It's that time again...time for me to rant about implants.
See RFID as a jumping point. Or consult this blog RFID Weblog or this one, RFID Journal.
I think this rolls around about every six months, whenever I meet with opposition among the students I share this with. Some find it incredulous. Others find it too "science-fictiony." I imagine a few will simply forget about it for now, then ultimately admit I was right.
I am, for those who have endured this blog since the old days, referencing again biometric implants. For those who may be new to this, they are essentially little pellets of silicon implanted just under the skin, about the size of a grain of rice. Their purposes range (presently) from identification to credit to tracking. The ultimate abuse of them--yet to be determined.
They are marketed under the best of intentions. If your child were to go missing, an Amber alert issued, wouldn't you want to be able to track his/her whereabouts with GPS technology? What parent could say no? It will eventually not only be out-of-vogue to resist chipping your kid, it may be considered negligence. Some schools are already insisting on such implants. Truancy problems--solved. Attendance records--solved. "Now all please raise your hand for today's scan." Chipping is also suggested as a way to reduce a school's liability, for if a kid is injured or abducted while standing on school property, the school is, of course, considered somewhat to blame. If it can be proven the child was off-grounds, no sweat.
Some soldiers have been chipped, sort of a digital dog tag. Uniforms have long had chips in them for battlefield tracking and oversight. Pets have been chipped for coming up on ten years--you wouldn't want your dog show purebred out cavorting around unsupervised, would you? Cattle once wore brands, then ear tags, and now more and more commonly, they are being chipped. This allows ranchers to track their livestock in the event of a blizzard or worse, cattle rustlers. It also allows feedlots to tailor feed rations to specific groups of cattle more easily, for with a simple scan one can determine a great deal of information (diet history, vac. and vet. records both on and off site, etc).
Obviously it can be equally useful for medicine. Recently we had to endure ENDLESS and REPETITIVE questions on health and medical history which could simply be uploaded from one's own personal implant. If, perchance, one were travelling abroad, and say, one had a complicated illness or medical emergency--even if unconscious, one's medical history could be readily scanned/swiped, and treatment provided immediately.
Last Valentine's day, a couple was on the radio boasting of their ultimate trust toward one-another, so very much so that they bought chip implants for one another on Valentine's Day. No matter where one of them is, the other can be in-the-know. Trust me baby, you can watch my every move.
Advertisers have had a hankering for this technology to become commonplace for some time. In today's era of narrowcasting, where one home can be delivered different commercials than the neighbor, where we can dissect demographics to reach the most specific buyers...the potential for digitally accessible demographics is irresistible. In Minority Report, we saw the lead character exposed to various billboards addressing him by name, offering him products that would be best suited to him individually.
That seemed crazy a few years ago, but it is almost here today. Yesterday on NPR I heard of a new billboard in operation targeting Mini Cooper owners (and of course, potential buyers). The billboard scans traffic passing nearby, and whenever a Mini Cooper (with an implant not unlike these bio-chips) passes, the billboard offers up a personalized greeting, comment, etc. I drive by and it reads: "Hello Dejavaboom! How's that [job, family member, hobby, etc] treating you." It knows information about me, for it's been collected and offered up by a vaaaaaaast assembly of demographic and information services, not the least of which my product registration forms, my customer satisfaction surveys, my credit card buying habits/history...etc. If billboards are already interactive, what's coming next?
Credit cards can now be swiped from a few feet away. Credit chips are becoming ever-more-common. Advantages abound: you don't lose it, damage it, and it's not readily stolen. Originally touted as the end of identity theft, it is quickly becoming clear that these can be scanned and pirated from a distance (currently of inches to yards...but later, maybe miles!)
To me, it all comes back to identity and sanctity. I don't want to be locked into a spending pattern, marketed to based on buying habits. I don't want everyone with the technology to be able to know my medical and credit history. I don't want such things associated with my physical self. I know I need such information to rent a car or be admitted to a hospital, but something w/n me says, "Hey, if I want to go incognito or change my ways, I will."
Keep those chips away from me.
See RFID as a jumping point. Or consult this blog RFID Weblog or this one, RFID Journal.
I think this rolls around about every six months, whenever I meet with opposition among the students I share this with. Some find it incredulous. Others find it too "science-fictiony." I imagine a few will simply forget about it for now, then ultimately admit I was right.
I am, for those who have endured this blog since the old days, referencing again biometric implants. For those who may be new to this, they are essentially little pellets of silicon implanted just under the skin, about the size of a grain of rice. Their purposes range (presently) from identification to credit to tracking. The ultimate abuse of them--yet to be determined.
They are marketed under the best of intentions. If your child were to go missing, an Amber alert issued, wouldn't you want to be able to track his/her whereabouts with GPS technology? What parent could say no? It will eventually not only be out-of-vogue to resist chipping your kid, it may be considered negligence. Some schools are already insisting on such implants. Truancy problems--solved. Attendance records--solved. "Now all please raise your hand for today's scan." Chipping is also suggested as a way to reduce a school's liability, for if a kid is injured or abducted while standing on school property, the school is, of course, considered somewhat to blame. If it can be proven the child was off-grounds, no sweat.
Some soldiers have been chipped, sort of a digital dog tag. Uniforms have long had chips in them for battlefield tracking and oversight. Pets have been chipped for coming up on ten years--you wouldn't want your dog show purebred out cavorting around unsupervised, would you? Cattle once wore brands, then ear tags, and now more and more commonly, they are being chipped. This allows ranchers to track their livestock in the event of a blizzard or worse, cattle rustlers. It also allows feedlots to tailor feed rations to specific groups of cattle more easily, for with a simple scan one can determine a great deal of information (diet history, vac. and vet. records both on and off site, etc).
Obviously it can be equally useful for medicine. Recently we had to endure ENDLESS and REPETITIVE questions on health and medical history which could simply be uploaded from one's own personal implant. If, perchance, one were travelling abroad, and say, one had a complicated illness or medical emergency--even if unconscious, one's medical history could be readily scanned/swiped, and treatment provided immediately.
Last Valentine's day, a couple was on the radio boasting of their ultimate trust toward one-another, so very much so that they bought chip implants for one another on Valentine's Day. No matter where one of them is, the other can be in-the-know. Trust me baby, you can watch my every move.
Advertisers have had a hankering for this technology to become commonplace for some time. In today's era of narrowcasting, where one home can be delivered different commercials than the neighbor, where we can dissect demographics to reach the most specific buyers...the potential for digitally accessible demographics is irresistible. In Minority Report, we saw the lead character exposed to various billboards addressing him by name, offering him products that would be best suited to him individually.
That seemed crazy a few years ago, but it is almost here today. Yesterday on NPR I heard of a new billboard in operation targeting Mini Cooper owners (and of course, potential buyers). The billboard scans traffic passing nearby, and whenever a Mini Cooper (with an implant not unlike these bio-chips) passes, the billboard offers up a personalized greeting, comment, etc. I drive by and it reads: "Hello Dejavaboom! How's that [job, family member, hobby, etc] treating you." It knows information about me, for it's been collected and offered up by a vaaaaaaast assembly of demographic and information services, not the least of which my product registration forms, my customer satisfaction surveys, my credit card buying habits/history...etc. If billboards are already interactive, what's coming next?
Credit cards can now be swiped from a few feet away. Credit chips are becoming ever-more-common. Advantages abound: you don't lose it, damage it, and it's not readily stolen. Originally touted as the end of identity theft, it is quickly becoming clear that these can be scanned and pirated from a distance (currently of inches to yards...but later, maybe miles!)
To me, it all comes back to identity and sanctity. I don't want to be locked into a spending pattern, marketed to based on buying habits. I don't want everyone with the technology to be able to know my medical and credit history. I don't want such things associated with my physical self. I know I need such information to rent a car or be admitted to a hospital, but something w/n me says, "Hey, if I want to go incognito or change my ways, I will."
Keep those chips away from me.
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