Company proposes implanting tracking chips in immigrants

[Dr. Dilznick]

http://www.livescience.com/scienceoffiction/060531_rfid_chips.html

Scott Silverman, Chairman of the Board of VeriChip Corporation, has proposed implanting the company's RFID tracking tags in immigrant and guest workers. He made the statement on national television earlier this week.

Silverman was being interviewed on "Fox & Friends." Responding to the Bush administration's call to know "who is in our country and why they are here," he proposed using VeriChip RFID implants to register workers at the border, and then verify their identities in the workplace. He added, "We have talked to many people in Washington about using it...."

The VeriChip is a very small Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tag about the size of a large grain of rice. It can be injected directly into the body; a special coating on the casing helps the VeriChip bond with living tissue and stay in place. A special RFID reader broadcasts a signal, and the antenna in the VeriChip draws power from the signal and sends its data. The VeriChip is a passive RFID tag; since it does not require a battery, it has a virtually unlimited life span.

RFID tags have long been used to identify animals in a variety of settings; livestock, laboratory animals and pets have been "chipped" for decades. Privacy advocates have long expressed concerns about this technology being used in human beings.

In a related story, Colombian President Alvaro Uribe allegedly remarked to visiting U.S. senators Jeff Sessions (Alabama) and Arlen Specter (Pennsylvania) that microchips could be used to track seasonal workers. "President Uribe said he would consider having Colombian workers have microchips implanted in their bodies before they are permitted to enter the U.S. for seasonal work," Specter told Congress on April 25.

It will be comedy to see the chips malfunction because too many tracking devices are huddled into one house or car. Vicente Fox can eat a fat one. Lock the borders.

 

[Dr Rock]

good idea - i mean, immigrant workers are only chattels of the companies using them, right? maybe we oughtta sterilize them too, and brand the appropriate corporate logos onto their foreheads, just to be on the safe side.

 

[D_Humper E Bogart]

Nazis FTW?

Tell me that is sick comedy.

 

[Irvy]

Hell, that's nothing. There's talking of using them to replace debit cards. You want to buy something, you pass your hand under the scanner and it registers the card and deducts the money from your account. They reckon it'd useful for medical reasons too - imagine if a paramedic could just scan your hand and find out if you had epilepsy or diabetes.

It's a scary prospect.

 

[Mr. Snakey]

A great idea that will never happen!I often wonder if i entered another country illegaly .I think they would throw me the hell out!!

 

[DC_DEEP]

Hey, Dilz, how's about if they just combine two great programs: RFID plus National ID? Chip the citizens AND the aliens! Then on your next visit to DMV, they can (based on your past two-year history) recommend books that may interest you next time you are in the library... it would make voting a hell of a lot easier, too? And how about tweaking your wireless laptop, you could personalize your surfing experience... "to bookmark this page, simply hold the "control" key, and scan your chip! Couldn't be easier!" I was watching TV last night, and there was an ad extolling the virtues of OnStar systems in GM vehicles... and I started wondering... since it uses, among other things, GPS, what other information does it share with its satellite, and who has access to that info? Not sure I want my vehicle constantly transmitting my speed, location, VIN, and other identifiables to the central database.

 

[ManiacalMadMan]

Reminds me somewhat of that movie Logans Run where there were implants in the hand at birth that went wild when you turned 30 at which point you were destroyed.

 

[BigDubbs]

Who is to say they haven't already started? Not even talking about immigrants either...when something is introduced, 9 times out of 10...Its already in progres...They want the chip in our passport so they can get every detail of us and what someone mentioned earlier about the chip in our hand...they already have pay with your fingerprint here in Chicago....So...Wouldn't be surprised with the governement at all...

 

[dong20]

Hell, that's nothing. There's talking of using them to replace debit cards. You want to buy something, you pass your hand under the scanner and it registers the card and deducts the money from your account. They reckon it'd useful for medical reasons too - imagine if a paramedic could just scan your hand and find out if you had epilepsy or diabetes.

It's a scary prospect.

It's only scary when it's involuntary and misused, otherwise it's just technology.

The same resistance has been shown to many things we take for granted today, the Internet included. Many people wear medical bracelets and carry donor cards, identity cards are mandatory in many countries, like it or not chips are a logical progression and I suspect more a case of when than if. That's just an observation based on history.

It's too easy to invent a new technology and say..."Now what can we use that for?" I'm in favour of using new or even 'controversial' technology when it improves our lives, but not for it's own sake.

In the context of this thread this basic technology is used everyday the world over to prevent theft in shops for example. Here, at least to me, it's not the technology that's questionable, it's motivation.

 

[D_Humper E Bogart]

Well, as long as you don't mind being "chipped" like a dog and being able to be traced NO MATTER where you are.. then be my guest.

Why are we even bothering to "save the world from dictatorships" if the KGB are already here?

 

[dong20]

Well, as long as you don't mind being "chipped" like a dog and being able to be traced NO MATTER where you are.. then be my guest.

Why are we even bothering to "save the world from dictatorships" if the KGB are already here?

I'm not sure....was that directed at anyone specfic?

 

[rob_just_rob]

WAITASECOND....!:biggrin1:

I just came up with a MUCH better idea.

Implant the tracking chips in our politicians and lobbyists. Make it possible for anyone to see where they are at all times via the internet (I'm not talking cameras, just a mapquest-type interface).

I mean, after all, if they're honest, they've got nothing to worry about, right? The only ones who would be opposed to this are the dishonest ones...

It WOULD be interesting to see who's meeting with who, out of the camera eye.

 

[dong20]

WAITASECOND....!:biggrin1:

I just came up with a MUCH better idea.

Implant the tracking chips in our politicians and lobbyists. Make it possible for anyone to see where they are at all times via the internet (I'm not talking cameras, just a mapquest-type interface).

I mean, after all, if they're honest, they've got nothing to worry about, right? The only ones who would be opposed to this are the dishonest ones...

It WOULD be interesting to see who's meeting with who, out of the camera eye.

Excellent plan, just a couple of modifications:

1. Need audio too...
2. Remote standby button..:tongue:

:smile:

 

[D_Humper E Bogart]

Heck, I'd love to see what "our elders and betters" are up to.

 

[ChocolateLuvuh]

Shades of Big Brother....