Maine Sheriff's Department building kids iris database

Looks like the Penobscot County Sheriff's Department in Maine is the latest to get in the biometrics game, investing in an iris scanner and setting out to scan and record the vitals of all the children in the area. The department's not just freelancing here though, with each kid's biometric information being contributed to the nationwide Children's Identification and Location Database (or CHILD) project, intended to aid in locating and identifying missing children. While it has already scanned some 500 kids' eyes, the Sheriff's Department is now looking to speed up the process by bringing the technology into schools to register 'em all in one fell swoop. Of course, similar programs haven't always been met well by privacy-conscious parents in the past, but the department looks to be trying to accommodate any concerns by first sending home a permission slip with the students that parents must sign off on. While this scan is strictly a one time deal, at the rate various biometric systems are moving into schools, we somehow suspect that it won't be the last encounter the students have with the technology in the course of their edification.

[Wonderboy @ Nov 28th 2006 10:07AM]

I've got no privacy concerns with this type of thing... in order for privacy to be violated they'd have to force a re-scan at a later date and we all know how the public would respond to a forced re-scan.

When my wife and I have kids we'll be participating in any programs like this we can, there's nothing more important than the safety of a child and this is one measure that's easy to take.

[Jake @ Nov 28th 2006 10:35AM]

When I was in elementary school, our police department did a fingerprinting program just like this, and for the same reason. All of the fingerprint records were given to CHILD. Permission slips had to be signed and everything. So yeah. I definetly support something like this.

[tcc3 @ Nov 28th 2006 10:47AM]

They can't depend on Johhny Smith to find every lost child. He may be a psychic but hes only *one man.*

[consumer_q @ Nov 28th 2006 11:45AM]

My child does not participate in any such data banking.
I feel it is unfair for me to decide that he should be put 'in the system' (fingerprints, DNA, iris scan, whatever). That is something he needs to decide for himself as an adult (or, the state if he gets nabbed for breaking the law), because once you are in, you are in forever.

Data banking will not prevent my kid from being molested, or kidnapped, or lost. We have fingerprints and a recent photo in a personal file at home, so if that is necessary for identification, we have it, but his bedroom has plenty in there as well.

[Dave @ Nov 28th 2006 12:28PM]

The privacy concern should be that your children will eventually get older. When they do, they will be accustomed to having their retinas scanned and won't make any fuss when they're asked to scan their scrotum on their way into the office.

[PEZ @ Nov 28th 2006 12:43PM]

Maine is way advanced. They had a brothel there for 20 years, and didnt get caught until a few years ago with a RAID.

Talk about being ahead of the times.

[tekdroid @ Nov 28th 2006 6:06PM]

all's great, until security cameras get the ability to scan your retina, databases are combined, and you're living in a police state with your every move tracked.

This only helps IDENTIFICATION of the child. Last I checked, identification wasn't a big hassle in the grand scheme of things. This is invasive technology being pushed on people for no good (or very little good). As a parent, I would never go for this.

[jsg @ Nov 28th 2006 6:49PM]

I know that these programs are popular, but how many children are actually identified by their fingerprints every year? I assume that for a child to be identified this way it has to be either dead or unconscious. How many dead or unconscious kids would be identified this way that could not be identified by other means? Assuming that the general case is that there could be identification by other means, then what makes this superior or faster?

Or maybe the scans are to prevent terrorists from kidnapping children and replacing them with duplicates. who will kill their 'parents' in the middle of the night.

[Suds @ Nov 28th 2006 7:18PM]

I never understood why this is necessary. They're building a database of school aged children. If they're lost, they should be able to recite their name. If something terrible happens to them, wouldn't existing methods be usable such as DNA from parents or dental records?

[irateferret @ Nov 29th 2006 7:00AM]

What I still can't figure out, whether it's fingerprinting or iris scanning, is how this actually helps? At least, not until we hit Minority Report technology where everyone is getting iris scanned all of the time.