January 07, 2007

Piggly Wiggly, Martin County Florida schools using fingerprint scanners

This article describes how Martin County, Florida will be using fingerprint scanners to let schoolkids pay for lunch, and also mentions in passing that such a scheme is currently used at Piggly Wiggly stores in Indiana. Another county (Indian River) is considering the scheme, but St. Lucie and Okeechobee haven't announced their plans.

To understand the danger of this scheme, let's think about the thoughts of a twelve-year-old quoted near the top of the article:

"It's cool... It should be better because you always have your fingers with you."

What will the world be like when she grows up? Ten years from now, how resistant will she be to even more invasive techniques, such as requiring implanted RFID chips? Won't she continue to think that's "cool" too?

There are basically three types of people who support these schemes: useful idiots, those who hope to profit from them, and those who seek greater control over people. If you have to give your fingerprint or iris scan to cash a check, you may have little choice but to give up that information. If that biometric data can be used to access your other personal data such as credit status or religious or political affiliation or similar, then those who run the machines control your life. And, they may be starting with children with the intent of raising a generation used to lack of privacy.

On the brighter side:

At the September meeting, [Indian River School Board] member Lenora Quimby said she was "very concerned about the whole 'Big Brother' issue."

On the possible conflict of interest side:

Despite concerns about privacy and what data is kept, biometric programs keep personal information confidential, said Joe Clark, an educational technology specialist with the Indian River County school district, who sits on an advisory board for Georgia-based biometrics company Horizon Software International.

And, on the "it would be funny if it weren't so sad" side:

For [Rae Hollenbeck, Martin County School District food services director], this is a program she's been dreaming of for many of her 27 years in school lunch, although she believes it can work well for other departments within the district.

Let's not let lunch ladies lead us into 1984.

Posted to Privacy at January 7, 2007 06:26 PM

Comments

Let's not let lunch ladies lead us into 1984.
..............................................
Oh please, get with the times.

I'm concerned about identity theft and identifying people who do not belong in this
country. If fingerprint technology can help solve these problems, bring it on.

Posted by: Rhythmwize at January 8, 2007 11:46 AM