Despite privacy concerns voiced by parents and civil rights activists, a Texas school district has implemented a controversial program requiring all students to wear a locator chip that actively broadcasts a radio signal, giving school officials the ability to track a student’s whereabouts at any time. The program was created in an effort to help obtain funding from the state by documenting the number of students who attend the school.
Students in the Northside Independent School District were required to obtain new student ID badges containing a radio frequency identification (RFID) tracker chip at the start of the school year. The RFID tracker chips are said to be accurate enough to determine if students are in their seats or elsewhere in the classroom. Students that refused to wear the new tracker chips were reportedly threatened with suspension, fines or involuntary school transfer.
