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Smokey Bear
veritas odium parit
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Annie's Pub

Smokey Bear

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Student locations tracked by means of mandatory RFID badges

NetworkWorld | October 09, 2012
quote:
As part of a controversial trial that could someday include 112 schools and nearly 100,000 students, Northside Independent School District in San Antonio, Texas, recently issued students at two of its campuses new badges with an embedded RFID (radio-frequency identification) chip in order to track their locations.

Unlike passive chips that transmit data only when scanned by a reader, these chips have batteries and broadcast a constant signal so they can track students' exact locations on school property, down to where they're sitting--whether it's at a desk, in a counselor's office, or on the toilet.

The program went live on October 1 at John Jay High School and Anson Jones Middle School where students now must wear the new badges in a lanyard around their necks. Without the badge, a student can't access the library and cafeteria, or buy tickets to extracurricular activities. The school district has threatened to suspend, fine or involuntarily transfer students who refuse to wear them.

Yet people continue to voice privacy and legal concerns.

In August, several privacy advocacy groups put out a position paper (PDF) which argues that RFID tracking in schools violates students' rights to free speech and association because the technology tracks not only an individual's location, but it can monitor which people congregate together.

The paper also maintains that mandating that students wear RFID chips conditions them to accept a Big Brother world.

"Young people learn about the world and prepare for their futures while in school. Tracking and monitoring them in their development may condition them to accept constant monitoring and tracking of their whereabouts and behaviors. This could usher in a society that accepts this kind of treatment as routine rather than an encroachment of privacy and civil liberties," the paper says.

"Requiring children to wear RFID tags while on school grounds infringes upon their Fourth Amendment right from unreasonable search and seizure, and ... Courts should readopt the probable cause standard as the appropriate standard to be applied to the use of RFID technology in schools," writes Alexander C. Hirsch last year in the Journal of Computer and Information Law at The John Marshall Law School.
»www.networkworld.com/new ··· 187.html

Juggernaut
Irreverent or irrelevant?
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Kelowna, BC

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Juggernaut

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It'll be interesting to see what happens if a student is stalked, injured or, raped because of these tags.

I'm surprised that the school hasn't thought this aspect out, but then again, they've probably just deluded themselves with "it can't happen, our system is secure".

neochu
join:2008-12-12
Windsor, ON

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neochu to Smokey Bear

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to Smokey Bear
quote:
Unlike passive chips that transmit data only when scanned by a reader, these chips have batteries and broadcast a constant signal so they can track students' exact locations on school property, down to where they're sitting--whether it's at a desk, in a counselor's office, or on the toilet.
The problem with this type of tracking is that its not just RFID. The device is an outright tracking tag based off of the passive RFID technology. Because of truancy paranoia and funding issues, rather then fix the community problem, they are making the kids wear a form of tracking anklet to participate in school life.

I wish the district would stop misleading the public about it.



Now maybe that it has hit the media they can start a case about it. There are definitely 4th amendment issues (due process and unreasonable punishment?) that someone needs to look at on this.

RFID is by its design a passive technology. What is in a passport, standard ID/access card (wither it be for work, school, apartments, hotels, etc) does not actively broadcast the info. It can easily be read by a reader that transmits the signal but those kinds of cards do not carry batteries.

At least that we know about. Though I'm sure some government has invented that "black" technology.

But what worries me is that some pre-schools in the article are embedding this stuff in clothing to keep kids from disappearing (liability). Its also being used as a cheap means of imprisoning people with severe developmental issues and special needs who can run off.

That's more frightening.

Snowy
Lock him up!!!
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join:2003-04-05
Kailua, HI

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to Smokey Bear
said by Smokey Bear:

NetworkWorld | October 09, 2012

quote:
The paper also maintains that mandating that students wear RFID chips conditions them to accept a Big Brother world.

»www.networkworld.com/new ··· 187.html

That would be my largest concern.
If it's an acceptable use as neochu See Profile points out to combat behavioral issues in students why stop there?
It would be a great way to prevent/solve all manner of illegal activity across the population.
You do want to be safe & secure, don't you?

Juggernaut
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Juggernaut

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It just came to me: is this an allegory to the "number of the beast"? While a broad concept, if this became mainstream and not opposed, think of how much data could be stored on one of these cards. Take it off, or refuse it? You become a non-person.

It's for your own good. Really.
HarryH3
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Just one more seemingly benign step towards a future of having a chip implanted at birth. That way the gov't can track everyone.

StuartMW
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quote:
"Young people learn about the world and prepare for their futures while in school. Tracking and monitoring them in their development may condition them to accept constant monitoring and tracking of their whereabouts and behaviors. This could usher in a society that accepts this kind of treatment as routine rather than an encroachment of privacy and civil liberties," the paper says.

Future agents for Bob, DHS et al

goalieskates
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land of big

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Yet another argument in favor of home schooling.
19579823 (banned)
An Awesome Dude
join:2003-08-04

1 recommendation

19579823 (banned)

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I have read that MANY STUDENTS are refusing this trash... (And being punished for standing up )
Expand your moderator at work

rcdailey
Dragoonfly
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join:2005-03-29
Rialto, CA

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Re:  

I remembered a movie (They Shoot Horses, Don't They?) and because I work with a vet and see the use of chip readers for dogs all the time, I wondered about horses and see that there is a lot of concern about the use of RFID chips to ID horses. Since many of these chips are reprogrammable, one concern is that someone could mess with the ID for a whole lot of horses at a sale, for example. Then another question was whether the horses would have to be re-chipped every few years due to advances in the technology. If this is a concern with horses, what about humans?
OZO
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Re: Student locations tracked by means of mandatory RFID badges

The paper also maintains that mandating that students wear RFID chips conditions them to accept a Big Brother world.

"Young people learn about the world and prepare for their futures while in school. Tracking and monitoring them in their development may condition them to accept constant monitoring and tracking of their whereabouts and behaviors. This could usher in a society that accepts this kind of treatment as routine rather than an encroachment of privacy and civil liberties," the paper says.

I think that's the actual goal behind all of that. It's extremely dangerous tendency. I don't want to see that our world slowly but surely is moving by some forces into a police society ... one small step after another.

As we all live in the world, where only the money rules, the only thing I can do is to make personal promise, that I'll not support funding our schools anymore until they will change their skewed priorities. If schools have money to fund projects that designed to track all their students, obviously they don't need my $$ to make teaching process more effective... It's sad and is not what I want to do, but they, who make such decisions, evidently don't understand what students need ...

norwegian
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join:2005-02-15
Outback

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norwegian

Premium Member

said by OZO:

I think that's the actual goal behind all of that. It's extremely dangerous tendency. I don't want to see that our world slowly but surely is moving by some forces into a police society ... one small step after another.

As we all live in the world, where only the money rules, the only thing I can do is to make personal promise, that I'll not support funding our schools anymore until they will change their skewed priorities. If schools have money to fund projects that designed to track all their students, obviously they don't need my $$ to make teaching process more effective... It's sad and is not what I want to do, but they, who make such decisions, evidently don't understand what students need ...

1. Seems that has always been a priority of the ruling party to some extent.

2. If they think getting at our children and having themgrow up more used to the new form of future, they are attacking us at our roots, then it creeps in 1 generation at a time, step by step. That's right, social networking for all the the world to see is already there. Next programmable chips to GPS us. Oh that's right they are looking at data mining and storage as well, next you know we will be scrutinized if we say certain words, visit certain places of interest etc. Gees even the police force seem out of a job, as thugs will need to be employed to control the masses, not valued people of strong standings that want better for the community; well at least 75% of police I hope would think that way.

Sheesh, my grand kids won't have a life if I don't help them help themselves.

Vote no one this one, not in a constant "on mode", but as a school card with a reader, well that has been around for years now and seems an easy way to help those admin chores if it filtered to schools.
EdmundGerber
join:2010-01-04

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said by goalieskates:

Yet another argument in favor of home schooling.

Well said. My children would not be a part of this.
OZO
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said by norwegian:

1. Seems that has always been a priority of the ruling party to some extent.

It has always been a priority of the ruling oligarchy (as some call them "1%"). Both parties do that. Democrats are doing it now. Republicans will do it even better (remember "Patriot Act"?). And both don't want to discuss this issue in next elections at all... Now, go ahead and try to change that with your vote...

They both silently implement the New Order of the Ages with All-seeing eye always watching you from the top of the pyramid. If you don't see it, watch the money...

Anav
Sarcastic Llama? Naw, Just Acerbic
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Hmmm, you mean theyre giving it to everyone not just the democrats...... or immigrants, or blacks & hispanics, or to muslims... I guess everyone is a suspect terrorist these days or a suspect bully victim bringing a boatload of guns to school. What the heck is going on. Texas = 1984

Heck up here in Nova Scotia, I would be happy if they were able to put a GPS tracker on a day pass for a mental patient. Now that I see where this slippery slope can go................

StuartMW
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StuartMW

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said by Anav:

I guess everyone is a suspect terrorist these days...

Bingo! We have a winner!

Therefore everyone must be monitored at all times. Get 'em used to it while they're young (and malleable).

FYI and the TSA is making great strides making people obey.

"Shoes off!"
"Liquids out!"
...

sivran
Vive Vivaldi
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join:2003-09-15
Irving, TX

sivran

Premium Member

said by StuartMW:

said by Anav:

I guess everyone is a suspect terrorist these days...

Bingo! We have a winner!

Therefore everyone must be monitored at all times. Get 'em used to it while they're young (and malleable).

FYI and the TSA is making great strides making people obey.

"Shoes off!"
"Liquids out!"
...

Forgot to add:
"Pants down!"

norwegian
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Outback

norwegian to StuartMW

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said by StuartMW:

Therefore everyone must be monitored at all times. Get 'em used to it while they're young (and malleable).

That's what is scary, we are watching this from the sidelines affecting our children and our children's children.


Link Logger
MVM
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Calgary, AB

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I love all this stuff and heck ya bring it on, the more automated the system becomes, the easier it is for me to manipulate it however I wish.

Years ago there was a presentation about society and science and how the presenter suggested that we had to keep up so we could understand the science and what it would mean to us as integrates into our society so we could choose how and when as a society to use science. I'm not sure he thought about anyone with an intelligence/counter intelligence background and how they could use science to their advantage.

Sometimes the problem with automation is we soon forget how to do the automated task manually and become totally dependent on the science.

Blake

Anav
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Dartmouth, NS

Anav

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said by Link Logger:

I love all this stuff and heck ya bring it on, the more automated the system becomes, the easier it is for me to manipulate it however I wish.

Years ago there was a presentation about society and science and how the presenter suggested that we had to keep up so we could understand the science and what it would mean to us as integrates into our society so we could choose how and when as a society to use science. I'm not sure he thought about anyone with an intelligence/counter intelligence background and how they could use science to their advantage.

Sometimes the problem with automation is we soon forget how to do the automated task manually and become totally dependent on the science.

Blake

The thing about science Linky, is that it has no morality. Then science in the hands of immoral authorities is bad bad news.