Micro Chips for Humans
Created | Updated Jan 5, 2013
For every pet owner it is normal: to get the dog or the cat chipped. Yes, that makes sense. In case the pet gets lost, or runs away, it can be easily found again. However, what happens in some countries right now sounds like a freaky science-fiction movie, made in Hollywood: Micro Chips for humans.
Since 2002 the American enterprise VeriChip Corporation has provided an implantable RFID-Chip. This Chip, which has the size of a grain of rice, is surrounded by a biocompatible glass cylinder and has a life span of approximately twenty years. After a local anesthetic, it gets implanted under the skin on the triceps with a large hypodermic needle. This operation only takes a few minutes. The Micro Chip contains an ID number which can be downloaded with a special scanning device. This number, which has the same function as a PIN-Code, gives access to a data bank where personal information, such as medical history, blood group or intolerance to medicine can be recorded. How the number on the Chip is used depends on the person who gets the Chip implanted and the data bank the Chip is connected to. The idea behind this is if the person has an accident and loses consciousness, the doctors in the hospital have very quick access to important information. In case someone suffers from a certain illness, which requires special treatment, the Micro Chip might help to save someone’s life. Furthermore, patients who suffer from Alzheimer’s syndrome or dementia should get the Chip implanted in order that they can be identified and brought back home. This raises of course many ethnical questions, because those patients are mostly not in the condition to assent.
In the United States, already more than 200 hospitals have scanning devices and so far approximately 500 patients have an RFID-Chip implanted. The costs for the whole implantation are up to 200 Dollars.
However, there are lots of critics who consider the Micro Chip as another way to invade people’s privacy. One main problem is, not only the doctors in the hospital have access, in theory everyone with a scanning device could read the number, because it is not enciphered. Even though supporters of this technology claim that the number can only be read from within the distance of a few centimeters, tests have shown that the Micro Chips can also be read from a much longer distance. This means that random people, who have a scanning device, could read the ID number within the distance of approximately twenty meters. Your medical history might not interest the majority of the people, though for insurances or employers it could be very useful information when it comes to the decision whether or not to hire you or pay the medical insurance. Another point most people are concerned about is that they can get tracked when they have the Chip implanted. VeriChip emphasizes assertively that this is not possible.
Anyway, what happens if a patient changes his or her mind? Can the chip be removed? Yes, the Micro Chip can be removed, but it is not quite as simple as it may sound. It is a proper surgery and there are various risks which can occur. One problem, for example, is that the capsule with the Micro Chip could wander around the body and would then have to be located again with an X-ray machine or the capsule buries itself deep into the arm, which would make the removal even more difficult.
Yet, the Chip is not only used in health care, meanwhile there are various fields of application. Some companies want their employees to be chipped in order to have better control over security domains. Only those who have such a Chip implanted are able to enter secure areas. Furthermore, the Mexican enterprise Xega offers the VeriChip in addition to a GPS transmitter, so that for example people who get kidnapped can be found again. In particular parents, who are afraid of kidnapping and blackmail, make use of this service and let their offspring get chipped. Already over 2000 Mexicans are equipped with this special system. Critics might say that this is somehow reminiscent of lost pets.
Anyway, the range of use is multifaceted: in Europe, people with an implanted Micro Chip get special treatment in some Night Clubs such as the Baja Beach Club in Barcelona or the Bar Soba in Glasgow. Those ‘VIP’ guests get instant access to the Club and furthermore, they can use the Chip as a credit card, so that they no longer have to carry cash with them. In an interview with the London Telegraph, Brad Stevens, the owner of Bar Soba, emphasizes the advantages of the Micro Chip: “There are a number of advantages, from instant access, to not having to carry money or credit cards, to letting bar staff know a customer's name and favourite drink. By the time you walk through the door to the bar, your favourite drink is waiting for you and the bar staff can greet you by name." Party people, who used to go home when the wallet was empty, now just have to raise their arms to get another drink. In order to avoid that real night owls not only have to face a terrible hangover the next morning but also financial ruin, Bar Soba in Glasgow has set a limit on how much can be spent with the implanted ‘credit card’.
There is one big question most people ask themselves when they think about Micro Chips for humans: Where does it lead to? It maybe starts with patients, who suffer from certain illnesses or allergies but it is already considered for soldiers, prisoners, convicts and some might say it would also be suitable for immigrants. Sooner or later there would be a category for everyone. Instead of an ID-card every single person would have a Micro Chip implanted. This might sound a bit far-fetched but when someone would have told us a few years ago that one day people will get Micro Chips implanted like cattle, we would have laughed and thought that it was the storyline of a new book or movie. VeriChip claims that this new form of identification is secure; we cannot lose it, because we have it always with us. Ironically, this is exactly what makes the whole idea scary. Once implanted, the Chip is like a mark, not for life, but most likely for the next twenty years.
References:
London Telehraph, January 17 2005 http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/january2005/170105microchiptoallow.htm
The Register: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/10/14/human_rfid_implants/
USA today: http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/surveillance/2007-07-21-chips_n.htm
Since 2002 the American enterprise VeriChip Corporation has provided an implantable RFID-Chip. This Chip, which has the size of a grain of rice, is surrounded by a biocompatible glass cylinder and has a life span of approximately twenty years. After a local anesthetic, it gets implanted under the skin on the triceps with a large hypodermic needle. This operation only takes a few minutes. The Micro Chip contains an ID number which can be downloaded with a special scanning device. This number, which has the same function as a PIN-Code, gives access to a data bank where personal information, such as medical history, blood group or intolerance to medicine can be recorded. How the number on the Chip is used depends on the person who gets the Chip implanted and the data bank the Chip is connected to. The idea behind this is if the person has an accident and loses consciousness, the doctors in the hospital have very quick access to important information. In case someone suffers from a certain illness, which requires special treatment, the Micro Chip might help to save someone’s life. Furthermore, patients who suffer from Alzheimer’s syndrome or dementia should get the Chip implanted in order that they can be identified and brought back home. This raises of course many ethnical questions, because those patients are mostly not in the condition to assent.
In the United States, already more than 200 hospitals have scanning devices and so far approximately 500 patients have an RFID-Chip implanted. The costs for the whole implantation are up to 200 Dollars.
However, there are lots of critics who consider the Micro Chip as another way to invade people’s privacy. One main problem is, not only the doctors in the hospital have access, in theory everyone with a scanning device could read the number, because it is not enciphered. Even though supporters of this technology claim that the number can only be read from within the distance of a few centimeters, tests have shown that the Micro Chips can also be read from a much longer distance. This means that random people, who have a scanning device, could read the ID number within the distance of approximately twenty meters. Your medical history might not interest the majority of the people, though for insurances or employers it could be very useful information when it comes to the decision whether or not to hire you or pay the medical insurance. Another point most people are concerned about is that they can get tracked when they have the Chip implanted. VeriChip emphasizes assertively that this is not possible.
Anyway, what happens if a patient changes his or her mind? Can the chip be removed? Yes, the Micro Chip can be removed, but it is not quite as simple as it may sound. It is a proper surgery and there are various risks which can occur. One problem, for example, is that the capsule with the Micro Chip could wander around the body and would then have to be located again with an X-ray machine or the capsule buries itself deep into the arm, which would make the removal even more difficult.
Yet, the Chip is not only used in health care, meanwhile there are various fields of application. Some companies want their employees to be chipped in order to have better control over security domains. Only those who have such a Chip implanted are able to enter secure areas. Furthermore, the Mexican enterprise Xega offers the VeriChip in addition to a GPS transmitter, so that for example people who get kidnapped can be found again. In particular parents, who are afraid of kidnapping and blackmail, make use of this service and let their offspring get chipped. Already over 2000 Mexicans are equipped with this special system. Critics might say that this is somehow reminiscent of lost pets.
Anyway, the range of use is multifaceted: in Europe, people with an implanted Micro Chip get special treatment in some Night Clubs such as the Baja Beach Club in Barcelona or the Bar Soba in Glasgow. Those ‘VIP’ guests get instant access to the Club and furthermore, they can use the Chip as a credit card, so that they no longer have to carry cash with them. In an interview with the London Telegraph, Brad Stevens, the owner of Bar Soba, emphasizes the advantages of the Micro Chip: “There are a number of advantages, from instant access, to not having to carry money or credit cards, to letting bar staff know a customer's name and favourite drink. By the time you walk through the door to the bar, your favourite drink is waiting for you and the bar staff can greet you by name." Party people, who used to go home when the wallet was empty, now just have to raise their arms to get another drink. In order to avoid that real night owls not only have to face a terrible hangover the next morning but also financial ruin, Bar Soba in Glasgow has set a limit on how much can be spent with the implanted ‘credit card’.
There is one big question most people ask themselves when they think about Micro Chips for humans: Where does it lead to? It maybe starts with patients, who suffer from certain illnesses or allergies but it is already considered for soldiers, prisoners, convicts and some might say it would also be suitable for immigrants. Sooner or later there would be a category for everyone. Instead of an ID-card every single person would have a Micro Chip implanted. This might sound a bit far-fetched but when someone would have told us a few years ago that one day people will get Micro Chips implanted like cattle, we would have laughed and thought that it was the storyline of a new book or movie. VeriChip claims that this new form of identification is secure; we cannot lose it, because we have it always with us. Ironically, this is exactly what makes the whole idea scary. Once implanted, the Chip is like a mark, not for life, but most likely for the next twenty years.
References:
London Telehraph, January 17 2005 http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/january2005/170105microchiptoallow.htm
The Register: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/10/14/human_rfid_implants/
USA today: http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/surveillance/2007-07-21-chips_n.htm
