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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.)
...EVERYTHING is removeable. The question is what happens when you do.
"can't be removed" -- I doubt that. *Anything* can be removed from the human body if the remover the required skill and doesn't really care about collateral damage.
I suddenly have a mental image of a Mexican criminal trying to get into a government installation carrying an arm...
Civilian contractors in Iraq need this technology
not Mexican Attorney Generals.
How hard is it to block the signal? kidnap them throw them in a foil lined body bag then scan later in a basement to remove.
I guess in one sense you could mail them the chip to prove you have the official.
"If any question why we died, Tell them because our fathers lied."
``The system is already in place and I already have it,'' he said. ``It's only for access, for security and so that I can also be located at any moment anywhere I am.''
If I have the key I can drop an NLOS on you ass baby!
http://www.raytheon.com/products/nlos/
I'd go on a Vegan diet but the delivery time from Vega is too long. --brownkitty
No 666 comes straight from the bible
I think this is obviously just a PR stunt by the Mexico officials to make it look like they are "doing something" about the crime in their country, when in fact this doesn't really help at all.
Think about it. You want to threaten the bad guys, who are a little less educated and a whole lot more guilable then you are. In that light you concoct a story that makes it sound like this database is being watched with "superhuman" effeciency by the head in each district. Throw in the part about tracking and non removable to make kidnapping seem dangerous, and you keep the officials safe on top of it.
This sounds like it is the high tech version of the "This is protected by an alarm system." sticker. Instead of just buying them and sticking them on your windows, you do a press conference.
Actually, this could be a good idea for people who are afraid they are going to be taken hostage. If I had to go to Iraq, I wouldn't mind having a chip in me so I could get rescued if I were taken hostage.
As somebody on another forum astutely observed, the way that this will be sold at first is by "chip = vip" method.
Expect non-removable chips to become a chic accessory in the next few years.
What? Mexico has a problem with "significant government corruption and organized crime" (including BTW judges and other officials being assasinated) and the solution is to put a location tracking device on the officials? Am I missing something here?
hedless man:
1. My take on it is that they mean "not trivially removeable", like a wristwatch. It's under the skin, I doubt it's grafted to the bone.
2. His RFID code can be read to allow him access to the bank. It's a heck of a lot better than a driver's license as ID.
3. Kidnapping is a HUGE problem in Mexico. huge. Hollywood put Denzel Washington in a movie, "Man on Fire" - about the kidnapping rings in Mexico. Vincente Fox has been asked to crack down on the issue. Mexican police are shot at about as often as U.S. forces in Baghdad, i.e. just about daily. You just don't read about it unless you read Spanish newspapers, like La Raza or others. At this point, RFID might be a minor deterrent to kidnapping. But it might just persuade potential enemies to just kill him outright in the street. In fact, they may put a hit on the guy JUST TO SEND A MESSAGE.
I see a world like the one in Minority Report within my lifetime, and I'm 35. The Gap has a electronic voice that greets you as you walk in. Every subway car you board goes into a database. Every transaction your credit card makes goes through a heuristic filter for abnormal pattern matching, and certain kinds of deviations get you reported automatically to the government. RFID is just the means to make it happen.
Although I agree that implanting people with chips is pretty dehumanizing, if you agree to a particular job you have to agree with the particular terms of employment, no matter how absurd, if you don't like it then find a new line of work its that simple.
I dunno. Suppose your kids are starving and the only job in town has an indentured servitude clause in their contract. Should that be legally permissible?
You might suggest that the slave employer is at least taking care of his slaves instead of letting them die. However, I'd argue that it is immoral to allow somebody to die of starvation at your doorstep if you have the ability to render immediate aid to prevent this. Sure, I can't be the savior of the world, but if I see a man bleeding to death on the sidewalk of my house and don't even call an ambulence, what does that say of my character?
Some employment conditions should be illegal simply becuase they are inhuman. Employers have a tremendous amount of power - particularly over those without highly in-demand talents or skills. You or I may be able to design computer software or something of high value. Some people are working hard just to be a Walmart greeter. Most normal people are somewhere in-between.
Workplaces are something to be regualted for certain. That doesn't mean that we need expensive regulation that doesn't serve any benefit. However, to just say that an employer-employee relationship isn't anybody's business but their own is very naieve...
The WTO has never ruled against the US? Maybe they favour the USA over Mexico, but they sure don't give the USA a free pass in disputes with Europe.
Combined with the fact that mexican politicians would never do anything to upset Uncle Sam...
Are you sure?
Has cynicism become the new naivety?
Even if it was tied to his DNA for operation, I still don't see how the chip is non-removable. If it can be inserted INTO the body, it can be removed.
"Population 1,656"
Don't fight it. Join it. Yup... when they start forcing RFID chips into my body, I'll add another 1,000,000 or so of my own all so the whitenoise will drown out the signal of the original.
I should make sure that would work first though, shouldn't I.
A sudden rash of Mexican officials having their arms cut off and the "secret" database being accessed and hacked. Nice business model folks!
1. Implant security chip in arm, tell world about it
2. Be found anywhere
3. Access Secure database via chip
4. Rebels cut off arm
5. ???
6. No Profit! Country in disrepair..
Oh wait...
-Goran
Carpe Scrotum - The only way to deal with your competition.