Has anyone else dealt with these?? They’re NFC, track how long they’re in the bathroom, and where they are. I dont know what company this is through, nor what they are doing with all the data they’re collecting. They also use things called smart passes. I’m thinking about emailing the school district and not allowing them to make my child use them. It seems invasive and creepy. :( If anyone has any advice how to approach this, please let me know. Or knows about them in general. I just don’t trust it. Thank you!!
Also!! Would super appreciate helping me lay out properly communicated points, as I am not a confrontational person, and am very mad. I’m worried I’ll just sound like I’m pitching a fit for no reason. I never want to be that parent that is dreaded by schools. But this is important. Especially due to my more sensitive situation (my children are foster kids)
Edit for FAQ:
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each kid gets an individual digital pass, it records their geolocation, behavioral problems, responses to medical questionnaires, and it can be shared with 3rd parties according to their privacy policy. (Students are considered “customers”)
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I’m from the US.
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they are supposed to wear it all day, every day and check in every place they go with kiosks.
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they are also being limited to 3 bathroom breaks a day… So I guess fuck you if you’ve got heavy periods or IBS. And you can’t go in between classes. Bathrooms will be locked unless it’s an emergency, but you have to have a teacher override the lock. Which isn’t exactly how an emergency works.
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one of my biggest concerns as someone in the US is a school shooter situation where they get access to this system and now they can pinpoint where every kid is and is going. Can prevent stragglers.
My email to the principal (I will be doing a follow up about the health problems)
Hello Principal,
This is Blah463.I have several concerns about this smartpass system and the general bathroom break policy. While I understand the issues posed by students being able to go to the bathroom freely, I believe an old school solution would be better and not as concerning (like signing out of the classroom). I believe it is through Raptor Technologies, though please correct me if I am wrong.
I apologize if this comes across as harsh, as I am honestly quite angry I was not even asked permission for this. I would have declined. This puts my and every other student in danger, risks data breaches, makes it more difficult for students to use the bathroom (despite this showing to have negative effects on their urinary health, and makes them less likely to properly hydrate).
Here is Raptor Technologies’ Privacy Policy, I will be citing it directly throughout this email. https://apps.raptortech.com/About/Privacy
Their Privacy Policy
Starting directly with their privacy policy, as this INCLUDES students and their information. “Customer Information may relate to different types of individuals, including Customers’ staff, volunteers, visitors, students, parents/guardians, and other individuals.” They follow COPPA (https://www.ftc.gov/legal-library/browse/rules/childrens-online-privacy-protection-rule-coppa) for students under 13, which means the company is less restricted on their data collection and use for anyone 13 and older, as they no longer fall under these guidelines. There should ALWAYS be a requirement for the student, at the very least, to CONSENT to their data being collected.
What Data is Collected?
According to their privacy policy, the customer information that may be collected (which once again, includes students):
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Attendance and hall pass information, such as dates and times of arrival and departure, attendance in classes, and hall pass permissions.
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Dismissal information, such as pick-up times, persons and vehicles authorized for pick-up, and confirmation of pick-up.
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Health screening responses, such as any symptoms individuals report as part of a health screening process or service. (This one is of special concern, what about HIPAA? https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/for-individuals/guidance-materials-for-consumers/index.html)
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“What Rights Does the Privacy Rule Give Me over My Health Information?”
THIS DOES NOT APPLY TO SCHOOL DISTRICTS, I DO NOT CARE ABOUT THE SCHOOL HAVING MEDICAL INFORMATION, IT IS THIS 3RD PARTY COMPANY I HAVE CONCERNS ABOUT.
"Receive a notice that tells you how your health information may be used and shared.
Decide if you want to give your permission before your health information can be used or shared for certain purposes, such as for marketing"
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Behavioral health information, such as bullying, disrespectful behavior, depression, or other inappropriate or concerning behavior. (Once again, this is a HIPAA concern.)
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Geolocation information, If enabled, our Services will collect information about precise geolocation to provide certain location-enabled features, such as the user’s location during an emergency.
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Usage information, including information we log automatically when individuals use any applications in connection with the Services, such as the times and frequency of access to the application, interactions with application features, and other technical information.
How Customer Information is Used
- "Allowing Customers to...manage attendance, hall passes and dismissal processes; undertake health screenings; prepare for, respond to, and recover from emergencies; identify student wellbeing concerns, and develop and engage in compliance and training initiatives;"
How They Share Customer Information
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“At the direction of the Customer. Our Customers may direct us to integrate a Service with third-party offerings, software, or applications. In such cases, we will share Customer Information with those third parties at the Customer’s direction.” Meaning, once again, you would not inform parents properly of where their child(ren)'s information is being stored or shared.
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“In the event of a corporate transaction. In the event of a corporate divestiture, merger, consolidation, acquisition, reorganization, sale or other disposition of all or any portion of our business or assets, we may share Customer Information with acquirers and other relevant participants in the transaction.” According to Liz Mineo from the Harvard Gazette, “…while customers have made the decision to share with 23andMe, from whom they get a lot of benefit, they really have very little say about what will happen should the company be taken over or should the company go bankrupt, and its assets sold,” as an example of how data can STILL be shared with 3rd parties, even if the company IS reputable. Which Raptor Technologies is NOT.
Raptor Technologies’ Past Data Breach (Jan 2024)
Here are several articles reporting about their data breach in 2024, exposing millions of school records including: safety procedures, student medical files, and court documents. This is unacceptable. This is why this information SHOULD NOT all be stored TOGETHER on a private company's off-site servers.
https://www.wired.com/story/us-school-shooter-emergency-plans-leak/
https://www.edweek.org/technology/a-massive-data-leak-exposed-school-lockdown-plans-what-districts-need-to-know/2024/01
https://hackread.com/texas-school-safety-software-data-leak/
https://www.techradar.com/pro/security/school-software-breach-reveals-private-data-on-millions-of-users
https://www.k12dive.com/news/raptor-technologies-school-safety-data-leak/704790/
https://www.twingate.com/blog/tips/Raptor-data-breach "The data exposed in the breach included school lockdown plans, student medical records, information on students flagged as posing a threat on campus, evacuation plans, court documents outlining family abuse and restraining orders, names and ID numbers of staff, parents, guardians, and students, details about school security measures, drivers licenses of school visitors, active shooter response plans, campus maps and CCTV locations, locations and descriptions of "safe rooms," emergency contact lists, layouts of schools or classrooms, infrastructure issues, monthly drills, safety protocol violations, background check details, and information on at-risk students."
https://databreaches.net/2024/01/11/us-school-shooter-emergency-plans-exposed-in-raptor-technologies-data-leak/
THIS WAS NOT EVEN FROM HACKING. This was the company publishing these documents by accident on a PUBLIC WEBSITE, meaning ANYONE ONLINE could have access to the information.
I will never trust a company that messes up this badly.
Safety Concerns
Not including the data breach, I wonder about the practices of staff that have access to this information, people in general do not have good digital practices. Often using very insecure passwords (especially the same passwords for multiple things), being careless about what information they share, being susceptible to social engineering (how most hacks happen), etc.
In the United States we have the ever-present concern of school shooters, if someone with these intentions were to get access to where EVERY STUDENT is at any given time (since they are required to check-in at kiosks), as well as the school's emergency plans, they now know how to target as many people as possible. This is morbid, but it is a genuine problem.
I understand the problems with students and damage to the bathrooms, but this is not the solution. Period. I did not consent to my student’s data being shared with 3rd party. I do not mean to come at this with aggression or anger, but this is something I am very protective of in a world where companies sell data like candy is given out at Halloween, except they get lots of money in return. This normalizes to students that privacy is not a right, they were not asked if they were OK with their data being sent off. This normalization leads to apathy. I believe schools should teach digital hygiene practices, but this is not what this is about.
I am willing to discuss other solutions for my child. Though I believe it is a concern for everyone, and I will be contacting other parents with my concerns, as most people are not technologically savvy enough to realize what risks these devices pose.
I will glady come in for a meeting to further discuss my concerns, but I can assure you, I will not be persuaded to allow this breach of privacy. Schools are meant to protect children, not put them further in danger and teach them to not care about their data and safety. I would also like to see the school’s specific privacy agreement with Raptor Technologies. My student is of particular concern when it comes to privacy with being in the foster care system.
Thank you for your time
Blah463
limiting bathroom breaks is child abuse
I agree. And to 3 a day is insane.
Yeah it’s nuts. I have a small bladder and just naturally pee a lot. I usually went to the toilet between every lesson at school. Is moving schools an option for your kids?
I myself have IBS and had to take frequent restroom breaks. I should not have to get a doctors note saying she needs to be able to use the bathroom. Its a human right. Ugh. No, unfortunately, not without paying, AND they’re foster kids, so they’re not technically in my custody. I’m just their guardian
You have a lot of sway as a parent over the school systems in the US so I’d throw a fit. Maybe even contact some other parents and get together to all throw a fit about this. One person is easier to ignore. This sounds like a complete and total invasion of privacy to the point its mentally conditioning your kid to accept just being monitored by the government 24/7 as an adult. I wouldn’t accept it.
I just hope I’m able to pass on even a bit of my absolute seething hatred for anything that compromises privacy. Wheww it gets me going and I am not an angry person generally, but especially when it comes to my kids, it’s unacceptable.
Honestly kids understand a lot more than people give them credit for. I think if you just explained it to them in plain english they’d get it.
Omg sorry for the essay. 😭
I absolutely have! Also they are both young teens. Problem IS, bad practices have already been the norm for them. They have learned that giving all your data away willingly means nothing. That privacy means nothing. And I myself do sometimes get despair and hopeless about privacy. Because it IS hard. But I have explicitly talked to them about privacy protections they can do, how to navigate the privacy settings in various social media apps (I hate them, but it’s honestly inevitable, so I’d rather they know how to limit their exposure), WHY privacy is important, why flock cameras are bad for everyone, basic password security and management, etc etc. I absolutely believe children understand things. I hate when people talk down to even very young children. (Dont get me started on young kid’s shows ugh) You obviously have to change the vocabulary and scope, but starting them with simple practices is great.
I have no desire to have a very young child, the situation I’m in is very much a instance of circumstances just being what they are lol. So I do try to instill in the parents around me that this is an active practice they should.be teaching from a young age, and practicing themselves. But I do try to make it as seamless as possible for them. Because they already have enough on their plates. And it’s all about risk management and doing a privacy assessment.
I don’t expect people to go as hard as I have, completely de-googling where I can (fucking monopoly), changing my OS both on pc and phone, deleting all socials, etc.
honestly what you’ve done is what I did too and its not that big of a deal imo. Once you adjust to it. I’d challenge your kids to like take a “cleanse” from social media for example as a family. Maybe go on a camping trip and use 0 tech the entire time. See how they like it. Sometimes people don’t even realize how tech changes their lives until they have a moment away from it.
I would say that depends on how entrenched you were with it, and how your family/friends react. I went from constant use of everything to nothing. Changing everything over was a PITA, email and password-wise. Like ultimately once it was done, it’s not hard to keep up. But the initial switch can be daunting. Tbh I also have executive dysfunction so even small tasks sound like hell to me sometimes.
Even better a reason to show your kids early they don’t have to do it to begin with.
I’m more worried about the number of people (even without a leak of this data) that could use it for nefarious purposes. We already now that some teachers groom and sexually assault students. This seems like something that I don’t trust school administration with because it only takes one bad person already trusted by the system to take advantage of it for nefarious purposes.
responses to medical questionnaires, and it can be shared with 3rd parties according to their privacy policy.
This screams “HIPAA violation” to me
Yuppp. I mentioned that in the email to the principal (who I’m going to first, then BOE, then news). I’m getting someone I know that uses FB in the same community to post my concerns and see if we can gather more parents. I’ll post the email anonymized shortly.
If I lived in your community, I’d be your biggest silent champion. Keep up the good work.
Thank you ✨ I’m going to try and inform other parents, because most are not going to look into this. It will be better to have more of us.
That school sounds more like a prison.
Their food is about on par… Have had problems with mold. :((
What the fuck??? I haven’t been out of US high school for more than 5 years, and when I was there we just did a request on this school website/resource we used where your teacher could approve it (not just for bathrooms, but going anywhere basically), and then you’d click the end session button or whatever when you came back. I actually liked this as using a physical pass that hundreds of kids touched is probs gross as hell.
Why the fuck do they need geolocation and health data tags 24/7??? Are we fucking cattle!!!
Gotta make sure to teach kids early that they have no expectation of privacy no matter where they go and that their every movement and behaviour is tracked. No way in hell would I permit any child of mine to be tracked like that.
The entire situation sounds absolutely bonkers, are schools really that fucking draconian that they lock the bathrooms between classes?? Like that’s when you’re supposed to go so you don’t leave during class and cause a disruption. Shit I had teachers tell me to wait until the next break!
Also limited bathroom breaks is absurd but also gotta train those future proles early so they don’t get any ideas like “I should be able to go to the bathroom when I need to throughout the day”
They’re 100% selling the children’s info to any buyer they can
As a teacher, there are lots of reasons I’d like kids to have hall passes, so I guess I’ll play the part of devil’s advocate, here: If I’m responsible for the safety, learning, and emotional well-being of your kid, and several hundred other kids whose frontal lobes are still far from developed and vulnerable to unwise impulses, there are behaviors I’d like to discourage. I can’t think of a single reason teachers would want to use a technology like this except to say “yeah, the bathroom trash caught fire at 12:20, when Markey Mark was out of Mrs. Doubtfire’s class.” Are there other reasons it shouldn’t be used, though? Probably… But for this one, I’d like to say the underlying reason isn’t for spying as much as for liability and (uggh…) safety, like knowing a kid had to go to the bathroom when the fire alarm went off and the FD is wondering if they need to send in someone to find them. Maybe I just work with well-intentioned people. Maybe I am one. I have seen kids more accountable for their actions when I use a sign-out sheet than not. I won’t advocate any tech that puts kids names on a cloud or otherwise off-site network, though. It feels very different from the kind of privacy invasion a corpo or gov’t agency might abuse. Maybe one of you comrades can help pin down why, though.
OK, I read over the privacy policy, and they are allowed to retain “customer’s” (which includes students under the schools) medical responses to questionnaires, behavioral problems, geolocation, etc. I absolutely understand the need for student accountability, but I dont want some private company having ALL this info amalgamated. Plus, with how frequent school shooters are, if they get ahold of the password or someone who has it, they can pinpoint where kids are, and even prevent stragglers bc they know EXACTLY where they are.
I absolutely sympathize with teachers. I wish kids were better behaved
The cat has long been out of the bag. Only the cat is invisible (data) and the bag’s a computer. This invisible collection, sale and synthesis of data has become a central component of modern economies now. People playing Pokemon Go didn’t know (and the authors of the game-software probably didn’t know either) that they were collecting data for the use of training autonomous-suicide-drones. This is the economy now. This is surveillance-capitalism.
You can’t lobby for regulation, removedation or prohibition. Capital has invested large sums and that investment is paying dividends. Capital is flowing into this sector and something capitalists refrain from writing is that labour is subjugated entirely by capital. Capitalism is a dictatorship. That means scientists, engineers, technologists, marketers and others now find their jobs being: how can we make ever more sophisticated computers, networks and ways to surveil. This surveillance is done to generate data. Then capital is allocated in the pursuit of synthesizing this data into saleable products. One of its results is the ‘AI’ that you can use from ChatGPT or whatever it’s called. A less known result is the AI being sold to nation-states that target and kill autonomously.
There’s no going back. You and your child live under the dictatorship of capital. You live under capitalism. You are a commodity to be brought and sold by capitalists.
Aside from overwhelming collective-action this can not be stopped. The organization that brought these things are largely ignorant and non-caring. The most you’ll get from them is usually a parroting of “we value your privacy and it’s protected under some law” (which doesn’t protect anything). They don’t care. To care would be to prohibit all new procurements–this is what the market is now selling; this is what’s cheapest. It does something beneficial for them so they brought it. The fact it came with a computer that surveils the children is besides the point. The data is invisible and the computer is small and hidden. Out of sight out of mind. The cat’s invisible. It never purrs or meows. It only demands two things: electricity and a connection. But that’s normal. Everything requires those.
I absolutely dont mind hall passes!
How old are these “kids”? People use that to mean anything from 6 year olds to 17 year olds, which is not the same. The main problem though, is kids being treated as less than people, and the property of others (usually their parents, but sometimes the school or government). If children had more legal rights in general, they wouldn’t require the luck of having a decent parent like you to fight on their behalf - what about all the other students?
They’re middle schoolers, so 11-14. (oh, also they say they use COPPA when it comes to data for kids UNDER 13, so any kid above that? Whatever IG). Yeah. I’m so pissed, for everyone. I am coming at it mainly for my child, but I intend to lay out all my points against its usage AT ALL. I am really nervous about this, as I am a non confrontational person in general. But this actually has me seething. I am afraid I am going to not be able to express my point well.
I remember the shitstorm when my middle school introduced ID lanyards that the kids were supposed to wear, but those didn’t have any kind of tracking
Just email them something like
I’m firmly against this system of timing bathroom usage of my child. They are not to be pressured or shamed if they need any amount of time in the washrooms. In the case that they need to use the washroom for a protracted period, I trust that they will ask for the nurse or contact me to take care of them.
Like how old are they? 5? There should be washrooms next to the room. 8? They need to be socialised enough to find the washroom on their own and return in a reasonable amount of time. If they aren’t, having an ankle monitor does not address the real issue with the child/ skill gap etc.
I’m about to write a whole essay to the administration, citing sources, and the fact that Raptor technologies has already had a data breach that exposed 4 million student, parents, and staff info, as well as lockdown plans for schools. But I’m ALSO going to be going off on them about limiting bathroom usage. They have awoken a bear by me starting with just these idiotic passes.
lockdown plans for schools
Jfc
It wasn’t even a hack. The company accidentally posted all the PDFs on an open website.
Criminally negligent
restricting phones in school would reduce time spent in bathrooms
and it would improve student privacy
Went to high school in Germany. There were no hall passes.
Oh the horror!
I’m working on German citizenship (by ancestry). I yearn for public transport.
I was in Berlin in the 80’s and the public transportation system was the best. Everything ran on time and generally often. When I returned to visit many years later I was very disappointed to find out it has been enshitified. I mean, it still works and coming from Florida where it’s practically zero, it’s great, but yeah, it’s changed in a way that really surprised me because it almost goes against the rule following nature of Germans.
I yearn for public transport.
Do not go for Germany then! Their public transport is notoriously bad
compared to many other places in the world, German public transport is absolutely fine
Compared to most other western and northern European countries they are shit though.
I was there for an extended period and its leagues better than nothing lol. Plus it’s the only EU country where I have a path to citizenship
I mean the infrastructure is there, but it’s never on time, sometimes just doesn’t drive at all, driving by car is usually cheaper and faster, the people are absolutely disgusting and so on. You are basically paying more just to have an unreliable and disgusting alternative. I’d love to use it more, but I don’t, I still just drive by car, it might as well not be there in the first place.
You can argue that data is toxic, and therefore minimizing its collection or having very transparent systems so that they are auditable can work.
Check out Bruce Schneier’s work on this.
I believe they tried that (or something similar) at my school.
Didn’t work. Was logistically annoying. Failed after a week or something.
If you can’t get out of it, get a faraday wallet.
