Pupils Fingerprinted Without Parental Consent, ATL Conference Hears

Pupils are having their fingerprints taken without their parents’ consent, teachers have warned.

The Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) voted for urgent policy on the use of biometric data in schools at their annual conference yesterday.

Schools use fingerprints in place of swipe cards to save time identifying pupils when they are buying their lunch or during registration. But some are taking data without parents or pupils’ permission, teachers said.

“Parental consent should be compulsory, it’s outrageous that pupils' fingerprints can be taken without the parents' consent,” Hank Roberts, executive member for ATL, said.'

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