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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.
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
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.
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?
"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.
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.
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?
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.
Or are you just another one who doesn't know the difference between communism, socialism, command economies, and totalitarianism?
- Socialism - an economic system based on labor, wherein the "means of production" are controled by the workers. Some forms of socialism call for a strong central government to implement this control, other forms are based on decentralized "bottom-up" structure. Contrast with "capitalism", wherein the "means of production" are primarily controled by a small population of private owners.
- Communism - a form of socialism invented by Karl (with a "K") Marx. The main idea is that humanity is divided into two classes, and that the working class should revolt and form a powerful government to estabish a new order. The state then fades away. As you may have noticed, this is the part that fails severely. "When, in the course of development, class distinctions have disappeared, and all production has been concentrated in the hands of a vast association of the whole nation, the public power will lose its political character." Problem is, (almost) no government gives up political power.
- Command economy - an ecomony where the government decides what is to be produced. Seen in communist nations (though not a part of Marxist doctrine) and occasionally in capitalist ones in times of war or emergency, and in a lesser form of public goods. Contrast with a market economy where producers and consumers trade freely.
- Totalitarianism - a form of government where the state can control any aspect of life that it pleases. Meant to be a temporary feature of communism (but it's not), also found in capitalist states such as Singapore.
The U.S. shows distressing signs of moving towards a totalitarian government, but make no mistake that is a capitalist one.Tom Swiss | the infamous tms | my blog
You cannot wash away blood with blood
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