Schoolchildren in Sydney must have their fingerprints scanned before using the toilet

Sydney. Going to the toilet at Moorbank High School in south-west Sydney was an embarrassing experience. Bathrooms are often covered in feces, and some students don’t even want to use the toilet. For example, an eleventh grader complained to an Australian broadcaster ABCHe mostly tried to do it at home and avoided going to the toilet at school.

Some students threw their feces on the roof, Daniel Scutella said. “It happens at least several times a year,” he said. “It’s too bad.” Floors were covered in urine and several doors were damaged. According to the school, it often had to dig deep into its pockets to repair the damage.

Control in the bathroom

To put an end to this intolerable environment, the school in June installed a biometric system. Since then, students have had to scan their fingerprints or get an access card from the secretary’s office if they want to use the restrooms during class. This way, the school can track who was in the bathroom at what time.

Most of the school’s 1,000 students agreed to the campaign and registered their fingerprints. There was little controversy from parents when the school announced the new system and parents were informed through email and the school newsletter. ABC had only two complaints.

Violation of privacy

Professionals, on the other hand, do not see the school function as easily as the school community. Western Sydney University cyber security expert Alana Mourushat said she didn’t think young students understood the consequences of having their fingerprints taken. “I’ve never heard of students scanning their fingers to access toilets in Australia,” he told an Australian broadcaster. According to them this is an “invasion of privacy”. The scientist also cited cyber security risk as biometric data could be stolen. So, he asks the school to “reconsider the measure”. Additionally, any student concerned should file a complaint with the Data Protection Officer.

Another expert, Samantha Florenyi, director of programs at Digital Rights Watch, told the Australian edition that “GuardiansThe justification of preventing vandalism is not a sufficient justification for such an invasion of privacy. “Students should have the right to go to the toilet without their biometrics being captured and their movements constantly monitored,” he said. Floriani warned that the system’s risks outweigh the potential benefits.

As an example, he gave a “data breach” – that is, when an unauthorized person accesses information. At worst, it can lead to identity fraud. According to Floreni, the move could set a dangerous precedent for other schools and “help normalize surveillance”.

You can change the password

As stated therein AVG Signal Blogs, a guide to online security, privacy and device performance, fingerprints are not secure. As examples, the blog lists several actions Chaos Computer Club on: To protest against the use of biometric data, for example, in 2008, the club recreated the fingerprint of Wolfgang Schäuble, then Federal Minister of the Interior. A photo is enough for that. Built in 2013 Association Then a fake finger to use to unlock the iPhone. Recently, this has been repeated using modeling clay and all-purpose glue to show how easy it is to recreate physical fingerprints.

Fingerprints can almost be hacked and stolen. The latter was on Black Hat Conference Demonstration in Las Vegas in 2015. Additionally, a fundamental fact is often overlooked, the blog continues. “When my email account was hacked a few years ago, I changed the password and the problem was solved,” the author wrote. “But if someone hacks my fingerprint, they’ll have that information forever.”