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Posted December 29, 2004 ----------------------------

[this may be the development that incorporates GPS into the VeriChip capsule that I have predicted...therev]

ORBCOMM Announces Application Development Agreement with VeriChip Corporation

ORBCOMM, a global satellite telecommunications company, today announced that it has executed an agreement with VeriChip(TM) Corporation,

a subsidiary of Applied Digital, to be its provider of satellite and telecommunication services for applications to be developed for use with the world's first implantable radio frequency identification (RFID) microchip, also called VeriChip(TM).

Under the terms of the agreement, the companies will also work together to develop and market new military, security, and healthcare applications for use in the United States and around the world.

Posted December 26, 2004 ----------------------------

People tracking chip closer to reality

WorldNetDaily.com reports: “Setting the stage for controversial tracking technology, the satellite telecommunications company ORBCOMM has signed an agreement with VeriChip Corp., maker of the world's first implantable radio frequency identification microchip.

VeriChip, a subsidiary of Applied Digital, will work with ORBCOMM to develop and market new military, security and healthcare applications in the U.S. and around the world, the company said.

As WorldNetDaily reported, Applied Digital has created and successfully field-tested a prototype of an implant for humans with GPS, or global positioning satellite, technology.

The device, about the size of a grain of rice, contains a unique verification number that is captured by briefly passing a proprietary scanner over it.

Once inserted into a human, it can be tracked by GPS technology and the information relayed wirelessly to the Internet, where an individual's location, movements and vital signs can be stored in a database for future reference.

‘ORBCOMM's relationship with VeriChip provides yet another new and important industry that will use the ORBCOMM satellite system and its ground infrastructure network to transmit messages globally,’ ORBCOMM CEO Jerry Eisenberg said.

Initially, after privacy concerns and verbal protests over marketing the technology for government use, Applied backed away from public discussion about such implants and the possibility of using them to usher in a ‘cashless society.’

In addition, to quell privacy concerns, the company issued numerous denials, stating it had no plans for implants.

When WND reported in April 2002 that the company planned such implant technology, Applied Digital spokesman Matthew Cossolotto accused WND of intentionally printing falsehoods.

Less than three weeks later, however, the company issued a press release announcing that it was accelerating development on a GPS implant…”

Posted December 24, 2004 ----------------------------

[Human implantable VeriChip is now satellite tractable just like I have predicted...therev]

Companies Will Jointly Develop and Market Innovative Military, Security and Healthcare Applications for VeriChip(TM), the World's First Implantable Microchip

FORT LEE, N.J. -- Companies Will Jointly Develop and Market Innovative Military, Security and Healthcare Applications for VeriChip(TM), the World's First Implantable Microchip

ORBCOMM, a global satellite telecommunications company, today announced that it has executed an agreement with VeriChip(TM) Corporation, a subsidiary of Applied Digital (NASDAQ:ADSX), to be its provider of satellite and telecommunication services for applications to be developed for use with the world's first implantable radio frequency identification (RFID) microchip, also called VeriChip(TM).

Under the terms of the agreement, the companies will also work together to develop and market new military, security, and healthcare applications for use in the United States and around the world.

VeriChip(TM) Corporation is a wholly owned subsidiary of Applied Digital. The VeriChip product is a subdermal RFID microtransponder that can be used in a variety of security, financial, emergency identification and healthcare applications. About the size of a grain of rice, each VeriChip Device contains a unique verification number that is captured by briefly passing a proprietary scanner over the VeriChip. In October 2004, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) cleared VeriChip for medical applications in the United States. VeriChip is not a FDA-regulated device with regards to its security, financial, personal identification/safety applications.

"ORBCOMM's relationship with VeriChip(TM) provides yet another new and important industry that will use the ORBCOMM satellite system and its ground infrastructure network to transmit messages globally," Jerry Eisenberg, CEO of ORBCOMM, said.

Posted

[A part of this is incorrect as the Verichip can be read up to 30 feet away...therev]

What the FDA Won't Tell You about the VeriChip

A little electronic capsule, smaller than a dime, could be one of the biggest technological advances in how we share and store private medical records. It may also be one of the most controversial.

Known as the VeriChip, it is a microchip that is implanted under a person's skin, and then scanned with a special reader device to reveal important medical data about that person.

Applied Digital, the Florida-based company that makes the VeriChip, hopes the implant will revolutionize how doctors obtain medical information, particularly in emergency situations. Theoretically, if a person can't speak, medics could scan that person and quickly be linked to a database that would provide crucial information like the patient's identity, blood type and drug allergies.

Dr. Csaba Magassi, a plastic surgeon in Northern Virginia, is among a nationwide network of doctors who are ready and waiting to implant the VeriChip into willing patients. His office receives calls daily from people inquiring about the chip.

Dr. Magassi said, "If you are in an auto accident, and you are unconscious, they could scan you, know exactly who you are; your medical history can easily be printed out onto the hospital record."

Dr. Magassi added, "If a patient comes in requesting the VeriChip, I usually tell them it takes between two and five minutes to place the device in place. A needle which contains the VeriChip is inserted. The needle pushes the device through, and it is implanted permanently. Put a bandaid on and you are done."

Dr. Magassi demonstrated the procedure for CBN News on an apple. Once the microchip was inserted, the hand-held scanner read the number on the chip using radio frequency waves. Think of it as a human barcode.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the VeriChip implant for medical use in humans in October, a huge victory for Applied Digital.

In an effort to jumpstart interest, the company launched the "Get Chipped" campaign. It is offering a discount to the first few hundred people who get the implant, and also plans to donate hundreds of scanners to the nation's trauma units to promote use of the VeriChip.

But in a letter obtained by CBN News from the FDA to the VeriChip makers, the microchip is not completely safe. In fact, the letter lists a whole host of health risks associated with the device, including "adverse tissue reaction," "electrical hazards" and "MRI incompatibility."

Consumer privacy advocate Katherine Albrecht said, "There are millions of people that have read the press reports about all the positives of this technology, but really have no idea about its dangers."

Albrecht strongly opposes the VeriChip for the physical risks it poses, as well as the privacy risks. She has been called "the Erin Brokovich of RFID chips."

Albrecht said, "There's a very serious concern that, already, engineers and people who think along those lines are already thinking like hackers and criminals -- they're already starting to say, how can this system be compromised, how can it be abused? When you are dealing with a radio frequency device, by design, it is transmitting info using invisible radio waves at a distance. In this case, that distance is only a couple of inches or a couple of feet so it's not a huge distance, but it means that anyone who can get within a couple of inches or a few feet of you, even with a reader device they have hidden in a backpack or a purse, would be able to scan that number, obtain that info and potentially duplicate it."

And it is not just private medical information at stake. The microchip implant technology has been around for several years now, and has been used for a variety of different applications.

Thousands of chips have been implanted in pets by veterinarians for identification purposes. Livestock is now chipped to track things like mad-cow disease. Manufacturers are putting chips in products like clothing and shoes for marketing research.

In Mexico, the attorney general and his top aides were chipped for security purposes. And, in Spain at the Baja Beach Club, patrons can get a microchip with their financial information implanted, so they can pay for their cocktails with a swipe of the arm. As these pictures seem to suggest, getting chipped is fun and painless.

Applied Digital also launched a brand new application for the chip last year called the "VeriPay." This implant would hold all of a person's financial information. Rather than swipe a card or pay cash, consumers would scan their wrists for purchases. And, if a swipe of the wrist becomes too troublesome, there are already prototypes made of doorway portals that can simply scan a person and their purchases as they walk through the door.

Allbrecht said, "I think there is a very real concern that, down the road, such a chip would become mandatory. And not necessarily initially, but it would be voluntary, in the same way let's say as credit cards or a drivers license is voluntary. No one forces you to have a driver's license or to have a cell phone, but yet the vast majority of people do, because it is very difficult to function in a normal society without it."

For now, though, a microchip implant is voluntary. Only a few thousand chips have been sold and only a fraction of those have been implanted in humans.

For someone who wants an implant for medical purposes, Dr. Magassi and others are standing by. Magassi says, "If they want it, God love 'em. I'll put it in. It's as simple as that."

The VeriChip just recently made its debut in a Miami, Florida nightclub, where patrons had the opportunity to "Get Chipped," much like the Baja Beach club patrons in Spain.

Posted December 22, 2004 ------------------------------  

Someone told me this is a hoax on Christians and it may be!

I got it from a trusted news site but they may have fallen for it also.

I did notice the statement "Logitech's biochip technology" and thought that rather strange but you never know who's finger might be in RFID today.

However, I did not notice the phrase "Crockett's **Bluff** Community Church" which I am told is a dead giveaway and a web search can prove it. I have no time to surf so I will leave it up to those who do. Please let me know whatyou find out.

Sorry, I usually catch these...therev

HOAX??? Church Implants Microchips in Members' Right Hands

In a startling collision of modern technology and ministry, Crockett's Bluff Community Church is the first known church in America to use Logitech's biochip technology to receive its weekly tithes and offerings.

According to last year's church theme - "Be ID'd With CBCC in '03" - the congregation of 15,782 outfitted each member of its flock with a subdermal microchip in the right hand.

The device, smaller than a mustard seed, contains the banking information of each worshipper and is scanned by an usher as he or she enters the sanctuary.

Posted December 21, 2004 ------------------------------  

Mobile cash points coming soon

UK mobile phone users could soon be able to check their bank balances using their handset in an initiative from the Link cash machine network.

The initial roll-out will involve two of the UK's High Street banks and four mobile operators.

The intention is for users to see a tiny version of a cash machine screen on their handsets.

In time, the service is intended to extend the number of Link machines offering top-ups for pre-paid mobile phones as well.

Link, which is owned by 22 financial institutions, hopes the service will be successful because cash machines are used 100 million times a month for balance enquiries.

The mobile venture aims to make money by taking a small cut of mobile transactions, such as the mobile top-up service, to begin with.

Initially the service will be limited to balance enquiries, and will not allow other services

But Link said it is considering adding other services in 2005, which could include some method of mobile payment for goods.

They may also include the ability to get a mini bank statement - and potentially to extend overdrafts and transfer money to other people's accounts.

Posted December 20, 2004 ------------------------------  

[Now the chip has become a token or a contactless payment, or an embedded mechanism...therev]

The convergence of contactless payment

SMART System Technologies, Inc. predicts that the next year will be the first of a 10-15 year trend in the convergence between consumer identity and contactless payment and loyalty.

In terms of adoption, we have already seen the credit card associations allocate additional resources to support expanded distribution to contactless credit and debit cards. They are also starting to address the challenge of installing equipment for merchants to accept contactless payments.

To persuade merchants to accept the new technology, SST predicts that the card associations will need to reach an agreement to allow co-branded readers. Ultimately, the ideal solution for merchants will be a reader that is based on an open standard and capable of accepting each card's contactless token.

When it comes to consumer applications, we are seeing a growing trend in the use of proximity identification for corporate access and employee identification. SST expects applications to be developed in the next year that will enable employees to use the same identification card they use to enter their office buildings to make contactless payment purchases in the corporate cafeteria and to access additional employee areas such as parking and workout facilities.

Over time, we envision that these capabilities will even extend to surrounding merchants, enabling individuals to use their employee identification cards to purchase gasoline or stop for food at quick service restaurants for instance on their way to and from work. Consumers will also be eligible to receive increased loyalty rewards based on usage in each of these environments, and from groups of merchants through coalition marketing opportunities.

Public transportation is another setting where it is now possible to think about using one mechanism embedded in a transit tag, wristband or watch to commute and pay for necessities along the way. This could be funded by a cash deposit at a kiosk, through a checking account, by a payroll deduction or over an interchange with credit and or debit cards.

As the market evolves and more consumers adopt contactless payment technology, SST expects that a more sophisticated means of marketing to consumers will be required and traditional methods may not be as effective. For instance, it will become increasingly more important to provide electronic coupons and targeted promotions in real-time to meet consumer demand for instant gratification.

Another method of communicating with consumers in real-time will be through SMS messaging and near field communication (NFC) enabled handsets, which will also enable peer-to-peer transactions independent of the underlying cellular networks.

SST expects to see significant numbers of NFC devices become available in the next 12-24 months. In the peer-to-peer scenario, an individual could purchase two concert tickets and sell one to a friend via NFC handsets, without having to deal with the exchange of cash or waiting for a check to clear.

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WHAT IF? You died today, where would you go? Heaven or Hell? Will your soul spend eternity in the place the the KJV Holy Bible says "there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth"? If you are reading this and Jesus Christ is not the Lord and Saviour of your life please go to our "STAY HEALTHY" page to pray a suggested prayer and please do email us after you pray...therev

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Posted December 19, 2004 ------------------------------  

[Not a chip in the hand or forehead but will it be next???...therev]

Bank launches biometric ATM - Another step to cardless transactions

IBank customers in Colombia now have the option of using their fingerprints to withdraw cash from ATMs.

Colombia's Bancafe Bank has partnered with technology company NCR to upgrade its ATMs and allow its 2.5 million customers the option of accessing their accounts and withdrawing money using just their fingerprints and PIN numbers.

According to NCR, around 50 percent of Bancafe Bank's customers have signed up to use the machines, and the bank expects that figure to grow as it upgrades its entire network of ATMs

Mark Grossi, NCR's chief technology officer, said that biometric technology is now reliable and cheap enough to be used in a banking environment.

"The technology has now matured to a stage where it is sufficiently robust and affordable to meet the needs of specific markets," Grossi said. "In the case of Bancafe, fingerprint scanning has enabled the bank to expand their customer base by offering customers the option of cardless transactions."

Nelson Sanchez, commercial director at Bancafe, said the fingerprint technology has attracted new customers to the bank--many of whom were previously reluctant to open accounts.

"Biometric-enabled ATMs have allowed us to target completely new market segments and provide groups such as pensioners and coffee growers with an easier and safer way of handling their money," Sanchez said.

Sanchez said the bank initially tested the technology on 170 ATMs. The technology is now live on three-quarters of the bank's 486 machines.

Posted December 17, 2004 ------------------------------  

U.S. RFID passport standards criticized

Plans to put RFID chips in passports in 2005 have been roundly criticized for both privacy and security reasons. Noted cybersecurity guru Bruce Schneier clearly outlines the problems.

Now the mainstream press appears to have figured it out, too, with a recent AP article reporting that "even an executive at one of the companies developing a prototype for the State Department calls the international standards woefully inadequate."

In matters like this, it's no fun being right.

Posted December 16, 2004 ------------------------------  

What The FDA Won't Tell You About The VeriChip

In a letter obtained by CBN News from the FDA to the VeriChip makers, the microchip is not completely safe.

In fact, the letter lists a whole host of health risks associated with the device, including "adverse tissue reaction," "electrical hazards" and "MRI incompatibility."

Posted December 15, 2004 ------------------------------  

U.S. RFID passport standards criticized

Plans to put RFID chips in passports in 2005 have been roundly criticized for both privacy and security reasons. Noted cybersecurity guru Bruce Schneier clearly outlines the problems.

Now the mainstream press appears to have figured it out, too, with a recent AP article reporting that "even an executive at one of the companies developing a prototype for the State Department calls the international standards woefully inadequate."

In matters like this, it's no fun being right.

Posted December 13, 2004 ------------------------------  

TEENS: It's COOL to get CHIPPED!

Verichip: 'We could monitor you anywhere on Earth'

But VeriChip claims there is one group screaming for the chip instead of against it - teenagers.

'A trend is growing that it's cool to get chipped,' said Mr Bolton.

'After our first announcement in 2001, over 2,000 kids e-mailed saying they were ready to be chipped.'

Posted December 11, 2004 ------------------------------  

U.S. RFID passport standards criticized

Plans to put RFID chips in passports in 2005 have been roundlycriticized for both privacy and security reasons. Noted cybersecurity guru Bruce Schneier clearly outlines the problems.

Now the mainstream press appears to have figured it out, too, with a recent AP article reporting that "even an executive at one of the companies developing a prototype for the State Department calls the international standards woefully inadequate."

In matters like this, it's no fun being right.

Posted December 8, 2004 ------------------------------  

Police to pursue your prescriptions?

As if planning to affix RFID tags to medication bottles wasn't bad enough, the government now wants to share personal prescription records for anxiety, depression, insomnia, and pain with law enforcement.

A bill before Congress, The National All Schedules Prescription Electronic Reporting Act (H.R. 3015), has been passed by the House and is being considered by the Senate.

"While masquerading as a law enforcement tool to help control the illegal use of painkillers, the national bill would...create a central database affecting tens of millions who are not even suspected of a crime. And the information will be shared with state and local law enforcement."

The American Association of Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) is leading the charge against the plan. If you are concerned, urge your senator to vote "no" and print out the AAPS' doctor info page to share with your physician.

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Jesus Christ is about to establish the only world government that will last. Will you be a part of it or will your soul spend eternity in the place the the KJV Holy Bible says "there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth"? If you are reading this and Jesus Christ is not the Lord and Saviour of your life please go to this link RIGHT NOW to choose click here... or go to our "STAY HEALTHY" page for prayer - please email us after you pray...therev

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Posted December 6, 2004 ------------------------------  

VERICHIP COMPANY ANNOUNCES PRIVACY PLAN

VeriChip promoters unveiled a six-point privacy statement earlier this week that, frankly, has us scratching our heads. Here's one of the points:

VeriChip should be voluntary and voluntary only. No person, no employer, no government should force anyone to get "chipped."

Sounds good -- but wait, what about the government employees in Mexico who were implanted with VeriChips to access their secure data center?

We're pretty sure nobody tied them down and "forced" chips into them, but what would have happened if they had said no? Is taking a chip to keep your job really "voluntary?" As for government mandates, this is a company that envisions a market of "billions," i.e., they want to chip nearly everyone on earth. How will they accomplish that without government complicity?

Here's another one:

We pledge to thoughtfully, openly and considerately engage government, privacy groups, the industry and consumers to assure that the adoption of VeriChip and RFID technology is through education and unity rather than isolation and division.

Posted December 2, 2004 ------------------------------  

U-S opposed some privacy protections for new passports

The Bush administration opposes some privacy protections for new passports that will contain microchips.

The passports have antennae that allow a reader to capture data about the owner.Privacy advocates say the passports can by read from as far away as 30 feet.

But a State Department passport official says encrypting that data might make it more difficult for other countries to read the passports

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Luke 21:36>> "Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man" CLICK HERE FOR A SALVATION PRAYER! - please email us after you pray...therev

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Posted November 30, 2004 ------------------------------  

RFID Ushering in Age of Sensors

The widespread adoption of RFID to track goods through the global supply chain will mark the start of a new era in which the computers sense the world, anticipate the needs of people and act on their behalf, according to Hans Mulder, associate director of Intel Research, a unit of Santa Clara, Calif.-based Intel.

"We are on the verge of a vast increase in the spatial and temporal fidelity at which we measure and analyze the world," he said, speaking at Innovate 2004, an invitation-only RFID symposium for thought leaders hosted by ADT Security Services last week in West Palm Beach, Fla.

"RFID is the stepping-stone to sensor networks." Sensor networks consist of wireless sensors that detect heat, light, movement and many other environmental factors.

Also known as motes, the sensors gather data and transmit it from one node in a network to another and another until it reaches a node connected to a computer that can store and analyze the data.

Mulder said the problem with computing today is that, unlike with a sensor network, people have to input most of the data and receive most of the computer's output.

"We are the primary I/O [input/output] device, but we are the bottleneck," he said. "We need to get away from the human-centric model of computing and connect computers to the world."

He said that in the future, computers would anticipate people's needs and act on their behalf. Some people might be uncomfortable with the latter for privacy and other reasons, Mulder said,

but he pointed out that antilock braking systems are an example of computers that act on people's behalf today.

RFID has been used in closed-loop applications for years. But the growing adoption of the technology to track goods in open supply chains signals the start of this new era of computing, he said, because RFID tags are basically wireless sensors that identify objects.

The widespread deployment of RFID technology is expected to lead to the installation of more robust networks that can cope with the quantity of data that a sensor can generate.

RFID tags with integrated temperature sensors are already on the market, and researchers are working on other low-cost sensors that can be integrated with RFID tags.

Mulder believes that sensor technology will transform the way companies manage their assets. He gave examples of BP using sensors on railcars and motors on an oil tanker.

Intel put sensors on some pumps within one of its own semiconductor plants and put sensors on grapevines in a California vineyard.

Data was gathered and analyzed to try to improve maintenance and, in the case of the vineyard, ensure that the vines received the right amount of sunlight, water and other things necessary to the vines' health and growth.

"It's all about productivity and efficiency," Mulder said. "Sensor networks have a transformational power that could boost world GDP by 10 percent or more."

Posted November 29, 2004 ------------------------------  

[What might they do during surgery while you are unconscious???...therev]

FDA Approves Human Radio Tag

A radio frequency tag that patients can affix like a bandage to ensure doctors perform the right surgery on the right person won government approval Friday.

The tag, manufactured by SurgiChip Inc. of Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., aims to prevent wrongful surgeries that records show kill thousands of patients a year.

SurgiChip is the first surgical marking device approved by the Food and Drug Administration to use radio frequency identification.

The FDA endorsed the same technology this week to track drugs on their journey from manufacturing plants to pharmacists' shelves.

The chip is part military dog tag and part high-tech smart chip.

Posted November 26, 2004 ------------------------------  

Increase in Knowledge/New Technologies

RFID Coming To A School Near You

In front of her gated apartment complex, Courtney Payne, a 9-year-old fourth grader with dark hair pulled tightly into a ponytail, exits a yellow school bus. Moments later, her movement is observed by Alan Bragg, the local police chief, standing in a windowless control room more than a mile away.

Chief Bragg is not using video surveillance. Rather, he watches an icon on a computer screen. The icon marks the spot on a map where Courtney got off the bus, and, on a larger level, it represents the latest in the convergence of technology and student security.

Hoping to prevent the loss of a child through kidnapping or more innocent circumstances, a few schools have begun monitoring student arrivals and departures using technology similar to that used to track livestock and pallets of retail shipments.

Here in a growing middle- and working-class suburb just north of Houston, the effort is undergoing its most ambitious test. The Spring Independent School District is equipping 28,000 students with ID badges containing computer chips that are read when the students get on and off school buses. The information is fed automatically by wireless phone to the police and school administrators.

In a variation on the concept, a Phoenix school district in November is starting a project using fingerprint technology to track when and where students get on and off buses. Last year, a charter school in Buffalo began automating attendance counts with computerized ID badges - one of the earliest examples of what educators said could become a widespread trend.

At the Spring district, where no student has ever been kidnapped, the system is expected to be used for more pedestrian purposes, Chief Bragg said: to reassure frantic parents, for example, calling because their child, rather than coming home as expected, went to a friend's house, an extracurricular activity or a Girl Scout meeting.

When the district unanimously approved the $180,000 system, neither teachers nor parents objected, said the president of the board. Rather, parents appear to be applauding. "I'm sure we're being overprotective, but you hear about all this violence," said Elisa Temple-Harvey, 34, the parent of a fourth grader. "I'm not saying this will curtail it, or stop it, but at least I know she made it to campus."

The project also is in keeping with the high-tech leanings of the district, which built its own high-speed data network and is outfitting the schools with wireless Internet access. A handful of companies have adapted the technology for use in schools.

But there are critics, including some older students and privacy groups like the American Civil Liberties Union, who argue that the system is security paranoia.

The decades-old technology, called radio frequency identification, or RFID, is growing less expensive and developing vast new capabilities. It is based on a computer chip that has a unique number programmed into it and contains a tiny antenna that sends information to a reader.

The same technology is being used by companies like Wal-Mart to track pallets of retail items. Pet owners can have chips embedded in cats and dogs to identify them if they are lost.

In October, the Food and Drug Administration approved use of an RFID chip that could be implanted under a patient's skin and would carry a number that linked to the patient's medical records.

Some older students are not so enthusiastic.

"It's too Big Brother for me," said Kenneth Haines, a 15-year-old ninth grader who is on the football and debate teams. "Something about the school wanting to know the exact place and time makes me feel kind of like an animal."

Kenneth's opinion is echoed by organizations like the A.C.L.U. and the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a nonprofit group that promotes "digital rights."

It is "naive to believe all this data will only be used to track children in the extremely unlikely event of the rare kidnapping by a stranger," said Barry Steinhardt, director of the technology and liberty program at the A.C.L.U.

Mr. Steinhardt said schools, once they had invested in the technology, could feel compelled to get a greater return on investment by putting it to other uses, like tracking where students go after school.

Advocates of the technology said they did not plan to go that far. But, they said, they do see broader possibilities, such as implanting RFID tags under the skin of children to avoid problems with lost or forgotten tags. More immediately, they said, they could see using the technology to track whether students attend individual classes.

Mr. Weisinger, the head of transportation at Spring, said that, for now, the district could not afford not to put the technology to use. Chief Bragg said the key to catching kidnappers was getting crucial information within two to four hours of a crime - information such as the last place the child was seen.

"We've been fortunate; we haven't had a kidnapping," Mr. Weisinger said. "But if it works one time finding a student who has been kidnapped, then the system has paid for itself."

Posted November 23, 2004 ------------------------------  

RFID wristbands used for cashless payment

Precision Dynamics Corporation, a global leader in automatic wristband identification, will showcase its newest products, Smart Kiosk and Smart Reader, during the IAAPA (International Association of Amusement Parks & Attractions) Trade Show in Orlando, Florida, November 17-20.

Smart Kiosk is a free-standing booth with touch-screen that allows patrons to load money using cash, credit or debit cards onto RFID (radio frequency identification) wristbands which are provided to patrons at admissions. Smart Reader is a free-standing combination point-of-sale (POS) system and reader that replaces the need for expensive stand-alone POS systems and readers. PDC's cashless payment solution consists of Smart Kiosks, Smart Band RFID Wristbands, and Smart Readers, located at points-of-sale throughout a venue for quick and easy purchases.

"Smart Kiosk is a money loading device that works similar to ATM machines, but instead, funds are transferred onto patrons' RFID wristbands," comments Victor LaRosa , PDC RFID Manager. "It is part of the latest cashless payment technology which is practical for water and amusement parks where patrons don't like to carry wallets, and loose cash can get wet or lost. It provides an added convenience for both park owners and patrons."

The system helps increase throughput at concession stands, reducing long lines that often deter patrons from making additional purchases. Most of the time spent waiting in lines is attributed to the financial transactions of handling and counting cash or processing credit cards.

"A significant barrier to entry for park owners has been removed with the introduction of Smart Kiosk and Smart Reader. Before, interfaces between POS systems and readers were needed, making the leap to cashless payment more cumbersome," adds LaRosa.

Smart Band RFID Wristbands can be used for a variety of functions including cashless payment, tracking of purchases, and access control. They provide nontransferable positive patron ID while helping to increase per capita spending, enable cashless transactions at the point-of-sale, and eliminate the need for tickets at events.

Posted November 18, 2004 ------------------------------  

DMV Chief Backs Tax on Miles driven in your car

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Monday appointed a new Department of Motor Vehicles director who has advocated taxing motorists for every mile they drive — by placing tracking devices in their cars.

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28,000 Texas Students Tracked Electronically

Hoping to prevent the loss of a child through kidnapping or more innocent circumstances, a few schools have begun monitoring student arrivals and departures using technology similar to that used to track livestock and pallets of retail shipments.

The news you read here is Bible Prophecy and the book of Revelation being fulfilled! It is no time to wait to be saved! Do it now before it becomes too late... CLICK HERE FOR A SALVATION PRAYER! - please email us after you pray...therev

Posted November 15, 2004 ------------------------------  

Medical Supply Firm to Sell Patient RFID Chips

Medical-supply company Henry Schein has agreed to distribute implantable radio frequency identification chips to doctors' offices across the country--

the first major sales push for the technology since the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved it for medical use last month.

Posted November 13, 2004 ------------------------------  

MasterCard Introduces cashless society "PayPass"

MasterCard International has announced OneSMART PayPass, which will combine a contact chip and a contactless interface to provide a highly flexible EMV-based smart card application for credit and debit cards.

The first cards and terminals now ready for testing, banks and merchants can trial OneSMART PayPass as an alternative to cash payments. "OneSMART PayPass combines the power and security of MasterCard M/Chip, with the speed and convenience of contactless payments," said Pascal Dufour, vice president and head of Chip Product Management, MasterCard International.

"Contactless payments are most powerful in places where speed is of the essence - such as in quick-serve restaurants, petrol stations and tollways. Cardholders simply tap their PayPass-enabled card on the PayPass reader and are on their way."

"Trials in the United States have shown us that MasterCard PayPass has the potential to replace cash with card p ayments. This represents a huge potential for banks and merchants, particularly as a significant proportion of cash payments are made in retail environments where convenience and speed of transaction are at a premium.

OneSMART PayPass will now enable our customers in regions where EMV smart cards predominate, such as Europe, to reap the benefits offered by contactless payments," added Dufour. How MasterCard PayPass Works - OneSMART PayPass cards have a chip and an antenna embedded in their plastic.

When a card is brought in close proximity to a PayPass-enabled reader, it uses radio frequency technology to transmit account details to the PayPass reader. Once payment details have been captured by the terminal, they are processed through the MasterCard acceptance network in the same way as a contact chip payment.

The transaction is authorized either online by the issuer host or offline by the card. The card's on-chip risk management capabilities can also accomplish Card Authent ication (CAM) offline. To further speed up a PayPass transaction, CVM requirements, such as signature or PIN, may be waived for low-risk, low-value purchases. With OneSMART PayPass, a consumer can now 'tap and go', making the transaction simpler and faster than cash.

Posted November 11, 2004 ------------------------------  

School Daypack Features Satellite Tracking

Responding to a rise in crimes against children, a Tokyo manufacturer is joining forces with a security firm to create school bags with a global positioning system, or GPS.

The high-tech bags, which began selling this week, are believed to be the first of their kind in the world, the Japan Times reported.

The bag maker, Kyowa Corp., said it is meeting the demand of parents who want to know the whereabouts of their children.

Using a system operated by the security firm Secom Co., parents can track their children on a website, which uses satellite and mobile phone waves to pinpoint the backpack.

Posted November 9, 2004 ------------------------------  

RFID Rights

With all of the excitement last month about the Food and Drug Administration approving an implantable radio frequency identification device (RFID), it's easy to forget that the first place that many Americans will encounter RFID is not in their arms, but at the gas pump, on their key chains, and at major retailers like Wal-Mart.

While the FDA and healthcare establishment have been noodling around on the medical and ethical implications of implanting chips into people, other industries have been moving full-speed ahead. RFID technology is already broadly deployed within the United States.

Between the "proximity cards" that are used to unlock many office doors and the automobile "immobilizer chips" that are built into many modern car keys, roughly 40 million Americans carry some form of RFID device in their pocket every day.

I have two: last year MIT started putting RFID proximity chips into the school's identity ca rds, and there is a Phillips immobilizer chip inside the black case of my Honda Pilot car keys. I'm a big fan of these two chips. The proximity chip lets me open doors at the MIT Stata Center by waving my wallet—I don't even need to take the card out of my pocket.

The immobilizer chip interlocks with an RFID reader that's built into the steering column of my Honda: if the chip isn't there, the car's computer kills the ignition system and "immobilizes" the vehicle. According to several studies, these chips have had a significant impact on automobile theft over the past decade.

But the real interest in RFID today isn't these proprietary devices, but rather the standardized Electronic Product Code (EPC) chips that were developed by the AutoID center and are now being overseen by EPCglobal, a trade organization.

EPC tags are designed to replace today's ubiquitous Universal Product Code (UPC) bar-codes, except instead of identifying the maker and kind of product, the 96-bit EPC code will give every package of razors, every box of pancake mix, and every shoe its own unique serial number.

The tags, which operate in the unlicensed radio spectrum between 868 and 965 megahertz, can be read at a distance of many feet and through paper, fabric, and some plastics. And although the tags can cost as much as 25 cents today, when they are purchased by the million the cost plummets to 10 cents or less.

Should consumers be worried? Katherine Albrecht, founder and director of Consumers Against Supermarket Privacy Invasion and Numbering (CASPIAN), is one of the privacy activists leading the charge against RFID.

In November 2003 Albrecht received international media attention when she revealed that Wal-Mart and Procter & Gamble had conducted a test of RFID-tagged Max Factor Lipfinity lipstick at a Wal-Mart store in Broken Arrow, OK.

Albrecht and others claimed that, despite the company's promises, consumers had not been properly notified that the lipstick boxes contained RFID tags. And earlier that year, Wal-Mart had canceled plans to test Gillette's RFID-enabled "smart shelf" in Brockton, MA, after Albrecht had publicized the retailing giant's plans "Wal-Mart is blatantly ignoring the research and recommendations of dozens of privacy experts," said Albrecht this spring when Wal-Mart announced its early success with RFID.

"When the world's largest retailer adopts a technology with chilling societal implications, and does so irresponsibly, we should all be deeply concerned." Representatives from Wal-Mart and Procter & Gamble have repeatedly said that there was adequate notification inside the Broken Arrow store.

And even though Wal-Mart admitts to canceling the trial in Brockton, the company insists that Albrecht had nothing to do with it. "There was no secret test. We discussed the concept with the supplier and we worked with the supplier to set up a prototype," says Wal-Mart spokesperson Gus Whitcomb. "But we pulled the plug before it ever went live.

I'm not sure you can publicly 'reveal' something that never took place." As far as the tags go, Whitcomb says, "The consumer has three choices: buy the product and keep the tag; buy the product and remove the tag anytime post-purchase; or don't buy the product."

But as EPC technology starts its move from the laboratory to the marketplace, it's becoming clear that attention to privacy niceties and even some forms of notice will increase the price of this technology. After all, it takes time to properly alert people to the presence of RFID.

Wal-Mart might have had signs up at Broken Arrow, but at least some people at the stores who bought RFID-labeled products didn't know that the products contained radio frequency tracking devices.

MIT could have printed an RFID symbol on my ID card, but it didn't; there was no requirement for it to do so. Honda doesn't bother putting an RFID symbol on its car keys—this despite the fact that the keys can be read from 30 centimeters or more away using specialized equipment. The problem of voluntary, industry-approved privacy standards is that they're voluntary—companies don't need to comply with them.

Posted November 8, 2004 ------------------------------  

The Next Step For Mobile Devices

Mobiles could soon double up as travel cards, with Nokia planning to try out a wireless ticket system on German buses. Early next year travellers in the city of Hanau, near Frankfurt, will be able to pay for tickets by passing their phone over a smart-card reader already installed on the buses.

Passengers will need to own a Nokia 3220 handset which will have a special shell attached to it. The system would reduce queues and make travelling easier, said Nokia. Transport systems around the world are seeing the advantage of using ticketless smartcards.

Using a mobile phone is the next step, said Gerhard Romen, head of market development at Nokia. The technology offers access to a lot of services and makes it easy to get the information you want The ticketless trial will start early in 2005 and people will also be able to access transport information and timetables via their phones.

Nokia has worked with electronics g iant Philips to develop a shell for the mobile phone that will be compatible with Hanau's existing ticketing system. The system opens up possibilities for mobile devices to be interact with everyday environments, said Mr Romen.

"It could be used in shops to get product information, at bus-stops to get information about the next bus or, for example, by being passed over an advert of a rock star to find out details of concerts or get ringtones," he told the BBC News website.

He is confident that the trial being run in Germany could be extended to transport systems in other countries. "The technology offers access to a lot of services and makes it easy to get the information you want," he said.

Posted November 2, 2004 ------------------------------  

The Mark is marching on

BBC story - Eye scan to order school dinners. The article, like so many science and technology reports recently, unveils a plan to use head- retinal scanners for buying and selling. Now it's not that I'm getting worried...yet...but isn't it starting to feel a bit 'mark-y' these days? The particular scanning machines in the article referenced above will supposedly ease the method of buying school meals and checking out library books by scanning up to 12 students per minute during lunchtime.

In 1973, Senior Scholastics predicted a similar system, which would start in public schools. The article introduced school age children to the concept of buying and selling using numbers inserted in their foreheads. The secular high school journal's September 20, 1973 feature "Who Is Watching You?" speculated:

"All buying and selling in the program will be done by computer. No currency, no change, no checks. In the program, people would receive a number that had been assigned them tattooed in their wrist or forehead. The number is put on by laser beam and cannot be felt. The number in the body is not seen with the naked eye and is as permanent as your fingerprints. All items of consumer goods will be marked with a computer mark. The computer outlet in the store which picks up the number on the items at the checkstand will also pick up the number in the person's body and automatically total the price and deduct the amount from the person's 'Special Drawing Rights' account."

Implantable chips, hand and head scanners [already designed and in limited use at several retail chains], and inventory trackers are part of the new high-tech makeover leading to a cashless society. Hospitals are planning uses that include "chipping" the elderly and infirmed and prisons will begin chipping tens of thousands of inmates this year. Retail stores currently field testing the emerging technology include the number-one chains - Kroger, The Gap, Thriftway, McDonald's, and Wal-Mart.

But be warned.

"And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name" (Rev. 14:9-11).

Posted November 1, 2004 ------------------------------  

Microchips in people, packaging and pets raise privacy questions

Implanting a microchip in a pet has become a common practice, but until last week, it may have seemed quite a stretch to implant one in a person. On Wednesday, a Florida company announced that the Food and Drug Administration had approved its microchip for embedding into humans to convey information about their medical conditions.

The FDA's decision could move privacy concerns about the emerging technology to the forefront of public debate. The technology behind it involves radio frequency identification, or RFID, sensors that are being applied to all kinds of objects to hold information about them and track their whereabouts.

Proposals for RFID tags run the gamut from tubes of toothpaste to passports and money. Until now, much of the work has focused on using RFID tags in business-supply chains to monitor the flow of goods and increase efficiency. But as the technology moves from the lab into the real world, busi nesses may face more calls for regulation.

RFID isn't new technology, but as small inexpensive tags proliferate, so could the ability for companies to amass a database detailing an individual's movements and purchases. Unlike a bar code, which identifies only the type of product, each RFID tag has a unique serial number.

The tags themselves can pack greater amounts of data and transmit the information faster from farther away. In today's closed RFID systems, such as those used by libraries, data cannot be shared because only one reader — the library's — can get information from the tags.

Tomorrow's open standards are designed so that tags can be read by virtually any reader. These capabilities are at the heart of the debate over RFID, a debate that illustrates the difficulty of striking a balance between protecting privacy and allowing a potentially useful technology to develop.

"You don't want to constrain the potential impact of this technology. At the same tim e, you don't want to be careless about what potential privacy issues will come up," said Greg Plichta, a Seattle patent attorney who has studied RFID and developed a set of proposed privacy guidelines. "The balance now certainly weighs in favor of protecting privacy," he said.

"Perhaps it's time to start thinking about proposing some rules that would go beyond just espousing general guidelines." Applied Digital Solutions, the Delray Beach, Fla., company producing the implantable VeriChip, cites potential life-saving benefits the chips could have by allowing access to a patient's medical records even if the patient is unconscious.

The company says its chips contain a 16-digit number that can be read by passing a scanner over the arm where the chip has been inserted. The number links to a database accessible to health-care providers over the Internet.

But privacy advocates contend the tags are a bad idea because they could lead to abuses by government and contribute to the gro wth of identify theft. "This is the most invasive use of the technology we know of so far," said Marc Rotenberg, director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center in Washington, D.C.

"With an implantable chip, the person who's being tagged really doesn't have the ability to remove the tag or control the disclosure of its identity." Yet the idea has already gained ground in other parts of the world. In Mexico, government officials have had chips implanted in their arms for access to restricted areas, and chips have been embedded in some hospital patients.

People in Spain have used implanted chips for entering a nightclub and buying drinks. In Japan, some parents are putting RFID tags on their children's bags or clothing to track their movements. In the United States, many large retailers are planning to use RFID tags on boxes and warehouse pallets and have started some trials of tags on individual items.

Privacy questions arise at the point the tags move from back-end sup ply chains to goods consumers buy and take home, Rotenberg said. Retailers envision using data from item-level tags for targeted marketing campaigns. For example, a clothing tag could identify a frequent shopper as he or she walked through the store.

Shop clerks could then approach the customer with special offers. Privacy advocates worry that a company could collect RFID data from objects like clothing and associate it with personal information to track movements, or sell that data to other companies. Tags are small enough to be undetected if embedded into products. Right now, the tags are too expensive for widespread use at the item level but that could soon change.

Posted October 30, 2004 ------------------------------  

American Passports to Get Chipped

New U.S. passports will soon be read remotely at borders around the world, thanks to embedded chips that will broadcast on command an individual's name, address and digital photo to a computerized reader.

The State Department hopes the addition of the chips, which employ radio frequency identification, or RFID, technology, will make passports more secure and harder to forge, according to spokeswoman Kelly Shannon. The reason we are doing this is that it simply makes passports more secure," Shannon said.

"It's yet another layer beyond the security features we currently use to ensure the bearer is the person who was issued the passport originally." But civil libertarians and some technologists say the chips are actually a boon to identity thieves, stalkers and commercial data collectors, since anyone with the proper reader can download a person's biographical information and photo from several feet away.

"Even if th ey wanted to store this info in a chip, why have a chip that can be read remotely?" asked Barry Steinhardt, who directs the American Civil Liberty Union's Technology and Liberty program. "Why not require the passport be brought in contact with a reader so that the passport holder would know it had been captured? Americans in the know will be wrapping their passports in aluminum foil."

Last week, four companies received contracts from the government to deliver prototype chips and readers immediately for evaluation. Diplomats and State Department employees will be issued the new passports as early as January, while other citizens applying for new passports will get the new version starting in the spring.

Countries around the world are also in the process of including the tags in their passports, in part due to U.S. government requirements that some nations must add biometric identification in order for their citizens to visit without a visa.

Current passports (which are alread y readable by machines that decipher text on the photo page) will remain valid until they expire, according to a State Department spokeswoman. The RFID passport works like a high-tech version of the children's game "Marco Polo."

A reader speaks out the equivalent of "Marco" on a designated frequency. The chip then channels that radio energy and echoes back with an answer. But instead of simply saying "Polo," the 64 Kb chip will say the passport holder's name, address, date and place of birth, and send along a digital photograph.

While none of the information on the chip is encrypted, the chip does also broadcast a digital signature that verifies the chip itself was created by the government. Security experts said the U.S. government decided not to encrypt the data because of the risks involved in sharing the method of decryption with other countries.

RFID technology has been around for more than 60 years, but has only recently become cheap enough to be adopted widely. E-Z Pa ss prepay toll systems across the country run on RFIDs, pets and livestock around the world have RFID implants, and businesses such as Wal-Mart plan to use the tags to track their inventory.

But Electronic Frontier Foundation attorney Lee Tien argues that RFID chips in passports are a "privacy horror" and would be even if the data was encrypted. "If 180 countries have access to the technology for reading this thing, whether or not it is encrypted, from a security standpoint, that is a very leaky system," Tien said.

"Strictly from a technology standpoint, any reader system, even with security, that was so widely deployed and accessible to so many people worldwide will be subject to some very interesting compromises."

Travel privacy expert Edward Hasbrouck argues that identity thieves are not the only ones with an interest in recording the data remotely. Commercial travel companies, including hotels, will capture the data to create commercial dossiers when people check into ho tels or exchange currency in order to up-sell their customers, he argues.

While there are no laws in the United States prohibiting anyone from snooping on someone's passport data, Roy Want, an RFID expert who works as a principal engineer for Intel Research, thinks that the possibility of identity theft is overblown.

"It is actually quite hard to read RFID at a distance," said Want. A person's keys, bag and body interfere with the radio waves, and the type of RFID chip being used requires readers equipped with very large -- and obvious -- coils to capture the data, according to Want.

Still, he concedes that a determined snooper could create a snooping system. "In principle someone could rig up a reader, perhaps in a doorway you are forcing people to go through. You could read some of these tags some of the time," Want said.

=====================

Chips Coming to a Brain Near You

In this era of high-tech memory management, next in line to get that memory upgrade isn't your computer, it's you. Professor Theodore W. Berger, director of the Center for Neural Engineering at the University of Southern California, is creating a silicon chip implant that mimics the hippocampus, an area of the brain known for creating memories.

If successful, the artificial brain prosthesis could replace its biological counterpart, enabling people who suffer from memory disorders to regain the ability to store new memories. And it's no longer a question of "if" but "when." The six teams involved in the multi-laboratory effort, including USC, the University of Kentucky and Wake Forest University, have been working together on different components of the neural prosthetic for nearly a decade.

They will present the results of their efforts at the Society for Neuroscience's annual meeting in San Diego, which begins Sa turday. While they haven't tested the microchip in live rats yet, their research using slices of rat brain indicates the chip functions with 95 percent accuracy. It's a result that's got the scientific community excited.

"It's a new direction in neural prosthesis," said Howard Eichenbaum, director of the Laboratory of Cognitive Neurobiology at Boston University. "The Berger enterprise is ambitious, aiming to provide a prosthesis for memory. The need is high, because of the prevalence of memory disorder in aging and disease associated with loss of function in the hippocampus."

Forming new long-term memories may involve such tasks as learning to recognize a new face, or remembering a telephone number or directions to a new location. Success depend on the proper functioning of the hippocampus. While this part of the brain doesn't store long-term memories, it re-encodes short-term memory so it can be stored as long-term memory.

It's the area that's often damaged as a result of h ead trauma, stroke, epilepsy and neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's disease. Currently, no clinically recognized treatments exist for a damaged hippocampus and the accompanying memory disorders. "If you can figure out how the inputs are transformed, then you do have a prosthesis.

Then I could put that into somebody's brain to replace it, and I don't care what they look at -- I've replaced the damaged hippocampus with the electronic one, and it's going to transform inputs into outputs just like the cells of the biological hippocampus." Dr. John J. Granacki, director of the Advanced Systems Division at USC, has been working on translating these mathematical functions onto a microchip.

The resulting chip is meant to simulate the processing of biological neurons in the slice of rat hippocampus: accepting electrical impulses, processing them and then sending on the transformed signals. The researchers say the microchip is doing exactly that, with a stunning 95 percen t accuracy rate. "If you were looking at the output right now, you wouldn't be able to tell the difference between the biological hippocampus and the microchip hippocampus," Berger said. "It looks like it's working."

Posted October 29, 2004 ------------------------------  

Chips Coming To A Brain Near You

In this era of high-tech memory management, next in line to get that memory upgrade isn't your computer, it's you. Professor Theodore W. Berger, director of the Center for Neural Engineering at the University of Southern California, is creating a silicon chip implant that mimics the hippocampus, an area of the brain known for creating memories.

If successful, the artificial brain prosthesis could replace its biological counterpart, enabling people who suffer from memory disorders to regain the ability to store new memories.

And it's no longer a question of "if" but "when."

Posted October 28, 2004 ------------------------------  

Chips coming to a brain near you

Wired.com reports: “In this era of high-tech memory management, next in line to get that memory upgrade isn't your computer, its you.

Professor Theodore W. Berger, director of the Center for Neural Engineering at the University of Southern California, is creating a silicon chip implant that mimics the hippocampus, an area of the brain known for creating memories. If successful, the artificial brain prosthesis could replace its biological counterpart, enabling people who suffer from memory disorders to regain the ability to store new memories.

And it's no longer a question of ‘if’ but ‘when.’ The six teams involved in the multi-laboratory effort, including USC, the University of Kentucky and Wake Forest University, have been working together on different components of the neural prosthetic for nearly a decade. They will present the results of their efforts at the Society for Neuroscience's annual meeting in San Diego, which begins Saturday.

While they haven't tested the microchip in live rats yet, their research using slices of rat brain indicates the chip functions with 95 percent accuracy. It's a result that's got the scientific community excited.

‘It's a new direction in neural prosthesis,’ said Howard Eichenbaum, director of the Laboratory of Cognitive Neurobiology at Boston University. ‘The Berger enterprise is ambitious, aiming to provide a prosthesis for memory. The need is high, because of the prevalence of memory disorder in aging and disease associated with loss of function in the hippocampus.’

Forming new long-term memories may involve such tasks as learning to recognize a new face, or remembering a telephone number or directions to a new location. Success depend on the proper functioning of the hippocampus. While this part of the brain doesn't store long-term memories, it re-encodes short-term memory so it can be stored as long-term memory.

It's the area that's often damaged as a result of head trauma, stroke, epilepsy and neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's disease. Currently, no clinically recognized treatments exist for a damaged hippocampus and the accompanying memory disorders…”

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Posted October 26, 2004 ------------------------------  

American Passports To Get Chipped

New U.S. passports will soon be read remotely at borders around the world, thanks to embedded chips that will broadcast on command an individual's name, address and digital photo to a computerized reader.

Posted October 23, 2004 ------------------------------  

FDA Approves Use of Chip Implants in Humans

Privacy advocates are concerned that an implantable microchip designed to help doctors tap into a patient's medical records could undermine confidentiality or could even be used to track the patient's movements.

"If privacy protections aren't built in at the outset, there could be harmful consequences for patients," said Emily Stewart, a policy analyst at the Health Privacy Project. The Food and Drug Administration said Wednesday that Applied Digital Solutions of Delray Beach, Fla., could market the VeriChip, an implantable computer chip about the size of a grain of rice, for storing medical information.

With the pinch of a syringe, the microchip is inserted under the skin in a procedure that takes less than 20 minutes and requires no stitches. Silently and invisibly, the dormant chip stores a code that releases patient-specific information when a scanner passes over it.

The VeriChip itself contains no medical records, just codes that can be scanned and revealed in a doctor's office or hospital. With that code, doctors can unlock part of a secure database that holds the patient's medical information, including allergies and prior treatment.

The electronic database, not the chip, would be updated with each medical visit. The microchips have already been implanted in 1 million pets. But the chip's possible use to track people's movements - in addition to speeding delivery of medical information to emergency rooms - has raised alarm.

The company's chief executive officer, Scott R. Silverman, said chips implanted for medical uses could a lso be used for security purposes, like tracking employee movement through nuclear power plants.

An information technology guru at Detroit Medical Center said he will lobby for his center's inclusion in a VeriChip pilot program. "One of the big problems in health care has been the medical records situation.

So much of it is still on paper," said David Ellis, the center's chief futurist and co-founder of the Michigan Electronic Medical Records Initiative. "It's part of the future of medicine to have these kinds of technologies that make life simpler for the patient," Ellis said. Strong encryption algorithms will ensure hackers can't nab medical data, he said.

The Health and Human Services Department on Wednesday announced $139 million in grants to help make real President Bush's push for electronic health records for most Americans within a decade. William A. Pierce, an HHS spokesman, could not say whether VeriChip and its accompanying secure database of medical records fit w ithin that initiative.

"Exactly what those technologies are is still to be sorted out," Pierce said. "It all has to respect and comport with the privacy rules." To kickstart the chip's use among humans, Applied Digital will provide $650 scanners for free at 200 of the nation's trauma centers.

In pets, installing the chip costs owners about $50. For humans, the chip implantation cost would be $150 to $200, said Angela Fulcher, an Applied Digital spokeswoman. Ultimately, the company hopes patients who suffer from such ailments as diabetes and Alzheimer's or who undergo complex treatments, like chemotherapy, would have chips implanted.

Posted October 22, 2004 ------------------------------  

Cashless Society: Motorola, MasterCard trial RFID PayPass system

Motorola and MasterCard are conducting field tests of new mobile phones that include Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) chips embedded in them as part of a cashless payment system dubbed PayPass.

The phones will be equipped with Near Field Communication (NFC) systems, which will allow them to communicate with nearby readers to, for instance, pay for small purchases or tickets for transit or events simply by passing their phone close to a reader.

Once the phone and account has been identified by the RFID tag, the user's MasterCard account will be billed automatically by the network for the appropriate amount.

MasterCard also sees potential for the phones as contactless readers, which it claims opens the door for "a variety of marketing and promotional applications," on which the company did not elaborate further.

Posted October 20, 2004 ------------------------------  

Cashless Society: Motorola, MasterCard trial RFID PayPass system

Motorola and MasterCard are conducting field tests of new mobile phones that include Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) chips embedded in them as part of a cashless payment system dubbed PayPass.

The phones will be equipped with Near Field Communication (NFC) systems, which will allow them to communicate with nearby readers to, for instance, pay for small purchases or tickets for transit or events simply by passing their phone close to a reader.

Once the phone and account has been identified by the RFID tag, the user's MasterCard account will be billed automatically by the network for the appropriate amount.

MasterCard also sees potential for the phones as contactless readers, which it claims opens the door for "a variety of marketing and promotional applications," on which the company did not elaborate further.

Posted October 19, 2004 ------------------------------  

Government slow on RFID privacy

Depending on who you talk to, they will be sinister micro-spies, whose web of whispers will snare personal information with Orwellian efficiency. Or they will be dependable sentinels, shielding U.S. cities from infiltration by psychopathic terrorists.

Or they will be tireless helpmates wordlessly working through the night to be sure your cat is healthy, your refrigerator is stocked and your coffee is ready just as you step out of the shower -- even if you hit the snooze alarm, twice.

They" are Radio Frequency Identification Devices or RFIDs. A billion of them will be distributed in the next 14 months with billions more scattered across the globe over the next decade. Experts agree they can be used to track and monitor people.

Commercial firms are worried privacy fears will kill the nascent industry. The question is whether anyone will address the privacy implications of RFID tags before they are inextricably mixed into our lives. RFID tags are tiny computer chips, each with its own antenna.

Smaller than a grain of rice, they contain at a minimum a unique identification number that can be read from a distance by machine. Many tags can be read at once and new advances are expected to enable the reader to store new information on the chip.

The signals are at frequencies that can pass through many materials so readers can see the tags through boxes and containers. If you carry an RFID-laced card in your wallet, perhaps a student ID or a building access card, there is a fairly good chance a reader can grab the ID number from that, too, even if it still is in your pocket. Some new tags have sensors.

They could be used to monitor the health of livestock or pets by tracking their temperature. More advanced tags are on the horizon that will not need to be near a reader like the unpowered ones today.

This new generation of tags will have their own batteries, more memory, and will be able to co mmunicate with each other, passing messages along until they reach their destination. The day may come when the RFID tag on the milk carton reports it is no longer fresh and sends a message to the store to deliver a new carton.

Today's tags, however, are used primarily to track shipments. RFID tags are gradually enabling businesses to scan entire shipments of goods in minutes and enter the items into inventory without unpacking pallets or tying up employee time.

Wal-Mart, the world's most powerful retailer, has mandated its top 100 suppliers adopt the technology effective this January. Other retailers, struggling to shave costs, are following suit. RFID applications are concentrated on shipping because tags are too expensive to be placed on individual items.

As the price for a tag drops, however, tags are expected to replace the familiar stripes of bar codes. At that point, it will be possible to capture expansive arrays of buying information about a person. RFID also will e nable tracking of people's movements.

Though it will be many years before constant tracking over extended distances is possible, it is not difficult to visualize a mall or large grocery chain placing RFID chips in their frequent-buyer cards and tracking people throughout the store to see how they shop.

"We see more than 50 bar-coded objects before we get to work ever day ... they are so pervasive they are almost invisible. Someday RFID tags will get there," said Ravi Pappu, founder of ThingMagic and an RFID expert.

Pappu spoke before a workshop on RFID held by the Federal Communications Commission in Washington last Thursday. "The downside ... when you start tagging everything, is if you have tagged objects you can be tracked. There is a risk of that.

But the interesting thing about this time ... is that (RFID) is not yet widely deployed enough, or low cost enough, to be incorporated in everyday objects.

"I think now is the right time to have a very serious debate about the privacy issues because this will become a problem if it is not dealt with," Pappu said. "Now is the time to exercise all possible options in the evolution of this technology."

Posted October 18, 2004 ------------------------------  

U.S. APPROVED- APPROVED - APPROVED - RFID Implantable medical ID approved by FDA

October 14, 2004

The Washington Post reports: “A microchip that can be implanted under the skin to give doctors instant access to a patient's records yesterday won government approval, a step that could transform medical care but is raising alarm among privacy advocates.

The tiny electronic capsule, the first such device to receive Food and Drug Administration approval, transmits a unique code to a scanner that allows doctors to confirm a patient's identity and obtain detailed medical information from an accompanying database.

Applied Digital Solutions Inc. of Delray Beach, Fla., plans to market the VeriChip systems -- the chips, scanners and computerized database -- to hospitals, doctors and patients as a way to improve care and avoid errors by ensuring that doctors know whom they are treating and the patient's personal health details.

Doctors would scan patients like cans of soup at a grocery store. Instead of the price, the patient's medical record would pop up on a computer screen. Emergency room doctors could scan unconscious car accident victims to check their blood type and medications and make sure they have no drug allergies. Surgeons could scan patients in the operating room to guard against cutting into the wrong person. Chips could be implanted in Alzheimer's patients in case they get lost.

‘In hospitals today, many deaths occur because people aren't able to communicate timely enough their medical information or because of wrong information,’ said Scott Silverman, the company's chief executive. ‘With VeriChip, you'll be able to have accurate information even if a patient can't talk. It's a way to modernize our antiquated system of medical records.’

The approval was immediately denounced by privacy advocates, who fear it could endanger patient privacy and mark a dangerous step toward a Big Brother future in which people will be tracked by the implants or required to have them inserted for surveillance, identification and other purposes.

‘Once the technology is out there and is available, it raises the very real possibility that people in a position to require or demand it will begin to do that,’ said Katherine Albrecht, who has campaigned against such devices. ‘It would obviously be possible to inject one of these into everyone. In the post-9/11 world, we are already racing down the path to total surveillance. The only thing missing to clinch the deal has been the technology. This may fill that gap.’…”

Posted October 16, 2004 ------------------------------  

Lawmakers consider 'smart' driver's licenses

A controversial technology already planned for tracking consumer products could be used to create "smart" driver's licenses that emit signals readable from a distance, according to federal and state government officials contemplating ways to fight identity fraud.

Radio frequency identification, or RFID, could help thwart terrorists who use falsified documents to get around, say Virginia lawmakers who will hear testimony on the technology's uses, reports Wired.com.

A Johnson & Johnson executive recently told industry leaders that in the future, the RFID chips will be "on everything from diapers to surgical instruments." On the driver's licenses, the computer chips would emit a radio signal bearing the holder's unique, personal information. Virginia is considering adding biometric data such as fingerprints and retinal scans to the RFID tags.

But privacy advocates fear government could use the technology to spy on ci tizens and believe it could make identity theft even more complicated. Government agents could, for example, easily identify large numbers of protesters in a march, and crooks could mine personal information from the wallets of passersby on a street corner.

A government also could track the movement of its citizens by coupling global positioning data related to satellites with information from card readers that translate the signals.

Some privacy advocates worry about the capability of reader devices to sense signals from a distance. Tests have demonstrated broadcast ranges of up to 30 feet.

Opponents also point out federal legislators could require states to conform with uniform "smart card" standards, effectively turning the licenses into a national ID that could be read anywhere in the country.

Posted October 12, 2004 ------------------------------  

EU driving license passed ready for ID Chip

The EU Observer reports: “Drivers all around the EU will soon have the same driving license, after ministers of transport agreed to standardize the 110 different models currently circulating around the union.

The new cards will be plastic and may eventually contain a microchip, reports Belgian daily La Libre Belgique.

Drivers will have to renew this license every ten years, but will not be required to take another driving test.

Holders of the ‘old’ licenses are allowed to keep these indefinitely.

The Commission wants to standardize the licenses to help easy identification of drivers…”

Posted October 11, 2004 ------------------------------  

Tiny tracking chips will be 'everywhere'

In the future, a controversial technology that uses tiny computer chips to identify and track items from a distance will be "on everything from diapers to surgical instruments," says an executive for a leading corporation.

Pat Rizzotto, vice president of global customer initiatives for Johnson & Johnson, says his company's long-term vision for RFID, or radio frequency identification, includes having physical objects communicate in real time and extending the Internet into everyday items.

Knowing where the company's products are at any time promises significant cost savings, better on-shelf availability of products and a more efficient supply chain, he explained at the EPC Global U.S. Conference 2004 in Baltimore this week held by EPC Global, the non-profit organization seeking to adopt a universal technology standard for products.

RFID chips communicate the location and status of the tagged items by radio waves similar to those used to broadcast FM radio programs. However, privacy advocates express concern over the price society might pay for these benefits.

"RFID radio waves can travel right through solid objects," said Katherine Albrecht, founder and director of CASPIAN, Consumers Against Supermarket Privacy Invasion and Numbering, a group that has led the opposition to RFID.

"Information on RFID 'spy chips' can be read through the things we usually rely on to protect our privacy, like walls, purses, backpacks and even through our clothes," she said. "It would be a privacy nightmare if we allowed them to be attached to everyday objects."

CASPIAN was one of more than 40 privacy and civil liberties organizations to call for a voluntary moratorium on the use of RFID on consumer items last November. "Used improperly, RFID has the potential to jeopardize consumer privacy, red uce or eliminate purchasing anonymity and threaten civil liberties," the group warns in its position statement.

RFID supporters have discounted the concerns as overblown, emphasizing that the focus of the tracking technology is on warehouse pallets and cases, not consumer goods. But Rizzotto's statements suggest the industry is working toward a future in which individual items are chipped and tracked.

"There will be tags and readers everywhere," he told the standing-room-only crowd. While Johnson & Johnson is best known for its baby shampoo and Band-Aid bandages, the company also makes birth-control pills, incontinence protection, portable diabetes testing systems and medication for schizophrenia.

Consumers might not want information about their use of these products remotely accessible, the privacy advocates argue. Research by RFID consulting firm Capgemini found that consumers are uncomfortable with the technology. In its October 2003 study [pdf file] of 1,000 U.S. consumers, "Understanding Their Mindset," Capgemini concluded,

"When it comes to consumer concerns relating to RFID, there's no question that privacy heads the list ... ." The study reported that "almost seven out of 10 respondents said they were 'extremely concerned' about the use of consumer data by a third party; 67 percent were concerned they would be targeted with more direct marketing; and 65 percent were concerned about the ability to track consumers via their product purchases."

Posted October 9, 2004 ------------------------------  

[and you thought it could not happen in the USA...WRONG!...therev]

USA RFID drivers licenses debated

Wired.com reports: “Some federal and state government officials want to make state driver's licenses harder to counterfeit or steal, by adding computer chips that emit a radio signal bearing a license holder's unique, personal information.

In Virginia, where several of the 9/11 hijackers obtained driver's licenses, state legislators Wednesday will hear testimony about how radio frequency identification, or RFID, tags may prevent identity fraud and help thwart terrorists using falsified documents to move about the country.

Privacy advocates will argue that the radio tags will also make it easy for the government to spy on its citizens and exacerbate identity theft, one of the problems the technology is meant to relieve.

Virginia is among the first states to explore the idea of creating a smart driver's license, which may eventually use any combination of RFID tags and biometric data, such as fingerprints or retinal scans.

‘Nine of the 19 9/11 terrorists obtained their licenses illegally in Virginia, and that was quite an embarrassment,’ said Virginia General Assembly delegate Kathy Byron, chairwoman of a subcommittee looking into the use of so-called smart driver's licenses, which may include RFID technology.

The biometric data would make it harder for an individual to use a stolen or forged driver's license for identification. The RFID tags would make the licenses a ‘contact-less’ technology, verifying IDs more efficiently, and making lines at security checkpoints move quicker.

Because information on RFID tags can be picked up from many feet away, licenses would not have to be put directly into a reader device. If there was any suspicion that a person was not who he claimed to be, ID checkers could take him aside for fingerprinting or a retinal scan.

States need to adopt technologies that can ensure a driver's license holder is who he says he is, said Byron.

Federal legislators may also require states to comply with uniform ‘smart card’ standards, making state driver's licenses into national identification cards that could be read at any location throughout the country. The RFID chips on driver's licenses would at a minimum transmit all of the information on the front of a driver's license. They may also eventually transmit fingerprint and other uniquely identifiable information to reader devices…”

=======================

Feds plan to track every car

WorldNetDaily.com reports: “A little-known federal agency is planning a new monitoring program by which the government would track every car on the road by using onboard transceivers.

The agency, the Intelligent Transportation Systems Joint Program Office, is part of the Department of Transportation. According to an extensive report in the Charlotte, N.C., Creative Loafing, the agency doesn't respond to public inquiries about its activity.

According to the report, cutting-edge tracking technology will be used by government transportation management centers to monitor every aspect of transportation. Under the plan, not only will movement be monitored but it also will be archived in massive databases for future use.

The paper reports a group of car manufacturers, technology companies and government interests have worked toward implementing the project for 13 years.

States the Creative Loafing report:

‘The only way for people to evade the national transportation tracking system they're creating will be to travel on foot. Drive your car, and your every movement could be recorded and archived. The federal government will know the exact route you drove to work, how many times you braked along the way, the precise moment you arrived – and that every other Tuesday you opt to ride the bus.

‘They'll know you're due for a transmission repair and that you've neglected to fix the ever-widening crack that resulted from a pebble dinging your windshield.’

The agency's website says its purpose is to ‘use advanced technology to improve the efficiency and safety of our nation's surface transportation system.’…”

Posted October 8, 2004 ------------------------------  

Radio Signal Product Tags Coming

A University of Pittsburgh researcher and a U.S. subsidiary of a Korean chipmaker announced Thursday they plan to sell radio-frequency identification tags to get a share of what could be the biggest change in retail technology since the barcode.

ADCUS Inc., a subsidiary of Advanced Digital Chips Inc., plans to market a generic "smart tag"' developed by University of Pittsburgh electrical engineer Marlin Mickle, who has said his "Product Emitting Numbering Identification" tags are smaller and cheaper to produce than other smart tags -- hence the acronym, "PENI" (pronounced "penny").

Mickle and Wexford, Pa.-based ADCUS said they want to help speed the implementation of the "smart tags''-- tiny radio transponders made of microchips and mini-antennas and known as RFID -- by making them cheap enough for smaller businesses to buy and use. "Companies would not have to pay to create these generic chips from scratch," Mick le said.

"Instead, they would just buy them as ready-made commodities. They could then customize these chips, or pay a programmer to customize them, to meet their own specific needs and those of customers." Mickle and other University of Pittsburgh researchers have patented a 2.2 millimeter-square chip with a tiny antenna etched onto its surface.

Mickle has said the tags -- which are passive, meaning they only bounce radio waves back to transmitters -- could cost between a nickel and a dime to make. Mickle said ADCUS could begin selling more advanced and active chips, which would broadcast all the time, within three years.

If successful ADCUS could cash in on growing interest in RFID technology, which could grow from a $1 billion industry last year to $3 billion in 2007, according to the Wireless Data Research Group. Retail giant Wal-Mart and the U.S. military have required their suppliers by next year to begin using the smart tags, which have been touted for their potential to speed up checkout lines, control inventory, cut costs and reduce theft.

Other retailers such as Albertson's, Best Buy and Target as well as drug makers such as Johnson & Johnson, Merck & Co. and Wyeth are also looking into the tags. Analysts have said the radio tags would have to cost no more than a nickel before they're used widely; last year the average price ranged from 57 cents for a passive tag to 91 cents for an active tag, according to the ARC Advisory Group, a research firm in Dedham, Mass.

A recent report by ARC predicted that the least expensive tags would fall to only 16 cents by 2008. But ADCUS is confident it can sell or license the RFID tags to businesses that may not be able to afford buying or developing the technology today, said Bill Choi, vice president of business development.

The tags are envisioned as brainier bar codes; they can hold much more information, can relay information faster and don't need to be passed under laser readers. The tags talk with scanners using radio waves and relay information stored on them. Advocates say the technology could result in consumers spending less time in line, because whole shopping carts could be "scanned" rather than one item at a time.

Items could spend less time in warehouses or on store shelves because retailers could quickly check and manage inventory. Privacy advocates worry the tags could be used to collect personal data and even track people's movements.

Posted October 7, 2004 ------------------------------  

Getting Chipped In Barcelona

Imagine having a glass capsule measuring 1.3mm by 1mm, about the size of a large grain of rice injected under your skin. Implanting microchips that emit a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) into animals has been common practice in many countries around the world, with some looking to make it a legal requirement for domestic pet owners.

The idea of having my very own microchip implanted in my body appealed. I have always been an early adopter, so why not. Last week I headed for the bright lights of the Catalan city of Barcelona to enter the exclusive VIP Baja Beach Club.

The night club offers its VIP clients the opportunity to have a syringe-injected microchip implanted in their upper arms that not only gives them special access to VIP lounges, but also acts as a debit account from which they can pay for drinks. This sort of thing is handy for a beach club where bikinis and board shorts are the uniform and carrying a wallet or purse is really not practical.

I met the owner of the club, Conrad Chase, who had come up with the idea when trying to develop the ultimate in membership cards and was the first person implanted with the capsule, made by VeriChip Corporation. With a waiver in his hand Conrad asked me to sign my life away, confirming that if I wanted the chip removed it was my responsibility.

Like a scene from a sci-fi movie, latex gloves and syringes were laid out on the table as the DJ played loud dance tunes that made my heart thump, or was it just fear? Questions were going through my mind.

Would it hurt? What are the risks? What if I want to get it out? I ordered another drink. Laia started by disinfecting my upper arm and then administered a local anaesthetic to numb the area where the chip would be implanted.

With the large needle in her hand, she tested the zone which made me flinch and led to another dose of the anaesthetic. With a numb arm, Laia held up the rather large needle containing the microchip and inserted it beneath the layer of skin and fat on my arm. She pressed the injector and it was in - my very own 10 digit number safely located in my body.

The chip is made of glass and is inert so there is no risk of it reacting with my body. It sits dormant under the skin sending out a very low range radio frequency so it will not set off airport security systems.

The chip responds to a signal when a scanner is held near it and supplies its own unique ID number. The number can then be link ed to a database that is linked to other data, at the Baja beach club it make charges to a customers account.

If I want to leave the club then I can have it surgically removed - a pretty simple procedure similar to having it put in. Now, the question of did it hurt. Having the chip inserted was a breeze, no real pain to report of.

Posted October 4, 2004 ------------------------------  

Fears of national ID with driver's licenses

The House Republican leadership's new bill to restructure the nation's intelligence bureaucracy would turn driver's licenses issued by the 50 states into a de facto national ID card, say privacy activists. The House bill, set for committee markups this week, is expected to be merged with a Senate version and voted on before the Nov. 2 election.

But among the little-known provisions of the "9/11 Recommendations Implementation Act" are new requirements for state driver's licenses that have very little to do with driving, say critics. According to the legislation, within three years of its enactment, no federal agency may accept for any official purpose a driver's license or identification card issued by a state that does not require applicants to provide Social Security number and "facial imaging capture."

Washington would also require all states to share digital data acquired in the process of licensing to other st ates. Privacy experts say that national standards that require states to add a fingerprint or other biometric data to driver's licenses might effectively create a national ID card.

Driver's licenses are not the only form of identification changing. Next year, both U.S. passports and foreign visitor passports will be issued with a special computer chip woven into the cover. The chip will include a photograph of the traveler, and face-recognition technology will be used to make sure the passport presenter is the same as the person who applied for the document.

That seems to be what the House bill is requiring for driver's licenses of the future, too. This change will be gradual in the United States. All new passports will include the chip by next year, but those holding valid passports won't be required to upgrade until their current ones expire.

On the other hand, citizens of countries in the U.S. visa waiver program, such as Britain and Spain, will have to arrive on U.S. sho res with a biometric chip in their passport beginning in October of next year.

Posted October 2, 2004 ------------------------------  

[Where are all those who emailed me laughing at this chip when I first revealed it a couple years ago? Not so funny now is it!...therev]

Fortress America' focuses on future of siege mentality

Imagine a chip implanted in your body that carries all your pertinent information as well as your current body temperature and, of course, your exact location. Sounds harmless when applied in commerce to track shipments or in the livestock industry to monitor animals.

But when the idea is broached of injecting the chip into political prisoners, as is rumored in China, or into convicted sex offenders, a proposal in this country, then the name of George Orwell quickly surfaces.

Matthew Brzezinski explores this high-tech surveillance technology and other new and often frightening frontiers in a post-9/11 USA in his riveting Fortress America. A siege mentality — a maximum security state similar to Israel — is emerging in the USA, he says.

The manufacture of such sophisticated hardware as the RFID — radio frequency identification — is easy, but moving it into place and solving delicate legal issues before another terrorist attack is the tricky part. "The technological and legal foundations for blanket surveillance had already been laid in 2003," Brzezinski writes.

"All that was lacking was the political and social will to bring all this technological wizardry to bear in the war on terror. It wouldn't happen overnight or without another catastrophic incident, something that upped the ante and put America in the same survival mode on par with Israel: a nuclear detonation, a biological outbreak, a mass casualty event.

But if the stakes were high enough, would we be more willing to accept life in a maximum security surveillance state?" As for RFID, the future is here. Brzezinski writes, "Special Ops forces reportedly had tiny chips injected in their hips on sensitive missions where they could not wear dog tags."

And as the 9/11 Commission reported, Brzezinski confirms that the USA is vulnerable to attacks on its under-protected chemical and natural gas depots. Readers are asked to contemplate the unthinkable. One doctor tells Brzezinski, "If I were al Qaeda I'd send twenty terrorist martyrs infected with smallpox or pneumonic plague to crisscross the country on as many domestic flights as possible."

Brzezinski writes that "75 million people could be infected" within a month's time from the suicide infectors. At the heart of Brzezinski's solid reporting and evenhanded summaries is this question: How much disruption will the American people tolerate as its government tries to find "the balance between security and liberty"?

Posted September 27, 2004 ------------------------------  

[And you wonder why Florida is being hit with devastation?...therev]

Theme park tracks all patrons

A new theme park in Florida is fitting all patrons with wristbands that include tracking chips in them to allow visitors to keep track of one another. Wannado City issues bands with radio frequency identification, or RFID, technology to all its patrons, according to a statement from the maker of the bands, Texas Instruments and RF Code. Located in the Fort Lauderdale, Fl