Proposal to Implant RFID Chips in Immigrants

John3 writes "Some people are OK with voluntarily implanting themselves with RFID chips, but how about making RFID implantation mandatory for immigrant and guest workers? VeriChip Corporation chairman Scott Silverman has proposed implanting RFID chips to register workers as they cross the border. According to Silverman, 'We have talked to many people in Washington about using it...' Privacy advocates see this move by VeriChip as a way to introduce their product to Latin America after a lukewarm reception in North America. Would immigrant workers trade their privacy for the opportunity to work in the U.S.? If this type of tracking is enacted, how long before the government decides to start tracking others for various purposes (for example, pedophiles who are released from prison)?"

Comments

Yay!

[alx5000]

Yay! Just like dogs! In case they get lost, any vet could read the RFID chip of your favorite immigrant/guest worker, and you could have him or her home in a matter of minutes!

BTW, that was sarcasm... NSA rapes your phones, and now this... makes me sick...

Re:wait a second....

[TripMaster Monkey]

Before you go all "1984" on our asses, take a moment to stop and realize that this is the company that SELLS THE CHIPS making the proposal, NOT the government.

Are you sure about that?

Re:A Cautionary Tale

[griffjon]

To quote this comment by "TripMasterMonkey",

"are you sure about that?"

In August of this year, the Department of Homeland Security began testing RFID tags at five border crossings under the United States Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology program, or "US VISIT."

Re:Slippery slope?

[jez9999]

How is the slippery slope argument always a fallacy?

What if I say that implementing a law that allows police to use lethal force when dealing with terrorists is a slippery slope as it would make future laws allowing police to use lethal force in other situations more likely? As long as you accept that the enactment of the first law makes the others more likely, which in this case we do because it softens public resistance to them, the argument holds.

Re:A Cautionary Tale

[aardvarkjoe]

From TFA that you quoted:

The program applies to people without green cards who enter the US with a visa, whether for work, school, research or tourism, or those from 27 mostly European countries who are traveling under the "Visa Waiver Program," which allows travelers to stay for up to 90 days without a visa. Over the next year, people in these categories will be issued new "I-94" visa cards embedded with an RFID tag at five border crossings including Nogales East and Nogales West in Arizona, Alexandria Bay in New York, and the Pacific Highway and Peace Arch in Washington. Homeland Security Department requires that the I-94 cards be carried at all times.

So he's right. The only thing that program has to do with implanting chips in immigrants is that they both happen to use RFID.