Jimmy Woulfe of Irish Examiner reports that Salesian College in Pallaskenry’s system for fingerprinting students for attendance purposes may violate data protection legislation:
A fingerprint from each hand is registered on two scanners when students arrive in the morning and return after lunch.
The system cuts out an hour’s work every day compiling rolls.
However, the Data Protection Commission (DPC) said the project may contravene data protection legislation. Commissioner Billy Hawkes has contacted the school for information abut the new enrolment procedures.
A spokesman for the commissioner said they have brought to the attention of the school to guidelines set out for any school on monitoring systems.
While the guidelines do not specifically refer to finger printing, the spokesman said: “They set out the principles that have to be applied to render the collection of personal data legitimate.”
Read more in Irish Examiner.