FB pixel

Biometrics Institute warns of threat to privacy in widening access to National Pupil Database

 

Earlier this month, the Biometrics Institute, an independent international body representing biometrics users, academia and the industry have called for caution in widening access to the National Pupil Database (NPD) as proposed by the UK government.

According to institute Chief Executive Isabelle Moeller, the UK’s proposal is a challenge to the privacy of UK citizens.

The institute is responding to a recent call for public submissions about the government’s decision to widen access to details about British students, through the National Pupil Database, as reported by The Register.

Interestingly, the government’s call for public submissions no longer exists online.

According to the Administrative Data Liaison Service website, the British “National Pupil Database is one of the richest education datasets in the world, holding a wide range of information about students who attend schools and colleges in England. The NPD combines the examination results of pupils with information on pupil and school characteristsics and is an amalgamation of a number of different datasets, including Key State attainment data and Schools Census data (formerly known as PLASC) which are linked using a unique identifier for each pupil.”

According to the Biometrics Institute, the government’s proposal would allow private sector and other previously excluded groups to access the national database in order to enable research, education planning and other services to be performed.

“For wider access, think Google and Facebook, for example,” Moeller said. “These will be major players in student learning in the very near future.”

In its submission to the government, the Biometrics Institute calls for a major privacy assessment to be conducted before the national pupil database is opened for greater access, though the institute said that it is willing to work with the Department for Education to examine the implications before any regulatory or legislative change is made.

The submission from the institute points out that collected personal data of pupils could be extremely sensitive, such as parent’s social and education background, student and parent finances and health, school reports, intelligence and social testing, home addresses, mental health issues and in cases, biometrics such as fingerprints and face geometry.

“Privacy breaches can have dangerous and disturbing consequences,” Terry Aulich, Chair of the Biometrics Institute Privacy Committee said. “All parents and pupils need water-tight guarantees to prevent any personal data, whether it is linked or consolidated, getting into the wrong hands or being misused by external groups such as the media and marketers, and criminals. Children cannot exercise informed consent about how their data is used and their parents are often unaware of the risks.”

Article Topics

 |   |   |   |   | 

Latest Biometrics News

 

More US airlines, airports moving toward biometrics for security, baggage

From Denver to Salt Lake City to Dubai, biometrics and digital ID are being activated to improve security and efficiency…

 

Isle of Man govt plans public consultation on introduction of FRT at ports

The Isle of Man continues to debate the introduction of facial recognition and identity documents to boost security at its…

 

Scottish review calls for clearer standards for police in biometric data retention

The Scottish government, in partnership with the Scottish Biometrics Commissioner, has published a detailed review of biometric data retention practices…

 

North Korean mobile service apps rely on facial recognition

North Korean citizens are required to submit face biometrics to subscribe to mobile services through the official apps of North…

 

Integrated Biometrics, GripID release ‘smallest multimodal biometric device’

Shaped and sized like a modern TV remote or an early iPod Nano, the new multimodal biometric scanner from GripID…

 

Aware has parted company with CEO Robert Eckel

Robert Eckel is resigning as CEO of Aware. The Massachusetts-based biometrics company has filed a form with the United States…

Comments

15 Replies to “Biometrics Institute warns of threat to privacy in widening access to National Pupil Database”

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Most Read This Week

Featured Company

Biometrics Insight, Opinion

Digital ID In-Depth

Biometrics White Papers

Biometrics Events