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Original poster

School cashless canteen?

72 replies

Thefatcatssleeping · 04/05/2019 12:44

My DS school has recently introduced a cashless canteen system. This involves parents/guardians paying money into an account. It was set up by taking a photo of DS and taking his thumb and forefinger print from each hand and when he gets something in the canteen he scans his print on the machine. We get a notification when funds are running low.
Just wondering how many other schools have adapted this system?
There are 1100 pupils in the school.
Never really gave it much thought tbh, but then I asked myself should I be concerned that my child’s photo, name and fingerprints be stored on a school database?
Thoughts please.

OP posts:

GreenTulips · 04/05/2019 12:45

Not sure why you are concerned?

SoupDragon · 04/05/2019 12:48

It is not a full fingerprint.

ImTheRealHFella · 04/05/2019 12:50

It's not actually stored by school database, it's stored by parentpay or whoever. And it's a single fingerprint.

It means no stealing money. It means not being hungry cos you left your lunch money at home.

And you should be able to see what your child is buying in terms of healthy food etc. It's actually a really good thing.

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General education

Fresta · 04/05/2019 12:52

Most schools have this system I thought!

BelulahBlanca · 04/05/2019 12:53

Pretty normal I think.

MerryMarigold · 04/05/2019 12:53

My ds has had this for past 2 years. If anyone wanted to steal 1600 children's finger prints and photos, they probably could (high level hackers), but not really sure why they would.

Theknacktoflying · 04/05/2019 12:53

You can get an idea of what is being bought and you can keep a better check on what is being spent
Kids don’t have to carry around money
School will have policies in place to protect any data

All high schools in our area use the system - payment for all school stuff from school trips, extra stuff, top up photocopying and school meals ..

EmmaGrundyForPM · 04/05/2019 12:54

This system was in place when ds1 started high school 12 years ago. I really cant see the problem with it

FannyFeatures · 04/05/2019 12:54

Ours use a card system rather than finger printing.

AlunWynsKnee · 04/05/2019 12:54

It's not the fingerprint that's stored but a number made up of points on the print.

Original poster

Thefatcatssleeping · 04/05/2019 12:55

Maybe I’m over reacting but I was just concerned that my DS and 1100 other children’s prints have been stored on a database which could possibly be hacked.
Not asking because he’s done something wrong and I feel his prints could be used as evidence 😁

OP posts:

Berthatydfil · 04/05/2019 12:56

My dc had a similar system in their comp.
They don’t store the fingerprint it’s a data algorithm.
I thought it was great. Saved having to scrabble for cash to send in. I could also see what they were eating.

likablum · 04/05/2019 12:56

Very common. Means pupils on FSM aren't identified publicly and students don't have to carry cash in school.

MissMary0fSweden · 04/05/2019 12:56

It's been used for years at my daughters school.

Someone will probably come on with a really intelligent, compelling reason why it's a Bad Thing, but up to now I've just found it very convenient and hassle free tbh.

Original poster

Thefatcatssleeping · 04/05/2019 12:57

Ok, thanks for your replies. It seems like I’ve been letting my imagination run away!

OP posts:

Reasonstobeearful · 04/05/2019 13:00

They have it at my kids' school but you can opt out of the fingerprint and use a pin instead, which is what we do. Cashless and topping up remotely is very convenient - I can even transfer money when I'm at work and realise I've sent them off and they need some. But I don't want my kids' personally identifying data on any kind of database.

Haggisfish · 04/05/2019 13:01

Our school uses it and you can have a number instead. Works very well.

BrokenWing · 04/05/2019 13:16

Would love to hear one single instance where a thumb print stored as a number ever caused a negative impact on anyone. It will be much riskier your dc's being on social media.

Good news, at our school anyway, is ds gets 1-2 out of 5 meals free every week as the thumb print beeps but for some reason doesnt register correctly. I have mentioned to school more than once as I was worried it was coming off someone else's account, but they weren't interested in investigating and said I didn't need to tell them.

Reasonstobeearful · 04/05/2019 13:23

Well, there's your example of a negative effect - funds being spent where they shouldn't be, on your ds's food.

There are examples reported every day of data being lost/stolen/misused/insecurely stored. It's ok to opt out of the possibility of that happening with a fingerprint which, unlike a bank card, can't be stopped and reissued, especially when there's a fuss free way to do so.

TapasForTwo · 04/05/2019 13:26

DD has only ever used the fingerprint method at her old school. She was there between 2011 and 2018.

SoupDragon · 04/05/2019 13:28

I was just concerned that my DS and 1100 other children’s prints have been stored on a database which could possibly be hacked.

I do kind of get where you're coming from but what did you actually think it was possible to do with a scanned fingerprint?

EleanorLavish · 04/05/2019 13:35

Our school uses it. But how do you see what they are ordering? I can see how much they have left but it isn't itemised.
We use Parentmail.
I think its a great system.

Yogagirl123 · 04/05/2019 13:37

Been at my DS’s secondary school for at least 8 years that I know of, seems to work well.

BogglesGoggles · 04/05/2019 13:39

No one is going to hack it-think about it. What are they going to do with very limited (only one thumb and not even a full print) biometrics for a bunch of kids?

PinkHeart5914 · 04/05/2019 13:40

What’s the problem? What do you think they will use the finger print for? Fit him up for murder?

It’s a very common system that many schools use

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