In my post yesterday about the Protection of Freedoms Bill I referred to the provisions about biometric information in schools.  I asked why this subject had been singled out for attention in the Bill, and whether there was any evidence that the current situation  was unsatisfactory.

Action on Rights for Children (ARCH) have just posted on their website a very interesting briefing on the subject:  see here.  This is clearly an issue that has been of concern to ARCH for some years, and their paper gives an overview of developments since 2001.  ARCH welcome the proposal to introduce consent into the process of taking children’s biometric data, but suggest that ensuring any consent is valid and informed will present a considerable challenge.