Children are already being forced to use hand scanners in other school districts.
Parents from Puyallup School District in Washington State defeated the lunchtime palm scanner program this week. The scanners use infrared technology to map the veins in student’s palms.
EAG News reported:
Parents from Washington state’s Puyallup School District successfully ended the implementation of palm-scanners this week after attempts to push the system without parental approval backfired.
According to the district, the devices, which use infrared technology to map vein patterns in students’ palms, would cut back on fraud by linking students pre-paid lunch account information to their biometric data.
“Efficiency is another reason for implementing this. The accuracy of the scanner reduces human error, reduces fraud, the ability for students to share numbers allows parents to know the money that they’re spending is being spent on their child’s lunch,” said Puyallup School District spokesperson Brian Fox to Kiro 7.
Parents were shocked to receive notification letters only a few weeks before the intended mass roll-out, even after two schools already began using the system. The 71 scanners purchased by the district for all 32 schools totaled $38,695.
“To hear those words vein recognition program… it’s very invasive to me,” said parent Christina Allen.
Other parents compared the program to the new controversial Apple iPhone 5S, which links a user’s fingerprint information to unlocking the phone and purchasing apps.