Fingerprint Scans Used By School Kids To Pay For Lunch
 

Rome City Georgia Schools are switching to a scanning system that lets students use their fingerprints to access their accounts and pay for lunch.
FOX_News

Biometric Authentication they call it. What's next? why not tattoo barcodes of social security numbers (SSN) or implant RFID tags in indivduals? then just scan us to cash checks or prove our identity? PIN numbers is about as far as I can go.

Technology and privacy not compatible
 

BIG BROTHER is here. I have very mixed feelings. I am very uneasy with the increasing lack of privacy. On the other hand, I love the internet and want protection from terrorism. Where do we draw that line?

I think where we draw the line in America has to do with choice. It is one thing to have the choice to have our privacy invaded (on a case by case basis) verses having big brother implant a RFID tag or tattoo at birth with no choice at that point and ever after.

Google operates via choice. The company is not "big brother" but it is big business which sometimes makes me wonder. Google users use its services by choice. Nobody has to use it. But then again, it is hard to go through life without using the google search engine. I'm just afraid that people will volunteer to give up their rights little by little, after all, who ever reads all those privacy statements and terms of service agreements, etc.?

One thing is certain. Biometrics is perfectly acceptable nowadays in business where it is not uncommon for an employee to have his finger or palm scanned before entry into a secure location or before access to a certain computer access level. Would I volunteer to scan my fingerprint to eat lunch? Or that of my child? Probably not. Would I volunteer to have my child’s fingerprint scanned in certain situations to reduce the number of missing children and Amber Alerts? Maybe so, that is a tough one where the benefit is great but is yet another small step towards totalitarianism. In the current atmosphere, I would have no problem having my finger scanned before boarding a jetliner if it would keep the plane safer. Seems like that application would come before the school lunch thing.

I believe privacy and the right to it.. is one of the biggest questions we have facing us today. Certain supreme court justices don't necessarily believe we have that right to privacy. and some more than others.. We have to careful, we have to be diligent in this day and age. YES we all want to be safe, to feel safe, and know that we are doing our best to protect ourselves against those who would try and do us harm.. But at the same time we have to be careful not to give up ANY of our freedoms.

my .02 anyway :-)

Bob.

As the ancient Chinese curse goes "may you live in interesting times!"
 

This "biometric identification" thing is just another ambiguous attempt by the government/corporate "Big Brother" to make violations of personal privacy routine and accepted. "Hey, we're doing this for YOU...for YOUR convenience, so you wont need to carry ID/cash/credit cards." Or how about "Hey, we're gonna implant this microchip/homing device into your child..for his/her own safety." Sounds great! I know that if my chip-implanted child was ever abducted, I would have nothing but praise for modern science and high technology, and the forward thinking geniuses that have discovered these wonderful applications for it. But the real issue here is about the use, management and sanctity of confidential personal information. Is there any real guarantee that this information will be used ONLY for it's intended purpose? No, there isnt. But thats exactly what youll be told..no, make that promised. Because we, the United States Government/Faceless Corporate Giant would NEVER do anything to compromise your personal safety/privacy. In fact, we resent like hell the implication that we have anything other than YOUR VERY BEST INTEREST AT HEART. From the good people who brought you such top 40 hits as 911, Waco, Ruby Ridge, Operation Northwoods, MK-Ultra, Paperclip, Roswell and the JFK Assassination.

Al, in many ways we are closer to an Orwellian society than many might think. Already we can get our pets implanted with a RFID tag. See pet-id.net. I share your concern regarding personal confidential information. The news has been littered with reports with lost laptops, hacker theft of information, information for millions of veterans being comprised, and so on. At least we have HIPAA for what its worth.