[IP] VeriChip chairman promotes RFID "chipping" of immigrants

[David Farber <dave@farber.net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Lauren Weinstein <lauren@vortex.com>
Date: May 20, 2006 6:05:18 PM EDT
To: dave@farber.net
Cc: lauren@vortex.com
Subject: VeriChip chairman promotes RFID "chipping" of immigrants


Dave,

Many of us who are concerned about the potential abuse of RFID
systems have long suspected that some "low status" class of
individuals would be the first to find itself subjected to RFID chip
implants under government edict, after which the range of included
persons would gradually expand to cover more and more of the general
population.

These chips in their present form cannot be controlled by the
implanted individual, and so are subject to interrogation at any
time with or without the knowledge of the "chipee."

I've speculated in the past that persons convicted of sex crimes
might be among the likely initial targets by the proponents of this
technology, possibly as a requirement for parole.

However, it appears that VeriChip (the main player in the human RFID
implant space) may have their sights on a significantly larger
demographic.  VeriChip's chairman was on Fox News last Tuesday
promoting the concept of "chipping" immigrants, "guest workers," and
the like.

Here's the transcript:

http://www.spychips.com/press-releases/silverman-foxnews.html

Hold out your arm -- this won't hurt a bit, eh?

--Lauren--
Lauren Weinstein
lauren@vortex.com or lauren@pfir.org
Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800
http://www.pfir.org/lauren
Co-Founder, PFIR
   - People For Internet Responsibility - http://www.pfir.org
Co-Founder, IOIC
   - International Open Internet Coalition - http://www.ioic.net
Moderator, PRIVACY Forum - http://www.vortex.com
Member, ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy
Lauren's Blog: http://lauren.vortex.com
DayThink: http://daythink.vortex.com




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