Texas To Track Emergency Evacuees Using RFID

Ann Shibler
JBS
Wednesday December 5, 2007

The Texas Governor's Division of Emergency Management (GDEM) announced a contract with AT&T to build the Texas Special Needs Evacuation Tracking System. The system will use a variety of radio-frequency identification (RFID), wireless and mobile data technologies to continuously monitor and track all evacuees.

Follow this link to the original source: "AT&T To Deliver Country's First Statewide Citizen-Evacuation Management System"

"Oh, grandmother, what big ears you have!" said Little Red Riding Hood.

"The better to hear you with, my child," replied the Big Bad Wolf.

"But, grandmother, what big eyes you have!" she exclaimed.

"The better to see you with, my dear," he responded.

"But, grandmother, what large hands you have!"

"The better to hug you with."

"Oh, but, grandmother, what a terrible big mouth you have!"

"The better to eat you with, my dear!"

Reminiscent of the Big Bad Wolf in the Brothers Grimm's Little Red Riding Hood, comes this newest trick from the Texas Governor's Division of Emergency Management (GDEM). AT&T is going to furnish the wireless network and hardware support for the new emergency tracking system that will, according to AT&T, "provide real-time information on evacuees," in order to "better support the evacuees and their families during a crisis."

The tracking system was developed and tested in 2006 and 2007 in simulations. It is supposed to help "safely" (an all-encompassing term of fake compassion and concern) evacuate citizens in the event of man-made or natural disasters. Citizens are to present themselves at a registration site and don a radio-frequency identification (RFID) wristband. The wristband is to be scanned by a wireless device when citizens calmly board state-contracted buses to be sent to locations decided by the state. The bus itself will be equipped with a GPS system so that it, too, along with all the passengers can be monitored and tracked.

At destination's end, the system will "update evacuee profiles and provide real-time information." We are told that this is for the express purpose of enabling state employees to "respond to inquiries from the public about the safety of evacuated family members and to reunite families that have been separated during a large-scale disaster." But what does the phrase "update evacuee profiles," mean exactly?

Jack Colley, chief of the Texas Governor's Division of Emergency Management said, "We wanted to enhance our existing emergency evacuation planning strategy with a new system for tracking and locating evacuees," which is probably a pretty truthful statement. In keeping with the ever-present "safety" concerns Colley continued: "We are confident that the statewide emergency-evacuation tracking system will not only help save lives and effectively ascertain the location of the displaced citizens … The RFID solution will improve the GDEM's command and control management of large-scale disasters."

Nowhere in any of the information on the nascent system provided by GDEM is the question of citizens' rights addressed. As we saw in the Katrina tragedy in New Orleans, citizens were summarily stripped of their rights in the wake of the disaster. Guns were confiscated, contrary to the Second Amendment. Subsequently, people gathered in the Superdome and elsewhere were prevented from leaving while, conversely, help from the Salvation Army and others was prevented from reaching those in need. It is this sort of statist incompetence and authoritarian heartlessness that makes one wonder what the GDEM's new tracking system will really be used for. Additional "command and control" measures would only serve, most likely, as a further means of controlling victims, rather than as a means for helping disaster victims.

AT&T — in conjunction with other assorted tech companies they are partnering with — is only too happy to further police state tactics with their project management, engineering, staging and technical information, and products. Chris Hill, vice president of government solutions for AT&T's wireless unit said, "The statewide emergency-evacuation tracking system is an innovative new custom solution that enhances our already robust portfolio of mobility solutions." Used by AT&T in their press release a couple of times, the phrase "mobility solutions" seems to mean moving people while under constant surveillance. Apparently anything is permissible in order to turn a profit these days.

The moral of this tale is: "Beware of the big bad wolf."