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Texas State Rep. Files 2 Bills To Ban RFID In Schools

Posted by samzenpus on from the no-track-zone dept.

BeatTheChip writes "The day Andrea Hernandez lost her federal case against expulsion for refusing a school mandated RFID badge, Rep. Lois Kolkhorst moved to file two bills on the first day of the Texas Legislative session. Kolkhorst has sponsored several anti-RFID bills for schools over the years. This year they are HB 101 and HB 102."

18 of 297 comments (clear)

  1. Can someone remind me why this is sinister? by sam_vilain · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I mean, it's not like the kids have to be implanted with the badges. You can easily leave the badge somewhere if you want to go somewhere naughty. Is there something I've missed?

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    1. Re:Can someone remind me why this is sinister? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Because some people have a sense of dignity and object to being treated like cattle.

    2. Re:Can someone remind me why this is sinister? by girlintraining · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Recall what the 'free' laptops with webcams did in US schools?

      Just wait until this guy finds out what teenagers do with the ones their parents paid for. In other news, sometimes people drink and drive. The solution is therefore to ban cars. Sometimes people shoot other people. Solution? Ban guns. And sometimes, very rarely, people on the internet say stupid things. Obviously... we need to ban the internet too. Or perhaps we should just accept that sometimes people do stupid things, and rather than punish everybody, we just punish the stupid people. Unless of course children are involved, in which case, feel free to go bat shiat crazy. It's the popular thing to do right now. I'm looking at you, Obama.

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      #fuckbeta #iamslashdot #dicemustdie
    3. Re:Can someone remind me why this is sinister? by Darkness404 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Except that most ID badges aren't being used to track where I am at the office. They aren't being used to see if I'm there at work, they're being used to let me into the building, more of a virtual key. There's a HUGE difference between an electronic key and being treated like cattle.

      --
      Taxation is legalized theft, no more, no less.
    4. Re:Can someone remind me why this is sinister? by Sarius64 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Because over-zealous administrators and government officials that deem it necessary to control every moment of a human being's life could not possibly be the nut in the equation.

    5. Re:Can someone remind me why this is sinister? by Ferzerp · · Score: 4, Insightful

      One need not be a religious nut to see the danger in indoctrinating children to accept this level of location tracking, even if it is only within the confines of a school, it still opens the door to more by creating a generation of individual's who are less averse to privacy invasion due to familiarity.

    6. Re:Can someone remind me why this is sinister? by SplashMyBandit · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I am also open to the notion that the only way we will better understand human activity is to study it.

      If you want to do social studies then get consent from randomly selected citizens. A curiosity to study human nature in no way entitles anyone to track people *who cannot refuse to be tracked due to a massive power imbalance* (eg. pupils). To want to track people aligns with totalitarian and fascist impulses. The student in question was completely right to refuse to be tracked, and anyone who opposes it is completely wrong and against the freedoms in the spirit of the US Constitution. The fact that anyone would seek to justify such tracking beggars belief.

    7. Re:Can someone remind me why this is sinister? by Ferzerp · · Score: 4, Insightful

      In every example that you present, you are in the environment due to your own choice. You are free to refuse the badge and leave at any time. Therein lies the difference.

    8. Re:Can someone remind me why this is sinister? by jedidiah · · Score: 4, Insightful

      > You wear an RFID badge if you work in a high-tech firm.

      I've spent my working life in high-tech firms and have managed to somehow avoid this. Furthermore, those function as ACCESS CONTROLS. They are keys. They aren't intended for Big Brother spying nonsense.

      Even if the tech were the same (which it isn't), the intent is quite different.

      Corporate beaurocrats have better things to do with their time and money (fortunately).

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      A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
    9. Re:Can someone remind me why this is sinister? by TechyImmigrant · · Score: 4, Insightful

      You are free to take your kid out of school and homeschool them if you're scared of government intrusion blah blah blah shut up

      You're also free to pull your kid out of school because the teaching is incompetent, the school environment is crap.

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      I should use this sig to advertise my book ISBN-13 : 978-1501515132.
  2. Negative Ghostrider... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    ... she's a conservative Texas politician who actually wants to do something to curb the out-of-control expansion of statist government bureaucrats.

    We need more like her. It's time to start shrinking this "Feed me Seymour, Feed Me!" little shop of horrors that our government has become before it devours all of our rights and liberties.

  3. I love how... by Anubis+IV · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I love how /. rightfully rails against the erosion of rights that occurred as a result of the decision in Andrea Hernandez' case, but then the first comments here are almost all attacking the bill's intent and the representative as being a religious nut from Texas. Whether that's true or not (I don't know this representative, so I couldn't say, nor have I read the article or bills) is irrelevant.

    Religion doesn't always have to be against what the /. groupthink believes is right. In this case, religious nuts may be off-base, but they came to the right conclusion regardless. Even if their math doesn't add up correctly, we can all agree that it's the right solution.

    *said by a deeply religious person who thinks the religious nuts in this whole mess really are nuts*

    1. Re:I love how... by TooMuchToDo · · Score: 3, Insightful

      RFID tags in school IDs isn't an erosion of rights unless you're a crackpot. These same students will have RFID tags in their driver's license when they're old enough to drive and if their state has enhanced ID systems.

    2. Re:I love how... by Anubis+IV · · Score: 5, Insightful

      You do realize that citing more examples of ways that our right to privacy is already being infringed or violated is not exactly a great way to make your point, right?

  4. Re:A confession by SourceFrog · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Whatever method they use, I personally don't have a problem with a school keeping track of attendance in an automated way

    The problem with this statement is you're stating that you don't mind them doing it to the kids of other parents. You're "consenting" on their behalf for something done to them. That's about as meaningful as saying "I consent to slavery because I'm not black". It's one thing to consent to your own kids being tracked, but I think the school should at least have to get permission from every parent, and not track those who do not give permission. Actually, I'm not even sure that goes far enough; kids do have some rights that are outside the domain of parental consent.

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    My other UID is three digits.
  5. My View by Murdoch5 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    RFID can have its place in schools, for young kids I think it's a great idea, for teens not so much. However another interesting point is that RFID tags could introduce a new level of security in schools. If you have 200 kids and teachers all armed with RFID tags then you can simply lock the doors for the day and not let anyone else in, why is this a good idea? Simple school shooters, they can't get in the school so potentially you create a safer environment. Another great feature is being able to detect if your kids is skipping school or not! No more attendance and calls home.

    Now as for people who have privacy issues with it, I can understand where your coming from however when you want to argue it DO NOT QUOTE RELIGION! The entire issue I have with Andrea is that she tried to being her faith as a reason to not wear a badge. You can't use this kind of argument, if you allow it then you must allow EVERY SINGLE religion based argument with no issue. I could just as easily state that my religion states I must bring semi automatic guns into the classroom and as soon as I say that you have to allow it! Or I could say something like I don't allow people of color in the classroom, then you need to make accommodations. Hence why I think when you fall back to religion as an argument you don't make a good case.

    If your arguments however are focused on privacy and personal space and all of that then you have a case to fight and I'll stand behind you. Pick logic over god and I'll stand there and agree with you, pick god over logic and your out before you start. If RFID can be brought into the classroom with out invading the privacy of students and without being used as a means to an end of targeted advertising then it's a good idea!

  6. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  7. actually it does. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Actually it does.

    If some asshole is going to hold me accountable for the location of their brat, then I've going to stick an RFID on the brat. And those assholes hold me accountable for their brat until that brat enters the front door of their house.

    So fuck them and their brat, they brought this on themselves.