Just a Grain of Rice

[dcseain]

VeriChip Wants To Test Human Implantable RFID On [US] Military. This information week article indicates that at least one company thinks we should treat military members like pets. I think this is a double plus ungood. What think you?

Thanks to lina.d for pointing this article out to me.

Comments

[selki.livejournal.com]

my impression is that implanted chips have a tiny, tiny range

I'm not sure about the implanted ones, but I know some RFID tags have been read at 30 feet (probably detailed in RISKS digest or on Bruce Schneier's blog at some point), despite claims by the manufacturers that their range was less than a foot.

[dr-tectonic.livejournal.com]

I wish we had those ones at work! (We've got them in our employee IDs for entering the building, and I have bonked my knee on a couple occasions doing the badge-reader door-unlocking dance.)

I think the conclusion I'm coming to is that medical-record implant chips aren't, in and of themselves, a terribly worrying idea. But they're related to things that can be worrying, so if someone (especially the military) is considering using them, privacy concerns need to be clearly respected and boundaries established early. And I don't think I can tell from the article in question whether that's the case or not.

[dcseain.livejournal.com]

I miss card readers. My current employer uses cypher locks.

I also have reached the conclusion you state. I definitely do not think this tech is inherently a bad thing. I do think that if it's not very well implemented, that it could cause problems, but that's realyl a data security issue. Seeing as i've gotten 2 new debit cards from my bank due to the Visa/MC DB breaches last year, data security uber alles, as well as appropriate, and respeceted, limits and boundaries on the use of the tech and data.