The Act Commentary on Sections Part 1: Regulation of biometric data Section 26: Requirement for consent before processing biometric information
140.Subsections (1) to (3) provide that proprietors of schools or the governing bodies of colleges must notify the parents of a child that they intend to process the child’s biometric information and that parents may object, in writing, to the processing. If no parent objects to the processing, the written consent of only one parent will be required. A child means any person under the age of 18 (see section 28(1)). Consent under this provision is only required if the information is to be used for the purposes of an automated biometric recognition system (defined in section 28(4)), such as a finger-print recognition system.
141.Subsection (5) provides that proprietors of schools and the governing bodies of colleges must not process, or continue to process, a child’s biometric data if that child objects to its processing, irrespective of the child’s age, maturity or ability to understand. This is the case even if consent has been given by a parent to the information being processed.
142.Subsection (7) requires schools and colleges to provide a child with a reasonable alternative to an automated biometric system where the child objects to the processing of his or her biometric information, or where any parent objects in writing to such processing. Such alternatives must allow the child to access any facility (for example, library facilities) that they would have had access to if using the biometric system, and to be subject to any monitoring or control (for example, monitoring of attendance) that they would have been subject to if using the biometric system.