Kathleen McGrory reports from Tallahassee:
Polk County parents were apoplectic last year when they discovered the school district had been scanning the irises of students’ eyes without parental permission.
The controversial practice might soon be banned.
On Tuesday, state lawmakers will take up a proposal that would prohibit school districts from collecting biometric information, including the characteristics of fingerprints, hands, eyes and the voice. It would affect the Pinellas County school district, which allows schools to scan the palms of students’ hands instead of accepting cash in the cafeteria, and school systems that use fingerprint scanners.
“We’ve been able to get kids through a lunch line for decades,” said state Sen. Dorothy Hukill, a Port Orange Republican who brought the idea to the Florida Senate. “Why do we need to take their biometric information when we know there is the potential for identity theft?”
Read more on Miami Herald.
Thanks to Joe Cadillic for this link.