Yesterday afternoon a long-time education activist and blogger, Doris Hohensee, reported that Stratham’s Cooperative Middle School uses “finger scans” for their school lunch program. While this appears to be the first time biometric information has been collected for a school program in New Hampshire, other states have done the same. The practice has been widely criticized as inappropriate and a major privacy threat. Just days ago, Florida passed a bill that would ban the collection of students’ biometric data.
There are currently no provisions to prevent data collection of this type in New Hampshire. A bill submitted by Representative Glenn Cordelli, HB 1586, addresses this concern, but the House sent it to interim study. A similar, but inferior bill, HB 1587 as amended, sponsored by Representative Neal Kurk, passed the Senate on a voice vote yesterday. It awaits the Governor’s signature. It does not contain language to prevent the collection of students’ biometric information.
Read more about it at NH Families for Education.
