Implant ID chips called big advance

The VeriChip, the size of a grain of rice,
is inserted under the skin with a needle
in a procedure that takes less than 20
minutes.

Doctors implanted a radio ID tag under Sean Darks' skin that allows the executive to enter restricted areas of his Ohio security company.

Jack Schmidig, the police chief in Bergen County, N.J., has a similar chip that doctors can use to find his medical records in an emergency.

And in a somewhat renegade use of the technology, Washington state entrepreneur Amal Graafstra unlocks his home and car and logs on to his computer using a chip he bought online and had implanted near his thumb.

All three say putting radio-frequency identification chips under the skin can improve people's lives. An implant is like having a set of keys, or an ID card, that can't be lost, they say. Graafstra jokes that he could end up naked in the alley outside his house and still get inside using the electronic key embedded in his hand.

Liz McIntyre, co-author of “Spychips: How Major Corporations and Government Plan to Track Your Every Move with RFID,” said she isn't swayed by technical arguments that implanted chips are benign.

“There may be limits on what the technology can do today, but we don't know what the technology will be capable of tomorrow,” McIntyre said. “Yes, it's a step on that slippery slope. You wouldn't walk down the street with your Social Security number printed on your shirt. Why would you want an RFID chip capable of transmitting an identification number?”

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/computing/20060312-9999-1n12chip.html