All Eyes on Humans

All Eyes on Humans

As the complexity and convenience of technology increases, some of the

new advancements such as microchip implant for humans and animals can be very controversial. At first, the implants may seem to have benefits but in the long run they will actually cause more trouble than they are worth. These potential "troublemakers" are about the size of an elongated grain of rice and are injected in the skin under the arm or hand (Feder, Zeller 15). The chip is not powered by battery and there is nothing that can possibly leak out into the body (Posada-Swafford 8). An early form of this technology was used to monitor salmon and has been used for other wildlife research (Verhovek 5). The idea of the chips was started from the September 11 tragedy when the firefighters going into the Twin Towers were "IDing" themselves by writing information on their arm about their blood type, health conditions, and their identity with a permanent marker (Bentley 10). The VeriChip Corporation, which is owned by Applied Digital Solutions, saw this as an opportunity to market their product. As a result of their marketing ploys, Applied Digital claims that so far there have been about 1,000 human recipients of the chip.

The idea for human microchip implants was actually started from the microchips in pets and other animals. "Tracking devices have already been available to pet owners for nearly ten years"(Daugherty 2). They were designed to be more secure and to take the place of the old external tags (Feder, Zeller 15). Besides monitoring salmon, the chips were first used to keep track of livestock, but now they have migrated to use in domestic pets. Although there is still a seemingly low number (about 1.6 Million) of chipped pets in the United States, the number of pets being implanted is increasing regularly (Verhovek 5). According to pet experts, the return of domestic pets to their owners is at least four times as likely if the pet has a microchip and getting a pet chipped only costs somewhere between 15 and 60 dollars (Lubell 13). Maybe the low cost has something to do with the steady rise in pet implants. Another contributing factor to the rise in chips is that many animal shelters around the country have the chips put in the animals when they are adopted (Verhovek 5). For example, the entire city of Los Angeles, which has one of the highest numbers of stray pets in the nation, requires that all stray pets found must have the microchip put in their shoulder (Lubell 13). The first animal shelter in the United States to have all their adopted animals implanted with the chips was the Marin Humane Society in Northern California (Verhovek 5). Contrary to common belief, the tags in the pets are not tracking devices like the ones put in wildlife. Instead, they have a code that when scanned through a computer brings up information about the pet, including who the owners are. However, years ago the scanner used to read the chips in pets could not read the chip if it was made by a different company (Lubell 13). Now, universal scanners have been implemented that read all different brands of chips. The chips in pets are not only used here in the United States, but also in many other countries around the globe. For example, any pet traveling to Britain and France must have a microchip" (Lubell 13). Because of the rising familiarity of the chips in pets, the likelihood of having similar microchips in humans is becoming more of a reality.

Because of their wide range of uses and all the different types of implantable microchips for humans, there could be a different chip that could apply to almost anyone's needs. There are new chips being developed and some that already are available that can help aid the handicapped. A new microchip is on the market that is inserted into the cochlea that can help sharpen hearing and take the place of hearing aids (Hogan 1). In addition, developers have been working on a chip that could be able to connect to the central nervous system (Chaddock 14). This technology could assist people with paralysis or other types of nervous system problems. Other than assisting the handicapped, microchip implants could be of use in the workplace. Instead of the employees having to clock in manually, if they have had the implant, a sensor in the doorframe would recognize them register in a database that they were at work that day (Feder, Zeller 15). Also, if chips are developed with the ability to track its owner, it is possible that they could lower the amount of kidnappings or find an escaped fugitive. Could this compromise personal privacy? Last year there were over 2,000 kidnappings in Mexico where the person was held for ransom (Gaynor 3). Because of this, Rafael Macedo Mexico's attorney general had the chip implanted. He also had 160 of his employees have the implant. "The technology will give them (Mexico's crime-fighters) exclusive and secure access to a national computerized database for crime investigators" (Gaynor 3). However, the corrupt officers of Mexico's police force, if given any clearance to get into this new crime database, could possibly corrupt their entire justice system. Along those same lines, our government believes the best way to sniff out terrorists is to use some type of microchip implant (Bentley 10). Another type of use of the VeriChip is for medical purposes. So far, Applied Digital has been free to sell the VeriChip in the United States only for non-medical purposes (Feder, Zeller 15). There are many different ways that the microchip implants could be used medically. One way is a chip that has the ability to administer certain drugs or medications. "The developers have fabricated a polymer microchip that stores multiple drug doses and, when implanted in the body, could automatically release the medications at programmed intervals" (Goho 11). Researchers believe that these drug- releasing chips could solve the problem of when people forget to take their medicine (Goho 11). What happens when the drugs run out? Well, when they do, the chip does not have to be surgically removed because the biodegradable material would slowly dissolve (Goho 11). After the drugs run out, the patient would have to go back and have a new chip injected with fresh new medicines. Researchers say that the chip would last about two months inside the body. Another way to use the chips for a medical purpose is to store information about a patient. The chip would bring up the patient's blood type, medical history, current health records, and any conditions they may have. The chip itself does not hold the medical information, but rather it has a serial number that the doctor would scan into the computer and the

patient's medical records would be brought up ("Chip Implants...12").