School Uniforms May Get GPS Tracking August 21, 2007

If it helps parents to find even one lost or kidnapped child, then it would be worth it - and more! If parents want to pay for GPS tracking in their child's uniform, then more power to them. If they don't want to, then they do not have to. Some parents could use this to 'track down' their child...not just from being lost or kidnapped...some older children skip school and, worse, others are out breaking the law. It truly is sad that we need to even consider such items, but the world is a different place than when we parents were kids. As a child growing up in the States (I am 32 now), I never once was offered drugs, never was beaten up at school or on my way to school, never had someone approach me and try to get me into their car, nor was I accosted in any way at school or to and from school.(No, I didn't live in a bubble...I lived in a city of 300,000 people.) These days, children have so much to deal with...why not at least attempt to do all we can to protect them. Having GPS trackers in their clothing is just one small way to help in keeping 'tabs' on our kids.

I was a good kid growing up in the States. Barely been out of school for 4 years, never go in trouble, but having the GPS in the uniforms means I would have found some way to circumvent/distroy the GPS. If parents are that worried about their kids, just ome school them. Only Convicted Criminals should be monitored all the time.

Next there will be another dubious corporate survey suggesting 'we' would prefer to implant microchips in a childs skull to help the 'authorities' 'protect' them (with the additional benefits of up/downloading useful 'personal' information for convenience; just in case the children need a passport, or grow up with a conscience and want to 'democratically' protest against a powerful company who desire to concrete a runway over grandma's home, or should said child offend a policemans delicate sensibilities while the scruffy clockwork-thug tramples over hard won 'democratic' rights because the person hasn't pedantically done what they have been told)

While parents of course slave for these employers and subsequently have no time to support their families true welfare or educate their kids', because they need to have 2 jobs each to afford to buy all that junk they have been led to believe they need to be happy or worthwhile, and pay the mortgag on an over-inflated house price.

Still it may help the likes of young Mst. Iqbal who at the tender age of 7years has felt the full weight of anti-terrorist alerts while travelling through US and UK airports, having been detained while the 'authorities' checked out such an apparently dangerous terrorist risk. Such a microchip/bar-code system may have 'real' benefits here.

This may sound like a rant against orwellian-type government, and I know I should think myself 'lucky' to live in a 'democratic' country able to voice my opinions in an e-mail that is not monitored by the 'authorities' or puts me at risk of descrimination.

However placing a GPS in a persons clothing seems to me to be 'another brick in the wall' type freak re-action, compared to what may be considered more reasonable i.e. teaching a person / child how to be responsible for their right of autonomy, and promoting their ability to assess risk for themselves while being a concientious citizen of a healthy community.

I geuss the point I am trying to make is that the more 'we' accept as normal that technology should be used in this way under the pretense of safety, the more acceptable it becomes to gradually give-up all our personal autonomy to 'over-seer's' who may or may not have our best interests at heart. The 'war on democracy' may be a hysterical delusion, and I may have made more than a few assumptions here, but look around, what is the evidence suggesting, what are the signs, could Ockhams maxim provide the answer?

1984 - READ IT

When did this change from a gadget blog into a political forum?

Sadly, Ms Rix needs to put down the crack pipe, turn off whichever episode of 24 or Spooks she's watching, and do a bit of reading.

Given the rather limited information, I suspect she's of the "GPS 'microchips' are tracked by the satellite, are small, and require no power" clan of the misinformed.

Sorry, Ms Rix, the satellite does not track the "GPS chip" - the GPS receiver is complex, performs fairly complex calculations, and typically requires an active antenna to boot, all of which require a fair amount of battery power. On top of that, you have to have some means to communicate the position data back to Mummy, in Europe that's generally a GSM module. So, let me know how sewing what basically amounts to a GSM phone into that uniform works for you.

could someone please tell me the actual size of the chip needed for the uniform tracking device thanks

Our company was the one that spoke with Trutex about putting our GPS tracking system into clothing. I advised them that at this stage the technology was not SMALL enough to make it practical. Sure, our device is as small as they come (at approx a box of matches) but it will never go un-noticed inside a Blazer, let alone a shirt or blouse. I also advised them against marketing it as a means for anti-abduction as this is quite obviously not going to stop anyone from taking your child if they have a determined mind to. I also warned them of the potential political hornets nest that this would stir up.

I advised the company at the time to refer back to a much smaller technology like RFiD which is a much shorter range system, this would enable parents to know that their child had arrived at school (or at least their clothing had!!!) and indeed that they were still there during the times that they were supposed to be. I believe that this Half-way house is going to be the next step but i would like to point out that, once outside of school, no-one will know where the child is exactly! and so the politics of "tracking our children" can be rationalised now.

Of course, our idea for trackable clothing is for it to be completely self-powered by solar material and so it can be used inside Ski jackets and outdoor wear for people who WANT to be tracked in case of an emergency. We are still working on this and i am keen to hear all comments on whether you all believe that this will be a valuable service in these circumstances?

feel free to contact me or look at our website to check the units out.

rgds

Now-a-days, Courts opt for children of divorcees to have a "relationship" with both parents, in other words, shared custody. This is great if it is under normal circumstances. Unfortunately, mentally perturbed parents with visitation rights will abduct their children for their own selfish reasons. There are parents that may appear to clean-cut, professional looking, law-abiding citizens that turn out to be incest-molesters and abusers of their own.

Concern parents, should have the option to protect their young with a GPS device that can help them track and know exactly their child's(ren's) whereabouts. If a defenseless child is unusually traveling to questionable areas, to another State or Country, a GPS device might give the concern parent the opportunity to notify authorities, track the children and put a stop to the abduction.

While this may be an “inconvenience” for well-behaved teenagers that demand their “privacy” and do not want their parents to know where they are, many parents divorce because of situations where the other parent is dangerous and can harm their children. Under these circumstances, the abuser has been clever enough not to leave visible proof that can stand in Court or has been intimidating the child(ren) to keep silent. So, what is a concern parent to do to protect the victimized minors?

the gps tracking device in uniforms are completely useless, if it is noticeable. They can make the kids take of the uniform or if the kids don't want to be tracked, they can just leave the uniform. its a waste of money! All it does is bring up privacy issues. These gps tracking devices only works well under "spy" circumstances.

While I appreciate the concerns for children's privacy, and am equally concerned about "survalience" of children, I was recently enlightened by our Police department regarding the number of attempted abductions, etc. If it's "big brother" that worries you, I was glad to have a big brother watching out for me while growing up. But I recently had my bank account emptied by someone using technology to access and observe my personal assets. I for one am tired of theives, predators and oportunists taking advantage of me through technology. With GPS, not only am I watching my child, but predators beware, it's my turn to watch you too and I will use whatever it takes to do so, I am big brother to you. With regard to technology, it helps to be informed, I know how easy it is for someone to listen in on my cell phone calls. I know it is easy to do a number of things that breach my privacy by unknowns, but knowledge is power and I know when technology exists for my, and my child's, benefit. Yes, children have rights, but so do parents along with the responsibility to watch over them. Sometimes political and philisophical arguements need to be tempered with reason and good judgement. If you are opposed to the technology, you have the political and philisophical freedom to excerice the right to not use it.