Facial recognition used to take payments from schoolchildren.
Summary
Nine schools in the North Ayrshire have been under the spotlight for introducing facial recognition software to automatically identify the children to automatically pay for their lunches. This system was introduced after COVID-19 to contain the COVID risks and to make the lunch queue more efficient. Parents and campaigners complained that the students were not adequately informed about the privacy risk. Although 97% of children or their parents agreed to the introduction of the new system, in view of its sensitivity and legal uncertainties, there is concern for applying such a system for normal day to day activities. The Department for Education did not enter into the merit of the system because they do not monitor such technologies. Although this system has been used since 2015 for big event surveillance to identify individuals in a crown, an independent study by the MET police confirms the system is 81% inaccurate. It also seems that such a system already introduced in American schools have now been temporarily banned.
My Opinion;
I have to agree with what Silkie Carlo, the head of Big Brother said. I don’t think that there is the need to introduce such an intrusive system for school children. The facial recognition system is a security system that shall be used for more specific purposes, where there are large crowds and the security is high. I don’t think that the school lunch mirrors such security needs. While I acknowledge that the payment for lunch in school may be a challenge due to the limited time period for students to manage to purchase their lunch and eat it, I think that there are other easier ways to address such challenges. In addition, in view of the significant inaccuracy rate of the system, it is not worth considering investing in such a system; it will be a waste of resources. If a new system needs to be implemented in a school, more research and discussions with students and parents is needed to ensure that the system fits to school environment and to embrace the transition.