April 2007 — News
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Biometrics in K-12: Issues and Standardization
Concerns about biometrics have actually led some states to enact legislation setting conditions for the collection and use of biometrics in schools, including written consent and providing alternatives to biometrics for when consent is not granted (e.g., Illinois' SB1702; Iowa's Senate File 2086). The legislation is important and needed and might already have set the precedent for other states to follow.
Then you'll have another list to worry about: "Permission to Scan." I know it's not funny, but I just sighed and shook my head thinking of "monitoring the monitoring system." Let's look at specifics.
William Abernathy and Lee Tien (n.d.) point out some of those issues, principally surrounding surveillance, potential for abuse, standardization, and tracking. Biometric systems require surveillance, the initial capture to enroll an individual in a database, repeat capture of data, and voluntary capture. Databases require updating to remove those no longer eligible. (I can imagine the problem of keeping databases current in schools faced with staff cutbacks.) By voluntarily giving a fingerprint, we are trusting that the data are used only for the purpose of their collection and certainly not used for other purposes without consent. We are trusting that they will not become a standardized identifier, such as the Social Security number has been. We know the problems surrounding identify theft that have been created as of that result.
The most significant negative of "biometric ID systems is their potential to locate and track people physically.... Perfect surveillance, even without any deliberate abuse, would have an extraordinary chilling effect on artistic and scientific inventiveness and on political expression. This concern underlies constitutional protection for anonymity, both as an aspect of First Amendment freedoms of speech and association, and as an aspect of Fourth Amendment privacy" (Abernathy & Lee, n.d., sec: Tracking). Facial recognition technology can be used to identify people in a demonstration crowd, for example, without their knowing it.
