Category Archives: Legal

RFID Journal pulls article on UK college RFID tracking students

Posted on January 11, 2013 | Leave a comment

After four recent Freedom of Information (FOI) requests to West Cheshire College about their RFID real time location system (RTLS) the college answered the first FOI request, though some detail was lacking, and replied to the second Freedom of Information request informing that there would be no answer from them as there “has not been a reasonable interval since your initial request”

Freedom of Information Act 2000Erm… there is no exemption in the Freedom of Information Act 2000 that mentions time period between FOI requests.  Maybe West Cheshire College should let a member of staff who is knowledgable about their legal obligation under the Freedom of Information Act deal with FOI requests  – not their Press Office who wrote the refusal to reply.

Coincidentally within a 24 hour period of West Cheshire College’s refusal to answer FOI requests, the article in the RFID Journal ‘West Cheshire College Tracks Whereabouts of Students, Staff,’ that details the RFID system the college uses was pulled from the internet.  (A pdf of the article can be found here)

This was one of only two source articles which detail West Cheshire College’s RFID system.  The other article is on the suppliers website, Zebra Technologies.

Maybe its a wild coincidence but it seems that there is clamp down of what exactly is going on at West Cheshire College.

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Posted in Freedom of Information, Legal, Media, Real Time Location System, RFID College, RFID tracking, RTLS, Tracking children, UK, West Cheshire College

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Judge rules that religious beliefs not enough to refuse to be part of RFID system

Posted on January 10, 2013 | Leave a comment

In Texas a 15-year-old student, Andrea Hernandez, refused to wear a trackable RFID tag and then refused to wear a pretend RFID tag that Northside Independent School District offered her.  The school district then insisted Hernandez wear this pretend tag or face suspension.   (You almost couldn’t make it up).  So Andrea took the school district to court.

Religious rights?However a federal judge’s 25 page ruling on violation of her rights to religious freedom in that wearing the pretend RFID would amount to showing support for the programme, stated “The accommodation offered by the [school] district is not only reasonable it removes plaintiff’s religious objection from legal scrutiny all together,” U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia wrote.

Northside Independant School District’s insistance for Andrea to wear pretend RFID is presumably to give the impression to students and parents that no one dissents.  There is no room for objection.  It is good to be tagged and tracked.  Look!  Everyone is wearing a RFID tag – life must be good, right?

Why the school’s dogged insistence?  Does the school district have such little regard for their students religious beliefs and privacy that they are willing to sell out for a few budget dollars?

What exactly is the price do you put on the next generations beliefs and privacy? 1 million dollars, 5 million dollars?

Surely respect and tolerance for peaceful religious, spiritual beliefs and a right to be private is priceless to a decent society and a basic respect we should pay to each other as human to human, especially adult to child?

Andrea plans to appeal so this is not the last we will hear of this.

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Posted in Court, Discrimination, Legal, Protest, Religious, RFID children, RFID College, RFID school, RFID tracking, Tracking children, USA

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Texas School District want case to be heard in federal court

Posted on November 29, 2012 | Leave a comment

Northside Independent School District want Andrea Hernandez’s case moved to a federal court “In a move aimed at sidestepping a potentially unfavorable state court hearing” states the Rutherford Institute

MySanantonio.com goes on to say “A hearing scheduled in state district court Wednesday on her request for a  temporary injunction to keep her at her magnet school at Jay  High School was canceled after the district asked that the case be moved to  federal court.

Since the student, Andrea  Hernandez, has said wearing the badge violates her religious beliefs,  Northside’s attorneys are arguing it’s a federal constitutional issue.

Neither a judge nor a date for a federal hearing has been set.”

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Posted in Court, Discrimination, Legal, RFID school, RFID tracking, Tracking children, USA

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Judge rules against school on RFID tracking case

Posted on November 27, 2012 | Leave a comment

Student Wins Tracking ID Case reports Frontpagemag.com

Sanity, thankfully, has prevailed in the case of Andrea Hernandez who has been incredibly brave standing up to the school’s absolute instance that she wears RFID chip or pretends to and that she stops protesting or she gets expelled. This plucky teenager said no!

This from the Rutherford Institute who took Andrea Hernandez’s case to court:  “A court has temporarily blocked The Northside Independent School District from suspending high school sophomore, Andrea Hernandez, for her noncompliance with a neck badge that monitors student movement throughout the campus via a Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) chip.

A federal court judge ruled that John Jay High School principal Robert “Harris’s actions were a violation of Hernandez’s rights to freedom of speech and the free exercise of religion. Hernandez will also receive compensation, the amount of which will be determined during a trial, according to court documents.”

After enduring threats from the school district:
 “As we discussed, there will be consequences for refusal to wear an ID card as we begin to move forward with full implementation.”  Andrea and her family have done really well in this instance, with privacy groups and alternative media highlighting her situation and  drawing attention to this heavyhanded approach from the school and school district.

A surprising aspect of this case was that the school and the school district were so unwavering in their insistence that Andrea wore RFID.  Insistence which seemingly will involve the school paying compensation to Andrea for their discrimination and disregard for civil liberties.

The question has to be asked, just what was the school and school district trying to achieve here because this dogged insistence did not seem solely about attendance figures and financial gain.  Was the school that desperate to throw away civil liberties for cash?  Just what, exactly, are we teaching our kids?

Andrea is a shining example of a human spirit standing up for what she believes is right and this has been a very valuable lesson for all students.  Children have most probably learnt more from this brave individual than any teacher could have taught them in school about civil liberties.

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Posted in Discrimination, Legal, Protest, RFID children, RFID school, RFID tracking, Tracking children, USA, Win

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Judge blocks schools move to expel non RFID student

Posted on November 23, 2012 | Leave a comment

A judge has postponed the suspension of 16 year old high school student, Andrea Hernandez, for refusing to wear RFID chip…

This in from Wired Magazine
2:30 p.m. PST UPDATE: A local Texas judge
on Wednesday tentatively blocked the suspension, pending further hearings next week.

From the Rutherford Institute:
“The Rutherford Institute’s request for a temporary restraining order to prevent Northside Independent School District from removing a San Antonio high school student from John Jay High School’s Science and Engineering Academy because she objected to wearing a name badge signifying participation in the school district’s new “Student Locator Project.” The badges include tiny Radio Frequency Identification (“RFID”) chips that produce a radio signal, enabling school officials to track students’ precise location on school property”

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Posted in Discrimination, Legal, Protest, RFID tracking, Tracking children, USA

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