Facial Recognition

Facial Recognition offers a quick and secure way for students to purchase school meal items without needing cash and the risk of losing cards or forgetting passwords. With Facial Recognition, pupils simply select their meal, look at the camera and go, speeding up the lunchtime service with a contactless point-of-sale experience.

Please see more information on Facial Recognition below. We have also included a biometric consent template with FAQs and an opt-in form to share with parents and guardians.

More information for schools 

Facial Recognition biometric consent template

We have created this template to help schools provide more information on introducing Facial Recogniton software, outline how it works, and gain biometric consent.

You can edit the template as you see fit, including adding your school logo.

FAQs 

What are biometrics? 

Biometrics authenticates people based on their unique characteristics and identifies possible matches to ensure accurate and secure identification. Facial Recognition is a type of biometrics that we use in various aspects of life, including:

  • Security: unlocking phones, accessing secure buildings, and logging into accounts
  • Identification: faster check-ins at airports and hospitals
  • Convenience: logging into computers and making payments for school meals 

What pupil data is stored and where? 

Biometric recognition operates on a closed-loop system, which means pupil data is stored on our secure database.

Can any other agency or 3rd party use the facial images? 

No, the information is never shared, and the face template representing the pupils’ faces is meaningless to anyone else. The software turns your child’s image into a mathematical algorithm, and the stored information cannot be used to recreate the face image. 

What happens when my child leaves the school? 

All biometric data can be deleted; the school is the data controller and can delete the data from its databases. You can opt-out anytime, meaning the school will delete the biometric data. 

What if I object to my child using Facial Recognition? Can my child still purchase school meals? 

Parents and pupils reserve the right to object to using Facial Recognition. Any pupil not wishing to opt-in will be issued an alternative identification method, e.g., smartcards or PIN. 

Is this technology 'live'? 

No; catering staff must activate the process at the point of sale for pupils that have consented to use Facial Recognition. The system is not live; the cameras only capture pupils' images for the transaction process when the PoS staff activates the software.