Using RFID and Wi-Fi to Track Students

An anonymous reader writes "The BBC reports on a proposal to use RFID and wi-fi to track students wherever they go on campus: 'Battery-powered RFID tags are placed on an asset and they communicate with at least three wireless access points inside the network to triangulate a location.' At The Wireless Event in London, 'Marcus Birkl, head of wireless at Siemens, said location tracking of assets or people was one of the biggest incentives for companies, hospitals and education institutions to roll out wi-fi networks.' The article points out that integration of RFID and wi-fi raises the possibility that RFID can be used for remote surveillance."

Comments

Re:Cost

[commodoresloat]

That being said, how big are these things? What would be the consequence of not carrying one around? The RFID chips themselves are small they can be implanted under your skin or woven into clothing, or into the student ID that you have to carry around everywhere. The battery power is probably the size of a battery; it's unclear from the FA what kind of battery is necessary, but I imagine it would be pretty small. "Lugging it around" would not be an issue, and I'm sure student fees could easily absorb the cost without much notice. The real question is what real value does this have other than providing a tool for stalkers or control freak administrators? Do we really want to encourage the equivalent of temporary restraining orders or dorm arrests as a disciplinary mechanism in colleges, for example?