The British government has advised that schools will not be able to use students’ biometric data unless parents consent, reports politics.co.uk.

The government’s advice, released on Tuesday for consultation, was updated to include items from the newly enacted Freedoms Act 2012. This new advice will take effect in September 2013.

This ruling may prevent schools from using biometrics for functions such as attendance tracking, library access or processing cashless payments. It results from parents being upset over schools using their children’s personal data without permission.

The new legislation says that students under age 18 will need written parental consent in order to allow this type of data usage. Schools will also need to follow the principles in the Data Protection Act.

Read more here.