UK’s ICO to intervene after schools use facial recognition for the payment of students’ lunches

According to the Financial Times, several schools in Scotland are using facial-recognition technology to take payments for students’ school lunches. The UK’s Information Commissioner Office (ICO) has urged these school to adopt a “less intrusive” approach where possible. An ICO spokesperson stated that “data protection law provides additional protections for children, and organisations need to carefully consider the necessity and proportionality of collecting biometric data before they do so. The Guardian reports that the technology is being installed in schools in the UK by a company called CRB Cunninghams.