Fingerprinting in the lunch line: Schools are doing it

Fingerprint technology is something most of us only see on movies and TV, or with big corporations that have a lot to protect. But it may be showing up (and already has in some cases) in an unlikely spot: your child's school cafeteria.

Schools have been coming up with different ways to keep track of children's lunches and lunch money for decades, and it seems fingerprint identification is the newest idea up on the block. Instead of punching in a code at the lunch line, or running an ID card through, some schools are moving towards having students hold up their fingers instead. Part of the thinking is that by making it impossible to steal or lose lunch money, or use it to buy other things, it will be easier to make sure individual students are getting the right healthy lunches they're supposed to be.

What do you think? Easy, smart, efficient use of today's technology or a completely unnecessary invasion of privacy?