School fingerprint system 'exposes pupils to hackers and criminals'

Hull Trinity House School, which has an historic waterfront location in the city centre, is using a biometric system, which takes details of children's fingerprints and means they can pay for their lunch by touching a screen.

The method is still in its infancy and has sparked nationwide controversy, but is being used in a number of other schools in Yorkshire.

However, it is the first time such a system has been used in a Hull school. At least one other Hull secondary school is said to be looking at introducing the scheme.

The move drew strong criticism from Hull council leader Carl Minns, who is concerned the system could expose pupils to hackers and criminals.

He said: "I'm not going to deny that it is a very efficient way of paying for meals and there are administrative benefits to the school. However, no system, not the best in the world, gives 100 per cent security.

"The way this works, you get your data taken, which is stored on a computer, it can be hacked into, it can be lost, if it falls into the wrong hands, God forbid your children have lost their fingerprints and sometimes other biometric data for life."

The Liberal Democrat councillor cited the case of Lukas Grunwald, a consultant with a German security company, who hacked into biometric data within two weeks of it being included in British passports using a piece of software costing 105.

"If biometric used by passport agencies can be compromised, schools have no chance," he said.

However the school's headteacher, Andy Twaits, issued a robust defence.

In a statement he said: "We need to point out that this system does not involve the storage of fingerprints. The biometric system we have installed simply scans the 10 points of a student's finger and converts these points into a numeric reference. It is only this numeric reference that is stored within schools and it is impossible to reconstitute a finger print from this biometric reference."

The information is then stored on the schools' secure servers.

Mr Waits said the decision to use the technology had been supported by 99 per cent of parents, and parents had been given the chance to opt out.

He said there were many advantages in using biometrics, from improving students' personal safety to giving parents confidence that the dinner money was being spent on a healthy school lunch and not junk food.

The system had been installed in line with guidance from BECTA, the Government's Schools' ICT Agency advisory body.

Labour Group leader Steve Brady questioned how much it would cost to run the new system and said he was concerned about how depersonalised society was becoming.

A Department for Children, Schools and Families spokeswoman said: "Some schools have chosen to introduce fingerprinting systems to run cashless lunch queues, libraries and check attendance. Other schools choose to use similar systems like swipe cards. Schools are experienced at collecting and handling pupil's personal information and the Data Protection Act provides the necessary legal protection."

Hull Trinity House School originally provided training for boys to work at sea, and many of its pupils still pursue a career in one of the armed forces after leaving. The school now specialises in engineering and modern technologies.