The Scalby School uses students’ fingerprints to process lunch payments
The Scalby School in Scarborough, England is defending a biometric system that scans students’ fingerprints to process payments for lunch and library books, according to the Scarborough Evening News.
The Evening News says that the system, which is not uncommon in England, has received criticism from the Association of Teachers, which says it violates the students’ civil liberties.
The head of the school told the paper that the system, which gives students a daily limit on how much they can spend, helps give parents a better idea of what their children are buying for lunch.
"This is definitely a step in the right direction and I am absolutely perplexed by the reaction of people who always revert back to George Orwell’s 1984," head teacher Paul Tarn told the paper.
School officials also told the Evening News that the system removes a potential social stigma for lower-income students who receive a free meal, because their classmates can’t find out.
Public schools in Summit, New Jersey also recently adopted a similar system in its elementary schools, according to the Independent Press. The system in the district’s high schools uses their student ID cards for payment.
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