Biometric fingerprint scan required to buy school lunches

Image by Flick via Flickr

A new lunch system is being piloted at Elyria High school in Ohio that uses student fingerprints via a biometric scan instead of cards or personal identification numbers. Only the freshman class is using the fingerprint program now, but next week the entire student body and staff will have a scan of their index fingers on file.

“When it’s really up and running it will make things go a lot smoother and faster,” said Bill Jett, general manager of Sodexo, the district’s food service provider.

According to The Chronicle Telegram's Lisa Roberson, Sodexo will pick up the $91,000 tab to implement the program districtwide with the hope of recouping expenses over the next five years. Sodexo, a French multinational corporation and one of the largest food services and facilities management companies in the world, may soon have biometric data of every student and staff member in the entire state of Ohio if they can land the contracts. With 355,000 employees, representing 130 nationalities, present on 30,600 sites in 80 countries, Sodexo also provides services to the military and correctional facilities -- that means they work closely with federal and state officials.

“I’m just really glad I don’t have to remember a number every day or have a card or something,” said a 14-year-old student. “All you have to do is put your finger down and go.”

Teenagers are so accustomed to social web networks and invasive technology, docile submission into an Orwellian world seems natural, even after the release of ominous films like the Matrix, whose dire warning of future enslavement made such an impact, some of the film's dialogue (blue pill, red pill) became as much a part of American lexicon as "Catch 22".

When public schools begin collecting biometric data on our children via corporations with defense industry contracts, you know fascist tyranny is not far behind. Run your name through this for a glimpse into the future, where virtually every aspect of your life is recoded and documented for all to see.