blood pressure

Devil's advocate moment - if parents are consulted, and the data is not
re-used for an incompatible purpose, is there anything inherently wrong with
using a fingerprint ID for getting books out of the library? For one thing,
you never have to worry about forgetting your library card.

Tim Turner
Data Protection / FOI Officer
Legal and Property Services
Wigan Council

-----Original Message-----
From: This list is for those interested in Data Protection issues
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Jeremy Harmer
Sent: Wed 17 January 2007 15:58
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [data-protection] School fingerprinting: Warning: likely to
raise blood pressure

Our 8 year old is actually quite proud that his finger is now all he needs to
take books out of the school library, and as a result our 10 year old is
anxious to not be left out.

He told me he had to have 6 (?) images taken of each index finger. If we
still have the letter we got about it I'll see what it said.

Some re-education in later life may be neccesary!

Jeremy


> -----Original Message-----
> 
> This report on the Register may cause a rise in blood pressure!
> 
> See http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/01/17/fingerprinting_bolted/
> 
> Interesting reported view of the ICO that it is too late!
> 
> Mike

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