LAUGH ALL YOU WANT, YOU DON'T TRY TO STOP THINGS THAT DO NOT EXSIST
Posted on Tue, Apr. 25, 2006
Bill forbids mandatory microchip implants
BY RYAN J. FOLEYAssociated Press
MADISON, Wis. — Former Gov. Tommy Thompson was one of the first high-profile supporters of tiny microchips implanted in people's arms that would allow doctors to access medical information.
Now the state he used to lead is poised to become the first to ban governments and private businesses from forcing such implants on employees, privacy advocates say.
A proposal moving through the state Legislature would prohibit anyone from requiring people to have the tiny chips embedded in them or doing so without their knowledge. Violators would face fines of up to $10,000.
The plan authored by Rep. Marlin Schneider, D-Wisconsin Rapids, won approval in the Assembly last month. The state Senate is scheduled today to consider the measure, which would allow for the implants if the person gives consent.
Gov. Jim Doyle would sign the bill, a spokesman said.
Schneider aides say the legislator wants the law in place before companies and governments could use them to keep track of their employees.
"I don't think most people had thought about this as an issue, but it's scary. It's reality now," said Michael Schoenfield, an aide to Schneider. "Companies can or will be ordering their employees to have chips implanted. We want to stop that before it begins."
VeriChip Corp. of Delray Beach, Fla., is the only company with federal approval to implant such chips in people. The company so far has implanted 2,500 people worldwide with chips the size of a grain of rice under the skin of their upper arms, said spokesman John O. Procter.
Thompson endorsed this application last year as a way to give hospitals easy access to patients' medical records when he joined VeriChip's board of directors and vowed to "get chipped" himself.
Procter said Monday that Thompson has not undergone the procedure, which he likened to getting a shot, but plans to do so once more hospitals adopt the technology. The chips give off a radio frequency signal identifying a patient. The signal is used to access personal information in an Internet database.
VeriChip is also marketing the implants as a way for companies or governments to limit access to high-security areas.
In February, a Cincinnati surveillance equipment company became the first U.S. business to use this application when a handful of employees voluntarily got implants to allow them to enter secure rooms. Some employees in the Mexico attorney general's office have also been implanted with chips, whose signals are recognized by readers in doorways.
Procter said VeriChip supports the spirit of Schneider's bill and would not work with companies forcing employees to get implants. However, he said the implants are superior to employee badges or key chains as a way to limit access.
"It's more secure. It's discreet and it can't be lost or stolen," he said.
Privacy advocates say they are unaware of any companies forcing implants but are worried the technology is taking off with little debate about potential abuses.
Wisconsin would be the first state to ban mandatory implants, said Katherine Albrecht, a New Hampshire privacy advocate and co-author of "Spychips: How Major Corporations and Government Plan to Track Your Every Move with RFID."
Albrecht said she recently handed Thompson a copy of her book when he was in New Hampshire giving a speech.
"What an interesting irony that the foremost chip promoter in the world comes from Wisconsin and Wisconsin would be the first state to say, 'Hey, at least get our permission first,' " Albrecht said. "It's good that lawmakers in Wisconsin are paying attention to the fact that this technology even exists."
The proposal would leave the door open for the state to order implants to track sex offenders or for parents to track their children under an amendment offered by Rep. Scott Suder, R-Abbotsford. Such applications are years away because the chips do not yet allow for surveillance tracking.
"The bill may be a little ahead of its time, but I think it prevents some very onerous activity," Suder said. "It is groundbreaking."
WELL THATS ONE SILYY STORY, NOPE BEEN ON THE GO FOR YEARS NOW :
Clubbers choose chip implants to jump queues
* 11:12 21 May 2004
* NewScientist.com news service
* Duncan Graham-Rowe
Clubbers in Spain are choosing to receive a microchip implant instead of carrying a membership card. It is the latest and perhaps the most unlikely of uses for implantable radio frequency ID chips.
The Baja Beach Club in Barcelona offers people signing up for VIP membership a choice between an RFID chip and a normal card. VIP members can jump the entrance queues, reserve a table and use the nightclub's VIP lounge.
"The RFID chip is not compulsory," says Conrad Chase, managing director of the club. But he says there are advantages to having it. The obvious one is that you do not have to carry a membership card around with you, but also it means you can leave your wallet at home. This is because the RFID can be used as an in-house debit card, says Chase.
When drinks are ordered the RFID is scanned with a handheld device and the cost is added to your bill. The chips, called VeriChips, are produced by US company Applied Digital Solutions.
Grain of rice
The chips are 1.2 millimetres wide and 12 millimetres long and look like a long grain of rice. A medically trained person injects the chip under the skin in the upper left arm, by the triceps.
A scanner reads the chip by emitting a radio signal. This energises the chip and causes it to send out a small radio frequency signal. This can be picked up from about 10 centimetres away.
Chase would not discuss the cost of each chip but said that both card-holding and implanted VIP members would be charged the same fee of 25 Euros for joining.
So far only nine people have been implanted since the scheme started in March. Chase says this is because you cannot implant people who agree to it in the early hours when they might be drunk. They need to discuss the procedure in a sober environment first, he says.
Privacy issues
But they should also be informed of the privacy implications of having an implant, says Ian Brown, director of the Foundation for Information Policy Research, a UK-based think tank.
"It's not like you can take it off when you leave the club or get home," says Brown. "At the very least it's going to be awkward to remove."
As far as Chase is concerned there are no privacy issues. The bearer has control over what services they sign up for, he says. The only information that can be gleaned without their consent is the chip's unique ID number - it is completely anonymous, he says.
But people may object even to this, says Brown, in much the same way that some are opposed to the use of internet cookies recording their browsing activity.
It would be like becoming a walking internet cookie, he says. For example, retailers equipped with RFID scanners would be capable of monitoring chipped shoppers visits and purchases.
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Microchip 'could do away with pills'
BBC
Scientists in the United States have developed a new way of taking medicines which could improve the effectiveness of some treatments including HIV therapy.
Writing in the journal Nature Materials they describe a drug-containing microchip which can be implanted in the body.
This then releases the medication slowly so the patient no longer has to take any pills.
Most drugs are still taken orally - but this has drawbacks, the biggest one being human error.
Simply forgetting to take your medicine can seriously affect how well a medicine works.
So this new microchip, which is just over a centimetre in length, could provide a way of delivering exactly the right dose at exactly the right time, therefore making the drug work as well as possible.
Keeping track
The chip's surface is covered in little grooves, where drugs can be loaded.
It is then covered with different types of polymer which slowly biodegrade releasing each dose at a different time.
This type of drug delivery could be very useful for patients who have to take many different tablets at specific times each day for instance those with HIV.
It could also help patients suffering from dementia who cannot remember when to take their drugs.
So far the researchers have tested the chip in the lab with the anti-clotting agent heparin.
They found that just one chip can be used for up to 140 days.
If this works as well for other drugs then clinical trials of the new implant will start soon.
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Tracking Junior With a Microchip
Wired News
A Mexican company has launched a service to implant microchips in children as an anti-kidnapping device.
Solusat, the Mexican distributor of the VeriChip -- a rice-size microchip that is injected beneath the skin and transmits a 125-kilohertz radio frequency signal -- is marketing the device as an emergency ID under its new VeriKid program.
The service has even garnered the backing of Mexico's National Foundation of Investigations of Robbed and Missing Children, which has agreed to promote the service.
According to a press release announcing the collaboration, the foundation has estimated that 133,000 Mexican children have been abducted over the past five years.
Foundation officials did not respond to interview requests.
A Solusat executive said the terms of the agreement are still being hashed out.
"There are distinct projects on the table, but one form of finding (children) is by putting scanners in strategic locations where a search is being conducted for a VeriKid that has been reported missing," said Carlos Altamirano, Solusat's associate general director.
The company envisions placing walk-through scanners -- similar to metal-detector portals used in airports -- in malls, bus stations and other areas where a missing child may appear. The chip also could be used to identify children who are found unconscious, drugged, dead or too young to identify themselves.
Critics said kidnappers could circumvent the device easily.
"My big concern is that kidnappers will simply use 'high-tech' tools like knives to get rid of them," said Lauren Weinstein, creator of the Privacy Forum, an online digest related to privacy and technology issues.
The Electronic Privacy Information Center also has warned that inserting a type of LoJack into children and workers to track their movements could violate their civil liberties.
Solusat began selling VeriChip -- which is similar to the biochips used to track cattle and lost pets -- in Mexico in July; it's been sold in the United States since October 2002.
The VeriChip is injected under the skin of the upper arm or hip in an outpatient procedure. A special scanner reads the RF signal emitted by the microchip to obtain the device's ID number, which then is entered into a database to access personal data about the individual. Other potential uses of the chip, according to company officials, include scanning unconscious patients to obtain their medical records or restricting access to high-security buildings by scanning workers to verify their clearance.
In Mexico, the cost of the VeriChip and the doctor's fee for implantation is about $200, in addition to a $50 annual fee to maintain the database. The handheld scanner costs an additional $1,200, Altamirano said. The company refused to disclose the price of the portal scanners.
VeriChip manufacturer Applied Digital Solutions said it plans to roll out the VeriKid service in other countries, including the United States, in the future.
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Tracking Junior With a Microchip
Wired News
A Mexican company has launched a service to implant microchips in children as an anti-kidnapping device.
Solusat, the Mexican distributor of the VeriChip -- a rice-size microchip that is injected beneath the skin and transmits a 125-kilohertz radio frequency signal -- is marketing the device as an emergency ID under its new VeriKid program.
The service has even garnered the backing of Mexico's National Foundation of Investigations of Robbed and Missing Children, which has agreed to promote the service.
According to a press release announcing the collaboration, the foundation has estimated that 133,000 Mexican children have been abducted over the past five years.
Foundation officials did not respond to interview requests.
A Solusat executive said the terms of the agreement are still being hashed out.
"There are distinct projects on the table, but one form of finding (children) is by putting scanners in strategic locations where a search is being conducted for a VeriKid that has been reported missing," said Carlos Altamirano, Solusat's associate general director.
The company envisions placing walk-through scanners -- similar to metal-detector portals used in airports -- in malls, bus stations and other areas where a missing child may appear. The chip also could be used to identify children who are found unconscious, drugged, dead or too young to identify themselves.
Critics said kidnappers could circumvent the device easily.
"My big concern is that kidnappers will simply use 'high-tech' tools like knives to get rid of them," said Lauren Weinstein, creator of the Privacy Forum, an online digest related to privacy and technology issues.
The Electronic Privacy Information Center also has warned that inserting a type of LoJack into children and workers to track their movements could violate their civil liberties.
Solusat began selling VeriChip -- which is similar to the biochips used to track cattle and lost pets -- in Mexico in July; it's been sold in the United States since October 2002.
The VeriChip is injected under the skin of the upper arm or hip in an outpatient procedure. A special scanner reads the RF signal emitted by the microchip to obtain the device's ID number, which then is entered into a database to access personal data about the individual. Other potential uses of the chip, according to company officials, include scanning unconscious patients to obtain their medical records or restricting access to high-security buildings by scanning workers to verify their clearance.
In Mexico, the cost of the VeriChip and the doctor's fee for implantation is about $200, in addition to a $50 annual fee to maintain the database. The handheld scanner costs an additional $1,200, Altamirano said. The company refused to disclose the price of the portal scanners.
VeriChip manufacturer Applied Digital Solutions said it plans to roll out the VeriKid service in other countries, including the United States, in the future.
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Barcoding humans
The era of implanting people with identity chips is up on us
By Angela Swafford, Globe Correspondent, 5/20/2003
''First we locate a prime spot,'' he said. ''The next thing is to release the button that triggers the injection mechanism, and that's it, the cargo's been delivered.''
The ''cargo'' was a half-inch-long microchip inside a glass and silicone cylinder that carries my permanent identification number. For an instant, I remembered the famous scene in the movie ''Fantastic Voyage'' in which a miniaturized Raquel Welch and her companions are inserted, submarine and all, into the vein of a patient. In my case, the tiny chip inside me can transmit personal information to anyone with a special handheld scanner.
Theoretically, this VeriChip will allow doctors to call up my medical records even if I'm too badly hurt to answer questions. It is also supposed to allow me to get money from an automatic teller machine by flashing my arm instead of punching in my PIN number. Or reassure airport security that I am a journalist, not a terrorist.
And, though the VeriChip strikes critics as Orwellian, its makers think the surgically implanted IDs could be the Social Security numbers of the future in a nervous world.
''I believe the day will come when most of us will have something similar to the VeriChip under our skin,'' said Scott Silverman, president of Florida-based Applied Digital Solutions. ''People will regard that its benefits -- in terms of financial, security, and health care -- far outweigh the possibility of loss of privacy.''
Right now, I am part of a very small club, the 18th person in the world -- and the first journalist -- to get ''chipped.'' Most of the others are ADS employees along with one Florida family who have been jokingly dubbed ''the Chipsons'' in a play on the old Jetsons cartoon.
The idea of a system that gives emergency workers and others immediate access to potentially lifesaving information is exactly what drew the Jacobs family of Boca Raton to the VeriChip. At the request of their 14-year-old son, Derek, the Jacobses got chipped last year.
''My husband has cancer and we've experienced the frustrating delays of trying to provide urgent medical history information every time he is rushed into the emergency room,'' says Leslie Jacobs.
Since the attack on the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, she continues, ''we know that our lives are increasingly vulnerable. If we want increased safety, security, and peace of mind, we need to take positive steps. We've decided that having a VeriChip is one way to do just that.''
But critics see surveillance technology like the VeriChip as a growing threat, giving potentially dangerous new power to businesses and government alike. In a report issued in January by the American Civil Liberties Union, Jay Stanley and Barry Steinhardt warned that an explosion of technology has already created a ''surveillance monster.''
''Scarcely a month goes by in which we don't read about some new high-tech way to invade people's privacy, from face recognition to implantable microchips, data mining, DNA chips, and even `brain wave fingerprinting,' '' they wrote. ''The fact is there are no longer any technical barriers to the Big Brother regime portrayed by George Orwell [in his novel `1984'].''
The VeriChip is similar to the more than 25 million chips already embedded in animals all over the world acting as ''pet passports,'' allowing customs officials to monitor those animals that do not need to go into quarantine, or to identify your stray dog.
But, at least for now, the VeriChip does much less: it's mainly for demonstration purposes, carrying only an identification number and the capacity for about three paragraphs of information. Only 10 hospitals and doctors in Florida have the scanner to read the chips. And the Food and Drug Administration has not yet approved the chips for use in health care, so they cannot be used to access medical records.
However, ADS officials say this is just the beginning. They want to build a chip that can store loads of information, or act as the key to a central database that stores information about the user. Ultimately, the company hopes to be able to track the movement of people with chips worldwide using global positioning satellites.
The company is field testing its Personal Locator Device, or PLD, which ADS says could help track lost children, sick elderly family members, mountain climbers who get lost, or kidnap victims. Company officials say they have been inundated with requests from private companies in Latin America, especially Mexico and Colombia.
The PLD is still years away from wide use, according to Keith Bolton, ADS's chief of technologies. The working prototype is rather large -- 2 1/2 inches in diameter -- and would require major surgery for implantation (though it appears some Israeli secret service agents already carry something similar). It is powered by a pacemaker battery, and, just like in a Tom Clancy book, it would let anyone with access to the PLD system follow the wearer anytime, anywhere in the world, at the click of a mouse.
''The PLD would also monitor the vital signs of the wearer, and the environmental conditions around that person, and it could be a great way to protect a family member with a disease such as Alzheimer's,'' says Bolton.
Businesses already use technology to track their products around the world, but we should stop and think about the implications before starting a human tracking system, cautions Mohan Tanniru, professor of information systems at the University of Arizona.
''I am not going to put a chip on my kid thinking that she could be kidnapped,'' he says, ''unless I know the chip will be activated only if I report that my kid is lost. But how do I know that the police are only going to activate it when I say so, and not when they feel like it? You can't just say that technology is bad just because it is there. So it is a matter of deciding what trusting agency should be given that responsibility.''
Tanniru actually thinks that human tracking might be welcome in certain cases, such as following criminals on probation or making sure foreign nationals don't overstay their visas. In fact, Pro Tech Monitoring of Tampa already makes an externally worn tracking device for parolees that alerts authorities if the wearer enters a forbidden area, such as a school zone.
For ADS's Silverman, both the VeriChip and its future GPS-based version are a matter of individual choice.
''No one is forcing you to have a VeriChip. If you want a chip in your right arm you are going to know it is there because you will see it injected. When you look at the events of 9/11 and the way people measure their own personal security today versus the way they did a few years ago, there is a much higher concern to make sure that family members are safe and sound, and some people now put that above privacy rights.''
So far, ADS's technology gamble has not translated into profits. In 2002, ADS lost $112 million on revenues of $96 million, though this loss is significantly lower that that of the previous year.
As far as I am concerned, having a chip with a code in it is not giving me the chills. I think it would be nice to use it to get cash or pay for gas, and I wouldn't mind paramedics having access to my health records in the blink of an eye. Besides, I know it would never get lost. I did, however, have a few questions about its health hazards. So I asked Dr. Kleiner.
''The VeriChip is extremely safe,'' he says. ''Pacemakers are hundreds of times larger and more complicated and nobody has problems with them. To prevent the chip from migrating to another part of the body there is a little polymer at one end of the capsule that will adhere to the skin and hold it in place.
At his office, my arm was like a barcoded product at a supermarket cash register: It beeped every time the scanner prodded the chip. It worked even through my clothes. Displayed on the screen was a long number with many zeroes. For good or bad, I thought, this chip may be quietly heralding a time when people will literally have technology under the skin.
This story ran on page C9 of the Boston Globe on 5/20/2003.***************************************************************************************
YOUR PAPERS, PLEASE …
Miami journalist gets 'chipped'
Implantable-ID company puts product into science writer
Posted: April 29, 2003
By Sherrie Gossett
© 2003 WorldNetDaily.com
Applied Digital Solutions, maker of implantable identification chips for humans, is ramping up a new media blitz with the "chipping" of a reporter and unveiling yesterday in London of a new temperature-sensing microchip.
Meanwhile, a June deadline looms for the financially troubled company to pay off a $30 million IBM loan.
Applied Digital Solutions (NASDAQ: ADSX) of West Palm Beach, Fla., maker of the implantable VeriChip, coined the term "getting chipped" as part of a marketing campaign that attracted worldwide coverage. It culminated last May when 8 individuals were chipped.
The VeriChip is an injectable radio-frequency identification chip marketed for human use. It can carry a unique identification number along with other data. In addition, it is wirelessly write-able.
The company invited Angela Swafford, a Miami-based journalist, to get "chipped" while she was working on a VeriChip story for a major media outlet.
Angela Swafford
Swafford is a science writer whose work has appeared in New Scientist magazine, Astronomy magazine, Discovery, and ABC News. Her story is expected to be released in the near future.
"When it comes to reporting on stories, I like to get as involved as possible in the science behind them," said Swafford. "I have been known to lend my body to science, from participating in NASA hyper-gravity tests, to having my brain scanned by neurologists trying new imaging techniques at MIT. All in the name of exploration of new frontiers ... and of good stories."
She added, "When offered the opportunity to be chipped, it occurred to me that I could tell this story in a unique way. I think the technology is tremendously exciting, with applications that defy our wildest dreams. This chip is quietly heralding a time when humans will literally have technology under the skin."
'Cap Cyborg' a 'media tart'?
Meanwhile, in England, mixing getting chipped with publicity has back-fired on famous British professor Kevin Warwick, who has recently been accused of launching a "publicity stunt" in the "worst possible taste."
Warwick, who had previously been implanted with various chips as a part of research projects, announced to a flurry of press coverage he planned to implant a British girl with a GPS-tracked device.
The announcement came on the heels of the tragic deaths of two abducted British girls.
An intermediary firm began handling requests from media who wanted to interview Warwick, dubbed "Captain Cyborg," charging reporters a rate of $125 for ten minutes of talk time.
WorldNetDaily contacted Warwick asking for proof the GPS implant existed, but received no response. In addition, Jackie Fenn, vice president of Emerging Technologies and a research fellow with Gartner Research, told WND she could not obtain verification the implant exists.
When no one could verify the existence of such a device, the merciless headlines read, "Cap Cyborg is a Media Tart. True." Critics charged him with fueling hysteria following the deaths of the girls and with manipulating the fears of parents.
The respected online tech-journal the Register called him a "tedious self-publicist" who was essentially providing "less critical elements of the press with a never-ending stream of stupid stories."
John Lettice, of the Register noted, "And by pushing positive aspects of tagging, even years before it's actually feasible, they're softening public opinion up for the days when it can be widespread, and when its application can be more sinister."
Warwick had called for an urgent government debate on the issue, and said government ministers should consider implants for all children.
"This is why we need the debate to take place," he said. "In the future, it may be that only the police have the authority to allow the system to be activated. But, as things stand, parents can have that right themselves."
The suggestion that only police, and not parents, might have control of such a future system is sure to raise hackles in England, where there has been a steady stream of police officers arrested on child-porn charges.
In 1999, Applied Digital announced they had obtained the patent rights to a GPS implant. The microchip was described as a syringe-injectable implant that was "small enough to be implanted in a child" and could be "continuously tracked by GPS."
Four years later, the implant has yet to make it to market, but the company discussed the need for GPS implants during last year's child kidnapping crises. Jackie Fenn of Gartner notes Applied Digital has told her they are on track for bringing a GPS implant to market.
To date, only intelligence agency uses of GPS implants have been reported as being in current use: Time magazine previously reported the Israeli Secret Service was using GPS implant technology in some of its operatives.
About Applied Digital, the Register complained the firm has essentially been busy "punting cattle tags at the hard of thinking."
Tagging in health care
Meanwhile, yesterday and today Applied Digital was scheduled to make two presentations at the IDTechEx "Smart Tagging in Healthcare" conference in London.
IDTechEx refers to the London conference as the "first major" conference devoted to the potential health-care benefits of smart tagging technologies. As described by IDTechEx, the conference is intended to help attendees "learn how smart labels can save lives, reduce errors, improve health, reduce costs and lead to new services."
Dr. Richard Seelig of Applied will be speaking about possible medical applications of the VeriChip, and will provide the first-ever public demonstration of the company's new temperature-sensing microchip technology, marketed, patented and first announced by Digital Angel Corporation (AMEX: DOC) in February 2003.
This new Radio Frequency Identification microchip has similar dimensions and performance characteristics to VeriChip, but it can also obtain and transmit body-temperature data.
Dubbed "Bio-Thermo" the microchip previously was used for pets, livestock and other animals. The information on the chip can be retrieved with a handheld scanner or by the animal passing through a special portal.
The London conference will mark the company's shift from marketing the chip for animals to also marketing it for human use.
Currently, there is a wide variety of biosensors approaching commercial viability.
Biosensors now are being developed to detect everything from the first chemical signature of cancer to the presence of anthrax, and advances in fields such as nanotechnology, microelectronics and molecular diagnostics have paved the way.
As previously reported by WND, Dr. Peter Zhou had commented in 2000 that he was "very interested" in pursuing the company's implantable technology as a form of a universal health-care identifier, along the lines of what former HHS Secretary Donna Shalala proposed under the Clinton administration.
Applied says its new BioTherm chip has applications relevant to chemotherapy-treatment management, chronic-infection monitoring, organ transplantation treatment management, infertility management, postoperative monitoring, critical-care monitoring, medication monitoring and response to treatment evaluation.
Surge of interest in chip tracking
The health-care tagging conference comes at a time where there is a surge of industry interest in many applications of Radio Frequency Identification chip tagging.
At the forefront of this interest is MIT's Auto-ID Center.
Founded in 1999, the Auto-ID Center is a cutting-edge partnership between more than 87 global companies and three of the world's leading research universities: the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the U.S., the University of Cambridge in the UK and the University of Adelaide in Australia.
Together they are creating the standards and assembling the building blocks needed to create what they call an "Internet of things."
The Center proposes an "intelligent infrastructure" that allows physical objects to communicate with one another. This infrastructure would consist of low-cost electronic tags, unique object identification numbers, common networking services and standardized protocols and languages.
The Center is designing, building and testing the components of such a system, with a view to deploying a global infrastructure – a layer on top of the Internet – that will make it possible for computers to identify any object anywhere in the world instantly.
"Electronic tags when coupled to a reader network allow continuous tracking and identification of physical objects. Reader arrays have been fabricated and integrated in floor tiles, carpeting, shelf paper, cabinets and appliances. Similar to cellular phone grids, the reader network may provide seamless and continuous communication to tagged objects," says Auto-ID Center co-director David Brock.
It's commonly accepted the proposed architecture has the potential to revolutionize supply chain, logistics and inventory.
The Center foresees: "No more inventory counts. No more lost or misdirected shipments. No more guessing how much material is in the supply chain – or how much product is on the store shelves."
Although its first applications are focused on supply-chain management, the concept of seamlessly communicating physical objects has many applications in other areas, such as health care.
The ability to provide continuity of care, continuous patient monitoring, shared yet secure medical records, valid and accurate medical dosages, medical equipment tracking and improved information display and communication are some of the propositions enabled by the technology.
In its full implementation, the Auto-ID technology is said to have the potential to greatly reduce costs while increasing the reliability and effectiveness of human health care.
Chip maker facing financial struggles
Meanwhile, Applied Digital continues to face financial struggles, even in the wake of worldwide press coverage.
Under a new forbearance agreement reached with creditor IBM, the financially struggling Applied Digital gained the right to buy back its existing indebtedness from IBM Credit with a one-time payment, on or before June 30, of $30 million. If this payment is made, Applied Digital would satisfy its full obligation to IBM Credit, according to the company.
For 2002, Applied has posted a net loss of $112.5 million on revenues of $99.6 million, according to the latest SEC filing. The loss is significantly lower than 2001's net loss of $215.6 million, but the company's losses for the past three years total $443.3 million.
Earlier this month, Applied announced the SEC is conducting an informal inquiry into the company.
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A GIRL of 11 is to have an electronic tag fitted which will trace her if she is ever abducted.
Danielle Duval will be implanted with a microchip to track her every move.
If she was kidnapped, her exact location would be discovered via a computer.
Parents Wendy and Paul decided to tag Danielle after the abduction and murder of 10-year-olds Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman
Wendy, 33, said: "After the news of Holly and Jessica we sat down as a family and discussed what we could do.
"Like us, Danielle needs to feel she's safe and could be located in a real emergency.
"I know nothing is ever foolproof but we believe the microchip will go a long way towards protecting her."
The Duvals deny they are over-reacting.
School-catering controller Wendy said: "We recognise it's unlikely our children will be abducted but no one can ever be certain.
"It seems only sensible for any parent to use technology when its available.
"If a car can be fitted with equipment to enable it to be tracked when it is stolen, why not apply the same principle to finding missing children?" The tag has been developed by cybernetics expert Professor Kevin Warwick, 48.
The chip emits radio waves through a mobile phone network and beams its exact location to a computer.
If Danielle went missing, her location would be marked by an X on a computer map.
Prof Warwick said: "The implant won't prevent abductions, nothing will.
"But if the worst happens, parents will at least be in with a chance of finding their children alive."
Danielle is happy to have the microchip. She said: "I will feel so much safer knowing that mum and dad could find me in an emergency.
"The professor said the chip won't hurt, so that's okay."
It will be inserted in her arm by a GP using local anaesthetic. It costs about £20 and will be invisible.
The Duvals, from Reading, Berks, plan to have younger daughter Amy, seven, tagged as well.
But Wendy said: "We'll wait until she's older so she understands what's happening."
Once the chip is fully developed, anyone could be fitted with it, from newborn babies at risk of being snatched to Alzheimer sufferers.
Prof Warwick added: "Children may resent that their every movement is traceable. It's also possible some parents might abuse the system.
"But I'm confident this has to be the correct course of action in the light of recent, tragic events.
"The technology exists, it's affordable and accessible."
*****************************************************************************SOOOO, BACK TO TODAY.... THIS IS GLOBAL. IT IS CONTROL :
Warnings Staff Will Be Microchipped In Future
8:56 PM, 30 Mar 2006
An Otago University law professor is warning that New Zealand employers will some day microchip their staff in an effort to monitor their performance at work.
Paul Roth, who made the claim at a privacy forum in Wellington today, says employers are already using new technologies to check up on staff, such as finger scanning instead of clocking-in cards, and key-logging to find out how fast people are working.
He predicts many employees will have to carry microchips in ID cards as happens overseas, to monitor where and what they have been doing.
Paul Roth told the forum the chips could even be embedded in workers themselves.
The Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union says emerging technologies in the workplace are a threat to workers' privacy.
Its spokesperson, Andrew Little, says it would be difficult for business to refuse police or other agencies if they wanted any information gathered from the microchips.
LASTLY, CHIPS CAN CONTROL EMOTION, CAUSE PAIN, INDUCE MENTAL STATES OR RELEASE DRUGS.... ITS INSANE TO THINK AT SOME POINT AND TIME THIS COULD NOT BE USED FOR EVIL PURPOSES, WELL I THINK RIGHT OFF THE BAT ITS FOR THAT :
The document on this page is retyped exactly from the poor quality original received here at Leading Edge Research Group in August 1997. The original document had a fax annotation of August 6, 1996 and was stamped "Confidential", with a hand written annotation at the bottom which read, "We understand the New Jersey prison system is presently using". The original fax was four pages in length. The document came into our possession synchronistically at the same time the correctional system of the U.S. is coming under scrutiny for draconian methodology. Are these guys a bunch of Nazis, or what? The parts colored in red have been done so in order to stress certain sentences and passages. Our analysis of this alleged "whopper" indicates that in all probability such an implant would directly interfere with the function of the hippocampus, which is interesting because a lot of the ongoing interest in neuroscience has been with just that organ. Interestingly, according to the Chinese scientific report on the effect of fluorides on the intelligence of children, it is also this same organ that is affected. The effect on the limbic system is to halt resistance to both authority and adaptation to novel changes in situation. A perfect tranquilizer device. Note that most sedative drugs are fluorinated compounds. Implants and bleeding from the ears and nose...now who's doing a lot of those abductions and blaming all of them on alien factions....
2020 NEURAL CHIP IMPLANT
The control of crime will be a paramount concern in the 21st century. We must be ready with our security products when the demand for them becomes popular. Our Research and Development Division has been in contact with the Federal Bureau of Prisons, the California Department of Corrections, the Texas Department of Public Safety, and the Massachusetts Department of Correction to run limited trials of the 2020 neural chip implant. We have established representatives of our interests in both management and institutional level positions within these departments. Federal regulations do not yet permit testing of implants on prisoners, but we have entered into contractual agreements with privatized health care professionals and specified correctional personnel to do limited testing of our products.
We have also had major successes with privately owned sanitariums with implant technology. We need, however, to expand our testing to research how effective the 2020 neural chip implant performs in those identified as the most aggressive in our society. Limited testing has produced a number of results. In California, several prisoners were identified as members of the security threat group EME, or Mexican Mafia. They were brought to the health services unit at Pelican Bay and tranquilized with advanced sedatives developed by our Cambridge, Massachusetts laboratories. The implant procedure takes 60-90 minutes, depending upon the experience of the technician. We are working on a device which will reduce that time by as much as 60% [30 min]. The results of implants on eight prisoners yielded the following results: Implants served as surveillance devices to monitor threat group activity.
Implants disabled two subjects during an assault on correctional staff. Universal side effects in all eight subjects revealed that when the implant was set to 116 Mhz, all subjects became lethargic and slept on an average of 18-22 hours per day.
All subjects refused recreation periods for 14 days during the 166 Mhz test evaluation. Seven out of eight subjects did not exercise, in the cell or out of the cell, and five out of eight of the subjects refused showers up to three days at a time. Each subject was monitored for aggressive activity during the test period and the findings are conclusive that seven out of eight subjects exhibited no aggression, even when provoked. Each subject experienced only minor bleeding from the nose and ears 48 hours after the implant due to initial adjustment. Each subject had no knowledge of the implant for the test period and each implant was retrieved under the guise of medical treatment. It should be noted that the test period was for less than two months.
However, during the period substantial data was gathered by our research and development team, which suggests that the implants exceeds expected results. One of the major concerns of Security and the R&D team was that the test subject would discover the chemical imbalance during the initial adjustment period and the test would have to be scrubbed. However, due to advanced technological development in the sedatives administered, the 48-hour adjustment period can be attributed to prescription medication given to the test subjects after the implant procedure. One of the concerns raised by R&D was the cause of the bleeding and how to eliminate that problem. Unexplained bleeding might cause the subject to inquire further about his "routine" visit to the infirmary or other health care facility. The security windfall from the brief test period was enormous. Security officials now know several strategies employed by the EME that facilitate the transmission of illegal drugs and weapons into correctional facilities. One intelligence officer remarked that while they cannot use the information they have in a court of law, they now know who to watch and what outside "connections" they have. The prison at Solidad is now considering transferring three subjects to Vacaville where we have our ongoing implant research.
Our technicians have promised that they can do three 2020 neural chip implants in less than an hour. Solidad officials hope to collect information from the trio to bring a 14-month investigation into drug trafficking by correctional officers to a close. Essentially the implants make the unsuspecting prisoner a walking-talking recorder of everyone he comes into contact with. There are only five intelligence officers and the commissioner of Corrections who actually know the full scope of the implant testing.
In Massachusetts, the Department of Correction has already entered into high-level discussions about releasing certain offenders into the community with the 2020 neural chip implants. Our people are not altogether against the idea, however, attorneys for Intelli-Connection have advised against implant technology outside strict control settings. Under the present governmental structure, our liability would be enormous. While we have a strong lobby in Congress and in various state legislatures favoring our product, we must proceed with the utmost caution on uncontrolled use of the 2020 neural chip. If the chip were discovered in use not authorized by law and the procedure traced to us we could not endure for long the resulting publicity and liability payments. Massachusetts' officials have developed an intelligence branch from their Fugitive Task Force Squad that would do limited test runs under tight controls with pre-release subjects.
Corrections officials have dubbed these potential test subjects "the insurance group" (the name derives from the concept that the 2020 implant insure compliance with the law and allows officials to detect misconduct or violations without question). A retired police detective from Charlestown, Massachusetts, now with the intelligence unit, has asked us to consider using the 2020 neural chip on hard core felons suspected of bank and armored car robbery. He stated, "Charlestown would never be the same; we'd finally know what was happening before they knew what was happening."
We will continue to explore community uses of the 2020 chip, but our company rep will be attached to all law enforcement operations with an extraction crew that can be on-site in two hours from anywhere, at anytime. We have an Intell-Connection discussion group who is meeting with the Director of Security at Florence, Colorado's federal super maximum security unit. The initial discussions with the Director have been promising and we hope to have an R&D unit at this important facility within the next six months. Florence, Colorado has replaced Marion, Illinois as the federal prison system's ultra maximum security unit. Legislative and executive branch efforts continue to legalize the implant technology.
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