Reading Chronicle - Parents and staff put their finger on security

STAFF and parents at an NHS nursery have put their finger on a new security system.

A fingerprint scanner will used to authorise adults to enter the Little Dragons nursery at Bath Road, which looks after around 62 youngsters of Berkshire Healthcare Trust staff. The trust are the first health organisation in the UK to use the system.

Nursery manager Debbie Symmons said: “We’ve had it running for about two weeks now and we’ve had no problems apart from when one or two finger prints haven’t been read the first time.

“Parents have obviously asked questions, they wanted to know more about it which is understandable, but we’ve had a really good response.

“The benefit for us is that we don’t have to take staff away from the children to answer the door. We’ve also got a video link in so if we’re ever unsure we can talk to someone through that.”

Parent Sarah Evans, mother of two-year-old Charlie said: “When we had the letter we thought it was quite exciting. I didn’t have those concerns about giving information, but I suppose other parents might have done, thinking it was a bit ‘Big Brother’, but when it comes to security for the children, that’s much more important than who’s got what information and I think a lot of parents thought the same.”

The system, which costs around £4,000 is supplied by Reading-based UK Biometrics and company regional director Nick Morse said: “We were happy to talk to parents about this beforehand and they were largely very positive because the only information that’s stored is a name, whether they are a parent or staff and fingerprint characteristics, not even a full fingerprint. And that’s stored on a stand alone computer which isn’t networked.”

Reading Evening Post – Fingerprinting to keep the little Dragons safe

Parents and guardians will have to use a Mission Impossible-style fingerprinting system to enter a Southcote nursery.

Matching fingerprints are the only way mums and dads can get in and out of the NHS-run nursery Little Dragons.

The Bath Road nursery is the first in Reading to implement the “Big Brother style” system, putting an end to swipe cards, keys and knocking.

The healthcare trust is also the first in the UK to install the system in its childcare facilities – including another two nurseries in Maidenhead and Slough.

The nursery is mainly used by children of NHS staff, although not exclusively.

Community nurse Sarah Evans works at Western Elms Surgery and sends her two-year-old son Charlie to the nursery.

The 34-year-old, of Fords Farm, said: “It is brilliant. You cannot put a price on the security of children.

“Charlie tries the doors at home and I know he would try and escape if he could. But I do know people might say it is a bit Big Brother-ish.”

Nursery manager Debbie Simmons added: “The nursery is very secure now. It’s a real improvement. It’s a very advanced system.

“Parents have had questions but no one has been critical. We put ourselves forward for the system as we thought it was a good idea.”

She said fingerprints were taken from staff, mums, dads and carers but are wiped after the child has left the nursery.

Anyone who wants to get in can still do so – but they will have to press the buzzer to alert staff who will open the door internally.

The Evening Post tried the system and our fingerprints were rejected – the sign “access denied” came up.

Jim Tye, security manager specialist at Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, defended the system. He said: “We always have to prepare for the worst case scenarios.”

He admitted the main reason for such an advanced system – which he added had a few teething problems which have now been cleared – was the fear of children being abducted.

“We cannot be complacent about security,” he said.

The system has been installed by UK Biometrics Ltd in the Thames Valley. Director Nick Morse said: “Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust has specified the only key which cannot be lost, stolen, forged or hacked – the human fingerprint.”

Fingerprint scanning to be introduced at nurseries around the UK

The fingerprints of parents will soon be scanned at 36 branches of the UK's largest nursery chain.

Busy Bees will implement the high-tech entry systems around the country to give parents 'peace of mind' following a year-long trial, reports Children & Young People Now (CYP Now).

Operations director at the company Margaret Randalls told the news source: 'While secure entry numbers, key pads and passes are useful, they can be passed on to other people.'

While all parents will be invited to submit their fingerprints, those who choose not to will be able to access the nurseries through other means, she noted.

According to CYPNow, Busy Bees has signed a £500,000 deal with UK Biometrics Limited for the new security devices.

Last month the BBC reported that this practice was also being employed at two Kent nursery schools, but charity Kidscape said that the surveillance was 'paranoid and overkill'.

High tech security for Berkshire’s nurseries

A multi-billion pound scheme to link Berkshire and Essex by rail through London's finally on track.

The Crossrail scheme was originally scrapped in the nineties because it cost too much.

The scheme linking Maidenhead and Shenfield's taken three years to get through Parliament.

A number of new stations will have to be built along the route which means it'll be the largest civil engineering project in Europe.

Work will start on the line in 2010 with up to 14,000 people helping build it. We'll then be able to ride the crossrail from 2017.

Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly said:

"This landmark project is of major significance to both London and the whole country. It will generate jobs and economic growth, help re-vitalise some of our most deprived areas and deliver
major improvements for the travelling public.

"Crossrail has been talked about for decades, so I am delighted that now we have secured both the funding package and parliamentary approval, work can finally begin to deliver this fantastic project."

Former Henley MP and now London Mayor Boris Johnson's described it as a 'cracking deal for the capital.'

Once it's up and running it's expected around 200 million people will ride the Crossrail every year. The trains will travel at 100mph on the surface and 60 mph in tunnels.

Credit: http://www.2tenfm.co.uk

Chain goes for fingerprints

Busy Bees, the UK's largest nursery chain, is installing a 'fingerprint' entry system at all its nurseries. The nursery group has signed a £500,000 deal with UK Biometrics to install the technology across its 113 settings.

It costs around £4,000 to install the system, and Busy Bees has been testing it at 14 nurseries in the past year. Once a user's fingerprints are registered, the sensor pad scans 27 'minutiae' - key points on the fingerprint unique to the individual - and matches them up. Busy Bees said the data is only held by the nursery and it is impossible to recreate an individual...

UKB International opens new Birmingham sales office

Regional Director Mark Snape says “Birmingham and the surrounding areas offer tremendous opportunity for the UKB International range of products and services. My Sales Consultant Brian Ellershawe and I are looking forward to the challenge”.

UKB International locks up nursery contract

NURSERIES across the UK will be more secure after a national chain signed a £500,000 deal with a leading North East security company.

UK Biometrics Ltd is to supply and install the system across the Busy Bees chain after a year-long trial at 14 nurseries. The Newcastle-based company’s Fingerprint Entry programme is a biometric door lock, which opens for staff, parents and carers whose prints are registered. Unregistered visitors have to be admitted by a member of staff.

The system scans the user’s print, identifying key points and the finger’s sub-dermal ridges which make it theoretically impossible for someone not on the database to gain entry. Users’ encrypted data is held by each individual nursery. Carole Chadderton, Busy Bees regional director, said: “Security for the children and staff is a prime concern. We have worked closely with UK Biometrics and their access system will enable us to maintain high security standards throughout our nurseries.”

Busy Bees has been running for 25 years and UK Biometrics said the company’s decision to adopt the system showed that security was high on the nursery chain’s agenda.

UK Biometrics operations director Shaun Oakes said: “Biometrics provides the only key which cannot be lost, stolen, forged or hacked – the human fingerprint.”

UK Biometrics, which has sales offices in Glasgow, Leeds, Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham, North West and South West London, Swindon, Thames Valley, Swansea and Bournemouth, in addition to its Newcastle headquarters, announced in April its was creating 15 jobs.

Halifax parents give thumbs-up to nursery’s new high tech security system

A CALDERDALE nursery has installed a new door entry system using one-of-a-kind keys – fingers.

Parents will have to scan their fingerprints when they drop off and pick up children at The Ark Nursery.

The biometric system has been installed on the door of the nursery at Dean Hey Farm, Hebden Bridge, to increase security while also making access easier for mums, dads and other carers.

It also keeps a record of who has entered the premises.

The technology, created by Newcastle firm UK Biometrics, went live this week and has replaced a keypad entry system which asked parents and staff to enter a number code.

Now the nursery has registered the prints of parents and people they nominate to pick up children. They will be recognised when pressed on to a sensor pad unlocking the door.

Unregistered visitors have to phone the office and wait for a member of staff.

Owner Jo Brock, who founded The Ark with co-owner Jayne Heidi Bingham in 2002, said: "With our previous keypad security system it was easy to forget the code but you can't forget your finger, can you?

"We were also concerned the code could fall into the wrong hands.

"It has been very well received by all of the parents.

"Security is very important to us and we like to be ahead with innovations so when we heard about the system we decided to get it and make sure our safety is top notch." The Ark Nursery, which has more than 40 staff, cares for more than 200 children from babies to children aged four and 150 children aged up to 12 attend an out of school facility called Space @ the Ark.

Last October the Courier reported that Providence Day Nursery, Elland, was the first nursery in Calderdale to install the state-of-the-art security.

Paul Easton, from UK Biometrics, said use of the system in schools, nurseries and other childcare facilities is growing.

He said: "Security is obviously a huge concern for all parents."

Fingerprint entry is also used in homes, building sites, call centres and many other premises.

Nursery school chain installs fingerprint entry system

A £500,000 biometric fingerprint entry security system is to be installed at the Busy Bees children's nurseries chain.

The system from UK Biometrics will allow parents and carers easy access to the nurseries while ensuring unauthorised people cannot gain entry.

UK Biometrics has been trialling the system at 14 Busy Bees nurseries for more than a year.

The new biometric locks allow Busy Bees personnel to register parents' and carers' fingerprints in seconds. Once registered, parents press their fingerprint onto a sensor pad at the door and gain immediate entry. Un-registered visitors ring the bell and wait for a member of staff to admit them.

The new system will allow staff to spend more time with the children at busy drop-off and collection times, rather than answering the door to parents.

The multi-spectral scanner identifies key points on the user's fingerprint, and scans sub-dermal ridges making it impossible to fake fingerprints, said UK Biometrics.

No actual fingerprint is stored and the encrypted data is held only by individual nurseries. It is impossible to reproduce a fingerprint, or any part of a fingerprint from data stored, the supplier said.

Busy Bees regional director Carole Chadderton said, "We are always looking at ways of improving the quality of our nurseries, and security for the children and staff is a prime concern.

"We have worked closely with UK Biometrics and their access system will enable us to maintain high security standards throughout our nurseries."

Girls ring the changes with UKB International over phone theft

FOUR youngsters are hoping to be lords of the rings after hatching a plan to tackle problems including mobile phone theft.

Jarrow School pupils Lucy Charlton and Sarah Wilson, both 11, and Kelly Whitfield and Nicola Harkus, both 12, have come up with an idea to market a mobile telephone specially for children.

The team are the youngest UK entrants in The Big Ideas ICT Youth Challenge 2008 competition.

The competition calls for new business ideas, from young people up to the age of 20, based on information and communication technology.

The girls have certainly done their homework. They surveyed more than 400 school pals and parents to find out what their biggest concerns to do with mobile phones are.

Answers they received included text bullying, unwanted calls from salespeople, parental control over access to numbers and websites, the ability to call family members or teachers in an emergency after their credit had run out, mobile chat rooms and mugging for mobile phones.

The youngsters decided biometric identification could be the answer to some of the problems identified, so they approached UK Biometrics to find out about the latest technology.

The pupils then spent a morning at the Newcastle-based company brushing up on the latest technology.

UK Biometrics sales director Steve Barnard said: "We spent a morning with the girls, and were impressed with their grasp of the technology.

"We have been researching biometric security for palm-held devices including mobile phones for more than a year, and many of the features requested by the girls are achievable with available technology.

"We wish them every success in the competition, and look forward to signing contracts with our youngest ever technology partners in about four years' time when they turn 16."

Les Jones, headteacher at Jarrow School, a specialist engineering school, said: "Some of our youngest budding engineers and entrepreneurs have come up with a startling idea while working with a top communications and engineering company.

"We often find students think differently to trained adults, and in some cases arrive at novel – and practical – solutions to scientific or engineering challenges.

"This is the case with our Year 7 girls who have been working with UK Biometrics and Tedco.

"We are very grateful to both organisations for involving our students – the scientists and engineers of the future – in their programme.

"The youngsters are a really impressive group."

In addition to being the youngest entrants in The Big Ideas ICT Youth Challenge 2008, the girls are the youngest entrepreneurs to receive assistance from South Tyneside-based enterprise agency Tedco.

Tedco enterprise champion Carol Metcalfe added: "The girls' enthusiasm for their project rubs off on everyone they contact.

"They have already beaten off competition from much older groups during the early stages."

They will present their idea to a panel including judges from Microsoft and BT at The HotHouse Event to be filmed by the BBC between Monday, June 30, and Friday, July 4.

UKB International win deal £500,000+ deal with nursery group

They're a popular form of small child art and a common feature at lunchtimes, but fingerprints will take on a new meaning for the parents at Busy Bees nurseries.

Newcastle-based UK Biometrics Ltd has announced the roll-out of a deal worth over half million pounds to supply and install biometric ‘Fingerprint Entry’ security systems at Busy Bees, Britain’s largest chain of children’s nurseries. The system will allow parents and carers easy access to the nurseries while ensuring unauthorised people cannot gain entry.

UK Biometrics has been trialling the system at fourteen nurseries for over a year. The new biometric locks allow Busy Bees personnel to register parents and carers fingerprints in seconds. Once registered parents press their fingerprint onto a sensor pad at the door then leave or collect their children without fuss. Un-registered visitors ring the bell and wait for a member of staff to admit them.

The system will allow staff to spend more time with the children at busy drop-off and collection times, rather than answering the door to parents.

The multi-spectral scanner identifies key points on the users fingerprint, and scans sub-dermal ridges making it impossible to ‘spoof’ using a fake fingerprint. No actual fingerprint is stored and the encrypted data is held only by Busy Bees individual nurseries. It is impossible to reproduce a fingerprint, or any part of a fingerprint from data stored.

Biometrics more popular than passwords survey shows.

The majority of consumers are concerned about the security and use of Pins, passwords and 'secret' data used by bank call centres to verify identity. A recent survey found that 61 per cent of respondents expressed concerns about these forms of verification.

Some 42 per cent of people using telephone banking do not believe that their bank does enough to prevent fraud or identity theft. Just over 40 per cent of respondents believe that their personal information is more secure when using an automated system than speaking to a live agent (36 per cent) when handling Pins and passwords.

However, 86 per cent would be happier to use either voice biometrics (28 per cent) or a blend of voice biometrics and Pin/password (58 per cent) measures for telephone banking identification and verification. Professor Michael McTear, head of voice authentication research at the University of Ulster, said: "Many bank customers are concerned with the threat of identity fraud and the associated risks for their personal finances.

"It is imperative that banks should be encouraged to provide an effective and easy-to-use method for additional security. Voice authentication provides such a method. "The customer is not required to enter complicated sequences of numbers and letters but simply answers a few questions in their normal voice.

"Voice biometrics is an effective and reliable technology for authenticating valid customers and, more importantly, for rejecting 'imposters' whose voice does not match the customer's voiceprint." Some 80 per cent of respondents said that security is an important element of banking transactions completed over the phone.

University plans biometric security course.

The UK's first university course based on technology used to combat identity theft and international terrorism has been announced.

The biometric security systems degree is being introduced to meet the growing demand for expertise in the field, according to Aberdeen's Robert Gordon University (RGU).

Biometric technology is increasingly used in security and surveillance systems.

It offers an automated means of recognising an individual, based on characteristics such as fingerprints, speech, face, retina, iris, DNA and forensic analysis.

RGU said it was launching its MSc Intelligent Biometric Security Systems because companies were having difficulty recruiting staff skilled in biometrics.

Dr Ann Reddipogu of RGU's school of engineering said: "Identifying humans using biometrics is particularly attractive to businesses involved in security.

"Whereas physical items such as security cards, keys and passwords can be lost or stolen, the biometric identifier is unique to each individual.

"Students will analyse current problems in security and surveillance systems, and develop and implement novel methods to solve these issues."

credit: The Press Association

UKB International appoint northern regional sales manager.

UKB International Ltd has appointed Ian Pick to the post of Northern Regional Sales Manager. Ian from Chester le Street brings over ten years specialist software sales experience to his new position. Ian will have responsibility for managing the introduction of UKB International's ‘Evolution’ range of robust biometric readers to North East businesses and will help with the launch of further new products over the coming twelve months.

Ian Pick says:
"I have been watching biometric technology for a number of years and have been impressed at the speed with which it is gaining market share. UKB International was the first UK Company to bring biometrics direct to businesses and they still lead the field. This is a tremendously exciting time to be joining this expanding industry".

UKB International opens new Swindon sales office.

Regional Director David Lee said "Swindon and the surrounding areas are full of exciting technology businesses. UKB International's new regional office will offer the most advanced access security that todays demanding businesses require."

UKB International launch new Colour Intercom System.

The UKB Colour Intercom System is a high quality intercom that is stunning in appearance and technologically advanced. Slim in design with hands free audio, full colour display and memory storage to record visitors. UKB International has set the standard with this new modern intercom system.

UKB International biometrically opens Baltic Gateshead campus

UKB International biometrically opens the multimillion pound Baltic Gateshead campus.