One Quarter of Germans Happy To Have Chip Implants

justice4all writes "If it means shorter lines at the supermarket, a quarter of Germans would be happy to have a chip implanted under their skin. The head of Germany's main IT trade body told the audience at the opening ceremony of the CeBIT technology exhibition that one in four of his countrymen are happy to have a microchip inserted for ID purposes."

Comments

He looks like Gargamel

[kainewynd2]

“We just carried out a survey and one out of four people are happy to have a chip planted under their skin for very trivial uses for example to pass gates more quickly at a discotheque for example and to be able to pay for things more quickly in the supermarket,” said Scheer. “The wilingness of the population to accept our technology is certainly given.”

"Bwa-haha-haha," Scheer continued. "After this, world domination will be within my grasp!"

Pie and cake were served soon afterwards.

Re:He looks like Gargamel

[MRe_nl]

I can't find their "survey" at BITKOM http://www.bitkom.org/en/Default.aspx, but i'm wondering how many Germans were polled (four?). Most Germans I know would not want this AT ALL.
 

Re:He looks like Gargamel

[pv2b]

Most Germans I know would not want this AT ALL.

Indeed. It would seem 3 out of 4 Germans do not want this.

Not an informed choice.

[Bill, Shooter of Bul]

If you would have asked people in the 50's if they would prefer DDT sprayed on their crops to kill the insects, creating cheaper food. They would have said yes. They didn't know the consequences, and were only presented with the benefits. As is the case here. How many of those who said they would be willing fully understand the security issues associated with that choice?

Re:Not an informed choice.

[geekmux]

I fully understand the security issues of walking around with bits of plastic and paper in my pockets, relying on them to pay for stuff, identify myself, etc. Given the choice, I'd prefer an single electronic chip, thank you very much. If you're in front of cavemen about to "invent" fire, will you try to scare them off by telling them about the dangers of arson, death by fumes and the great fire of London?

Do you fully understand? Really? How many times have you had your credit card number stolen? Oh, that few, huh? Really? It's never happened yet? 15 years you've been using them and nothing? Wow. Yeah, sounds like it's a real issue...

And the "single-chip" theory for ID purposes will become bullshit just as soon as someones tag is "cloned", and we'll all be forced to provide a picture ID again.

Sorry, this is nothing more tech for the sake of tech, with the side "benefit" of tracking and controlling the masses.

Hell, we get all defensive when we get targeted spam that proves that someone was tracking where you surf online, and you think it won't be ten times worse when they can track your every move?

Re:Not an informed choice.

[MichaelSmith]

So why not keep that single chip in your watch band, clothing or a ring on your finger? What is so attractive about embedding it in your body?

Re:Not an informed choice.

[plover]

I'll say it again: if you are one of the people carrying cell phones, quit complaining about RFID tags "tracking you". That little candy-bar-sized transmitter clipped to your belt is actively broadcasting your location every single minute to a computer up to 40,000,000 cm away, and the phone network is making your location instantly globally available to anyone with the proper authority. Not only that, but the phone network is RECORDING your location even when not asked, so they can correlate your previous locations for as far back as they keep a history.

These complainers are screaming "I AM RIGHT HERE!!!" at the top of their lungs every single minute, with a blinking strobe light mounted on top of their tinfoil hats; the phone company is writing their location down every time they hear them; and yet they're afraid that someone is going to spend thousands of dollars outfitting a building with secret door readers just to see who comes in, never mind that cameras are already pointed at those doors. Right.

"I need a perspective check on Aisle 1, please."

Well, hey...

[pushing-robot]

Those tattoos and armbands were bloody handy.

...

...

OH NO, IT'S GODWINZILLA! AIEEE!

1 in 7 Also want the Berlin wall back

[markass530]

So take anything the Germans want with a grain of salt http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE58G5GS20090917

Re:This is bullshit

[gerddie]

There is a presentation. The secons slide on page two sais:

Question: For which advantages would you carry a computer chip inside your body?

• 72 % never
• 23% for certain advantages (total)
• 5% don't know

----

• 16% faster rescuing
• 12% increased security
• 5% more comfortable shopping
• 4% access control
• 6% unspecified advantages