Microchip implant

The hand of microchip implant hobbyist Amal Graafstra, just after an operation to insert an RFID tag. The yellow coloration comes from iodine used to disinfect the hand for surgery.

A human microchip implant is an integrated circuit device or RFID transponder encased in silicate glass and implanted in the body of a human being. A subdermal implant typically contains a unique ID number that can be linked to information contained in an external database, such as personal identification, medical history, medications, allergies, and contact information.

Hobbyists

The first reported experiment with an RFID implant was carried out in 1998 by the British scientist Kevin Warwick.^[1] As a test, his implant was used to open doors, switch on lights, and cause verbal output within a building. The implant has since been held in the Science Museum (London).^{[citation needed]} Since that time, several additional hobbyists have placed RFID microchip implants into their hands or had them placed there by others.

Commercial implants

In 2002, the VeriChip Corporation (known as the "PositiveID Corporation" since November 2009, a wholly owned subsidiary of The Stanley Works) received preliminary approval from the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to market its device in the U.S. within specific guidelines. The device received FDA approval in 2004, and was marketed under the name VeriChip or VeriMed. In 2007, it was revealed that nearly identical implants had caused cancer in hundreds of laboratory animals.,^[2] a revelation that had a devastating impact on the company's stock price. Some time between May and July 2010, the Positive ID Corporation discontinued marketing the implantable human microchip.^[3]

Medical records use

The PositiveID Corporation (previously known as The VeriChip Corporation; Applied Digital Solutions, Inc.; and The Digital Angel Corporation) distributed the implantable chip known as the VeriChip or VeriMed until the product was discontinued in the second quarter of 2010. The company had suggested that the implant could be used to retrieve medical information in the event of an emergency, as follows: Each VeriChip implant contained a 16-digit ID number. This number was transmitted when a hand-held VeriChip scanner is passed within a few inches of the implant. Participating hospitals and emergency workers would enter this number into a secure page on the VeriChip Corporation's website to access medical information that the patient had previously stored on file with the company.

According to some reports, in 2006 80 hospitals had agreed to own a VeriChip scanner provided by the company and 232 doctors had agreed to inject the devices into patients who requested them.^[4] However, the VeriChip Corporation/Applied Digital Solutions was sued by its shareholders for making "materially false and misleading statements" regarding hospital acceptance figures. According to Glancy & Binkow, the law firm that filed the class action suit:

"...on May 9, 2002, defendants [the then Applied Digital Corporation] claimed that nearly every major hospital in the West Palm Beach, Florida area would be equipped with VeriChip scanners, an indispensable component of the Company's VeriChip technology. However, one day later on May 10, 2002, the truth was disclosed that no hospital had accepted a scanner, an essential device for retrieving the VeriChip's information. Following the May 10, 2002, disclosure, the price of Applied Digital stock again fell sharply, dropping nearly 30% in a single day."^[5]

Building access and security

The VeriChip Corporation has marketed the implant as a way to restrict access to secure facilities such as power plants. Microchip scanners are installed at entrances so locks only work for persons whose chip numbers are entered into the system. Two employees of CityWatcher, an Ohio video surveillance company, had RFID tags injected into their arms in 2007. The workers needed the implants to access the company's secure video tape room, as documented in USA Today.^[6] The company closed, but there is no word on what happened to the employees or their implants.

A major drawback for such systems is the relative ease with which the 16-digit ID number contained in a chip implant can be obtained and cloned using a hand-held device, a problem that has been demonstrated publicly by security researcher Jonathan Westhues^[7] and documented in the May 2006 issue of Wired magazine,^[8] among other places.

The Baja Beach Club, a nightclub in Rotterdam, the Netherlands offers a VeriChip implant for identifying VIP guests.^[9]

Possible future applications

Theoretically, a GPS-enabled chip could one day make it possible for individuals to be physically located by latitude, longitude, altitude, speed, and direction of movement. Such implantable GPS devices are not technically feasible at this time. However, if widely deployed at some future point, implantable GPS devices could conceivably allow authorities to locate missing persons and/or fugitives and those who fled from a crime scene. Critics contend, however, that the technology could lead to political repression as governments could use implants to track and persecute human rights activists, labor activists, civil dissidents, and political opponents; criminals and domestic abusers could use them to stalk and harass their victims; slaveholders could use them to prevent captives from escaping; and child abusers could use them to locate and abduct children.^{[citation needed]}

Another suggested application for a tracking implant, discussed in 2008 by the legislature of Indonesia's Irian Jaya would be to monitor the activities of persons infected with HIV, aimed at reducing their chances of infecting other people.^[10][11] The microchipping section was not, however, included into the final version of the provincial HIV/AIDS Handling bylaw passed by the legislature in December 2008.^[12] With current technology this would not be workable anyway, since there is no implantable device on the market with GPS tracking capability.

Potential problems

Cancer

Veterinary and toxicology studies carried out from 1996 to 2006 found that lab mice and rats injected with microchips sometimes developed cancerous tumors around the microchips (subcutaneous sarcomas). Data suggest that between 1% and 10% of the implanted lab animals developed malignant cancers originating in the tissue surrounding the microchips. Dr. Cheryl London, a veterinarian oncologist at Ohio State University, noted: "It's much easier to cause cancer in mice than it is in people. So it may be that what you're seeing in mice represents an exaggerated phenomenon of what may occur in people." London suggested a 20-year study of chipped canines was needed "to see if you have a biological effect." Specialists from several pre-eminent cancer institutions have supported such testing before microchips are implanted on a large scale in humans.^[13]

Other medical complications

According to the FDA, implantation of the VeriChip poses potential medical downsides.^[14] Electrical hazards, MRI incompatibility, adverse tissue reaction, and migration of the implanted transponder are just a few of the potential risks associated with the Verichip ID implant device, according to an October 12, 2004 letter issued by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).^[15]

A patient could be burned if the chip reacts to outside source of EMF radiation, such as a strong electrical field or a magnetic resonance imager (MRI) machine. The strong magnets used in an MRI scanner could destroy the implant and cause serious burns, internally and externally.^{[citation needed]} According to the FDA's Primer on Medical Device Interactions with Magnetic Resonance Imaging Systems, "electrical currents may be induced in conductive metal implants" that can cause "potentially severe patient burns."

However, when the Mythbusters TV show, in Season 5 Episode 18, Myth Evolution, tested a microchip implant in an MRI machine, neither test subject showed any signs of pain or trauma. Since MRI machines come in various strengths, it is possible that higher energy-emitting MRI machines may be more problematic. The model and make of the chip could affect possible outcomes as well.

Security risks

Since nearly all implantable microchips are unencrypted, they are extremely vulnerable to being read by third-party scanners. By scanning secretly, someone could steal the information on a chip and clone the signal, enabling a hacker to impersonate a chipped individual. This could create security problems for building or computer access or potentially enable criminal misuse of a medical account held by an unrelated person. Also, the chip could easily be removed from the person, or the appendage containing the device could be removed.^[4]

Societal criticism

Microchip implant in humans have raised new ethical discussions by scientific professional forums^{[clarification needed]},^[16] academic groups,^[17] human rights organizations, government departments and religious groups. The Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs (CEJA) of the American Medical Association published a report in 2007 alleging that RFID implanted chips may compromise privacy because there is no assurance that the information contained in the chip can be properly protected, notwithstanding health risks (chips may travel under the skin).^[18]

RFID tagging has been criticised by believers of Abrahamic religions. In Christianity, some believe the implantation of chips may be the imprinting of The Mark of the Beast, prophesied to be a requirement for all trade,^[19] and a precursor to the events of the Book of Revelation.^[20][21] In Judaism, Conservative, Orthodox, and Reform Jewish beliefs hold that that cutting, piercing or marking the flesh, thus a requirement for implantation, is contrary to the notion that people were made "in the image of God",^[22] and the orders in Leviticus 19:28.^[23] Islam also considers body modifications "haram", an Arabic term meaning "forbidden", because they involve changing the body, a creation of God.^[24] The health risks associated with implantable microchips described above may also invoke Islamic prohibitions.^[25]

Legislation

Following Wisconsin and North Dakota,^[26] California issued Senate Bill 362 in 2007, which prohibits employers and others from forcing anyone to have a RFID device implanted under their skin.^[26]

On April 5, 2010, Georgia, Atlanta, Senate passed Senate Bill 235 that prohibits forced microchip implants in humans and that would make it a misdemeanor for anyone to require them, including employers. The bill would allow voluntary microchip implants, as long as they're performed by a physician and regulated by the Georgia Composite Medical Board. If the General Assembly passes the new Senate version, Georgia would join California, North Dakota and Wisconsin in banning mandatory microchip implant.^[27]

On February 10, 2010 Virginia's House of Delegates also passed a bill that forbids companies from forcing their employees to be implanted with tracking devices.^[28]

See also

• VeriChip
• Cyborg
• RFID
• Ambient intelligence

References

Further reading

• Haag, Stephen; Cummings, Maeve, and McCubbrey, Donald (2004). Management Information Systems for the Information Age (4th ed.). New York City, New York: McGraw-Hill. ISBN 0-07-281947-2. 
• Albrecht, Katherine; McIntyre, Liz (2005). Spychips: How Major Corporations and Government Plan to Track your Every Move with RFID (1st ed.). Nashville, Tennessee: Nelson Current. ISBN 1-59555-020-8. 
• Graafstra, Amal (2004). [1] RFID Toys: 11 Cool Projects for Home, Office and Entertainment (4th ed.). New York City, New York: (ExtremeTech) Ziff Davis Publishing Holdings Inc.. ISBN 0-471-77196-1. 

External links

• No VeriChip Inside - We the People Will Not Be Chipped Movement- Say No to Human Chipping
• AntiChips.com - Research, Activism, and Legislation Opposing the Chipping of Humans and Pets
• Lewan, Todd. The Associated Press, September 8, 2007. "Chip Implants Linked to Animal Tumors"
• Studies Linking Microchips and Cancer