VeriChip controversy

[edyzmedieval]

http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/news/041210a.aspx

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VeriChip

So who is for and against this wonderful piece of technological equipment?
I for one am totally against it, I find it rude, full of health risks and a once you implant it, your privacy is completely gone (even more than it is now).

Any opinions?

[Hooahguy]

im leaning towards against it, but only because of the health risks.

[HoreTore]

OMFG. They're actually making this stuff? And making plans to use them?

I'm lost for words. Speechless.

[Husar]

I'm pretty much against it, next up you walk through the city and everyytime you enter a street through a gate they automatically take a dollar from your bank account as road tax.
I'm also generally not very keen of having any technical stuff inside my body that isn't necessary for my body to function properly.
If it's ever necessary to function in our society then I guess I will cease to function, simple as that. I don't have a driver's license (yet) either.

[Alexander the Pretty Good]

Is there any benefit to this at all?

[naut]

A spy chip? No thanks. That stinks to high heaven.

[Fisherking]

Is there any benefit to this at all?

Why yes there is! For Governments and control and tracking things that are none of their business

Even the pet implants are health damaging but worse yet manufacturers are putting them into everything from sneakers to some food packaging.

What’s next?

You meet a girl in a bar and ask if you can have her bar-code?

[CountArach]

Sickening. Utterly sickening.

[KukriKhan]

Yet, we all have cell-phones by which we can be tracked, and no one minds. Just a matter of degree of insertion, right?

[Fisherking]

Yet, we all have cell-phones by which we can be tracked, and no one minds. Just a matter of degree of insertion, right?

Yes and we all voted on that one too didn’t we!

Just like voting on allowing Google to log all of out searches and share them…

But VeriChip is not proposed for use…there are products in use as we read this…this is just about extending those uses.

[Guildenstern]

Yet, we all have cell-phones by which we can be tracked, and no one minds. Just a matter of degree of insertion, right?

But you can switch off your cell-phone...

[HoreTore]

Yet, we all have cell-phones by which we can be tracked, and no one minds. Just a matter of degree of insertion, right?

Actually, right now, I don't

Bloody no-good piece of ...

[Lord Winter]

But you can switch off your cell-phone...

Its still trackable. I see what your driving at though you can still ditch it.


If they work out the health problems the chips could be useful if done right. Done right as in no long range tracking devices or other invasions of privacy. You have to admit it could help if you've been knocked out in some crash and the doctors treating you need your medical history or need to contact your relatives.

These type of things are inevitable in the long run. Now is the time for our society to decide the proper role they'll play and make the safe guards they need.

[Sarmatian]

I don't think I'd like something implanted into my body, unless there's medical need of course, but I don't think I'd mind an ID card with similar kind of chip. If someone high up gets a kick of knowing whether I'm at work, at home, at a friends house, in a bar etc... good for him...

Also, there could be advantages... Let's say you're incapacitated somewhere and in need of medical assistance. When someone from your family reports it, help can locate you immediately...

[drone]

Time to buy stock in Faraday shielded clothing.

[Fisherking]

I don't think I'd like something implanted into my body, unless there's medical need of course, but I don't think I'd mind an ID card with similar kind of chip. If someone high up gets a kick of knowing whether I'm at work, at home, at a friends house, in a bar etc... good for him...

Also, there could be advantages... Let's say you're incapacitated somewhere and in need of medical assistance. When someone from your family reports it, help can locate you immediately...

You mean if you forgot your cell phone? And I don’t think it even needs turned on…and your car likely has a transponder if it is fairly new…

[Marius Dynamite]

If you were going to control people like most fear we might be, this is how you would start.

bad idea

[Sarmatian]

You mean if you forgot your cell phone? And I don’t think it even needs turned on…and your car likely has a transponder if it is fairly new…

Not everyone has cell phones. Sometimes people leave them at home, when they don't want to be bothered for example. Theoretically, you could fall and break the telephone. What happens if the battery runs out, does it still emits a signal?

In any case, if you're in trouble, more options for help to locate you is definitely good. On the other hand, if you already have a cell phone by which someone could track you, what's the problem with the chip? I mean, they can already track you, so it doesn't really change anything.

I'm not really keen on conspiracy theories, I truly believe that governments of the world have better things to do than watching what I and billions of other people in the world do day after day in hope of seeing "something"...

[Lord Winter]

Come on, calm down everyone. Your all treating this like it's a mandatory tracking device that is constantly transmiting your position to Hitler, Big Brother and your neighborhood serial killer. Right now its a limited volentary thing which mainly serves as a computer chip that stores your medical files, not a transmiter. Can we tone down the drama a bit? An Orwellian police state is not around the corner.

[LittleGrizzly]

Come on, calm down everyone. Your all treating this like it's a mandatory tracking device that is constantly transmiting your position to Hitler, Big Brother and your neighborhood serial killer. Right now its a limited volentary thing which mainly serves as a computer chip that stores your medical files, not a transmiter. Can we tone down the drama a bit? An Orwellian police state is not around the corner.

I think the worry is that this brings the government one step closer to it...

I'm not really keen on conspiracy theories, I truly believe that governments of the world have better things to do than watching what I and billions of other people in the world do day after day in hope of seeing "something"...

Its not so much that they're going to watch everyone but if they decide your a threat you would be easier to monitor...

[HoreTore]

tracking device that is constantly transmiting your position to Hitler, Big Brother and your neighborhood serial killer..

A bored public official is more than bad enough for me.

Forget the large-scale stuff, think about the small-scale stuff. Who cares whether you trust the government or not? It's not the president who's tasked with the manual labour of looking at tapes. However, your girlfriend's jealous and obsessive ex who wants nothing better than to frame you is in charge. Or whatever nemesis you can think of.

Gah! The statement that "hey, I trust president xxx, so I'm ok with him video-taping me" is the dumbest statement ever.

[Husar]

Yet, we all have cell-phones by which we can be tracked, and no one minds. Just a matter of degree of insertion, right?

Yes, I also have a credit card, a bank account and a home, but none of them are in my body during my sleep, I can easily throw them away whenever I want and they do not insert any metal or plastic into my body where I do not want any. Oh and I can put them all into the microwave oven and turn it on without cutting my arm off at the shoulder.

[KukriKhan]

Yes, I also have a credit card, a bank account and a home, but none of them are in my body during my sleep, I can easily throw them away whenever I want and they do not insert any metal or plastic into my body where I do not want any. Oh and I can put them all into the microwave oven and turn it on without cutting my arm off at the shoulder.

That microwave would boil your eyeballs if it weren't protected by the Faraday cage drone referred to. But we have no problem pushing the button to make it work, despite the "risk".

So, you draw the line at bodily insertion. Any tracking device, in your opinion, has to be easily toss-able (like a dog-tag, or ID card, passport, etc.) Yes?

[Kralizec]

If it's just about easy acces to medical data in case of an emergency, why not a simple card in your wallet?

That people are willing to use an active transmitter as a substitute for ATM cards is...

[Lord Winter]

A bored public official is more than bad enough for me.

Forget the large-scale stuff, think about the small-scale stuff. Who cares whether you trust the government or not? It's not the president who's tasked with the manual labour of looking at tapes. However, your girlfriend's jealous and obsessive ex who wants nothing better than to frame you is in charge. Or whatever nemesis you can think of.

Gah! The statement that "hey, I trust president xxx, so I'm ok with him video-taping me" is the dumbest statement ever.

I agree with what your saying, I'm not a fan of government surveillance either, however there is not enough public will to keep the chips from coming into at least voluntary use. Lets not freak out about Orwellien states until the legislation is proposed. Instead now is the time to enact the safe guards needed to ensure the privacy of society when they inevitably come into use.

[Husar]

That microwave would boil your eyeballs if it weren't protected by the Faraday cage drone referred to. But we have no problem pushing the button to make it work, despite the "risk".

I know how a microwave oven works, that's wha I said I'd have to cut my arm off to boil that implant, well, or climb inot it completely but that is even more unhealthy.

So, you draw the line at bodily insertion. Any tracking device, in your opinion, has to be easily toss-able (like a dog-tag, or ID card, passport, etc.) Yes?

More or less, if someone wanted to force me to carry a tracking device around just so, without any wrongdoing on my side to deserve that as a punishment, then I'd object as well because I would not see the point in it except reducing my privacy.

Tracking a cellphone etc may be possible but usually requires at least suspicious behaviour or even proof of criminal activity on the part of the subject, and if you're afraid that it would still work when the thing is turned off, remove the battery, if possible, though I'm rather sure it doesn't work when the things are turned off, at least the ones I have seen, they'd still use battery power in that case.

[rory_20_uk]

Medical information argument isn't great - a bracelet? Wallets get stolen when mugged.

Possibly it might have use in the armed forces where it could be implanted and read - even if the person has no arm. It'd need to be easy to remove afterwards of course.

Of all the functions an implant could have, this is one of the most pointless.

[Fisherking]

To those in favor of such a device;

We live in a risk avers society. Governments appear to support and encourage that. It is always about your health and safety or that of your children. There is always a tradeoff though. More regulations telling you what you can and cannot do. More government agencies spending your money and making regulations to control the people.

It is an exchange of liberty and freedom for security. In the end you are most secure when you are in a prison. There are always unintended consequences. Once you decide it wasn’t such a good idea after all it is usually too late to do anything about it.

My recommendation is to see if it is something you can do without. If it is then don’t go for it. It will only cost you in the end and will always come with a price tag much bigger than the benefits.
That does it for me. You seldom miss what you haven’t had.