It’s only going to get worse before it gets better. An elementary school in Freehold, New Jersey has dumped $370,000 on an iris scanner designed to allow children to enter and leave the building. The system can track kids while they’re in school, thereby reducing the the school’s liability. If they never scanned in, it’s not their fault if they’re missing, right?
Here’s how it works: students and teachers who have registered their biometrics can come and go as they please. But for strangers to get in, you have to press a button… and a secretary lets you in. Aha! A flaw in this expensive yet foolproof plan! By walking up to the door and pressing a button, you are given the same rights and privileges as registered users of a secure system. Technology like this is like magic. Horrible, misguided, and potentially dangerous magic.
Iris scanners enroll in elementary school [Arstechnica]
