A scheme to use facial recognition software to scan pupils in school canteens has been suspended after privacy concerns were raised by Britain's data watchdog.
Nine schools in North Ayrshire in Scotland became the first in the UK to start using the system on a long-term basis last week after a pilot project in Gateshead last year.
The controversial technology has been pitched as making the payment process for meals quicker and more hygienic than using cards or fingerprint scanners.
But its rollout was paused just days after its launch after concerns were raised by privacy groups and the Information Commissioner's Office. The ICO responded to the plans by saying that organisations should consider a 'less intrusive' approach.
Separately, a school in Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester, has decided to drop its rollout of a similar system in response to the ICO's concerns about intrusiveness.
The Department for Education has issued guidance to UK schools on regulation over the use of facial recognition technology, but it is ultimately up to the school.
The hugely-controversial system has been pitched to make the payment process for meals quicker and more hygienic than using cards or fingerprint scanners (file picture)
Campaign group Big Brother Watch, which had written to schools in the area urging them to drop the scheme, described the decision in North Ayrshire as 'fantastic'.
The group's director Silkie Carlo told MailOnline: 'We welcome this pause and would urge councils to make it a permanent ban on facial recognition in schools.
'No child should have to go through border style identity checks just to get a school meal. We are supposed to live in a democracy, not a security state.
'This is highly sensitive, personal data that children should be taught to protect, not to give away on a whim.'
North Ayrshire Council said 97 per cent of children or their parents had given consent for the new system. Parents have to opt in for children to use the technology.
The system had been introduced after the half-term break and scanned the faces of children at lunch tills. It checked students against a register of faces stored on school servers.
Information supplied to parents by the council said: 'With facial recognition, pupils simply select their meal, look at the camera and go, making for a faster lunch service whilst removing any contact at the point of sale.
'Pupils no longer need to carry any form of identification such as a card or even enter a personal identification number (Pin).
'School meal payments are instantly reflected in the pupil's cashless accounts in the same way as any other identification method.'
A North Ayrshire Council spokesman said: 'Having received a number of enquiries in recent days, we have temporarily paused the
