Blackboard Transact allows university police to track everything a student purchases and everywhere they go
CR80 News reports that Apple's long-standing vision of tracking students smartphones has become a reality.
Earlier this month Apple kicked off its mobile student ID program at three college campuses, much to the delight of university police.
"Starting today on the campuses at the University of Alabama, Duke University and the University of Oklahoma, Blackboard with the aid of Apple is enabling students to use mobile credentials everywhere their plastic ID card was previously accepted."
As far as I can tell, there are at least nine universities using iPhones and Apple Watches to track students. The other universities are Santa Clara, Bowling Green, Sacred Heart, South Carolina Independent, Fitchburg State and Purdue.
Purdue University's Blackboard Transact program
Apple's spy on every student program is called "Blackboard Transact" which gives campus police an unprecedented view into students private lives. (Click here to learn more.)
Ironically, a Purdue student named Seth reveals what Blackboard Transact really is, an all-in-one tracking program that gives authorities "the keys to the castle" (approx. 1:15)
Blackboard uses a students biometrics to track everything they do at "college facilities, residence halls and all their payments for dining, laundry, vending and retail."
University police can also use Blackboard's Security Solutions and Automated Attendance Monitoring functions to track students in real-time.
Blackboard boasts that their biometric program "makes monitoring attendance as easy as possible."
In the near future, university police can use Blackboard to limit a student's access to buildings in real-time.
"These schools will leverage Blackboard's NFC-compatible equipment on their campuses to facilitate a variety of transactions, including secure access to facilities such as residence halls, the dining hall, gym, library or campus events and for making payments at the bookstore, for laundry or off campus where student IDs are accepted. "
With Blackboard, free-speech zones and activism will become a thing of the past as universities will have unprecedented access to students lives and be able to momentarily lock doors.
Universities appear to be using Blackboard as a testing ground for total surveillance mobile devices. Because once students accept programs like Blackboard it will be much easier for DHS to convince them to accept mobile drivers licenses.
Mobile student ID's and mobile drivers licenses are all about surveillance and profit (tracking your purchases). They can and will be used to create "trust scores" of everyone.
Sadly, this is just the beginning.
At least six more colleges are planning on using Blackboard.
Johns Hopkins University,
Chapman University,
Northwest Florida State University,
Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi,
Bellevue University,
Temple University
Blackboard plans on expanding to K-12 schools
Blackboard also has plans to use mobile devices to spy on K-12 schools across America.
Blackboard plans to use smartphones, mobile apps, and social media to send mass notifications to everyone in the community.
"Create your message once, and let Blackboard Mass Notification publish it across all your communication channels."
Blackboard, because who doesn't want to give police the keys to your kids "castle"?