Microsoft gave out free copies of Vista Ultimate to those who submitted bugs in the Vista beta testing program. So submit a bug, even if it's something small, and there's a possibility of getting a free copy of Win7.
I work IT in a school district in NY and I got fingerprinted 5 years ago when I started working there. It was old-fashion ink fingerprinting so I don't think they run it through any computers.
Personally, I don't mind them fingerprinting people working at schools and running them through a criminal database when the person is hired. It's a bit much to consistently running them through the database though after the person has already been hired.
There's a line somewhere that shouldn't be crossed. Finding that line is the hard part.