Many K – 12 students will soon be scanning their fingers to get lunch at school, as Harris School Nutrition Solutions (Harris) has contracted a biometric system to implement into its eTrition system which is in place in numerous school districts in the US. The Finger Scanning ID System will be provided by biometric school solutions developer identiMetrics, Inc.
The system is essentially meant to improve efficiency in school administration, allow cafeteria lineups to move more quickly by letting students scan their fingers to get their meals. The scans are recorded and stored in an auditable database to ensure an extra level of accuracy. Speaking in a press release, identiMetrics CEO Raymond J. Fry said, “As a former school Principal, I understand the administrative challenges that schools face every day, especially when it comes to accurately identifying students.”
In trying to use biometric technology to improve efficiency and cut administrative costs, this project very much resembles many other biometric deployments in everyday life settings, as in the recent cases of employee-tracking systems installed in home care residences and even public recreational facilities. In school settings the rollout has been a little more complicated, as the state of Florida last year banned biometric technology from its schools, though elsewhere in the world such deployments are happening on a vast scale, as in the case of Saudi Arabia.
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March 5, 2015 – by Alex Perala
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