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Subdermal Implant Can Be Tracked via GPS
mack knife writes "Applied Digital Solutions, Inc., received a patent for a device which can be implanted under the skin and powered by biomechanical energy. The device, a transceiver, can be tracked through GPS. God help us all. Yahoo story here." Or see the company's page. If your kid gets lost at MouseWorldtm, no need to use the park's PA system and annoy everyone by paging him - just whip out the GPS transceiver and home in on him. Maybe we can start implanting them at birth.
I think this type of technology can have some very valuable uses if used properly.
;)
This is your key statement. Unfortunately, as human history has shown, we never use things properly. Well we start doing so, but then someone takes advantage of it, and everyone else sees that they need to, otherwise they will be left behind in the dust. The same goes with patents themselves. They started as a good thing because they were used properly. But then companies saw that they could use them for a greater advantage, and other companies followed because of the fear of what could happen if they don't.
Implanting chips should be thought out in every way, and debated thoroughly. I personally don't like this idea, but I do have to say, my stock broker talked me into buying 100 shares of this company last week. So I have mixed emotions about this
Steven Rostedt
Steven Rostedt
-- Nevermind
I am also a parent of two very young children. And I could not see myself implanting them with chips, even though I would be devastated if they were ever taken. But the morality of implanting something does not seem to be the answer. I rather be extra careful with them. Its a major dilemma that I have yet been asked.
Look at it this way. Would you have been happy if your parents implanted something in you for this very reason?
Steven Rostedt
Steven Rostedt
-- Nevermind
Sounds like we are well on the way to the Biblical Mark of the Beast.
It really shouldn't take much to see that there is a great potential for abuse with a system like this.
Indeed. Might I ask what your feelings on gun control are?
Any technology can be abused. Anything powerful enough to be useful can also be harmful. The first time it happened was when proto-humans discovered that the thigh bone of an antelope could kill their fellow proto-humans as easily as it could kill their prey.
The application of a tool does not make the tool bad, and knowledge cannot be unlearned. Trying to stuff this genie back into the bottle -- the technological equivalent of sticking your head in the sand -- is not going to work.
Do not try to fight then inevitable. Embrace it instead, and make sure it does not get abused. Strive to make the human race better instead of trying to limit the tools we use in our self-abuse.
dragonhawk@iname.microsoft.com
I do not like Microsoft. Remove them from my email address.
Personally, I think that the coming century will be The Century Of Lost Privacy. Everyone easily accessible, everyone online, everyone with a handy and a PID, you give someone a handshake and he hacks into your PAN... no, not even that: you give your data automatically, because you are expected to, just as you are expected now to have a phone at home, so people from the office can reach you any time (no, I have no phone at home. But I spend most of my time in the lab anyway). Privacy will be a luxury, an expensive treat: like, you have to pay to have your phone removed from the telephone book, only more. What I'm saying here isn't a new prophecy: we are all expecting it, aren't we? So what can we do against it? Staing online when we want on one hand, but disconnecting from the global information system when we want.
It's clear for me that those implants will become extremly popular: the drawbacks are much weaker then the profits, and, what is probably more important, the *comfort*, the easieness of achieving certain goals. Say, most of the cases a kid is lost it's the parents who didn't pay attention as they should. Now - implanting this tracking device is much easier then being reasonable, isn't it? People are striving towards easy solutions, even if they are bad in the longterm. What is easier *now* is better.
I think I'm in a pessimistic mood today...
Regards,
January
In order for anything to reliably receive GPS signals, you've got to have a sensitive antenna and essentially be outdoors. The idea that an implant in any fashion could do so is ludicrous with current technology.
More likely, the implants send out a very weak signal which can be picked up by ground stations (perhaps mobile), which would be able to triangulate the position and compare it against GPS coordinates of the tracking station.
And with respects congress eliminating funding for GPS, you may have misread that article or something. GPS as it is will be untouched. Only funding for the "modernization" of it (making it much more accurate, and potentially incompatible with existing receivers) was cancelled. GPS isn't going anywhere.
No offense, but people like you really frighten me. It really shouldn't take much to see that there is a great potential for abuse with a system like this. Imagine a system like this carried out forcefully on an entire population such as Communist China.
Even if you were a "good citizen", you could suddenly come under suspicion if the computers tracking you determined you came into contact with a dissident. Or perhaps you were loitering too long in the wrong place at the wrong time.
You can be assured that if the Chinese government had something like this after the Tiananmen Square massacre that every citizen determined to have spent too much time in the area would be suspected of harboring anti-government thought.
It is not a far stretch to see that this could be misused in other countries as well. In the United States, even with a pretty paranoid Constitution there have been massive abuses by the government. I certainly don't feel the entire government is out to "get" anybody, but it only takes a few corrupt individuals placed in the right position to abuse their power.
Do you feel it was right for the FBI to investigate and infiltrate the organization of Martin Luther King Jr., the civil rights leader? It happened. Ever read the Puzzle Palace? Check out Project SHAMROCK.
"In 1945, Project SHAMROCK was initiated to obtain copies of all telegraphic information exiting or entering the United States. With the full cooperation of RCA, ITT and Western Union (representing almost all of the telegraphic traffic in the US at the time), the NSA's predecessor and later the NSA itself were provided with daily microfilm copies of all incoming, outgoing and transiting telegraphs."
How about OPERATION CHAOS?
"When Johnson ordered CIA Director John McCone to use the DOD to analyse the growing college student protests against the Administration's policy towards Vietnam, two new units were set up to target anti-war protesters and organisations: Project RESISTANCE, which worked with college administrators, campus security and local police to identify anti-war activists and political dissidents; and Project MERRIMAC, which monitored any demonstrations being conducted in the Washington, DC, area. The CIA then began monitoring student activists and infiltrating anti-war organisations by working with local police departments to pull-off burglaries, illegal entries (black bag jobs), interrogations and electronic surveillance. After President Nixon came to office in 1969, all of these domestic surveillance activities were consolidated into Operation CHAOS."
http://www.i sleofavalon.co.uk/local/h-pages/pro-freedom/echelThese are just a few documented abuses of power that have occured in the recent past. Do you truly believe that abuses won't take place again?
"Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."- The Papers of Ben Franklin
The more you know, the less you understand.
Yes, you can and it's not very expensive. It works a little differently, though, in that you can't read it from a satellite. Animal Control or the Humane Society or your vet will have a handheld scanner that will pick up the trace from the implant when they pass it over the animal's shoulderblades (where the chip is implanted) and display its information. In that respect, it isn't much different than a dog tag. Dog tags and collars can come off, though.
"Tell me doctor, with all of your defenses, are there any provisions for an attack by killer bees?"
Getting phiolosophical here (and a little off topic):
What happens when these kinds of "privacy killing" devices are ubiquitous? How about when no implant is needed to track you? ("Kirk: He's the only vulcan on the whole ship, can't you get a lock on him?") Perhaps we will stop caring about privacy. We will succumb to the fact that all our knowledge is shareable, and we will not become quiet mice, but louder than ever. We will share our thoughts without fear of judgement or retribution. At that point, humanity will become more productive than ever before. How many geniuses sit silently without sharing their thoughts, for fear of becoming insane?
Perhaps that world isn't so bad after all. But for it to work, humanity must grow at the same rate as technology.
(Okay, this won't ACTUALLY happen, but its a nice thought)
this device must be triggered by the user
The article explicitely indicates it could be potentially activated by the user or by a monitoring station.
It wouldn't be very useful for doing things like tracking animals if the animals had to be the ones activating the implant, yes?
I imagine the market for this type of device in *humans* will not be realistically high compared with other uses.
How about some more discussion of the technical feasability of this idea?
So long as the transmissions were done quickly, and the base stations were dense enough in the area to search (they could be mobile), I don't see why this wouldn't necessarily work.
I don't imagine the type of coverage offered by, say, cell phone towers would be remotely capable of detecting a signal from one of these implants, so any area you want this device to function in would have to be specifically set up to do so, probably at a substantial cost.
But who knows, maybe they've developed a way of transmitting signals that would work at much greater distances than I'm tempted to believe...
As far as I know, it is the numerical representation of the name Nero (the Roman Emperor), in Hebrew alphabet. Each letter also had a numerical value, and for Nero this gave 666. The author of the Apocalypse just wanted to bad-mouth the emperor without saying his name directly, but then again, IANAT (I am not a theologist).
superblog.org: all your favourite blogs on o
The bible tells us that the mark of the beast will be on the forehead or the right hand.
So, we just require everyone to have these things implanted in their LEFT hand!!!
Or their armpit, or bellybutton, or buttocks, or somewhere.
Then we'll be *perfectly* safe from the antichrist!
john
Imagine all the people...
Here's the scenario that gives *ME* the willies.
:) ) They feel that
(For purposes of this story, we are assuming that activating/locating this device is a trivial
issue, and not something the National Guard is called out for.)
Mother Careful, and Father Careful have Baby Careful. Mother and Father have heard all
about this new "Angel" thing from the hospital, and they say it's only $20 (They mention
it right after asking if they want him 'snipped' (Baby Careful is a Boy
this is, of course, a very sensible thing to do, as some mean person may wish to steal their
wonderful Baby. "Now we will always know where Baby is" crows Father Careful, and
promptly forgets all about it.
Mother Careful, however, doesn't forget.
For the first few years, it's more of a novelty, since Baby Careful is never more than a few
feet from Mother Careful. On Baby's 5th Birthday, Mother has the newer/later version
inserted into Baby which can last almost 20 years ("It's just a tiny slit, and it will heal in a
day or so", says Doctor Helpful) Father knows nothing of this, since he never takes Baby
to his appointments.
Baby Careful's Kindergarten class is interrupted one day, when Mother Careful comes
running in, to discover that the children had been moved to the other side of the building.
(The heat wasn't working in the classroom that day.) She gathers Baby up, and keeps him
home the rest of the week.
Baby Careful (Now Junior Careful) comes home after school, and waits for the questions.
"Yes" he answers, he didn't come right home, he stooped at Jimmy's House for a few
minutes, and then was at the Library. "Almost 45 minutes" Mother Careful corrects him.
"And you didn't go to the Library at all." Junior learns never to try and fool Mother again.
"Mother, I'm 17. I'm practically an Adult", retorts Junior. "I don't care. You were in her
Bedroom, and I told you I don't want my baby doing those kinds of things"
"I was not, I was downstairs in the Living Room, and the Kitchen the whole time. We
were studying, honest"
"Junior... you KNOW you can't lie to Mother. You were *upstairs* in her room for over
an hour. Mother knows everything her little Junior does. You aren't to see that little slut
again.."
"But Mother!!!" This time, his protest is weaker.
"Anyone here named Junior?" asks the bartender to the room, holding a telephone
receiver in the air. Junior hunches up a little more tightly over his drink, and ignores the
question.
Nipok Nek
Why choose white shoes?
Kinda like those kinetic watches, and probably won't help you if you're dead...
- - - Non Caffeine Drink or Drink Error
Until they cut off your kid's arm to get rid of the transmitter...
Or implant a bomb in him, and using the same technology, explode the bomb if he is removed from a certain area...
Or the police track Johnny's movements, wait for him to be alone (all from the comfort of a squad car across town), and then beat the crap out of him for associating with some group of "radicals" (like people who oppose the use of this technology without strong citizen oversight).
And you know, there are alt.binaries groups that used for things other than warez or pr0n. You sound like a politician.
The way I read the patent (as posted above) this device must be triggered by the user. At any rate, it's not always transmitting.
..."
That would stand to reason, since transmitters require some power. In order to pick up the signal, they'd have to bounce it off a sat or a cell tower or something. There's no way you could generate enough power with body movement to do that continuously! (I'm imagining people walking around and constantly twirling their arms wildly...)
So this thing must build up energy for a quick transmission, triggered by the user (or maybe a timer).
Even this seems a bit far fetched from a technical standpoint. I remember an article in Wired a couple months back about a fairly shady company with a product called KidTrak (it was total vaporware because the technology to transmit the signal was far too bulky).
To quote the company, this product is "... still in the early developmental stage
I'd love to think these guys have a great product, but I have to assume they've patented technology that doesn't even exist yet in the hopes of capitalizing on it when someone finally figures out how to do it.
How about some more discussion of the technical feasability of this idea? (And less about Big Brother and the black UN helicopters?)
- StaticLimit
Implant everyone? No. Only those who have been "brought within the system." Probationers, parolees, prisoners and ex-cons. Though of course since these poeple are still a threat to our children, we have to leave the chips in after they have served their time. It's just like tracking sex offenders. A small price to pay for a safer society, right?
These also would be an excellent replacement for the bracelets or anklets used for home detention. Especially if combined with a small explosive charge that detonates if they leave the prescribed area. That will keep these evil perverts from threatening children. And you don't hate children, do you?
Of course, now it's easier to bring people "within the system" for minor offenses, to identify and control them before they go from vandals and joyriders to murderers. We can control more criminals with fewer prisons and police (and thus lower taxes), and have safer streets for our children to play in when we start implanting explosive tracers in minor offenders. This ease of control will let us start getting really serious about law enforcement! No more problems with prison overcrowding when every convict can have their own portable prison.
But what really excites me is the possibility for embracing and extending preventative detention programs. You might know that the courts have found that it's perfectly ok to lock people away before they've actually committed any crime. Really the only barrier to applying this broadly - and thus making our children almost completely safe - is the cost of incarcerating all those thought criminals. No more! Finally, everone who is - or might become - a threat to our children can be tracked and controlled automatically.
Surely, paradise is at hand.
Pardon me while I go stock up on home surgery supplies...
Tom Swiss | the infamous tms | my blog
You cannot wash away blood with blood
I know that the abuse will take place.
I just don't know what to do about it.
If you protest, you are taged as a Communist which is ironic since the US has already adopted Communism. Carl Marx had an idea of what it would take for a country to be Commuist, and we seem to have followed his rules fairly well.
You don't even have to be protesting and the mentality of a police state will send me to the hospital.
Ratting 4 - Just blowing off steam.
To find the truth, you must look beyond what you see.
I want to complete a transaction - and they ask were my id is, and I present them with my ass!
To find the truth, you must look beyond what you see.
This is wonderful, I can now start a business selling aluminum foil hats to all my fellow Missourians who will shortly be emerging from their y2k survival huts, relieved they survived the apocolyps that didn't happen (again) but are now terrified that the government tracking satellites are *REAL*!
"Conspiracy" is a charge used by the authorities when they can't convict you of a crime but feel you must be punish you. It has become a very popular charge since the inception of the so-called "drug war". "conspiracy" for instance could possibly be used to convict protestors at the WTO gathering last month. Convicted of conspiracy, and labeled a threat, protestors would be seen as ideal canditates for implanting by the authorities. Implanting would be a fantastic way to discourage protesting, and also convict protestors (if your convicted of conspiracy you can be ordered not to associate with a group of people, and if your implanted they can prove you did associate with them and put you in jail for a longer period of time).
Implanting tracking devices in humans is something that should be opposed.
Oppose innapropriate applications of technology, not technology itself.
I fear the posts that will follow after this. It's always a bit frightening when a technology that we've been familiarised with through distopian science fiction comes to the forefront in the real world.
These would be quite handy for zoologists, marine biologists and their ilk. It would allow for much more tracking than the current tagging systems do. It has few applications with human beings that do not violate civil liberties, however. As a result of this, the inevitable following posts regarding the tag of prisoners, infants at birth and immigrants will be off-base, at least in western democracies.
This is nothing more than a gateway technology that will make life easier for researchers. I very sincerely doubt that human implementation will be permitted unless specifically requested by the individual. As far as gateway tech goes, it isn't even very exciting -- what happened to the light-slower-than-light that seemed to open up so many possibilities?
Ah well.
-l
...but I wouldn't care to have a chip
implanted at birth. If for instance
something were to happen to you,
rescue-teams would find you more
easily.
Maybe they even could integrate
some info on the chip, like your
ID, some basic medical info (think
how usefull it would be if people
wouldn't have to check your bloodtype
after an accident before they can
start transfusing you some blood,
or to know what you are allergic for,
if you already had a shot against
tetanus etc...), your drivers-license
or even your credit-card.
Think about the telecom possibilities.
You could dial someone personal number,
and any phone close to him would just
ring, even if he's sitting in someone
elses office for the moment...
(I helped with the implementation of this
kind of system, but with infrared badges,
in a hospital)
BUT, of course, you should be able to
disable the chip if you wich to...
Just to much of a dreamer I guess
J.
If I can get one of these implanted in my cat. That way if he ever gets out we can find him. I can think of a lot of uses like that, for example if you implated it in cows it would make life much easer for rachers. Or you could use it to tag animals for wildlife studies. I'm not sure I would want them in people, but I think it would be very usefull for animals.
Erlang Developer and podcaster
Apparatus for tracking and recovering humans utilizes an implantable transceiver incorporating a power supply and actuation system allowing the unit to remain implanted and functional for years without maintenance. The implanted transmitter may be remotely actuated, or actuated by the implantee. Power for the remote-activated receiver is generated electromechanically through the movement of body muscle. The device is small enough to be implanted in a child, facilitating use as a safeguard against kidnapping, and has a transmission range which also makes it suitable for wilderness sporting activities. A novel biological monitoring feature allows the device to be used to facilitate prompt medical dispatch in the event of heart attack or similar medical emergency. A novel sensation-feedback feature allows the implantee to control and actuate the device with certainty.
Claims:
1. A transceiver device implantable in a human body comprising:
- a triggerable radio frequency transmitter,
- a power source for powering said transmitter,
- triggering means for activating said transmitter,
- receiver means allowing the detection of an externally generated information signal,
- an antenna for effectively radiating RF energy from said transmitter to produce an identifiable RF signal for a period of time following activation by said trigger means,
- said receiver means comprising an electromechanical device having a binary output, a digital decoder for detecting predetermined time-encoded information in the binary output of said electromechanical device and for providing an electrical trigger signal representative of the presence of such pre-determined information, and said trigger signal causing the activation of said transmitter.
(...)5. The implantable device of claim 1, wherein said receiver means additionally comprises a sustainable power supply comprising means for picking up periodically available external energy without external electrical contact, storing said energy for use over time, such that the resultant stored energy is sufficient to power the receiver means with enough regularity to ensure proper detection of information on said incoming signal.
(...)
15. The transceiver of claim 1, further comprising sensory stimulus means for providing a noticeable stimulus to alert the human in whom the device is implanted that all or part of said externally generated information signal has been detected by said digital decoder.
It isn't the fact that most people do not recognize that all of these ideas came from S.F. that bothers me most, but that many people today believe that what they see on TV is real.
Not too many years ago in one of the magazines I used to read, there was an article about NASA inviting down a group of people to come up with the ideas that would exist in the next x (I think it was 50) years. It was a group of S.F. writers that were invited into this think tank.
Turns out that the engineering mind could not create new things, but could design what the creative mind could come up with.
And if I was paranoid, I would think that all of the creative minds in /. were being monitored, not because of fear that we would take over the world, but for the ideas to impliment once the technology is here.
There was another think tank that I read about on how to monitor the people, and it turned out that the result of that was to get rid of paper currency. Now why would they want to monitor the people?
Is it a fact that more people have been killed by there own government, than by any invading fource (waco). ahhh... except for Kan. Those invading hordes were rather abusive, and rude.
To find the truth, you must look beyond what you see.
This device is being called a "transceiver," so one could assume that it has a GPS receiver to figure out where it is, and a transmitter to broadcast that position to anyone who cares to listen.
Of course, to locate the device, a second GPS receiver would be needed to get a bearing from where you are to where the device is.
Anyway, this is just quibbling over semantics, and this device may be made moot in a few years, what with Congress eliminating funding for a civilian GPS.
The satellites have a limited lifespan, and the current system is likely to be replaced with newer, better, incompatible systems. "Planned obsolescence" and "implant" a bad combination make.
--
Why Ah Must Scribble GNU
GPS is a passive system, that is you don't talk to it but only receive the signal. It would take THOUSANDS of time more power just to receive the signal from the microwave sattelite. Even if GPS is just part of the localising part; What range could be expected from the petty microwatt or two available? With virtually no antenna, it would have to operate at higher frequencies, not possible on the tiny power available. There are presently devices (for cattle, pigs, dogs, etc) that operate at a few cm and are powered by induction. At the very best, such devices may have
a range of a few metres.
Implants that communicate with low earth orbit sattelites appear to be strictly sci-fi. As for conventional implants, if you don't want it, destroy it with a relatively strong RF field. A GSM mobile phone may do but any university would have the equipment for a sure kill. I would prefer to look at this as a way to defraude suits with impressive language with no true technical content. Investment fraude - What's new?
This is just a minor extension of technology which has been in use for years. No big deal. Plugging it under the skin is novel, but was bound to happen sooner or later.
Now, before you start jumping, it isn't likely that the government will ever implant everyone with this. To start off with, most people don't do very interesting stuff and your physical location isn't really all that important in the Infotmation Age (tm). Ok, so it is to me, but that's another thing.
Also, it has many legitimate applications. Keeping track of your kids when going to large attractions, supermarkets, etc. You don't have to implant them, you can just hang one around their neck.
Or keeping track of elderly people with heart conditions and alzheimer. A combination monitor/tracer would be ideal for doctors and family members.
And, of course, all the usual about keeping track of your art work (like any competent thief wouldn't EMP it to hell...)
Whatever, I'm blathering again.
*borkborkbork*
Also, congress did not cut GPS funding, it cut funding for a modernization of the civilian GPS system in an incompatible way, adding new features. It's possible that DOD could decide to upgrade the defense GPS, the one we are now using, in an incompatible way, but unlikely (think of all the GPS owners in the U.S. calling their congress people).
Bruce
Bruce Perens.
You're mostly correct, GPS requires a mostly unobstructed line of sight to at least 3 satelites (4 if you want altitude, I believe). Some receivers can still provide a signal if there is moderate tree cover.
For the most part, though, this patent is absolutely worthless and pure marketing hype. GPS signals are easily blocked; in an urban canyon such as downtown SF, it's likely your receiver may not see ANY satelites. Also, a user could easily block the antenna they're wearing with any metallic object.
A more feasible system would use a ground based triangulation system, similar to that proposed for use with cell phones.
What strikes me as enjoyable if the thought that I could plant this new device in my cat along with a number of those rice-sized bionic implants . All I would need then is a good remote control.
"The stupid cat's run off again kids. Bring him back."
Of course the story would have someone remote controlling an unwilling assassian, but people pay for things that make them fear.
PUBLIC SCHOOL STUDENTS: WARNING:Do not write the above story or they WILL assume that you are going to take a gun and kill all the teachers. I am a professional. Do not attempt to do this at home without an adult's supervision.(Yeah, like there's any adults at home paying attention...)
No Zen is good zen
Funny you should mention it -- a large telecom company in Japan decided a while ago to take advantage of their cellular layout for tracking purposes, with an unpleasant backlash. (Since I got most of these details through the AT&T grapevine, the following information is worth what you paid for it.)
There are about 20 radios in the typical cellular location (cell). With digital technologies one can take those 20 analog channels and push 3-5 calls per, raising the call capacity. However it's often not enough. In dense areas, the cells are made smaller and smaller, by installing more antenna arrays (cells) with lower power. New York and Tokyo were the first locations to begin installing microcells on individual buildings, and then on floor ranges for those buildings.
Then some bright Japanese fellow (or woman) decided that it would be nifty if one could go to a website and type in a cellular number, and be told what Tokyo microcell the phone was in. The purpose was ostensibly for safety and business convenience. The effect, predictably imho, was that the site was frequented by not-so-pleased wives looking for their husbands who were "working late at the office" but were oddly reported as being on the XXth floor of a downtown hotel. Needless to say, this was pulled very quickly.
I think not...(*poof*)