UK secondary school tests RFID embedded uniforms

Hungerhill School, a secondary school in Doncaster, South Yorkshire is running a trial that involves tagging the uniforms of pupils with RFID tags. The tags pull up data including academic performance, the child's current location, and can even deny access to certain restricted areas -- behind the bike shed, perhaps? The trial has raised the usual questions of privacy and human rights, although since the trial is voluntary and provides convenience by auto-registering pupils, the current iteration of the trial isn't a particularly great violation. Call us when kids get tags from birth, then we'll take to the streets: but probably only because ours missed out. We'll take our tongue out of our cheek now.

[Via Picture Phoning]

[Standingfast @ Oct 21st 2007 5:51PM]

This looks like a great hacking opportunity for the people who can do it...

[itsme92 @ Oct 21st 2007 5:52PM]

War Is Peace, Freedom Is Slavery, Ignorance Is Strength

[Jonathan B @ Oct 21st 2007 6:32PM]

2+2=5

[JPerry2010 @ Oct 21st 2007 6:38PM]

Probably my favorite book.

[TeddyN @ Oct 21st 2007 8:14PM]

Spot on.

[paul34 @ Oct 22nd 2007 12:30AM]

But, Gentlemen, we must fight Goldstein, or else how is Oceania to remain victorious in her wars abroad?

[JohnTitor @ Oct 22nd 2007 2:24AM]

oh geez, doesn't England realize from history yet that oppression doesn't work?
will it be revolution this time or civil disobedience?

[John @ Oct 21st 2007 5:56PM]

Good thing kids are so stupid they'll never figure out how to defeat the most easily hacked form of tracking in widespread use.

[Ryhan @ Oct 21st 2007 6:26PM]

1.) Its easy to clear the data on those things
2.) It would be even easier to wear a look-alike (unless the uniforms have text or something, in which case you could always iron something in)
3.)The proximity of these things to whatever is detecting them would have to be so small that these would be pointless in trying to keep students away from behind a bike shed :D

[GameboyRMH @ Oct 22nd 2007 2:39AM]

About the range of the RFID tags, the ones commonly used today don't go beyond maybe 3 feet, but there are models available that can reach close to 30 feet, they're just not in the mainstream yet.

Heck this puppy can reach 450 feet:
http://www.iautomate.com/r500sp.html

Sure it's big and chunky now, but give it 5 years and it'll be down to rice-grain size.

Still, nothing a tin foil pocket protector won't fix ;)

[sarah @ Oct 21st 2007 6:41PM]

Auto registers.

Hmm great chance to make money there taking other students uniform to school in your bag whilst they goof off

[Darkest Daze @ Oct 22nd 2007 3:23AM]

Exactly what I was thinking. Someone wears 2 shirts with the tags in them and they both get counted. Of course someone might wonder why they both feel the need to enter doorways the exact same time all day.

[James Ollier @ Oct 21st 2007 6:44PM]

Hacked or not, this is clearly a breach of human rights, and I've only got two words for whoever put this idea forward:

Fuck You!
and
You Fuck!

[mushrooshi @ Oct 21st 2007 6:45PM]

Is that a cigarette in one hand and a puff of smoke coming out of the kids mouth?

[Michael @ Oct 21st 2007 6:52PM]

Exactly what I noticed first. Great picture Engadget....lol.

[_Mazza_ @ Oct 21st 2007 6:55PM]

Haha, I live in Doncaster and have a lot of mates who used to go to Hungerhill who I now go to college with. Had no idea this was happening there.

[Ed @ Oct 21st 2007 7:09PM]

I thought the US was going full speed towards totalitarian fascist implementations and the complete suppression of privacy and human rights....

Apparently they are beating us to it.

[John @ Oct 21st 2007 7:18PM]

if you think that there's less of a right to privacy in the US than in the UK, I don't know where you've been living for the past decade.

[Neebs @ Oct 21st 2007 8:37PM]

Bugger all, literally.

[Geass @ Oct 21st 2007 8:50PM]

I still consider a key card more fashionable. Of course, I would rather have that more pertaining to medical informatina and attendance records and disciplinary history, parents nowadays can acces their childrens grades online rather than have the child have it everywhere with them.

I would also imagine that the uniform woud be dry clean only? With no ironing?

[Phil @ Oct 21st 2007 9:00PM]

Since when did children have rights?

Even fundamentalist Christians think children only have rights and should be protected between conception and birth, and then it's an 18 year free-for-all of oppression and totalitarian control.

The best thing about this kind of abuse of technology is that it might create a more defiant generation.

[Matt Smith @ Oct 21st 2007 9:07PM]

Haha I live in good old Donny too, Hungerhill is about 10mins away :) Hall Cross all the way! /sarcasm

[Ian @ Oct 21st 2007 11:29PM]

Since just about every school kid has a cell phone (hand phone) with gps chipsets why not just track their phones?

[Matt @ Oct 22nd 2007 5:17AM]

It's news to me that 'most phones' have GPS chipsets. Tracking is usually done using cell tower triangulation.

[Chris @ Oct 22nd 2007 12:38AM]

Grey shorts with white tights is SO 1996, even if you do cool it up with a cigarette.

[MAIcrosoft @ Oct 22nd 2007 4:49AM]

oh way cool! now you can just save your notes into your uniform for a test : D

[CaptDMO @ Oct 22nd 2007 11:30AM]

Great! Now the school "nurse" can summon the school
"resource officer" if junior hasn't reported to take his daily "mandatory for attendance" psychotropic drug prescribed by the "official" state Department of
Child "services" on the recommendation of the newest
freakin' twit representing the "protection union" of
unmeritorious teachers holding the job that instructors of excellence seem to avoid like the plague for "some" reason.

Hope these aren't the same folk maintaining the operating systems for the surveillance data. Screwing or skewing the data by "administrators" is
cause for immediate dismissal/E100,000 assessment..right? Fiddling about with the lives of a minor via their "permanent record" is- 5 years/life criminal registration with restrictions- same as pedophiles...right?

[Andy @ Oct 22nd 2007 3:25PM]

I see these as being benefical. One, the school is responsible for all the students, so knowing where they are at any point in time should be in their right. Also, it could be used to locate a kid in an emergency, such as a fire. The firefighters could know exaclty where a student is to rescue.

[Joe @ Oct 22nd 2007 4:34PM]

First the UK is requiring that people must get national ID cards, thanks to Blair. it seems soon that school will require these types of clothes. Breach of human rights: YES!

[MARTYN @ Oct 23rd 2007 8:06AM]

wake up guys this is just the thin end of the wedge.

[Santosh Krishnan @ Oct 23rd 2007 12:58PM]

Are those kids smoking? How old are secondary school kids anyhow?