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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."

15 of 412 comments (clear)

  1. Like War Of Warcraft by fembots · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Due to high demand, this company has no other option but to pull out from this school charity.

    But seriously, businesses rarely do things for free, and it's unlikely any one would offer free services in exchange of bad PR.

    --
    Rock that crushes, Paper & Scissors that don't matter.
    1. Re:Like War Of Warcraft by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      They'll be back in a few years - we always act suprised at first ... then you have to feed your kids and put up with it at work and you forget about it after a couple of months like with video survelliance.

  2. 1 Kid Many Badges by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I'm gonna cut class wear my badge for me.
    Easy Hack

  3. Kids these days by DrKyle · · Score: 5, Interesting

    They probably figured out that kids are smarter than they are when it comes to technology. I'm sure if I was in a school that used RFID (and 10 years younger) I would be able to do some mischief using that system by cloning other peoples RFIDs, making it seem they were in multiple places at once, or letting people skip school and have dupe RFIDs stay in the library etc. For the majority of students I'm sure things would work as expected, but some of those "troubled teens" or "geeks" would have a wickedly fun time with it.

  4. I can't speak as a parent.. by EvilCabbage · · Score: 5, Insightful

    .. but I'd be disgusted if I had a child that a school wanted to monitor in this way. Is this really the way of the future? Get the kiddly-winks used to the idea of being constantly under watch nice and early? This kind of stuff worries me greatly. Are we going to be looking back at these episodes in five years wondering how we let things get so out of hand so quickly?

    1. Re:I can't speak as a parent.. by LukaFox · · Score: 5, Insightful

      In some ways, this seems like the natural progression of the public school system (at least as I remember it). Efficiency and liability have already motivated policies that treat students more like livestock. Granted, that this technology would make it easier (and cause new problems and work-arounds if people become too reliant on it). It's a tough call sometimes. Parents expect that schools keep track of their kids while they're there, but does that mean having them carry devices that really do track their every move?

  5. I would feel better about this if by xC0000005 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    the company had stated why they pulled out, and stated that it was because they disagreed with the policy of tracking students everwhere, but truth is, they probably don't. That's what this company does. They probably pulled out because of bad publicity and wanting to avoid being named a defendant in a lawsuit. Great, the students aren't being tracked. Problem is, that leaves the door open for the situation to be repeated. Without the clear determent of a court ruling against this, or an open statement against this by the school/company, I can't help but wonder if this is a hollow victory.

    --
    www.voiceofthehive.com - Beekeeping and Honeybees for those who don't.
  6. As a high school student myself... by ConfusedGuy · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I was interviewed a few days ago for my local paper with the hypothetical "what if YOUR school instituted RFID tags?" thrown at me. My reply was that in an age where reliance on technology is reaching a dangerous threshold, it'd be wiser to spend the money and resources on a new administrator or teacher instead of tagging students.

    I know, at least at my school, we could stand to drop a few laptop computers in order to hire another body to patrol the halls. Sure, cameras and tags might catch everything but how practical is it when one man is responsible for catching every rule breaker?

    O' course, the same article stated that my local school board wouldn't mind implementing the system for "safety and attendance." Where's the ACLU when you need them?

  7. Hey kids! by IvyMike · · Score: 5, Funny

    When they try to pull this next time, remember this handy formula:

    RFID badge + 3 seconds in a microwave = piece of dead plastic.

  8. It shouldn't come as a surprise... by bacon55 · · Score: 5, Insightful
    That people, and even parents would be disturbed by children being literally treated like cattle.

    Part of growing up is doing things wrong, and getting away with it. If kids couldn't get in a bit of trouble, if they didn't think they could break the rules just a LITTLE, we would have a generation perfectly suited for doing EXACTLY what they are told, by anyone in power.

    Thats bad - very bad. Kids have to know they can break some rules and it's ok, and that people in power are not gods. If we all learned that leaving the library 10 minutes early for break is something we can't get away with, (see, word of god) we certainly wouldn't have the balls to tell our employer to F'off when they cut our lunchbreak down to 20 minutes.

  9. A somehow useful French law by franois-do · · Score: 5, Interesting
    A French law (applying only in France, of course, but that may give ideas to other countries as well) forbids any employer to use the same mechanisms for access control and for work presence control. In other words, whenever you are badging for something, you should be warned about what you are doing, and that being said, nobody can use a work presence control system to track your coffee breaks or the way you organize your own work (I have been told a SNECMA human resources director got fired for having installed this kind of thing).

    However, I guess that with RFID this law has to be completed in one way or another. For instance by having the RFID sensors signalled, and their purposes indicated by separate colors.

    --
    Signature omitted in order to save space. Thanks for your understanding.
  10. Good by StikyPad · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I think this is a Good Thing. Not because kids don't need to be accountable for their whereabouts -- hell, they need more accountability -- but because if something like a tracking device is accepted at a young age, it will become more accepted as they grow into adults.

    Next thing you know, they'll be putting GPS on our cars.

    --
    https://www.eff.org/https-everywhere
  11. Re:Nothing like a good controversy... by mboverload · · Score: 5, Insightful
    It has nothing really to do with the childrens' privacy, after all, in elementry school that doesn't mean shit to you.

    It is about INSTILLING the idea that tracking people is ok in young minds. People will grow up thinking hey government, put a GPS receiver on my back, I have nothing to hide! Due to this our future governments will have absolute power over the people because as children they were taught it was ok.

  12. Hmm... how about dating-support RFID tags? by Spy+der+Mann · · Score: 5, Funny

    *hummm* girl approaching.
    *BZZ BZZ BZZZ!* She watches the same TV shows that you!
    *TWEE TWEE TWEE* She's a slashdot reader!!!!

  13. 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