Dear Parent/Carer
Consent Form for the use of Biometric (Fingerprint)
Leigh Academies Trust is currently upgrading the cashless payment system it uses across all of its academies. You will be aware that, at The Halley Academy, we currently use a biometric payments system whereby students are able to pay for refreshments using their fingerprint as recognition for payment. This cashless system means our breakfast, break and lunch services are as smooth and quick as possible, whilst also giving parents/carers oversight over the monies their child spends. We will continue to use a similar system and the upgraded software requires us to seek your permission to use your child’s biometric data.
Please complete this form if you consent to the Academy taking your child’s fingerprint as part of the Academy’s cashless catering system. This biometric information will be used by the Academy for the purpose of identification at point of sale for food and at no point will this data be taken off or from the internal systems. In completing the Google form you are authorising the Academy to use your child’s biometric information for this purpose until they either leave the Academy or cease to use the system.
If you wish to withdraw your consent at any time, this must be done so in writing and sent to the Academy. Once your child ceases to use the biometric recognition system, their biometric information will be securely deleted by the Academy.
See below for our FAQs on the new payment system, but of course, if you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact admin@thehalleyacademy.org.uk.
Kind regards
Ben Russell
Principal
FAQs
A cashless system allows for parents to top up a catering account online or via a PayPoint location. This allows for quicker serving times and shorter queues. The system recognises each individual student, holds their individual account balances, and records money spent and received. It records where money is spent, on what food, and on any specific date, at any time of day.
The biometric recognition system works by looking at skin patterns on the finger or thumb. During the enrolment process the software captures a digital signature of the student’s fingertip or thumb – these images are broken down into data points, similar to reference points on a map. The system then turns these into an alphanumeric string and the images are discarded. The alphanumeric string is then encrypted and stored on a secure server. As only an alphanumeric string is stored, the system is safe and secure and the data is of no use to anyone except for the purposes for which the system is designed.
Each student will create a finger biometric. A scan of the finger is taken and a template created (a string of encrypted numbers based off the finger scan). The rest of the finger image is discarded which makes reverse engineering the fingerprint from the data stored impossible. Students will then be able to use their finger biometric to identify on the system and authenticate any purchase.
The student simply places their finger on the Biometric reader at the point of sale. A display will show the server the student’s name and current account balance held within the system. The selected food items will be entered into the system from an itemised keyboard, while the amount spent and the new account balance will show on the display.
Online payments allow a Parent/Guardian to ‘log-on’ to a web portal, ParentPay, using a secure username and password, and ‘top-up’ their child’s account using debit and/or credit card payments.
The online web portal, ParentPay, used to make payments can also be used to check the current balance of a catering account. The customer display at the point of sale will also show the new account balance when the food service is finished.
Certain data will be held on the system to enable accurate operation. This will include your child’s name, class, photo, account balance and meal entitlement. This data will be handled under the guidelines of the data protection act and only used by parties directly involved with the implementation of the system.