Thread: Microchip Implants Raise Privacy Concern

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 00637.html
Microchip Implants Raise Privacy Concern

By TODD LEWAN
The Associated Press
Saturday, July 21, 2007; 12:19 PM

-- CityWatcher.com, a provider of surveillance equipment, attracted little notice itself _ until a year ago, when two of its employees had glass-encapsulated microchips with miniature antennas embedded in their forearms.

The "chipping" of two workers with RFIDs _ radio frequency identification tags as long as two grains of rice, as thick as a toothpick _ was merely a way of restricting access to vaults that held sensitive data and images for police departments, a layer of security beyond key cards and clearance codes, the company said.

"To protect high-end secure data, you use more sophisticated techniques," Sean Darks, chief executive of the Cincinnati-based company, said. He compared chip implants to retina scans or fingerprinting. "There's a reader outside the door; you walk up to the reader, put your arm under it, and it opens the door."

Innocuous? Maybe.

But the news that Americans had, for the first time, been injected with electronic identifiers to perform their jobs fired up a debate over the proliferation of ever-more-precise tracking technologies and their ability to erode privacy in the digital age.

To some, the microchip was a wondrous invention _ a high-tech helper that could increase security at nuclear plants and military bases, help authorities identify wandering Alzheimer's patients, allow consumers to buy their groceries, literally, with the wave of a chipped hand.

To others, the notion of tagging people was Orwellian, a departure from centuries of history and tradition in which people had the right to go and do as they pleased, without being tracked, unless they were harming someone else.

Chipping, these critics said, might start with Alzheimer's patients or Army Rangers, but would eventually be suggested for convicts, then parolees, then sex offenders, then illegal aliens _ until one day, a majority of Americans, falling into one category or another, would find themselves electronically tagged.

The concept of making all things traceable isn't alien to Americans. Thirty years ago, the first electronic tags were fixed to the ears of cattle, to permit ranchers to track a herd's reproductive and eating habits. In the 1990s, millions of chips were implanted in livestock, fish, dogs, cats, even racehorses.

Microchips are now fixed to car windshields as toll-paying devices, on "contactless" payment cards (Chase's "Blink," or MasterCard's "PayPass"). They're embedded in Michelin tires, library books, passports, work uniforms, luggage, and, unbeknownst to many consumers, on a host of individual items, from Hewlett Packard printers to Sanyo TVs, at Wal-Mart and Best Buy.

But CityWatcher.com employees weren't appliances or pets: They were people made scannable.

"It was scary that a government contractor that specialized in putting surveillance cameras on city streets was the first to incorporate this technology in the workplace," says Liz McIntyre, co-author of "Spychips: How Major Corporations and Government Plan to Track Your Every Move with RFID."

Article continued here:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 637_2.html

I think this should go in the, "Just because you CAN do it, doesn't mean you SHOULD do it," file.

exactly, patbrunz! This microchip thing is a sign of the beast and should cause greater concern than just for the privacy of Americans.

Hey America...

WAKE UP!

Hopefully it's a stupid idea that will just fade away.

Nope, they are starting to chip the elderly in some nursing homes. It is a trend that will not go away if we do not fight it.

OK, people, this isn't a good time for me to see this.

Didn't they announce they had 'chipped' some soldiers during the Gulf War?

The chips probably all have 666 on 'em too.

I'll die before somebody will put a chip in me.

Originally Posted by Sam-I-am

The chips probably all have 666 on 'em too.

I'll die before somebody will put a chip in me.

Some do nto have a choice:






For Immediate Release
May 8, 2007

Interfaith Vigil to Protest VeriChipping of Alzheimer's Patients

International consumer group CASPIAN (Consumers Against Supermarket Privacy Invasion and Numbering) will hold a march and prayer vigil this Saturday to protest a plan to inject VeriChip microchip implants into 200 Alzheimer's Community Care, Inc, patients. The interfaith event will be held outside of the Alzheimer's Community Care facility in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Planners hope the event will enlighten caregivers to the serious medical and societal downsides of the VeriChip and encourage them to rethink using elderly dementia patients as research subjects to test the controversial product.

The VeriChip implant is a glass encapsulated RFID tag that is injected into the flesh to uniquely number and identify people. The tag can be read by radio waves from a few inches away. The device is being marketed as a way to link to medical records, access secure areas, and serve as a payment instrument when associated with a credit card or pre-paid account.

Although the VeriChip Corporation emphasizes that its chip should always be strictly voluntary, many question the ethics of conducting medical research on mentally impaired individuals. Alzheimer's patients cannot understand the risks associated with being microchipped and therefore cannot give fully informed consent. According to the FDA, risks associated with the VeriChip include MRI incompatibility, electrical hazard, and adverse tissue reaction, to name just a few.

"We have an obligation to protect vulnerable members of society from being used as guinea pigs for controversial medical research," said CASPIAN founder and director Dr. Katherine Albrecht. "The vast majority of Americans object to human microchipping, and it is likely these Alzheimer's patients would feel the same way if they could speak for themselves."

Albrecht compared the large-scale chip implantation plans to an assembly line that would render elderly patients scannable "like bar-coded packages of meat," adding that the societal implications of such a move would be chilling.

"Whether Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, Baha'i, or atheist, no one likes the idea of being forcibly tracked and monitored by implantable technology without their express consent," she said.

VeriChip Corporation has been very unsuccessful in its bids to chip humans to date. In fact, only about 250 individuals, most associated with the company in some way, have been chipped since the VeriChip was first brought to market in 2001. The Alzheimer's study would boost that number to over 650, a move possibly designed to help reassure investors in the beleaguered company. VeriChip posted a $3 million loss last quarter, the latest in a steady series of multi-million dollar losses.

Event details:

March and Interfaith Prayer Vigil to Protect the Vulnerable
Saturday, May 12, 2007
West Palm Beach, Florida 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM
* Pre-Event Presentation and Book Signing by RFID Expert Dr. Katherine Albrecht 10:00-12:00
* Peaceful March to Alzheimer's Community Care and Prayer Vigil 1:00-3:00

For more information, visit http://www.AntiChips.com
ABOUT CASPIAN

CASPIAN (Consumers Against Supermarket Privacy Invasion and Numbering) is a grass-roots consumer group fighting retail surveillance schemes since 1999 and irresponsible RFID use since 2002. With thousands of members in all 50 U.S. states and over 30 countries worldwide, CASPIAN seeks to educate consumers about marketing strategies that invade their privacy and encourage privacy-conscious shopping habits across the retail spectrum.

See: http://www.spychips.com

http://www.spychips.com/press-releases/ ... zcare.html