A school in Switzerland has controversially announced it will trial tracking wristbands on children to keep tabs on their location.
As highlighted by Remix News, Swiss outlet Neue Zürcher Zeitung reports that the Letten after-school care centre in Birmensdorf will require kids to wear the Bluetooth tech at all times during care hours unless parents specifically opt out.
Teachers will be able to remotely monitor individual children or groups of them, and will be alerted if a child leaves the school grounds without permission. https://t.co/u38K5EZUMo
— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) June 5, 2024
The wristbands will track the wearers, with staff being alerted should a pupil wander outside the sanctioned location without prior authorisation.
The justification given for the tracking is that the number of children in the facility is always changing and that it is necessary to provide “high quality care.”
The report also notes that “important individual information about food intolerances” can be stored in the system for the children to make check-in at lunch easier.
The report notes that the tracking system was developed by the head of the education centre, Joel Giger, as part of a start-up called Companion.
Theo school administrators stated “Birmensdorf school can gain new insights through the pilot project and at the same time offer the company the opportunity to test the product together with specialists on-site as part of the pilot project.”
Sounds like the guy is using school kids as Guinea pigs for his big brother surveillance side hustle.
Swiss cantonal data protection authority spokesman Hans Peter Waltisberg notes that “a permanent localization of pupils does not seem necessary for the care of children.”
“It should be examined whether a Bluetooth wristband is the appropriate means of localization. For example, the fact that a wristband can also be removed must be taken into account,” he added.
Similar technology is used to literally keep tabs on parolees or convicts released on the proviso of good behaviour.
If the educational centre wants to become known as the school that treats children like prisoners it’s going about it the right way.
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