The hacktivist group Anonymous has claimed responsibility for taking down a Texas school district's website in protest of new controversial student tracking ID badges.

In an e-mail to KENS 5, Anonymous stated that they took down the district's website on Saturday, and also included in the e-mail a link to a recent Kens5.com article on the district's new Smart IDs.

From the email:

"We saw your article ... Anonymous (@tr1xxyAnon) are not going to allow this!"

Via:

In response to an e-mail from Kens5.com seeking further comment, Anonymous said they are fighting for the students and want answers from NISD officials.

"They're tracking students! They have rights too. I want a statement about this, nobody agrees with that, even the parents!" Anonymous said in an e-mail.

A call seeking comment from NISD was not immediately returned.

NISD officials have said that the goal of the new program is to increase attendance in order to secure more funding from the state. Officials said even an 1 or 2 percent boost could increase attendance-based revenue by more than $2 million.

Last week, a student at John Jay High School was granted a restraining order against principal Robert Harris, who had threatened to expel the student for not wearing her SmartID:

A student at John Jay High School has been granted permission by the court to continue classes after she was nearly kicked out for refusing to wear an ID that tracks her whereabouts.

Andrea Hernandez, who identifies herself as a Christian, cited religious reasons for not wearing the new student-tracking ID, according to court documents.

Hernandez said that the barcoded tracking ID badges are viewed as “the mark of the beast” by her religion.