Schools suspend use of facial recognition after backlash
The Information Commissioner's Office wants organisations to consider a 'less intrusive' approach where possible
Nine schools in North Ayrshire that had introduced a face-based payment system for school lunches have suspended its use, following inquiries by the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO).
The programme went live last week, allowing students to pay for their school lunches with only a face scan.
The schools said the system, developed by CRB Cunninghams, would help improve speed and provide a contactless lunch payment solution to students.
Nearly all parents and children - 97 per cent - had consented for the new system to be used, although some parents were concerned that pupils hadn't been given enough information to be able to make an informed decision.
Privacy campaigners also voiced concerns, arguing that privacy concerns for children and school students are much higher than they are for adults.
Last week, the ICO advised organisations to consider a "less intrusive" approach where possible, and said it was opening an inquiry into the rollout of facial recognition technology in schools.
Prof Fraser Sampson, biometrics and surveillance camera commissioner for England and Wales, told the BBC that public services should think carefully before "deciding to use a measure as obviously intrusive as facial recognition".
Following the ICO's questions, North Ayrshire Council has decided to put a temporary halt on the roll out and revert to the previous PIN system, until an investigation is complete.
"Whilst we are confident the new facial recognition system is operating as planned, we felt it prudent to revert to the previous PIN (personal identification number) system while we consider the inquiries received," the Council tweeted.
Separately, Great Academy Ashton, in Ashton-under-Lyne, said it was completely stopping its use of a facial recognition system following the recent comments made by the ICO.
Jen Persson, director of digital rights group Defend Digital Me, welcomed the decision.
"From places in the US to Europe, authorities are banning facial recognition. But in the UK we are using children as guinea pigs for the most privacy invasive technologies on the market," she said.
Face recognition has been the subject of much negative attention in recent years.
Critics cite multiple studies that have found the technology can suffer from race-, age- and ethnicity-related biases, and could lead to human rights abuses. They also argue that the technology has the potential to become an invasive form of surveillance.
The ICO has undertaken several investigations into planned applications of live facial recognition (LFR) technology, and found problems in all of them.
None of the organisations involved in those probes was able to fully justify the processing of people's data, and none of the systems deployed was found to be fully compliant with the data protection regulations in the UK.