Slashgeo Log In
Using RFID and Wi-Fi to Track Students?
posted by Satri
on Friday May 25, @05:19PM
Permalink
Trackback URI
Slashdotthis
Diggthis
Del.icio.us
from the suddenly-you-don't-want-to-go-back-to-college? dept.
Permalink
Trackback URI
Slashdotthis
Diggthis
Del.icio.us
from the suddenly-you-don't-want-to-go-back-to-college? dept.
Slashdot discuss a story about a proposal to track students using RFID and WiFi. Their summary: "The BBC reports on a proposal to use RFID and wi-fi to track students wherever they go on campus: 'Battery-powered RFID tags are placed on an asset and they communicate with at least three wireless access points inside the network to triangulate a location.' At The Wireless Event in London, 'Marcus Birkl, head of wireless at Siemens, said location tracking of assets or people was one of the biggest incentives for companies, hospitals and education institutions to roll out wi-fi networks.' The article points out that integration of RFID and wi-fi raises the possibility that RFID can be used for remote surveillance."
Related Stories
Airport To Tag Passengers With RFID
[+]
Slashdot links and discuss a The Register article about an Hungary airport which will tag all passengers with high-powered RFID tags. The Slashdot summary: "From the Register article: 'People will be told to wear radio tags round their necks when they get to the airport. The tag would notify a computer system of their identity and whereabouts. The system would then track their activities in the airport using a network of high definition cameras. "[The tags] have got a long range, of 10m to 20m," said Dr. Paul Brennan of University College London's antennas and radar group which developed the tags, "and the system has been designed so the tag can be located to within a meter, and it can locate thousands of tags in one area at a given time."' The system is being touted for 'Improving airport efficiency, security and passenger flow by enhanced passenger monitoring.' BBC is also reporting this story, and brings up such hurdles to the project as 'finding a way of ensuring the tags cannot be switched between passengers or removed without notification.' As for any mention of the 'hurdle' of people's rights, the article vaguely and briefly states that 'The issue of infringement of civil liberties will also be key,' but doesn't bother to go into any pesky details."" See also related stories to remember stories about the same issue in the US.
RFID Tattoo for Tracking Cattle and Humans
[+]
Slashdot offers a on new RFID tattoos for tracking cattle and humans. Their summary: "The Register reports that a St Louis based company, Somark Innovations, has successfully tested RFID tattoos to be used for tracking cattle and other animals. Details are limited for the actual tattoo, but it's said to contain no metals and can be read up to about four feet away. Engadget has some more details on the matter. And yes, the article does mention RFID tattoos are possible for people, specifically the military. From the article: 'The system developed by Somark uses an array of needles to quickly inject a pattern of dots into each animal, with the pattern changing for each injection. This pattern can then be read from over a meter away using a proprietary reader operating at high frequency.'"
WiFi Positioning Expansion
[+]
GIS Monitor runs an article on the expansion of WiFi positioning (WPS), with an emphasis on Skyhook Wireless. From the article: "The speed and extent of hardware manufacturers' adoption of WiFi, which they are now routinely embedding in PDAs, cell phones, and laptops, exceeded his company's expectations, says Rice, and led Skyhook to expand the list of platforms it supports. One reason network operators embraced WiFi is that it relieves their networks. On the other hand, Wi-Max, he claims, does not yet pose a challenge. [...] The major trend that Rice sees that is helping Skyhook is in consumer behavior: location-based services (LBS) is taking off on mobile phones because of rich mapping content on the Web." Update: 06/01 16:15 GMT by S : While on the subject, Skyhook announced version 2.0 of Loki.
Minnesota Prison To Use RFID
[+]
The RFID weblog informs us a Minnesota prison will soon be using RFID tags to track inmates. From the blog: "Now Minnesota Correctional Facility in Lino Lakes is using RFID to keep a watch on the inmates in its thirteen hundred inmate capacity prison. This RFID inmate tracking system is expected to lower the burden on the prison staff since inmates would be aware of the fact that a strict watch would kept on them using the system and this would deter them from indulging in uncalled for behavior during their stay in the prison. [...] If inmates think that they can go undetected by taking off the strap then they should be told that in case the strap comes off the rules based software would detect it within split second."
Industry: China's Large RFID Tracking Network
[+]
Slashdot covers a story on China wanting to deploy the largest people-tracking network in the world, using geospatial technologies such as RFID chips. Their summary: "News.com reports that China is building the largest and most sophisticated people-tracking network in the world, all to track citizens in the city of Shenzhen. This network utilizes 20,000 intelligent digital cameras and RFID cards to keep track of the 12.4 million people living in the Southern port city. The key to the system is the new residency cards fitted with powerful computer chips. 'Data on the chip will include not just the citizen's name and address but also work history, educational background, religion, ethnicity, police record, medical insurance status and landlord's phone number. Even personal reproductive history will be included, for enforcement of China's controversial "one child" policy. Plans are being studied to add credit histories, subway travel payments and small purchases charged to the card.' While I lived in Shenzhen, there indeed were (and still are) plenty of crimes. One of my friend who lived at the 20th floor of a condo building in a nice neighborhood saw an intruder in the middle of one night while he was sleeping. Still, this will clearly raise the fear of human rights abuses. And ... ' one of the most startling aspects of this plan is that this project is mostly made possible by an American company with solid venture fundings.'" See also related stories below.
Application Domains: More Parents Ready to Track their Kids
[+]
All Points Blog links to a short article on parents more and more likely to track their kids. From the article: "Forty-two per cent of the parents surveyed, all with children under the age of 13, said they would be interested and willing to pay for services that would allow them to track the whereabouts of their children. [...] In addition, just over one-quarter (26 per cent) of mobile users aged 18 to 24 said they would be interested in mobile social networking apps based on the location of their friends. But the use of some location-based services already available remains low. Just three per cent of mobile users surveyed said they use mobile navigation tech such as maps or turn-by-turn navigation."
Students In UK Tracked With RFID Chips
[+]
Slashdot discuss a where we learn students in U.K. are tracked with RFID chips. Their summary: "Ten kids in a pilot program in the Hungerhill School in Edenthorpe, England will participate in a program that puts RFID chips in students' uniforms to keep track of their whereabouts. A group called 'Leave Them Kids Alone' is opposing the program. Bruce Schneier blogs: '...Now it's easy to cut class; just ask someone to carry your shirt around the building while you're elsewhere.'" If you find this story interesting, take a look at our previous RFID-related stories...
This discussion has been archived.
No new comments can be posted.
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
