The recently approved standard in February 2012 from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) IEEE 802.15.4f enabled Zebra Technologies to develop RFID tags, sold to West Cheshire College for tracking its students.
As reported in the RFID Journal, [NB. This RFID Journal article was withdrawn from the RFID Journal’s website w/c 7 Jan 2013. A Copy of the article (pdf) is here and here is the original article on the Internet Archieve Wayback Machine] Zebra “In anticipation of that development [IEEE 802.15f], Zebra Technologies has announced a new version of its Dart ultra-wideband (UWB) real-time location system (RTLS) sensor that will be compatible with that standard”
With no regulations of the tracking of humans – students in this case – by RFID in the UK it seems that students at least, as education becomes more corporate and finance driven, have this real time location system tracking to look forward to.
Much like how biometrics were trialed and introduced in schools in the UK from 2001-2012, completely unregulated, not informing parents, government having no knowledge of what the biometric industry was up to in its schools, it appears that RTLS RFID now is being afforded the same luxury.
According to the RFID Journal [NB. This RFID Journal article was withdrawn from the RFID Journal’s website w/c 7 Jan 2013. A Copy of the article (pdf) is here and here is the original article on the Internet Archieve Wayback Machine] these are the characteristics of RFID tags the students wear:
- UWB tags emit brief RF signals across the entire 6.35 to 6.75 GHz frequency band.
- Average battery lifespan of a tag is seven years.
- Receivers, which can receive tag signals from up to 328 feet away, located throughout the campus buildings, in order to ensure that the tags can be pinpointed no matter where within the school a student might be located. (Toilet? Showers?)
- Designed to provide accuracy greater than 1 meter (3.3 feet).
- Transmission rate of once per second.
- Enables observation of student and staff in peer groups.
The standard IEEE 802.15f was approved February 2012. RFID Journal article of 30 April 2012 states that “The school deployed the technology in two phases—first at its Chester Campus, in 2010, and then at its newly built Ellesmere Port Campus, last year [2011]”
…mmm has the college been trialing RTLS before the standard was set?
Against RFID in schools 