Teachers and assistants in Eskasoni First Nation say their privacy is at risk after facial recognition scanners were installed in their schools to take employee attendance.
They say the machines do not always work properly, they can’t find any other Canadian schools using the technology and the union is frustrated over a lack of dialogue with their school board.
“We have really, really serious concerns that need to be addressed,” said Jonathan Cox, a teacher and president of the Eskasoni Teachers’ Union.
“It’s not just about using the system. It’s about privacy. It’s about where is the data being stored, what governments have access to this data [and] the privacy issues with respect to having our information be viewed by others when we’re scanning in and out of the building.”
Cox said this spring, educational staff were required to look at an electronic tablet on the wall — which calls up their picture, full name and recent attendance record — at the beginning and end of every school day.
Other employees, students, parents and anyone walking past can see the screen and that’s an invasion of privacy, he said.
The company that makes the scanner is based in the United States but has a Canadian office. Cox said that raises concerns about secure storage of the union members’ biometric data.
Teacher Chris Gallant said the machines sometimes misread an employee’s face and show someone else’s information.
“We have five documented incidents of that happening, so that’s the major concern,” he said. “It’s a data breach as far as we’re concerned.”
Gallant also said the union does not believe its members were offered informed consent. They were only told they had to comply, without having questions answered, he said.
Gallant said the union is asking the school board to pause the new system before schools reopen in the fall.
“We’re expected to take attendance for as many as 30 students in the first five minutes of class five times a day,” he said.
“We don’t use a machine. Why can’t someone take our attendance the same way?”
In an email, Nova Scotia Department of Education spokesperson Krista Higdon said under the Mi’kmaq Education Act, Eskasoni’s band council controls its school board.
Higdon said the department would not comment on operational matters involving a Mi’kmaw school board. The province is not considering biometric scanning in any of its English or French schools, she said.
“Our teachers are trusted professionals and we have no intention of subjecting them to facial recognition simply to prove they showed up for work,” she said.
Neither the Eskasoni school board nor the band chief has responded to multiple requests for comment.
The teachers say their last communication with the board was a letter dated June 18.
In it, the board said it takes privacy seriously and the scanner manufacturer only stores an employee’s name, email address and employee number.
It said the new technology “is solely used to authenticate employee identity for timekeeping purposes only.”
“The biometric timeclock system was implemented to improve operational efficiency and to increase accuracy in timekeeping and preventing time theft.”
The board said it explored other options and is in the process of developing a time clock policy.
Cox said it’s unclear why the board believes there is a teacher attendance problem, because no members have recently asked the union to attend a disciplinary meeting over attendance. As union president, he usually receives a copy of any disciplinary action taken even if a member does not request a union representative be involved.
Gallant said the union has filed a formal grievance and all 123 members have filed notices with the board withdrawing their consent for biometric scanning.
“We’re not opposed to technology being used to track attendance,” he said.
“We’re not opposed to accountability, but we’re not comfortable sharing our biometric data with the employer and who knows who else.”
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