By Anita B. Hoge
June 28, 2013
NewsWithViews.com

Could Your DNA Target You for Government Intervention?

Congress did not legislate any changes to the Privacy Laws to expand the access to personally identifiable records. Obama, the US Department of Education & Secretary Duncan, with a swipe of a pen, issued new regulations to be written. Please read the following changes to FERPA, Family Education Rights & Privacy Act.

This is the definition for Personally Identifiable Information or PII that should be a concern to every parent:

(a) The student’s name;
(b) The name of the student’s parent or other family members;
(c) The address of the student or student’s family;
(d) A personal identifier, such as the student’s social security number, student number, or biometric record;
(e) Other indirect identifiers, such as the student’s date of birth, place of birth, and mother’s maiden name;
(f) Other information that, alone or in combination, is linked or linkable to a specific student that would allow a reasonable person in the school community, who does not have personal knowledge of the relevant circumstances, to identify the student with reasonable certainty; or
(g) Information requested by a person who the educational agency or institution reasonably believes knows the identity of the student to whom the education record relates.

“Biometric record,” as used in the definition for “personally identifiable information,” means a record of one or more measurable biological or behavioral characteristics that can be used for automated recognition of an individual. Examples include fingerprints; retina and iris patterns; voiceprints; DNA sequence; facial characteristics; and handwriting.

The shock begins in Florida. Parents in Polk County, Florida are outraged after learning that students in area schools had their irises scanned as part of a new security program without obtaining proper permission. Reuter's announced on May 30, 2013,

“It simply takes a picture of the iris, which is unique to every individual,” Rob Davis, the school board’s senior director of support services, wrote home to parents in a letter dated May 23. “With this program, we will be able to identify when and where a student gets on the bus, when they arrive at their school location, when and what bus the student boards and disembarks in the afternoon. This is an effort to further enhance the safety of our students. The Eye Swipe-Nano is an ideal replacement for the card based system since your child will not have to be responsible for carrying an identification card,” he added.

Big Brother monitoring every move you make is suffocating. Think about the future of these students when they become adults. 'Big Brother is Watching' has new meaning.

The DNA sequencing of an individual child could also be considered “the learning genome." This could be a way of detecting defects or government desired behaviors, in a student's personality. Whether your child has strong attributes, aggressive behavior, shyness, low self-esteem, slow to adapt to change, or whatever, detection of these personality traits could be indicators & determinations for experimentation. Identifying a "bully" at school could have severe consequences. Will the school psychologist prescribe drugs &/or psychological therapy, perhaps a directed corrective curriculum or therapy in his or her IEP, individual plan, before your child has a chance to mature & develop. (I have included in NOTES, a link to a video: "Can't Control Genes, But Can Control Behavior", a clinical psychologist that talks about the negative DNA identification possibilities) Kristene A. Doyle, Ph.D., Sc.D. at the Albert Ellis Institute Kristene A. Doyle, Ph.D., Sc.D. is the Director of the Albert Ellis Institute (AEI). Dr. Doyle is also Director of Clinical Services and a licensed Staff Psychologist).

The old argument of nurture vs. nature comes into play. Are you born a "natural born killer?" Does your genetic make-up determine what you will do or how you will act in the future, or is your personality framed by your environment? Whatever the issue, the question that MUST be asked is, "Can government rightfully be able to target a child that hasn't done anything wrong without due process?" This is a new direction for mental health in our schools. The Constitutional rights of parents & children are being trampled & no one can assure you that your child will be protected from these invasive techniques.

Will genetic mapping be used to detect “aggressive or evil” tendencies without due process? Can you be arrested for something you did not do but your genes may mark you for having future aggressive or criminal behavior? Obama has penned 23 executive orders at the Center for Disease Control, CDC, to research “gun violence" & mental health.

In January 2013, President Barack Obama issued these 23 executive orders directing federal agencies to improve knowledge of the causes of firearm violence, what might help prevent it, and how to minimize its burden on public health. One of these orders directed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to, along with other federal agencies, immediately begin identifying the most pressing problems in firearm violence research. The CDC and the CDC Foundation asked the IOM, in collaboration with the National Research Council, to convene a committee tasked with developing a potential research agenda that focuses on the causes of, possible interventions to, and strategies to minimize the burden of firearm-related violence. Priorities for Research to Reduce the Threat of Firearm-Related Violence focuses on the characteristics of firearm violence, risk and protective factors, interventions and strategies, the impact of gun safety technology, and the influence of video games and other media.

Obama calls on Congress to spend $100 million next year to map the brain.

Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, said new understandings about how the brain works may also provide leads for developing better computers. While current brain-scanning technologies can reveal the average activity of large populations of brain cells, the new project is aimed at tracking activity down to the individual cell and the tiny details of cell connections, he said.

This is food for thought when the government does brain research & develops "interventions & strategies" digging deep into genetic markers that can be used in the future against its citizens. This is the danger of personal data in the hands of government when decisions are being made about you, that you have NO control over. Will the Columbine pair & Colorado movie killer be used to take away your freedom? Remember, Adam Lanza, who allegedly killed the 22 people in Sandy Hook, Connecticut has had his DNA researched by the CDC looking for an “evil gene.” So what happens if science can detect an "evil gene?" Will the National Security Agency be looking for "bad people" from blood types in personal records? In Obamacare records? A blood test is always done at birth. What happens next? "Minority Report" the movie comes to mind...determined at birth, fixed for life.

Who has access to our student & family personal data? There are three main changes in FERPA that should be considered dangerous: the definitions of PII, who can redisclose data that was collected, & who can use or have access to the data collected.

Under FERPA, please note that a "contractor, consultant, volunteer, or other party to whom an agency or institution has outsourced institutional services or functions may be considered a school official under this paragraph....".(99.30 B). In essence, the CDC, acting as a school official, can analyze your child's DNA to determine if they MIGHT have an "evil gene" without your permission. Is that possible? Are there no protections?

Any disclosure is allowed to organizations conducting studies for, or on behalf of, educational agencies or institutions to:

(A) Develop, validate, or administer predictive tests;
(B) Administer student aid programs; or
(C) Improve instruction. 91.31 (6)(i)

Of course, improving instruction means the student will be monitored for meeting Common Core Standards. Corrective techniques are being researched by big business as you read this passage.

New regulations took effect January 3, 2012 that drastically change the law by under cutting any protections for PII, personally identifiable information, that can be released.

The new rules allows for "data sharing" beyond government agencies to any outside organization that is "evaluating " or "auditing" an educational program. The "unlocked" data on an individual is now allowed to be accessed by "others" deemed school officials other than the Strict guidelines that was proposed under the Hanson Memorandum which required that under the ‘‘audit or evaluation exception,’’ only an authorized representative of a State educational authority must be a party under the direct control of that authority, e.g., an employee or a contractor to access the data. Obama has allowed the Hanson Memorandum to be rescinded which opens the flood gates of data flowing to outside contractors.

The issue becomes, who has direct access? If Obama wants to study your child's DNA, he can do it under these new provisions without your permission.

Lining the Pockets of Donors & Friends

Who's making money on the data? If there is value, then someone must have a right to that value. Does this data have value? The Department of Education in collusion with "big data piggy business" that is promoting data mining could be defined as the taking of property without compensation similar to the government collecting phone records from Verizon, AT&T, Apple, Google, Face book & others without due process. The testing & curriculum developers are in the same boat, whether PARCC, ACT, ETS, Smarter Balanced, Pearson Foundation, & Gates, all have access to your child's data without your permission. Is it piracy to take what belongs to you (data on individual children)? Permission is granted to take data, but permission is not granted from those who produced it, nor is permission granted to those who want to know about it. Why should we wait for Congress to ‘rebalance’ our property rights? Do you have to wait before calling the police when your car has been stolen? And why should Congress deliberate at all about the merits of this theft? Do we ask whether the car thief had a good use for the car before we arrest him?”

There appears to be a concentration of power to control the uses of culture & data that has been unquestioningly accepted but there are consequences to this form of irruption by very powerful players. Government doesn’t make investments in firms without an “end customer” ready to test out that company’s products. Big data collection & big data trafficking by big business is feeding at the federal government trough. Our children & our country is at risk of being eaten alive. Parents have a right to be "angry birds."

We must insist on an investigation.

It is our property & it should be protected just as any other property is protected. Let's review the "big data" sharing aspect of data trafficking. Students have personal records, take soft affective classes, & take state & national tests that have gone haywire beyond academics. It's a psychological profile. Your local school or state/federal department of education through a "written agreement" can give this data to anyone for free.

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These testing contractors, curriculum developers, the Center for Disease Control, foundations, you name it, can use the data for research, to create curriculum & testing to sell back to the schools, testing programs in pre & post testing results to see if your child is changing to desired government goals, anything goes. Anyone can access your students files for any reason deemed how they define "educational!" Your child is the guinea pig for government & big business & it must be stopped. Plus, what happens in the future if DNA sequencing is allowed to be accessed by your government? Eugenics is not a pretty word. Can you trust the decisions of your government in place of you, the parent? Absolutely, NOT.

The questions of the day, "Will government make decisions on its own people that would determine an outcome not in the best interest of that person in the future?" or "Could government issue a directive against the will of a person who has done nothing wrong without due process? Can you be arrested for what you think?"

Our Constitution is being torn to shreds.

Request an investigation into FERPA. Dismantle the Department of Education. Stop funding NAEP & all test clones. Stop funding the CCSSO.
Stop the data trafficking.

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