December 28, 2001
Another company is peddling

Another company is peddling similar technology to the Applied Digital Solutions ID Chip mentioned below.

Here's an editorial by David Coursey for CNET Asia:
An implanted ID chip? Makes my skin crawl...

The concept of a national identity card--something you'd carry to use for matching with your fingerprint or retinal scan--gains a new dimension with implant technology. Or perhaps the chips could be implanted at birth as a sort of digital birth certificate.

Thinking about such prospects reminds me of three essential aspects of any new invention: The first is that technology is amoral, even when there is a temptation to consider it immoral, instead. Second, it's pretty hard to keep technology under wraps: If something is technologically possible, somebody is going to do it. And, finally, if something is created, it will probably be both used and abused.

I hope that VeriChip and its ilk--which have great potential to help people--will find their way into the hands of people who are well-intentioned and smart in equal parts. But I am not naive, either. This is what the ongoing privacy debate is about--and the VeriChip gives us another good reason to pay close attention to it.

Posted by Lisa at December 28, 2001 09:13 AM | TrackBack
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