4 ms·

I've always found the selective paranoia of technophobes to be strange. I would bet that the kids who object to the RFIDs are probably carrying smartphones that

by sxp 14y ago

I've always found the selective paranoia of technophobes to be strange. I would bet that the kids who object to the RFIDs are probably carrying smartphones that can be tracked just as easily: http://www.pcworld.com/article/255802/this_smartphone_tracking_tech_will_give_you_the_creeps.html http://www.pcworld.com/article/255802/this_smartphone_tracki... These RFIDs are even easier to disable than cell phones since they can just be kept in a metallic pouch when not needed, but it's much more difficult to keep a smartphone in airplane mode all the time. These people remind of other technophobes who are afraid of radiation from WiFi and cell phones for "health reasons" but don't have a problem with sunbathing. The school should just invest in some science and technology classes rather than trying to argue with these people.

naner 14y ago
The RFID tag IDs are explicitly being used for tracking student location by faculty and are mandatory. Smart phones are neither mandatory nor is location information available to school faculty. It isn't really the same thing. The school system is doing this because they think it will improve attendance and earn them more funding from the state. They obviously didn't educate people very well (a lot of misconceptions were apparent in the video) and I don't think this is going to necessarily improve attendance, either.
- DenisM 14y ago
  The phone is continously broadcasting wifi and bluetooth MAC addresses, it's as good as any other radio beacon for tracking.
  - Evbn 14y ago
    But for some key difference: aiplane mode, and schools not having Bluetooth/wifi trackers running.
toomuchcoffee 14y ago
These RFIDs are even easier to disable than cell phones since they can just be kept in a metallic pouch when not needed, Hey guess what? If they can coerce you into carrying the devices, they can also threaten you with penalties -- ranging from marking you as "absent" or worse -- to deter you from shielding them.
awhow 14y ago
It is probably related to the students sense of choice. A teenager chooses to carry around a smartphone because it adds some benefit to their life that outweighs the cost of being tracked. Whereas with the RFID card, the student sees little to no benefit but incurs the cost of being "tracked".

by sxp 14y ago

naner 14y ago

The RFID tag IDs are explicitly being used for tracking student location by faculty and are mandatory. Smart phones are neither mandatory nor is location information available to school faculty. It isn't really the same thing. The school system is doing this because they think it will improve attendance and earn them more funding from the state. They obviously didn't educate people very well (a lot of misconceptions were apparent in the video) and I don't think this is going to necessarily improve attendance, either.

DenisM 14y ago
The phone is continously broadcasting wifi and bluetooth MAC addresses, it's as good as any other radio beacon for tracking.
- Evbn 14y ago
  But for some key difference: aiplane mode, and schools not having Bluetooth/wifi trackers running.

toomuchcoffee 14y ago

These RFIDs are even easier to disable than cell phones since they can just be kept in a metallic pouch when not needed, Hey guess what? If they can coerce you into carrying the devices, they can also threaten you with penalties -- ranging from marking you as "absent" or worse -- to deter you from shielding them.

awhow 14y ago

It is probably related to the students sense of choice. A teenager chooses to carry around a smartphone because it adds some benefit to their life that outweighs the cost of being tracked. Whereas with the RFID card, the student sees little to no benefit but incurs the cost of being "tracked".