Scotland Yard Equipping Officers With Handheld Fingerprint Devices

Mobile fingerprint scanners to be adopted by Met Police (BBC)

The Metropolitan Police is the 25th force in the UK to have adopted the devices.

"Evidence has shown that a full identification arrest can tie-up both the subject and the police officer for several hours," said the Metropolitan Police Service's assistant commissioner Mark Rowley.

"Even a traditional identity check conducted on the street can take an extended period of time to complete.

A big question, of course, is the database these mobile devices communicate with.

Scotland: Glasgow Clubbers give fingerprints to verify age

Reducing violence, disorder, anti-social behaviour (stv)

Carlo Citti, the club owner whose has introduced the idea, said: "In the past 14 days, over 7000 people have registered through our scheme. And out of that 7000 people we have actually caught 19 people with forged passports that were under age.

Video and text at the link.

7000 people in a fortnight! That's a pretty good pace.

Systems like these can pay off in several ways:
♦ Faster ID management can increase revenues by shortening wait times.
♦ More accurate ID management can reduce legal liability for serving the underaged.
♦ Increasing the safety of the establishment can be good for business.

Think before you legislate: UK edition

Legal duty to seek parental permission would be ‘huge bureaucratic burden’ (TES Connect)

But ASCL’s legal expert Richard Bird said: “The new law is based on a misunderstanding of what these systems are; it is not fingerprinting as understood by the police.

“The definition of ‘parent’ is also complicated - in some cases there are up to five people with parental rights. It is very unclear.

If schools are unable to keep data secure, biometric template information is the last thing that should concern civil liberties campaigners.

Schools also keep academic records, behavioral records, medical records & counseling notes which are much more sensitive than a string of binary gibberish that cannot be used to learn anything about a student.

Other posts on biometrics and schools.

UPDATE:
See: This is What a Fingerprint Template Looks Like

Scotland: Making a meal of biometric 'threat'

I missed this when it was published on January 3.
Making a meal of biometric 'threat' (LesleyRiddoch.com)
The entire article is available at (News.Scorsman.com -- reg. req.)

Brechin High School is about to celebrate a decade of fingerprint recognition. The kit was introduced to the school’s library in 2001 as part of a new digital administration system. Borrowing by boys increased and lost cards were no longer a time-consuming problem for staff. So in 2007 the fingerprint kit was installed in canteens across the council’s eight secondary schools. Brechin High has had no problems, pupils seem to like it and last week’s publicity prompted only one local opponent into print.

People & ROI.

UPDATE:
Earlier post with thoughts on biometrics in Scottish schools here.

Scotland: Angus education chief claims unanimous support for pupil fingerprint system

Angus Council's education convener has defended a biometric identity system used for school meals, claiming the local authority has never received a complaint about it (TheCourier.co.uk)

"Angus is the only authority in Scotland which is increasing uptake of school meals and, while not all of it is down to the biometric system, we do know that there is a stigma attached to receiving free school meals. But the possibility of bullying is removed here because no one knows who receives free school meals apart from the office staff who credit their accounts.

Fingerprint systems that store only an algorithm-generated template rather than an image of a fingerprint pose little-or-no threat to a person's biometric privacy.

On the positive side: for the student, fingerprint biometrics offer increased privacy and safety; the school achieves higher data integrity and increased operational efficiency. These benefits are not simply confined to the schools themselves. All taxpayers have a stake in the efficient use of educational resources.

If recent press is taken as an accurate reflection of the concerns of so-called privacy advocates, they fixate on the security of students' biometric data while unconcerned with the security of the academic, behavioral and medical records kept by schools that present a much more acute privacy risk.

It is incumbent upon adults to be mindful of the privacy implications of all the decisions they make for children. Implementation of template-only fingerprint identification systems can indicate fulfillment, rather than neglect of that duty.

Scotland: Use of fingerprint ID in schools triggers row

Scottish Politics, Biometrics & Schools (News.Scotsman.com)

Anti:

"Public bodies have shown in the past that they are not always to be trusted with sensitive personal data. If the finger - or palm prints - of children as young as four years old got into the wrong hands, it could have significant consequences. Do we really want this sort of intrusive information taken from young children?"

Pro:

"Of course, if we can use new technology to improve public services and reduce costs then we should be looking to do so. However, as with keeping any personal, information appropriate safeguards must be in place."

Other posts on biometrics and schools may be read here.