{"id":20164,"date":"2012-10-02T23:11:40","date_gmt":"2012-10-03T03:11:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rbach.net\/blog\/index.php\/"},"modified":"2024-04-13T18:11:42","modified_gmt":"2024-04-13T22:11:42","slug":"texas-schools-track-students-with-chip-in-id-cards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rbach.net\/index.php\/texas-schools-track-students-with-chip-in-id-cards\/","title":{"rendered":"Texas School ID Cards Track Students"},"content":{"rendered":"

Updated 07-27-13<\/strong> According to Chron<\/em><\/a>, Northside Independent School District Texas spokesman Pascual Gonzalez said the microchip-ID program turned out not to be worth the trouble.<\/p>\n

\"FamilyUpdated 01-19-13<\/strong> The student lost<\/a> her lawsuit against the district. The student and her family had sued the district, claiming that her first amendment rights were being violated (she claims the RFID tag is \u201cthe mark of the Beast<\/a>\u201d), but the school removed the RFID chip from her ID and the court found that that was a reasonable accommodation.<\/p>\n

Updated 12-02-12<\/strong> A self-described teen-aged Anonymous<\/a> hacker claims to have hacked the website of Texas’s Northside Independent School District in support of a student who refuses to wear an RFID ID badge according to<\/a> the San Antonio Express-News<\/a><\/em>. The district’s site was never compromised, Northside spokesman Pascual Gonzalez said.<\/p>\n

In a statement posted on Twitter<\/a>, the teenaged hacker wrote: \u201cNow it is your school and your rules, but you seen what I did to your website, and have a simple deal for you, weather you accept it or not, is up to you<\/em>,\u201d the statement reads. \u201cIf you still want to do this tracking idea on the students, at least have a meeting with each and every students parents, so they know what is going on.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Updated 11-21-12<\/strong> It is not surprising to me that Wired<\/em><\/a> is reporting<\/a> that the school district is being sued over the program. According to Wired<\/em>, the family claims that the student refuses to wear the badge because it signifies Satan.<\/p>\n

\"Texas<\/a>A Texas school district is putting tracking chips into new, mandatory student IDs to keep tabs on students’ whereabouts while on campus. According<\/a> to Sophos’<\/a> Naked Security<\/a> blog, Texas’s Northside Independent School District<\/a>‘s John Jay High School<\/a> and Anson Jones Middle School are performing a pilot test of the technology.<\/p>\n

\"Sophos<\/a>FOX 29 TV in Texas reports<\/a> that students will be required to wear the cards on a lanyard around their necks and will be charged a fee for losing them. Their location will be beamed out to electronic readers throughout the campuses.<\/p>\n

The one-year pilot program, which will cost the district $261,000, is also expected to increase attendance, and could bring an extra $2 million to the district in state funding as a result, District spokesman Pascual Gonzalez said. He stated that the program will be re-evaluated next summer.<\/p>\n

\"RFID<\/a>In a letter<\/a> to parents, school administrators stated that the ID cards will store no personal information and that they\u2019ll work only on school grounds. \u201cThink how important this will be in the case of an emergency,\u201d the letter reads. \u201cIn addition, the \u2018smart\u2019 student ID card will be used in the breakfast and lunch lines in the cafeteria and to check out books from the library. Because all students will be required to wear their \u2018smart\u2019 ID, staff will be able to quickly identify Jay students inside the school.\u201d<\/p>\n

FoxNews reports that a coalition of privacy and civil liberties organizations and experts have called for a moratorium on the technology, including the American Civil Liberties Union<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"RFID<\/a>The Sophos blog reports that some parents are protesting, comparing the tags to\u00a0RFID tags<\/a> used to track cattle. Steven Hernandez, a father of a student who attends the school and the only local parent to attend a protest late last month, told KSN News that the new badges amount to “a spy chip”.<\/p>\n

His daughter, Andrea, a sophomore, told KSN that she’s decided to wear her old photo ID even though students were told the new micro-chip ID is mandatory: “It makes me uncomfortable. It\u2019s an invasion of my privacy.<\/em>”<\/p>\n

Northside ISD’s Gonzalez rejected that criticism, saying the pilot program and the \u201csmart\u201d ID cards have been used successfully in Houston\u2019s Spring Independent School District<\/a> for at least the past five years. \u201cThis is non-threatening technology,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is not surveillance.\u201d<\/p>\n

rb-<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Chip<\/a>There is a great deal of bluster aroun<\/em>d this article on the blog. Look around people, your passports<\/a> and driver’s licenses have RFID tags. What about proximity card readers<\/a>? Have you checked the Visa<\/a> in your wallet? Isn’t near field communications<\/a> (NFC<\/a>) the hot topic<\/a><\/em> in the VC world? <\/em><\/p>\n

I will bet a cookie that some of the same folks blustering about ID tags also favor gutting public education funding, yet the object to efforts to increase alternate sources of revenue for Texas schools by using chips in student ID cards.<\/em><\/p>\n

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