Fear Over Forced RFID Tagging
By Allan Holmes | Wednesday, September 05, 2007 | 02:53 PM
By Allan Holmes | Wednesday, September 05, 2007 | 02:53 PM
At first blush, a law the California Senate passed seems a bit paranoid. Last week the California Senate passed by a 28-9 vote a bill to ban the implantation of a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tag in anyone who objects to the practice, according to an article posted by InformationWeek. The bill's sponsor, Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, calls the forced implantation of RFID tags into humans as "the ultimate invasion of privacy." Wisconsin and, oddly, North Dakota (which isn't known for leading the nation in technology-related legislation) also have passed similar laws.
It's difficult to imagine any individual, company or government agency forcing someone to be tagged. But then again, in 2004 the Food and Drug Administration approved the VeriChip RFID tag, which could be used for human implantation so that clinicians could obtain an individual's medical history if that person is unconscious. Mexico's attorney general and 18 staff members have the implanted chips, and a total of about 2,000 individuals have, presumably, agreed to be implanted, according to the article. The military is considering using the chip, and the military is known for insisting on certain requirements that infringe on the privacy of troops.
But forcing employees to have the chip implanted? That seems unlikely, until you consider CityWatcher.com, a Cincinnati video surveillance company. (Note: I could not access any Web site with that address.) However, the company is cited in several articles (vnunet.com, dailytech.com, WorldNetDaily, and the Associated Press) as having injected RFID chips into two employees who work in the company's secure data center. (WorldNetDaily also reported in 2005 that Tommy Thompson, former secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, pledged to have a subcutaneous RFID chip injected into his arm to prove it was safe. Thompson served on the board of directors of Applied Digital Solutions, maker of the VeriChip.)
Even though the Citywatcher employees agreed to the implantation (and Thompson did end up having a chip implanted), it seems less far fetched that workers could be coerced into having a chip implanted as a requirement for employment.
Comments
The last frontier for the invasion of privacy is the inner sanctum of our minds.
Jude Warsing | Tuesday, September 18, 2007 | 08:22 AMI agree wholeheartedly with Lynn's comments from September 11th, and would like to recognize her courage in defending the "Live Free or Die" concept I was raised by as a Free American.
Bob | Friday, September 14, 2007 | 09:41 AMAlright, this one has me thinking Revelations. Not interested in the chip, thanks, and don't plan to be left behind to fight it.
Concerned | Wednesday, September 12, 2007 | 03:48 PMOf course Tommy would not take the chip.
The elite will not be required to be tagged like cattle. Tagged to be tracked, monitored, and controlled. Of course tagging everyone would make the World much safer wouldn't it? Privacy rights are so old fashioned and stand the way of the greater good. Any resistance to mass tagging i.e. privacy usurption is to be lauded not derided and mocked.
"Independence forever!"-John Adams
Lynn | Tuesday, September 11, 2007 | 08:33 AMLet's see, the government wants to tag disaster volunteers. Huckabee wants to tag aliens. And we will see pretty fancy mandatory chip implants in Winkless's "Nightmare City 2035" when it comes out.
Thomas | Sunday, September 09, 2007 | 05:28 PMWouldnt it just be easier to give them blue tooth cell phones, and just track the GPS chip already in it?
They already know who I am | Friday, September 07, 2007 | 12:17 PMBravo!! I can see that “Big Brother”, in his infinite wisdom and caring, might ultimately require us to be identified when we were unconscious and also, conveniently, whenever they wished. Perhaps such might turn up as an addendum or attachment in the next “Patriot’s Act”?
Although unseen, such an implantation would be even more invasive and easier to read surreptitiously and from a distance than the Nazi tattoos.
Hey, if you wish to be stuck, it’s your life and right as an American. It is mine not to. If the military ever insists on requiring such a chip, the law should read that it must be removed upon leaving the service, should the Soldier request it.
Tip Off | Thursday, September 06, 2007 | 01:22 PMThe voluntary use of medical RFID's might be a life saver. Government and employer use could never be really voluntary. The RFID would be a slave collar.
Wise Old Owl | Thursday, September 06, 2007 | 08:23 AMNo permission to use my name.
It is understandable that North Dakota would be interested. That is where the RFID chip factory is located, and it is capable of producing billions of the chips. Mandatory chips unlikely? Just look at the National Animal Identification System brouhaha and such thinking is not so impossible. This whole "label everything or we aren't safe" epidemic is going forward in spike of early findings of possibly increased cancer risk around RFID placements in animals. Also, what about the chip moving? Canada has had the system for awhile in animals and most of the implantations have ceased because the chips often migrate away from their original location, a frightening prospect, and unacceptable to the meat packers, who are required to remove them. Of course they could be left in for us to eat...
Name withheld | Thursday, September 06, 2007 | 08:20 AMCalifornia legislators are paranoid about EVERYTHING!
Bob Hanlon | Wednesday, September 05, 2007 | 09:48 PMYou're probably right about the unlikelihood of actual forced implantation. Just like the Real ID going into effect next May won't be mandatory: you just won't be able to function in society without it. But otherwise you're not required to have one.
The day is not far when a device like this will be required to participate in commerce. Moore's Law Rules. Resistance is futile. Don't worry, be happy. Move along folks ... nothing alarming happening here...
BTW, Tommy "Chip" Thompson never did get that implant, despite the hypocrisy of his campaign for Universal Implantation. Newsmax mischaracterized the original report.
Ed Bishop | Wednesday, September 05, 2007 | 07:36 PMABOUT THIS BLOG
Allan Holmes on what's happening and what's being discussed in the world of federal information technology.
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