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Student RFID Tracking Suspended from School

Posted by samzenpus on from the do-you-know-where-your-kids-are dept.

ewhac writes "As reported earlier, a Sutter County, CA, elementary school unilaterally took the dubious step of forcing students, under penalty of disciplinary action, to wear RFID badges with their name, grade, and photo. The RFID tags were read by sensors placed above classroom and bathroom doors (though the latter had been shut off). The system was ostensibly used to automate attendance-keeping. Well, InCom Corp., the company that provided the tech free of charge to the school, has abruptly pulled out, without explanation. The school superintendant claimed to be, "disappointed," at the development. However, some parents are not mollified, and vow to permanently keep such people-tracking technologies out of their schools."

3 of 412 comments (clear)

  1. How was this supposed to actually work? by Dan+East · · Score: 3, Informative

    Forcing the students to wear the badges isn't an issue. The real problem would be a student hiding a badge somewhere deep in their book bag and registering an absent student as present.

    I'm sure the faculty was smart enough to recognize this problem, thus they would have been performing manual attendance to audit the system. Plus every time a student forgot their ID, or a part of the system failed, or there's a power outage, they would have to resort back to the manual system.

    IMO the heart of the problem is misapplying technology. Is taking attendance really such a time-consuming, difficult task to perform to require tens of thousands of dollars of equipment and the dispersal of hardware to every single student? A teacher should recognize their students, and should be cognizant of empty seats that are normally occupied.

    Dan East

    --
    Better known as 318230.
  2. Bruce Schneier's thoughts on this by wk633 · · Score: 4, Informative

    Some of the feedback is interesting as well. Basically, the 'solution' doesn't solve any problems, and it's money that could be better spent on teachers and books. Yes, I know, this one was 'free', but it won't always be free.

    http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2005/01/fing erprinting_1.html

  3. Re:Pedophiles these days by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Here's one from the U of M.
    >Myth #2:Most sex crimes are commited by strangers
    >...
    >Additionally, the most recent data from the
    >National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect
    >indicates that in more than one-half of all
    >reported cases of child sexual abuse, the abuser
    >was a parent or step-parent.

    http://www.med.umn.edu/fp/phs/sht/shtv1n07.htm

    Not that you were actually expecting a response from anyone