Technology to Meld Chips into Humans

Eight people will become the first ever to receive computer chip implants, allowing them to be identified by a scanner. The chips, called VeriChip, are rice-grain-sized devices that sit under the skin. When scanned by a special reader, the chip emits a radio signal that will transmit a code, which is linked to a secured database. The database, dubbed the Global VeriChip Subscriber (GVS) Registry, holds personal data such as the "chipees" address, phone number and any special medical conditions.

For airports, nuclear power plants and other high security facilities, the immediate benefits could be a closer-to-foolproof security system. But privacy advocates warn the chip could lead to encroachments on civil liberties.

The implant technology is another case of science fiction evolving into fact. Those who have long advanced the idea of implant chips say it could someday mean no more easy-to-counterfeit ID cards, nor dozing security guards. Just a computer chip about the size of a grain of rice - that would be difficult to remove and tough to mimic.

Other uses of the technology on the horizon, from an added device that would allow satellite tracking of an individual's every movement to the storage of sensitive data like medical records, are already attracting interest across the globe for tasks like foiling kidnappings or assisting paramedics. Applied Digital Solutions' new "VeriChip" is another sign that Sept. 11 has catapulted the science of security into a realm with uncharted possibilities - and also new fears for privacy.

"The problem is that you always have to think about what the device will be used for tomorrow," said Lee Tien, a senior attorney for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a privacy advocacy group. "It's what we call function creep. At first a device is used for applications we all agree are good but then it slowly is used for more than it was intended," he said.

More information links below:

Chip-Based ID: Promise and Peril

ABC News Report

USA Today Report

Chip Implants Already Here

Computer Chip Implants

Global human database

VeriChip Story

Security may soon get under your skin

Animal chips

I saw a science episode on cable where a guy had imbedded a chip in himself. He then paraded around his house and office as doors opened, lights came on, etc. Pretty neat stuff... for personal use.

Now the other side of the coin, over the weekend I saw a horendously bad b movie. The premise or plot don't matter for this post, but what's interesting is in one segment, the charecters had to infiltrate a base. So they ambushed the opposing captain and stole his implant to get around the base. This my friends... is what would happen. Petty criminals to major terrorists groups would be ripping these devices out of everyone they met for the ID, etc.

To me, quite scary.

Actually, it's old news. It's been done already.

I share the concerns, but it's hard to weigh the benefits against the pitfalls....

Personally, I could care less if authorities knew where I was and when...I live how I want, and don't make any apologies for it.

It would certainly make certain crimes almost impossible, simple quick muggings, kidnapping, escaping from jail, not to mention aid in police tracking, etc.

Of course, the flip side is that a mugger may just chop off your hand, and then get out some money! Likewise, you'd likely see a renegade element of those who removed their chip (either violently, or through underground surgery, etc.)

" Announcements about the timing of future "chipping" procedures in the United States will be made at the appropriate time pending further regulatory clarification. " More : Link

Visitors to US from 2004 must have microchip IDs in their passports.

By Jamie Smyth.

Irish citizens will lose the right to enter the US without obtaining a visa from October 2004 unless a microchip storing biometric data such as fingerprints or iris scans is embedded in new passports. More : Link

Microchips in your food that transmit data - all for your convinience. More : Link

This technology has been around since at least the late 1990s. The chips were first tested on animals.

On the surface, I agree that these chips look like such a potentially good thing that would benefit society.

What concerns me is that the Government had plans to introduce these chips into society even before 9/11. But after that attack it seems inevitable now for many national security reasons. The links that UP provided give information that Irish folks won't even be allowed into the U.S. without a passport embedded with a chip starting next year.

If the U.S. government begins a mandatory chip implant law, then what would happen to anyone who didn't want the chip implanted in them? Would they be imprisoned or maybe have the chip inplanted against their wishes?

Considering the information about TVs having spyware tecnhology and the development of a global human database - does this scenario look anything like the Mark of the Beast?

Food for Thought,
Deep