The Case For Biometrics

There is still a lot of misinformation about biometrics and "Big Brother" concerns surrounding the concept of biometric identification. The reality is that we all use biometrics every day.

Biometrics are defined as the ability to recognise someone by their physical attributes. You intuitively use biometrics when you pick up the phone and recognise the voice at the other end, or when you meet a friend on the street and recognise their face. However, most concerns are about how biometrics can be misused or even stolen once they are stored on a database.

The association with fingerprint-based biometrics is generally associated with law enforcement, however, there are huge differences between systems used in the police force – which actually store the entire fingerprint on a database – and systems used by educational institutions – which only store a numerical template of the enrollment scan.

Why Would A School Use Biometrics?

The answer to this question is simple: A biometric school attendance system saves time and money, improves the accuracy of reporting, and can provide benefits in terms of convenience, safety and security.

In schools that have introduced the VeriCool registration system, teachers, staff and students use fingertip biometrics for time & attendance, recording absence, and monitoring lateness, making record keeping very accurate. In addition, VeriCool can be used to identify people that come into the school on a regular basis, such as substitute teachers, contractors, and parents, making it easy to know who is in your school and when they left.

There's a growing interest in the use of biometrics for student ID in school cafeterias nationwide. By just about every measure, finger scanning biometrics outpace other options for efficiency and ease. When a child presses a finger into a scanner, there's no doubt about his or her identity. There's no risk of lost ID cards or forgotten PIN numbers and there's no chance of fraudulent use of the child's meal account by someone else. Biometric ID also provides anonymity and eliminates any stigma for the children who receive free or reduced-price lunches.

A VeriCool Installation

Stigma will continue to be present for the foreseeable future when it comes to fingerprinting our children. However, it is paramount that parents, teachers and students alike are armed with correct and up-to-date information to allow them to make an informed choice about whether they would be happy to use a biometric registration system such as VeriCool.

What can be assured is that any VeriCool school attendance product installed in your school is subject to approval, which includes an Opt In / Opt Out giving both parents, students and teachers a choice of whether or not they are happy to use the system.