Facial Recognition Cameras in UK School Canteens

Cynthia O’Murchu:

Facial recognition computers have found an unlikely new niche: scanning the faces of thousands of British pupils in school canteens. 

On Monday, nine schools in North Ayrshire will start taking payments for school lunches by scanning the faces of pupils, claiming that the new system speeds up queues and is more Covid-secure than the card payments and fingerprint scanners they used previously. 

“It’s the fastest way of recognising someone at the till — it’s faster than card, it’s faster than fingerprint,” said David Swanston, the managing director of CRB Cunninghams, the company that installed the systems.