Version: 2008
  • On CBSSports.com: Jay Cutler dating Kristin Cavallari
Human chips more than skin-deep
 
Idea of implanting ID tags raises Orwellian fears

By Michael Kanellos
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
August 23, 2004 4:00 AM PT

There's not a lot of middle ground on the subject of implanting electronic identification chips in humans.

Advocates of technologies like radio frequency identification tags say their potentially life-saving benefits far outweigh any Orwellian concerns about privacy. RFID tags sewn into clothing or even embedded under people's skin could curb identity theft, help identify disaster victims and improve medical care, they say.

Critics, however, say such technologies would make it easier for government agencies to track a person's every movement and allow widespread invasion of privacy. Abuse could take countless other forms, including corporations surreptitiously identifying shoppers for relentless sales pitches. Critics also speculate about a day when people's possessions will be tagged--allowing nosy subway riders with the right technology to examine the contents of nearby purses and backpacks.

"Invasion of privacy is going to be impossible to avoid," said Katherine Albrecht, the founder and director of Consumers Against Supermarket Privacy Invasion and Numbering, or CASPIAN, a watchdog group created to monitor the use of data collected in the so-called loyalty programs used increasingly by supermarkets. Albrecht worries about a day when "every physical item is registered to its owner."

The overriding idea behind tagging people with chips--whether through implants or wearable devices such as bracelets--is to improve identification and, consequently, tighten access to restricted information or physical areas.

But on top of civil liberties and other policy issues, such technologies face visceral objections from many people who frown on the idea of being implanted with tags that can track them like migrating tuna. Complaints have led several companies to abandon plans to use RFID technologies in products, much less in human bodies.

The concept of implanting chips for tracking purposes was introduced to the general public more than a decade ago, when pet owners began using them to keep tabs on dogs and cats. The notion of embedding RFID tags in the human body, though, remained largely theoretical until the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, when a technology executive saw firefighters writing their badge numbers on their arms so that they could be identified in case they became disfigured or trapped.

Richard Seelig, vice president of medical applications at security specialist Applied Digital Solutions, inserted a tracking tag in his own arm and told the company's CEO that it worked. A new product, the VeriChip, was born.

Applied Digital formed a division named after the chip and says it has sold about 7,000 of the electronic tags. An estimated 1,000 have been inserted in humans, mostly outside the United States, with no harmful physical side effects reported from the subcutaneous implants, the company said.

"It is used instead of other biometric applications," such as fingerprints, said Angela Fulcher, vice president of marketing at VeriChip, which is based in Palm Beach, Fla. The basic technology comes from Digital Angel, a sister company under the Applied corporate umbrella that has sold thousands of tags for identifying pets and other animals.

VeriChip makes 11-millimeter RFID tags that are implanted in the fatty tissue below the right tricep. When near a scanner, the chip is activated and emits an ID number. When a person's tag number matches an ID in a database, the person is allowed to enter a secured room or complete a financial transaction.

So far, enhancing physical security--controlling access to buildings or other areas--remains the most common application. RFID chips cannot track someone in real time the way the Global Positioning System does, but they can provide information such as whether a particular individual has gone through a door.

Latin American customers are looking at both technologies for security purposes, which partly explains why some of VeriChip's early clients included Mexico's attorney general, as well as a Mexican agency trying to curb the country's kidnapping epidemic, and commercial distributors in Venezuela and Colombia.

The value of these technologies was underscored recently by a CNET News.com reader who wrote from Puerto Rico to inquire about their development. In her e-mail, Frances Pabon said she hopes that RFID or GPS technologies can be used for her husband, who must travel through neighborhoods in San Juan that are infested with crack dealers.

"I think safeguarding his safety doesn't necessarily violate his privacy," she wrote. "And if I am made to choose between keeping him safe versus keeping him private, I'd rather keep him safe and then change private data such as credit cards, bank accounts, etc., after."

Safety has been a primary driver in some U.S. applications as well. An Arizona company called Technology Systems International, for example, says it has improved security in prisons with an RFID-like system for inmates and guards. The company's products came out in 2001 and are based on technology licensed from Motorola, which created it for the U.S. military to find gear lost in battle.

TSI's wristbands for inmates transmit signals every two seconds to a battery of antennas mounted in the prison facility. By examining the time the signal is received by each antenna, a computer can determine the exact location of each prisoner at any given time and can reconstruct prisoners' movements later, if necessary to investigate their actions.


Related analysis
RFID: Logistics
meets identity

Release 1.0 examines
the promise of tracking
technologies.


Since the technology was installed at participating prisons, violence is down up to 60 percent in some facilities, said TSI President Greg Oester, who says the wristbands are designed for the "uncooperative user."

TSI, a division of security company Alanco Technologies, has installed the system in four prisons and will add a fifth soon.

"Inmates know they are being monitored and know they will get caught. The word spreads very quickly," Oester said. "It increases the safety in facilities."

In a California prison that uses the TSI technology, an inmate confessed to stabbing another prisoner 20 minutes after authorities showed him data from his radio transmitter that placed him in the victim's cell at the time of the stabbing, Oester said. A women's prison in the state has begun a pilot program to test whether the technology prevents sexual assaults.

Conversely, at an Illinois prison, Oester said, convicts have pointed to this sort of data as a way to prove that they weren't involved in prison incidents. Guards have similar tags, embedded in pagers rather than wristbands, which set off an alarm if they are removed or tampered with.

Tagging hospital patients...and alumni?
Beyond law enforcement, the technology is drawing interest from a variety of industries that have pressing security needs. Companies that operate highly sensitive facilities, such as nuclear power plants, are looking at TSI's technology.

Hospitals in Europe and the United States are also experimenting with inserting tags in ID bracelets. The Jacobi Medical Center in New York, along with Siemens Business Services, has launched a pilot program that will outfit more than 200 patients with radio bracelets.

This technology is designed to enable various health care professionals to obtain patient information such as X-rays and medical histories from a database securely and more quickly. The system will also use antennas to track individuals as they walk about the hospital and send alerts if a patient begins to collapse. Other pilot systems are being tested specifically to monitor patients with Alzheimer's disease.

As such tagging systems become more widely known, some industries that hadn't been expected to use the technology are considering innovative applications of it. A South Carolina firearms maker, FN Manufacturing, is evaluating the technology for use in "smart guns" equipped with grip sensors that would allow only their owners to use them.

In a less violent but practical application, Ray Hogan of Princeton University's alumni association has contemplated distributing RFID bracelets among meeting attendees to track attendance at events that have multiple components. The technology would let organizers see which programs attendees find most valuable by virtue of how long they stay. Like others, however, Hogan says privacy issues may well keep the idea from becoming a reality.

When such technologies are employed, they can be even more effective if implanted in the body. Supporters and critics both say RFID tags under the skin would invariably increase the volume and quality of personal data, with the benefit of, at the very least, reducing the margin of error for misidentification in the event of a disaster.

The problem, detractors say, is that the vast quantities of accumulated data would be vulnerable to theft and abuse. They cite historical practices of retail establishments, which for years have listened in on customer conversations and viewed consumer behavior on remote cameras to improve sales. Supermarkets routinely collect data about individual shoppers' purchases and buying habits through "loyalty programs," along with credit card and electronic banking transactions.

Even random individuals could spy on those with tags, because today's RFID technologies do not yet have the processing power to encrypt information. "I don't see how you can get enough power into those things" to encrypt data, said Whitfield Diffie, a fellow and security expert at Sun Microsystems.

Some consumers have described scenarios in which a hacker could extract a person's identification number with an RFID reader, create a chip with the same number and then impersonate them. But even if such chip forgery were possible, alerts would probably be sounded as soon as a system detected that the same person was in two different places at once.

Still, implanting RFID chips could vastly increase the potential for police surveillance of ordinary citizens. Conceivably, every wall socket could become an RFID reader that feeds into a government database.

Critics contend that if tagging gets out of control, the day will eventually come when the cops will be able to trace junk thrown in a public trash can back to the person who tossed it.

"Do you want the people in power to have that much power?" Albrecht asked rhetorically. "The infrastructure obstacle has been overcome. It is called electricity and the Internet." end

Add a Comment (Log in or register) Showing 1 of 3 pages (135 Comments)
Religious Concerns?
by August 23, 2004 5:12 AM PDT
Aside from the standard privacy concerns, does anyone else think that Evangelical Christian America will make some connections with the "mark of the beast" mentioned in the book of revelation, which will supposedly one day be required for basic business transactions?
Reply to this comment
Looks like John from 2000 years ago was right
by bkm645 August 23, 2004 5:36 AM PDT
Revelation 13:16&17: He required everyone ? great and small, rich and poor, slave and free ? to be given a mark on the right hand or on the forehead. And no one could buy or sell anything without that mark, which was either the name of the beast or the number representing his name.

Revelation 16:2: So the first angel left the Temple and poured out his bowl over the earth, and horrible, malignant sores broke out on everyone who had the mark of the beast and who worshiped his statue.

You may think that it will make the world a safer place now, but in the end I would wrather be in the safest of all, with God.
Reply to this comment
NO CHANCE IN ****!
by Jonathan August 23, 2004 5:52 AM PDT
Sorry but no way in HELL is anyone going to insert any RFID in me. Pets are fine. Products and goods are fine. My person is NOT fine.
Reply to this comment
Have faith in the government and companies
by Tex Murphy PI August 23, 2004 7:28 AM PDT
I can't beleive how fearful everyone is over a simple tracking device!

Can't anyone see how beneficial this life-saving technology can be? It can pinpoint your location in a matter of seconds - so that the government can quickly find you for:
1) Medical Assistance
2) Determining your location in the event of a hostage crisis (1 in 100 million chances)
3) Verification so that you cannot be consorting with anyone deemed to be a terrorist
4) Tracking potential terrorists (though they might have easily removed or nullified their RFID)
5) Used to pinpoint your time/date/location stamps for court (such as if you are accused of murder.

Sure, there are concerns. Menial concerns such as:
1) Unknown cancerous growths due to continuous radiation
2) Overt intrusion of privacy - hey, the government SHOULD know how often you are with your family/spouse/lover/etc.
3) The fact that the RFIDs can be duplicated and used to pin an innocent person at the scene of a crime
4) Any well-funded company can easily set up their own information collecting antennas. Sure the government won't share out the RFIDs, but once a person buys something at a shop, you've pretty much given them your RFID + name + credit card number!

No! I say TRUST your respective government. They need to know what you are doing at all times, and where you are so that they can quickly render "assistance" to you.

Companies and criminals are also bound by a moral code not to hack, impersonate, or tamper with STATIC RFID security measures.

Have faith in the government and companies folks! Because if it is good enought for your dog, Spot, it certainly is good enough for YOU!
Reply to this comment
No chips
by kxmmxk August 23, 2004 7:43 AM PDT
The idea of implanting chips in people's bodies is ridiculous. It offers nothing over the stated desire that fingerprints would. A system where you use fingerprints or eye scans for voluntary use would provide all of the benefits, and not necessarily any of the bad side affects.

The problem with chips is they would be on all the time. If they are imbedded there is no way to turn them off. If they are external, they can be stolen.

However, if when you go into a store and use your credit card, they scan your fingerprint or retina, it's voluntary and appropriate. If you pay with cash there is no reason to do either.

It would be appropriate to the situation instead of a continual tracking.

And, by the way, I distrust what companies are going to do with the information way more than what the government will do.
Reply to this comment
Misuse is the biggest concern, chips alone will not be effective.
by August 23, 2004 8:05 AM PDT
One item to consider is how secure the technology is from misuse. For example, finger print scanners that do not verify there is a pulse in the finger allow criminals the opportunity to "obtain" the finger and use it separate from the owner. The same can be said for the chips that can be removed from owners.

Identity verification and security will always struggle with two main conserns, storage of data and the ability to block misuse. Many agree that in order for technology like chips to work, they will need to be balanced with bio-authentication of some sort and that the two combined allow for decryption of information.

Good article.

-Anthony Hogan
Reply to this comment
It will be amazing how many fall for this...
by Revo August 23, 2004 8:20 AM PDT
When I first heard of the 'mark of the beast' long ago, I thought it would be more than obvious that people would run fast and far from such a thing. However, since witnessing recent history unfold before my eyes, and even by reading articles such as this one, Christians and non-Christians alike will welcome this new technology with open arms. Why? Fear. The events of 9-11 as well as the threat of future events will cause us to do whatever necessary to be 'safe'. That's one reason, as a Christian, it's critical to understand why we're alive on the earth- to 'die daily', to prepare people for an eternity with Jesus. We surrender to God, trust him and gain all of our sustainance from him. As we do that, fear can't win. Nothing can harm us as we fully trust God- and not man's attempt at guaranteed safety. That's why stories of martyrdom are so amazing- those people value obedience, God and his truth in the face of threat and death.
Reply to this comment
It's True
by rodnarms August 23, 2004 8:59 AM PDT
Revelation's was written between 70 - 95 AD. Jesus ascended
into Heaven about A.D. 30. It was written by John, a man who
eyewitnessed Jesus with his own eyes.

Jesus was not a philosopher. He didn't leave the option open to
that. He publicly declared that he and the Father were one and
the same, John 14:7-11. Now what would you think of me if I
proclaimed on here that me and God were one and the same
person, equals.

A decision has to be made about the man who said,

"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another;
as I have loved you, that you also love one another."

Was Jesus either God in human flesh or a raving madman?

When I look at history EVERY man to declare themself God is
completely devoid of any love and usually ends up going down
in violence, taking all their followars with them. Jesus went down
alone, leaving his followers.

Say if Jesus was a just a man, then how come we have never
seen a man before or after with that much humility, that much
love - willing to get brutally killed, so that every person could be
capable of loving again.
Reply to this comment
VeriChip human implanted RFID ?Evil--
by August 23, 2004 10:01 AM PDT
This is from obenitez@adsx.com, tfurht@adsx.com
email I found on a website

There is a USA based company called Applied Digital Solutions which seems to be intent on selling the creepiest and most threatening versions of RFID tags - ones which are implanted under the human skin.
These VeriChips work on 125KHz which copes better than the High Frequency 13.56MHz or Mobile Phone frequency range (868 - 930 MHz) Ultra High Frequency RFID tags, with absorbtion by the mostly saline liquid human body. Their range is limited, but seems to be sufficient for door scanners. Naturally, although these RFID tags contain a unique serial number, this is not compliant with even the weak EPCglobal standards for privacy, and they are too "stupid" to be "killed" or deactivated even temporarily. Obviously removal of the tags requires another surgical operation.
These so called "security" chips are the 21st century version of permanent cattle brands (indeed the original market for Verichips is for prize cattle and pet cats and dogs) or tattoos.
We find the concept completely unethical, bordering on actually evil. What is there to prevent this technology being used by exploiters of slave labor, pimps and brothel keepers, religious cults, abusive or pedophile parents or police states in order to control the movements of their victims and to prevent escape via actual alarm systems or the fear that "we will track you down if you try to escape" ?
They are being sold to the Latin American and Russian markets, aimed initially to exploit the fears of rich parents who fear that their children may be kidnapped, and who are therefore willing to electronically brand them in the vain hope that this will somehow make it easier to trace kidnap victims.
The alternative market to the forced branding of children who are in no position to object is to electronically brand vulnerable adults, e.g. those with Alzheimer's disease, again, a process likely to happen without fully informed consent. The company is also selling the concept of access to online medical records via the VeriChip RFID serial number.
If we have expressed doubts about the security and privacy implications of the EPCglobal back end "internet of things" databases, then these worries are multiplied by orders of magnitude when it comes to VeriChip databases containing details of children or vulnerable adults with, in some cases their online medical records.
The VeriChip distributor in Mexico Solusat, is proudly claiming links with the Mexican Red Cross for access to Medical Records, and the National Foundation of Investigations of Robbed and Missing Children
Why then, is Solusat not using SSL/TLS session encryption on the website through which the VeriChip RFID tag registration details and medical records can be accessed?
Why is the SQL Server administrator account and password apparently visible to any hacker or corrupt employee, simply by inspecting the HTML source code of this website?
This would be bad enough if the only thing that they were putting at risk was credit card details, but to put Children's details and Medical Records at risk over the internet or to corrupt employees in this way is criminal negligence.
The latest nonsense from the company is VeriPay, an attempt to try to convince people that electronic payments could be safely authorized using their crude technology which does not employ encrypted authentication handshakes, instead of a normal credit card.
Of course, many fundamentalist Christians see RFID technology, but especially VeriChips as the Mark of the Beast:
"Moreover, it caused everyone, great and small, rich and poor, slave and free, to be branded with a mark on his right hand or forehead, and no one was allowed to buy or sell unless he bore this beast's mark, either name or number. (Here is the key; and anyone who has intelligence may work out the number of the beast. The number represents a man's name, and the numerical value of its letters is six hundred and sixty-six.)
(Revelations chapter 13: verses 16-18)"
Any reputable companies deploying RFID tags would be well advised to help get these evil RFID human implants banned, or risk getting tarred with the same brush.
Reply to this comment
Not at that price
by MTGrizzly August 23, 2004 10:43 AM PDT
Surveillance cameras at every step is bad enough. Now, RFID
chips? At what price security? Not that price.

Given the government's response in unnecessarily severely
limiting personal civil liberties after 9/11, no reasonable person
can really believe the government won't use these devices in
ways that violate basic human rights. Even if the government is
prevented from using these devices, directly, they will get the
data from commercial operators and use it, "for our own good."
Personally, I have never believed, the phrase, "We're from the
government and we're here to help." I see even less reason to
believe that, if they are given a lojack to trace my every move,
they use it for anything positive.

Time to move off the grid.
Reply to this comment
"RELIGION" is my concern
by James Buerge August 23, 2004 11:01 AM PDT
It seems that everyone is keen on either quoting superficial
"knowledge" (hear-say) within the "evangelical church", or from
without the organization coming against religion. I understand
the distaste for religious verboseness. It is always empty and
from a conceptual head knowledge and without life and hence
incredable.
What is credable, is a religion free personal experience with the
life that is based entirely upon the tenants of the Bible and
outside of any organized "church system". The gathering of
believers is the church that is within the hearts and souls of
believers.
Also, the Mark of the Beast that brings fear to so many is
foundless. If you are a believer (in my context), then it should
not concern you. There is already a mark upon all believers and
non-believers! Ez 9.4 "... set a mark upon the foreheads of the
men that sigh and that cry ... " Rev 9.4 Hurt only those who ...
"have not the seal of God in their foreheads." The Mark of God
and the Mark of the Beast are manifested by the lives that we
live - our nature coming out of the type of life that we are living.
It is clearly visible to all.
So it doesn't matter. We all are all marked in open witness of all
eternity. An implant is not that which "Marks" us. It is the life
that we live that "tags" us with one of two marks.
Coincidently, I am concerned about my rights of freedom and
privacy and am not interested in the implants nor any of the
other violations of my will. But I realize that I will have to pay the
price and remove myself from system control that will without
question come into existance. Within three to five years it will
be sustantially in place.
Believers are now making decisions and preperations for that
which "will shortly come to pass."
Reply to this comment
RFID technology could save lives
by August 23, 2004 12:18 PM PDT
if the tag were programmed with medical info such as allergic reactions, heart problems, pacemaker... in the event of catastrophic trauma, the rfid tag could be read where a bracelet or some other device could be lost. medical personnel with equipment to read the tags could react more quickly and more accurately.

ivon
Reply to this comment
Not yet... wait for the aliens to show up first =o)
by August 23, 2004 2:27 PM PDT
It's about the only thing I could imagine that would inspire an entire world to "get together". Faced with a new reality that we are "not alone", people will line up to get these chips. Then (and only then), it will make sense.
Reply to this comment
Did you ever stop and think?
by squidburns August 23, 2004 8:47 PM PDT
Being in technology all these years I cannot believe that anyone would want to have a chip inserted into their body.

Besides health risks and the constant monitoring there is the little problem of TECHNOLOGY BECOMING OBSOLETE! I cannot buy a laptop without it becoming 'old' in two months, why would I want a chip that will have to be 'upgraded' or replaced every two years to meet the current technology trends?

The chips will go from 11mm to 6mmm and then one or two. Then they will have transmitters, encryption, remote programming and updating software and every time there is an upgrade off to the doctor to get a new one. And who will pay for all this? I mean with all the Americans without health insurance who is going to pay $1ooo dollars per doctor visit to upgrade a tracking chip?

Sure your medical history can be stored but what if you have no medical history other than the chip implant?

Sure if a hurricane or earthquake were to kill me here in Kansas then they could find the part of my body with he chip easier. Like I care if I am dead.

It's like the schmucks that believe when the police fingerprint children 'for their protection in case they are kidnapped' that information is not saved over for when little billy starts smoking pot and his fingerprints match a bag from someone they arrest. sure it's for the children.

Here soon there will be a kidnapping or missing child that is 'found' because of RFID and every ignorant parent in the world will have their child chipped for 'their safety'

Fear will make this work.

_squid
Reply to this comment
Under The Skin
by malabrm1 August 23, 2004 10:00 PM PDT
I reckon that unless a person has to sign a legal agreement to such chip implantation, it's a no go. The constitutional laws make a good case that, if inserted without permission, it is a clear invasion of privacy. But, then again, I grew up in the land of the free and the brave, where citizens were innocent til proven guilty. I liked the Tom Cruise flick about discovering he was to be accused a murderer, when he was the futuristic cop who invented tech that forecast felonalies before they occurred. It'smore like Philip K. Dick than Orwell.
Reply to this comment
666 is geting close
by August 24, 2004 3:32 AM PDT
It looks like the mark of the beast is getting close. His (The Lord) is getting close.
Reply to this comment
No, not me.
by August 24, 2004 5:44 AM PDT
Scriture refers to this as the mark of the beast. Give it to the terrorists. Then you can keep track of them. They are typically unbelievers anyway.
Reply to this comment
I.D Chips..Hello can you say "Mark of the Beast"
by August 24, 2004 9:26 AM PDT
Here it is yet another action by mankind that proves the bible to be absolute truth again! First it was all ok because it was just our dogs and cats that we put them in, all in the name of "pet saftey". Then it was just for criminals in jails, afterall who cares about them? Now it's ok too because it will mark hospitial patients and match mothers to babies, we tag our babies! Wake up folks the next step is they will tell you it will make everything you do "simple". Wave your arm at the gas pump and fill up, just walk right out of the supermarket without having to write a check or "put in your pin", your items are tagged and you are tagged then scanned and the cost debited right out of your account. Your work credit account that is. We will then have a cashless society one where crime can no longer exsist, such as I.D theft or robbery afterall if have no cash or cards, what will they do, cut your arm off, hell yes! This is the "mark of the beast" that is foretold in Revalations. I am glad I will not be here when it is ordered that all who live will have one put in them or be beheaded! "GOT GOD?"
Reply to this comment
Blinded By Terrorists
by Stan Kee August 24, 2004 11:59 AM PDT
This won't affect terrorists. It will affect Joe & Jane American citizen. They (Govt) will use your fear of terrorists as a justification to implant and keep track of YOU, not them. "Believers" or "Non-Believers", as you call it, has nothing to do with this, but fear does. You want to keep this from happenning, then don't vote for these fear-mongering nuts who run their entire campaign based on fear and uncertainty. Don't buy into their constant babble of terrorism, dirty bomb, and anthrax attacks. You're more likely to be killed by another American anyway. You have the power to stop this if you vote for the right people. I'm afraid most wont after noticing how people have let the government do whatever it pleases since 9/11, but hey, what can I do about it.
Most Americans don't know torture and repression by their government which is why we take what we have for granted. One day we will lose it. We will understand what other parts of the world have to deal with. We will understand this if we don't pay attention to what is going on. The builders of country knew what happenned when the government gained too much power and they knew the power of fear. They made the government inefficient to keep it from becoming too powerful. We don't understand suffering, but we may one day.
Reply to this comment
Why not?
by August 24, 2004 2:03 PM PDT
The article mentioned that people are using it to track and identfy their dogs and cats and prisons want to use them to track inmates.
If we accept that why not accept them ourselves, in our bodies. After all we are like dogs and cats wholly owned property of the federal government, so they should be able to track and indentify their property right?
Also since the entire country is now one big USA- PATRIOT act prison, we are all inmates. I fail to see the objection to haveing the RFID's implated in every citizen. At least it's not an unnattractive barcode tattoo on our foreheads.

Come on John Ascroft, its for our safety and protect our freedoms right? Sign me up
Reply to this comment
Showing 1 of 3 pages (135 Comments)
advertisement