Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Wealthy Mexicans Getting Chipped in Case of Abduction

Posted by samzenpus on from the human-Lojack dept.

Because the number of abductions in Mexico has jumped almost 40% in the past 3 years, the wealthy are getting subcutaneous transmitters so they can be tracked when kidnapped. Xega, the Mexican security firm which makes the chips, has seen a sales jump of 13% this year. The company injects the crystal-encased chip, the size and shape of a grain of rice, into clients' bodies with a syringe. The chip then sends radio signals to a larger device carried by the client with a global positioning system in it. A satellite can then be used to find the location of the missing person. Things must be a lot worse in Mexico than I thought.

10 of 306 comments (clear)

  1. Please make it stop by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Oh.. the humanity...

  2. Wonderful by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Great. Now when you're kidnapped the first thing they'll do is cut off a chunk of your flesh. Or even just stick you in a metallic sack so that the radio signal can't escape.

    1. Re:Wonderful by Freeside1 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The chip then sends radio signals to a larger device carried by the client with a global positioning system in it.

      Or they can just smash the 'device' to bits. I fail to see the utility of this system.

    2. Re:Wonderful by noidentity · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Think "watchdog timer". It's like all you sysadmins who can tell when a system goes down, not because it sends a "Hey, I just went down" signal, but because it stops sending a "hey I'm up" signal.

  3. Hmmm, what could be the problem here? by SengirV · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The chip then sends radio signals to a larger device carried by the client with a global positioning system in it.

    Call me crazy, but I think I found a flaw in their system.

    --

    Prof. Farnsworth - "Oh a lesson in not changing history from Mr I'm-My-Own-Grandpa!"

  4. All aboard the clue train. by ElectricTurtle · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Things must be a lot worse in Mexico than I thought.

    Somebody hasn't been paying attention. Kidnapping is an entire industry in countries south of the Rio Grande, especially in Mexico and Brazil, and has been for at least a decade.

    --
    I support the Slashcott and will not be reading or commenting from 2/10/14 to 2/17/14. Beta is steaming pile of dog shit
    1. Re:All aboard the clue train. by antibryce · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Not just south of the border either. There have been over 200 kidnappings in the US this year so far.

      But hey don't call for tighter border security or you're a racist!

  5. So exactly what is the implant for? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    If you need to carry a "larger device" with you to send the signal, why do you need an implant?

  6. What happens when... by pwnies · · Score: 5, Insightful

    a common thief finds a way to access the positions of all of these rich people. Seems to me an easy way to establish targets, not protect them.

  7. ewww by circletimessquare · · Score: 4, Insightful

    i hope buyers realize that all they are doing is changing kidnapping standard operating procedure

    kidnappers will now locate the chip probably with nothing more than a $20 standard wall stud finder, then reach into the victim's skin with sharp nosed dirty pliers and toss the chip on the street. then probably send the victim's family a picture of the gaping wound for proof of untraceability and bonus horror factor

    ewwww

    --
    intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it