FDA approves "The Chip", a step to the future, or to The End?

[Storyteller01]

Aren't those in power (you know, the corporations?? j/k) trying to use this same tech to replace UPC codes on products? For 'inventory'. One of the arguements against it was that those with the right gear could scan your garbage or house to find out what you own.

I know these chips operate by drawing power from the chip reader (excess energy in the radio wave), so no battery is needed. Can a microwave short this out (EMP pulses require a device to be in use before it can be fryied)?

 

[Tinker Gnome]

Wow, I thought I was paranoid....

 

[Storyteller01]

Wow, I thought I was paranoid....

An article was written about these in Scientific America (the UPC version of the chip). Interesting tech (tag chips that don't require a battery) and the number of applications is immense.

Paranoid would be my boss. According to him, the metalic strip in the $20 bill is a means of knowing how much money your carrying when you go through metal deectors...

 

[Tinker Gnome]

An article was written about these in Scientific America (the UPC version of the chip). Interesting tech (tag chips that don't require a battery) and the number of applications is immense.

Paranoid would be my boss. According to him, the metalic strip in the $20 bill is a means of knowing how much money your carrying when you go through metal deectors...

So? I think a lot of peope here are just overreacting, maybe it is just the optimist in me. But I do not think this type of technology will be as bad as everyone thinks it is.

 

[jester47]

Actually, it's a 10-digit ID number, but who's counting...

Um, little bit about UPC codes...

the UPC code is made up of 10 digits. However the digits are grouped in two groups of 5.

Still with me? Still sounds ok right?

Well they needed a divider marker for the two groups. Somthing to say first group, somthing to say middle marker, somthing to say end marker. Go grab a ceral box, or a beer bottle or a WotC book (Faiths and Pantheons is a great example) for this excercise. And look at the UPC on it... you will notice the pattern that separates the two groups of 5s is the same one used for the number 6.

6 <5 digits> 6 <5 digits> 6

I think whoever came up with the UPC has a sense of humor...

Aaron.

 

[Andrew D. Gable]

We are all just a bunch of paranoiacs in here, aren't we? But, remember the words of wisdom learned in Nirvana songs, 'just because you're paranoid don't mean they're not after you'.

Though (once again treading around the outside edges of political...the very outside edges) I don't think there's any way you'd be required to have this. Unconstitutional. And I really don't think there's anyway they could require other countries to go along with this.

 

[Angcuru]

I think Gable has a good point there. Americans are panicy paranoid authority-spiting creatures, and this sort of thing will happen over our dead bodies. Literally.

I can see it as being an optional "Fast-Pass" of the medical/financial world. They stick the chip in their arm and get by faster, while us other folk have to sit there and fill out paperwork.

But that biblical passage is the only one I've ever seen that actually had me saying: "Whoa!" Then I realized that we already have that thing in place. Social Security Number. Can't do anything without it. Yeah, it's nine instead of ten, but I think there's universally a 0 in front of each one so when the population exceeds a billion, they don't have to scrap the whole system and start from scratch.

Still, whoa.

 

[Raging Epistaxis]

RFID chips - my $0.02

If the human versions work the same as the non-human (veterinary) chips, all the scanner reads is the number.

The number in and of itself means nothing without access to a database that matches the number with whatever info is stored in the database. In the case of pets, that is the info sent in by the owners themselves when they register the chip.

I would think that things would be similar on the human side, you'd need access to whatever database for a illicitly read number to mean anything. It is a little frightening that there could be access to this info by others than those it is intended for, but then again, there is already a lot of info about us out there already if one knows where to look. Ever Googled yourself? Educational.

All in all, I'm not much more afraid of this technology than I am of what might happen if someone stole my wallet, and at least the chip has potential benefits. Not that I'll be first in line to get them, but at least I'd seriously consider it.

Some of the paranoid claims I've heard/read various places about these chips being able to be tracked by satellite are just absurd. These chips are not transmitters - they are passive converters, relying on energy from the received radio waves. If a satellite is putting out that much energy, we're all getting a good internal tan.

From personal conversations with someone in the industry, the best scanners they have can read a chip when the dog walks through a doorway sized opening - similar to antitheft devices at stores - but the FCC won't let them be used.

Worst case scenario: Even if they could somehow track the chip from space, and the government goes all fascist on us, or something similar that makes me want to be a resistance fighter, the chip comes out and goes away.

Best case scenario: I'm in the emergency room unconscious with no ID and they immediately know I'm asthmatic with multiple drug allergies, including penicillin. Save my life? Sure, sign me up.

Sorry for the diatribe, but at least I didn't get too political or at all religious.
And, Eric's Grandma: Googling one's self is not a euphamism for something morally reprehensible... :-D
RE

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Hey, I'd looking forward to this, at least for professional (military) use. No more dog tags that can get lost or blow off. No more writing your blood type on your helmet or boots, in the off chance the wrong body part gets separated. 'Course, we'll have to be careful about where we implant the chip, in case of traumatic amputation -- probably use the base of the neck or something similar.

You get the chip removed at the end of your term of service ... or not (insert grandiose government conspiracy here).

 

[jester47]

Hey, I'd looking forward to this, at least for professional (military) use. No more dog tags that can get lost or blow off. No more writing your blood type on your helmet or boots, in the off chance the wrong body part gets separated. 'Course, we'll have to be careful about where we implant the chip, in case of traumatic amputation -- probably use the base of the neck or something similar.

You get the chip removed at the end of your term of service ... or not (insert grandiose government conspiracy here).

How about on the forehead? If you loose the head there aint no fixin the rest of you. Civilians could put it on the right hand for easy scanning...

A.