Tonight's guest Roger Tolces has assisted victims of electronic harassment which can take place when someone uses an electronic device to invade a person's privacy or property. Biochip implants, which are just beginning to come on the market, have been talked about as a device that could be potentially harmful in that regard. The ingenious chips, about the size of a rice grain, can be embedded under a person's skin by a doctor using a large needle. They contain transmitters which can relay a bounty of information about a person such as their personal identification and medical records.
While there are obvious benefits to the technology, such as accessing vital health information during an emergency or locating a lost or kidnapped person, many are sounding the alarm over the likely loss of privacy. All movements and transactions could be accessed by authorities. Big Brother "knows where you are ALL the time. Privacy- the very concept of privacy-becomes an anachronism," writes columnist Geoff Metcalf. In fact, in one scenario, a company could use subdermal implants to monitor their employees at all times, evaluating where they are and who they were with. Better head back from the water cooler!
Applied Digital Solutions(1), the makers of VeriChip, have stated they will only sell their chips to companies and persons who can ensure its use is strictly voluntary. "We would never provide it to a company that intended to coerce people to use it," a company VP told Associated Press. Interestingly, the company has been doing some PR to combat the idea held by some Christians that their device is the "mark of the beast," written about in the Bible. They've sent representatives to such shows as The 700 Club to make assurances that their chip doesn't fit the biblical description because it's not visible, as the "mark" is said to be.
--L.L.(2)
1. http://www.adsx.com/
2. http://archive.coasttocoastam.com/info/about_lex.html