For TVP Szczecin on the use of fingerprints by schools, 15 January 2010

No provision exists which would allow schools to collect fingerprints from students and employees in order to ensure the control of persons entering a building.

That standpoint was presented by Michał Serzycki, the Inspector General for Personal Data Protection, during the interview given to Andrzej Ulhurski from TVP television station in Szczecin. He said that such a practice was justified neither by security reasons, nor by the interested person’s consent.

The issue which data can be collected from employees and students by schools is regulated by the labour law provisions and the branch provisions regulating the activity of educational institutions, respectively. None of the provisions allows these entities to process, and thus inter alia collect and store, fingerprints of students and teachers as well as other employees for building access control purposes.

- Such a practice – explained Michał Serzycki – leads to violation of the adequacy principle provided for in the Act on Personal Data Protection, according to which the data controller, i.e. in this case a school, shall not collect excessive personal data, but only those data which are necessary to realise the objectives. Whereas, the control of persons entering a building can be ensured by means of other techniques, e.g. by introducing magnetic cards – he said.

He explained that the collection of such data from students and school employees constituted too big interference in their privacy.

To support his standpoint Michał Serzycki referred to the judgment of 1 December 2009 by the Supreme Administrative Court, which alike GIODO stated that the collection of employees’ fingerprints for the purpose of working time record, even with employees’ consent, was not permissible.

It would be allowed only if in this way the employer would like to limit access of some persons to particularly important areas.