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Judge Issues Temporary Order Blocking Expulsion For Refusing To Wear RFID Tag
An anonymous reader writes with an update about the student refusing to wear an RFID badge in Texas. From the article: "A district court judge for Bexar County has granted a temporary restraining order (TRO) to ensure that Andrea Hernandez, a San Antonio high school student from John Jay High School's Science and Engineering Academy, can continue her studies pending an upcoming trial. The Northside Independent School District (NISD) in Texas recently informed the sophomore student that she would be suspended for refusing to wear a 'Smart' Student ID card embedded with a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tracking chip."
The student was offered a security card with no battery and chip, but still refused. I'd have some sympathy if the college hadn't offered this option, but as it stands it's simply refusal to wear an ID badge and has nothing to do with RFID tracking...good luck to her when it comes to finding a job with any company that uses ID badges of any description.
Please consider this account deleted, I just can't be bothered with the spam anymore.
Why not just make the ID a number tatooed onto the forearm, papers please, Oh Godwined
I personally don't see any problem with students having to wear RFID badges while they are at school.
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law - Aleister Crowley
You took the ball and ran the wrong way. This has nothing to do with fear of radio transmissions of any kind. It is about privacy and principle
"When life gives you lemons, don't make lemonade. Make life take the lemons back!" -- Cave Johnson
You've either posted a successful troll comment, or have truly misunderstood the girl's points of objection.
For conscience is the wound, and there's naught to staunch it
Trying to keep tabs on us at all times, even considering it was over 20 years ago, I've got to side with the kid this time.(Especially given how much data they could get now with this tech. They'll probably abuse it.)
Did you know 80 to 90% of the moderators on slashdot wouldn't recognize a troll even if one dragged them under a bridge.
Some parts of the society can decide that they cannot function unless they implement a certain mechanism
The fact that our society has managed to function for ages without having already implemented such a mechanism disproves your argument entirely.
All my liberal friends think I'm a conservative, all my conservative friends think I'm a liberal.
Let's just send the little delinquents straight to prison.
“He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
It's also extremely easy for me to point out that you didn't read the article(s) and understand why she objects to wearing it. As a fellow amateur radio "expert" I'd like to point out that the badge's transmit capability was never in question. Let alone you forget that the reader is the part that's plugged into the outlet pumping out any discernible wattage which you didn't take into consideration. Even that withstanding, it's not about radio transmissions at all. It's about privacy, the invisible man in the sky, and first amendment rights, and an overreaching school board.
Given that the school claims to be a "Science and Engineering Academy" surely it isn't that hard for the students to figure out how to disable the RFID chips either by passive screening, hammer or quick zap in the microwave? That way the idiots in charge can go on in blissful ignorance and the students don't get tracked remotely but still have the ID card functionality.
If the student's religion requires that they not wear such articles, then I think it's a pretty clear case that the student should not be going to that school.
Schools, even public ones, are permitted to have dress codes, and wearing a specially issued id tag on your clothes while you are on school property is really not that big a deal. There's shouldn't be concern about being tracked off of school property because because one's location through RFID can only be tracked if they are in close proximity of an RFID reader that understands what the tag is, and who it belongs to. The RFID readers which are connected to the database of RFID tags owned by the school aren't going to be anywhere but on school property, so that's the only place where one is ever going to be tracked.
There should be no more concern that this could be used to invade somebody's privacy than an RFID card issued to an employee to get into a company building during non-office hours could reasonably represent a privacy invasion for that employee.
File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
Is it always a good idea then to stay at the back of the bus? Just because it happens ubiquitously throughout society, then we should never make a stand?
Sent from my ENIAC
It's only a pilot program. As all things of the kind, their purpose is not only to test the process, but to acclimatize people to the new reality. In a little while new reality becomes "it's always been that way", and then they can move for wider application. And what better way to do so than to begin with school students. Why, you could then combine RFID databases between schools "for improved information sharing", then perhaps offer local malls, movie theaters etc. data for them to better gauge their audience or, better yet, "better protect children from inappropriate material" (oh, now we are talking). Then, as they grow up and graduate - why not join forces with a local college or university, public transportation, sports venues - you name it :) It's just a matter of time.
This type of tracking needs to be nipped in the bud, before it becomes the "new normal".
And btw, there is nothing reasonable about employees being tracked en-masse at office either. Technically, though, employees are there voluntarily and can leave at will. There is no such choice at school.
Don't forget that if each kid is required to carry their RFID card whenever they are in school they will also carry that card the vast majority of the time. Now I own a store and want to know when a certain student enters my store what prevents me from installing RFID readers in my store and reading the cards and developing a database from there.
For example: when ever card number NNNNN is in the store I have more shoplifting so I ban the student carrying that card from my store with no proof they stole anything.
We could go on from there.
I'm a senior in the same Science and Engineering program that Andrea is a member of. Some points: 1. Microwaving the cards causes visible burn marks. 2. The school has also blocked student led petitions against the ID cards, circulated during passing and free periods, on the grounds that they "disrupt the learning environment". 3. Thus far, the only students who have gotten in trouble for not wearing the ID cards are the vocal ones, like Andrea, or those who get in trouble for something else. However, the administration is starting to enforce the ID rules more heavily. I sincerely hope Andrea succeeds, and that this doesn't set an alarming precedent for the removal of student rights. Please let me know if you have any questions about the IDs or the program.
One of the things John Jay (US Supreme Court Justice) is known for is telling jurors that they are responsible for judging the law (the rules as handed down).
I suspect he'd be proud of the student for deciding that this particular school rule is unjust and standing up for herself.
My God, it's Full of Source!
OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
I thought the attorney made a good point ...
"Regimes in the past have always started with the schools, where they develop a compliant citizenry," Whitehead continued. "These 'Student Locator' programs are ultimately aimed at getting students used to living in a total surveillance state where there will be no privacy, and wherever you go and whatever you text or email will be watched by the government."
Poor girl. She just wants to live in freedom. I wonder where she got that idea?
Yes, our "society" has "functioned" for ages without basic commodities too. So possibility of living without a certain comfort or rule doesn't make that rule wrong or that comfort a whim.
One of the prices we pay for living in a society that values freedom of religion, and freedom in general, is accepting a certain amount of non-conformity and sometimes making exemptions for people. For example, during WWII many people who belonged to certain religious organizations were not required to carry a weapon and kill others because they had well-known long-standing religious beliefs. In some cases they were asked to do other things such as treating wounded, but they were not required to do the killing their religion forbade.
If a school dress code requires people to remove their hats inside the building, Jews and Sikhs should be allowed to keep their hats on. In the case of Sikhs it might be reasonable to ask them to minimize the size of the hair covering ( so as not to block the view of students behind them in class), but the religious freedom to covering the hair should be respected if at all possible.
In this case the student has a religious objection to the RFID. There is no indication that she is rejecting it for some nefarious reason or out of some ulterior motive (as might be suspected if someone suddenly announced that their religion requires them to smoke crack three time a day). Her objection is based on writings that have existed for 1500 years or more, so she didn't just make it up. One might question her interpretation, but it is certainly an interpretation a reasonable person might make and she doesn't appear to be making that interpretation honestly.
Personally I think the RFID for students is a bad idea for privacy reasons, and for that reason should not be required of any student. But looking at it purely on religious grounds the school should be making an exception for her (and without making her pretend she supports the policy).
I often don't like the choices people make, but I like the fact that people make choices. That's why I'm a conservative.