First implanted chips in humans approved by FDA

[Miulang]

OK, so in some other thread somewhere I told you guys about how the Prez of Mexico had had himself and some of his staff implanted with RFID chips "for security reasons"?

In today's news, they are reporting that the FDA has now approved using chips in people with Alzheimer's, diabetes, heart disease, etc. My hope is that the government severely restricts the criteria of who can get these chips because if they don't you can bet a Federal Agency like Homeland Security is gonna go the next logical step and insist that all Americans have chips implanted (to separate us from the terrorists)!

Here: http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9584_22-5...tag=zdnn.alert

Miulang

[Glen Miyashiro]

Re: First implanted chips in humans approved by FDA

OK, so in some other thread somewhere I told you guys about how the Prez of Mexico had had himself and some of his staff implanted with RFID chips "for security reasons"? In today's news, they are reporting that the FDA has now approved using chips in people with Alzheimer's, diabetes, heart disease, etc.

Ehh. These are just ID tags, not much different from the microchips you put in your pets. Not very useful for most people.

What I really want is an implantable flash drive, so I can always carry my data around with me and not forget to take it with me. I can't count the number of times I've left home or the office and then realized that my flash drive was still plugged into the USB port at my desk.

[craigwatanabe]

Re: First implanted chips in humans approved by FDA

Eh Miulang, wea you been? I stay implant chips in me everday? Frito's, Lay's, Kitchen Cooked...


My hope is that the government severely restricts the criteria of who can get these chips because if they don't you can bet a Federal Agency like Homeland Security is gonna go the next logical step and insist that all Americans have chips implanted (to separate us from the terrorists)!

Ho man I had to do one double look at dat one I thought you meant to say, "to separate us from the tourists"! Now dat's going a bit extreme, I can just see the admission gate at the Honolulu Zoo...

Junior boy: I can get one Kamaina discount for go inside?

Cashier: Shoot bra let me wave my dakine sensa on your okole fo check dakine implant

Junior boy: Eh I stay dakine live Waianae we nevah get the implant yet

Cashier: Oh yeah you guys always las in line for anyting except landfill yeah? go inside and dis time no scare da baboons!

[adrian]

Re: First implanted chips in humans approved by FDA

Ho man I had to do one double look at dat one I thought you meant to say, "to separate us from the tourists"! Now dat's going a bit extreme, I can just see the admission gate at the Honolulu Zoo...

Junior boy: I can get one Kamaina discount for go inside?

Cashier: Shoot bra let me wave my dakine sensa on your okole fo check dakine implant

Junior boy: Eh I stay dakine live Waianae we nevah get the implant yet

Cashier: Oh yeah you guys always las in line for anyting except landfill yeah? go inside and dis time no scare da baboons!

Okole? What do you think that people would want to have chips inserted into their behind? LOL

[pzarquon]

Re: First implanted chips in humans approved by FDA

Okole? What do you think that people would want to have chips inserted into their behind?

Jailbirds understand best... some of the best places to hide something are places where no one wants to look.

I find the idea of voluntary chip implantation to be interesting, but the "slippery slope" mandatory implantation scenario quite alarming. On one hand, I would definitely think they could help in identifying lost Alzheimers or mentally challenged patients, or as a short term tracking/security measure in hospitals, secure facilities, even large businesses (one shot and walkabout freedom versus carrying and swiping a card or keyfob everywhere you go).

But what if parents start chipping their kids? Specifically, what happens when the kid grows up? While data might be on the implant for one application, location, or use, what's to stop other parties from scanning and collecting it elsewhere? And if people become reliant on implants as a form of security and identity... to be sure, some of the methods used by criminals to circumvent them will get pretty messy.

[Miulang]

Re: First implanted chips in humans approved by FDA

I'm telling you guys...first they're going to implant the chips in the poor people who really do need to be tracked (like the dementia patients) but why chip people with diabetes or heart problems? I thought that's what the Med-Alert bracelets were for!

When it becomes mandatory for security reasons that everybody in this country has a chip planted in their arm, the financial institutions are going to do away with currency and when you pay for something, you will be able to wave your arm past a scanner and ka-ching! your checking account is going to be dinged for the amount of the sale. No need for a wallet, or plastic card or paper check anymore!

I was at an echecking conference a couple of weeks ago in San Francisco. If you don't already know it, your banks within the next couple of weeks will tell you that those of you who still get your cancelled paper checks back are not going to be able to, and the "float" some of us have relied on in the past is going the way of the dodo (see "Check 21" rules here: http://www.google.com/url?sa=X&oi=ne...n-check11.html). So with the adoption of "electronic checks", why not do away with the plastic cards and just rely on an embedded chip that communicates with some gigantic database somewhere? It's a whole lot more secure than any plastic card (although your limb might be in peril if a bad person really wanted to claim your identity).

Apparently other countries are already using implanted chips for financial reasons. In Spain, club hoppers use implanted chips like smartcards to help speed up getting their drinks.

Unfortunately, our civil rights are being eroded one by one, for the sake of expediency.

Miulang

[Glen Miyashiro]

Re: First implanted chips in humans approved by FDA

And if people become reliant on implants as a form of security and identity... to be sure, some of the methods used by criminals to circumvent them will get pretty messy.

Ouch. Remember the trick Tom Cruise used to fool the retina-scanners in Minority Report?

[craigwatanabe]

Re: First implanted chips in humans approved by FDA

For now I think I'll prefer a key fob, that's how I used to get into the studios at Clear Channel when I worked there in Honolulu.