[senco-forum] Should I be Concerned? ( Not SEN)

On my Summer trip to the USA I was not asked for finger prints or Iris print. However we were subject to a two and a half hour wait at Philadelphia immigration control, We picked the queue with the officer who felt that taking a dozen or so, what seemed to be personal, calls on his cell phone was more important than clearing his queue. After collecting our luggage and running from one side of the airport to the other, why are all connecting flights as far away from each other as is humanly possible? We caught our connecting flight with seconds to spare. Needless to say our luggage did not make the flight. We were reunited some 24 hours later. I feel a title for a film coming up perhaps 'Dirty in Las Vegas'. Anyone got any better ones?

Mike Stroud
SENCo. Birmingham Secondary School.

-----Original Message-----
From: Alex Hammerstein <aph at misnet.co.uk>
To: 'Janet Barlow' <janet.barlow at talk21.com>; 'senco-forum' <senco-forum at lists.becta.org.uk>
Sent: Mon, 5 Nov 2007 10.13am
Subject: RE: [senco-forum] Should I be Concerned? ( Not SEN)

It seems to be coming in all over the place as a positive means of
identification - registration at school, borrowing a book from a library,
entering a country (in USA its now all ten fingers + Iris scan I believe),
hiring a car, going to a nightclub (not that I do that of course!)

It's not so much giving the thumb print, it's what happens to data after
that really scares me.  

Alex

-----Original Message-----
From: senco-forum-bounces at lists.becta.org.uk
[mailto:senco-forum-bounces at lists.becta.org.uk] On Behalf Of Janet Barlow
Sent: 05 November 2007 10:00
To: senco-forum
Subject: [senco-forum] Should I be Concerned? ( Not SEN)

Not SEN but I would welcome your thoughts.

  My sons' school has introduced a new system for borrowing books from the
school library which involves them using their thumb print - rather than
scanning in the book's bar code or an alternative system.
      I'm a bit uncomfortable about the idea - a thumb print seems to be a
step towards the 'big brother is watching you' scenario.
     I'm not sure if parents were consulted or if agreement was asked - it
may have been and I've just signed it without really thinking about
implications or it may be there was a letter which my dyslexic boys failed
to bring home or worse still there may have not been a lettter in the first
place.
     What do you feel? Has anybody any experience of such a system? Am I
being unnecessarily paranoid?
  Thanks,
  Janet

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