News on ID Cards, ID Badges and Photo ID Systems: 03/06/2005

State Workers Fired Over Accusations Of Sex In Stairwell

10:17 PM

Two state child support workers were fired Friday over a colleague's accusation that she saw them having sex in an office stairwell. Supervisor Marcus Lee and analyst Teresa Householder were ordered to turn in their keys and state ID badges and leave by the end of the day.Their dismissal letters from Barbara Riley, director of the Department of Job and Family Services, said both violated standards of conduct through immoral or indecent conduct and dishonesty. Riley also found evidence that Lee violated the policy against intimidation, because the employee who reported them said he followed her into the office and grabbed her shoulder to try to talk her out of reporting him.

Full Article from newsnet5.com.

Friday, March 11, 2005

Lawmakers move on measure to prevent school abductions

10:47 PM

A bill designed to make it more difficult for kidnappers to abduct school children by requiring photo IDs for anyone picking up a child from a Florida school is headed toward a final vote in the Senate.Less than two months ago, a convicted child molester was charged with kidnapping an 11-year-old boy in Dunnellon and taking him to Georgia after he picked the boy up from elementary school.The bill is intended to prevent that from happening again, the bill's sponsor said Thursday.Some school districts already require photo identification, although there is no blanket requirement for proof of identification when picking up a child.

Full Article from tcpalm.com.

Thursday, March 10, 2005

Reconsidering school bus policy

9:42 PM

Doug and Glenda Strickland, parents of a Fawn Hollow Elementary School student, urged the board to implement a stricter drop-off policy after their own young son unexpectedly returned home to an empty house last December.For the past few years, bus drivers have not for the most part dropped off kindergarteners unless an adult met the bus, School Supt. Alan Beitman said.The Stricklands would prefer that children not be allowed to get off the bus unless a parent or other responsible adult is present at the bus stop. They are requesting that the district to implement a photo identification system that would match children and guardians.

Full Article from zwire.com.

Wednesday, March 09, 2005

DHS privacy chief wary of national IDs

9:47 PM

The chief privacy officer for the Homeland Security Department is not a supporter of a national identification card.?I?m not a fan,? Nuala O?Connor Kelly said at a March 8 cybersecurity conference sponsored by Government Computer News, a sister publication of Washington Technology.?We have huge issues with managing identification and getting identification right,? Kelly added. For example, she said, there are many risks to privacy from possible misuses of ?breeder documents? ? birth certificates and drivers? licenses issued by state and local agencies that are used to apply for U.S. passports.?You have to be very vigilant and concerned,? Kelly said.Proposals for secure national ID card systems have gained supporters, but civil libertarians say any security gains would be overshadowed by the risks of ?Big Brother? infringements upon personal rights and freedom.

Full Article from washingtontechnology.com.

Student ID Badges Raise Privacy Questions

9:44 PM

A pilot program that used radio frequency ID badges to take attendance at a small California school may have failed, but the founder of the company that provided the technology says this isn?t the end of what could be a forward trend in American schools. ?We have gotten a lot of interest from other school districts, because of the media, and from other industries too,? said Doug Ahlers, a partner in InCom Corporation (search). The company worked with Brittan Elementary School in Sutter, Calif., in January to deploy badges fashioned with radio frequency identification technology (search) to help take attendance for the school?s seventh and eighth graders.

Full Article from foxnews.com.

Tuesday, March 08, 2005

Photo ID system to track sharks

9:49 PM

A PHOTOGRAPHIC identification system is helping scientists track whale shark populations on Australia's west coast.Researchers from the north Queensland-based Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) are using photos to identify distinctive patterns and markings on individual sharks in Western Australia's Ningaloo Marine Park.AIMS biologist Mark Meekan said the photos will help scientists determine shark numbers and whether they were being hunted for their flesh and fins in south-east Asia.

Full Article from news.com.au.

Green Bay session looks at pros, cons of voter photo ID bill

9:48 PM

Howard Deputy Clerk Michelle Olman, who has worked polling sites, says requiring voters to show a photo identification on Election Day is a sign of accountability.She was among a dozen speakers who spoke Monday at a state Senate listening session in Green Bay about the proposed legislation.Supporters say the bill will cut down on fraud, while opponents argue it will discourage thousands from voting.?What is the price of a legitimate election?? asked Rob Miller of Green Bay, who supported the bill.

Full Article from greenbaypressgazette.com.

Monday, March 07, 2005

Orwell predictions came early

9:50 PM

Commentary by David FrownfelderRemember the slogan from George Orwell's novel "1984"? "Big Brother is watching you."That scenario was briefly lived out recently by elementary and middle school students in a small West Coast town. School administrators in the Brittan Elementary School District of Sutter, Calif., worked out a deal with a technology company to test a system that required students to wear picture identification badges embedded with radio frequency, or RFID, chips.Under this system, students were required to wear a photo ID card embedded with the RFID chip, which has a 15-digit number assigned to each student. As students pass through a doorway scanner when entering a classroom or a bathroom, the scanner records the number and sends it to a server in the attendance office. Teachers would then verify attendance by the usual method.

Full Article from lenconnect.com.

Sunday, March 06, 2005

Digital license's 6-point system worth the hassle

9:51 PM

Do you know the three words that always strike fear in New Jersey motorists?It's Digital Driver's License.Under the MVC's new digital system, a color photo must be taken and several forms of identification must be produced so the new digital license reflects the absolutely unadulterated, indisputable identity of the bearer. New Jersey motorists have basked in the comfort of a non-invasive, non-digital, non-photo license identification system longer than any other state. Now, they must suffer the indignity of rummaging through stuffed drawers, misplaced strong boxes and forgotten safe deposit boxes as part of a scavenger-like hunt for something that Trenton bureaucrats call Six Points.

Full Article from northjersey.com.

Parents protest school?s use of radio ID badges

9:50 PM

The little Northern California farm town of Sutter is blissfully unaccustomed to turmoil. But recent weeks dished up a hopper of dissent.It started with a girl who went home from junior high saying she felt like an orange.Lauren Tatro, 13, told her parents the plain facts. Every student at Brittan Elementary School had to wear a badge the size of an index card with their name, grade, photo - and a tiny radio identification tag. The purpose was to test a new high-tech attendance system. To the eighth-grader, it seemed students had been turned into grocery items on the shelf, slabs of sirloin at the meat counter, fruit in the produce section.

Full Article from nashuatelegraph.com.

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