Mexican Attorney General Gets Microchip in Arm

novakreo writes "Rafael Macedo de la Concha, Mexico's Attorney-General, now has a non-removable microchip in his arm, to track his movements and to give him access to a new crime database, according to Bloomberg. The article says that eventually around 160 Mexican officials will have a chip implanted." (Wired and CNN are both running the very similar Reuters report, too.)

Comments

Not necessarily

[brunes69]

The technology exists such that they could in theory make this thing only operate when pysically attached to the body ( say, powered off of blood or bloodflow ), and only operate when in contact with his specific blood type.

So to use it, a perpetraitor would have to a) Kidnap him, b ) cut off his arm, c) surgically graft the thing into someone else with the same blood type.

Hopefully by that point they'd have de-activated his chip.

I imagine in a few years we'd even be able to make these things DNA specific.

Upgrades

[iCharles]

I've always had a problem with implantable technologies for non-medical purposes (i.e. not pacemakers, replacement valves, etc.). Basically, you wind up with

• Having to make all sorts of backward compatibility on a single standard.
• Competing standards requiring multiple implants. (and you thought browser wars were bad!)
• Surgery every few years to upgrade (would Best Buy take an old implant back?)
• A lot of old chips collecting in your arm, leg, neck, etc.

Re:Hostage protection?

[TopShelf]

Exactly - and in much of Central and South America, kidnapping for ransom is a large and growing problem. I sometimes travel internationally on business, and there's no way I'd head down there these days. Fortunately for me, I usually head to Scandanavia. I'll let the Swedish Bikini Team take me hostage anytime...

Re:Hostage protection?

[SEWilco]

The chip can only be detected at a distance of a few meters. It would help you in getting rescued only if the rescuers are waving a detector over everyone in the room.