Under the thumb of Big Brother

By William R. Toler

A story out of the United Kingdom caught the eyes of liberty-concious Americans this week.

Students in Manchester, England are having to have their thumbprints scanned to check out library books, according to the Telegraph.

The article, which aptly refers to the transaction as a “scheme”, said school officials are defending the measure saying it is a “more efficent way” to loan out books. “We have researched this scheme thoroughly,” said Lesley Isherwood, the school’s headmaster. “It is a biometric recognition system and no image of a fingerprint is ever stored. It is a voluntary system.” [Note-she even called it a scheme!]

But privacy advocate Phil Booth, who strongly opposes the “scheme”, hits the nail on the head. “It conditions children to hand over sensitive personal information.” Booth added, “For such a trivial issue as taking out of library books the taking of fingerprints is way over the top and wrong.”

This isn’t the first instance of biometrics used in public schools. Welcome to the 21st Century.