Dangerous Threat to Privacy from RFID Chips.

Recently, the news has been full of stories about the RFID tracking chip. However I was surprised by a recent article in the New York Times. It seems that the application of this kind of technology is now speeding up. China announced that the 12.5 million citizens of the city of Shenzen, will be issued government ID cards which will contain an RFID chip. Data on the chip will include the citizen’s name and address, employment history,schooling, religious affiliation, ethnicity, police records, medical information and the landlord’s phone number. It will also carry information about the number of children in the family. Without this ID card the citizen will be unable to live in Shenzen. In order to live there though ones privacy must be forfeited. Is it worthwhile to sacrifice your privacy for considerations like economics, security or public assembly control?

There are additional studies underway to increase the value of the chip by adding in credit history information and also by programming in the ability of the card holder to make small purchases such as subway fares etc. Along with these new ID cards the government is installing 20,000 street cameras for crime deterrence. These cameras will augment and sometimes work in tandem with the nearly 200,000 private company owned cameras that already exist there. The argument is that this security infrastructure is for crime deterrence, but many civil libertarians are speculating that it is the communist governments’ way of controlling political activity and thought. Privacy appears to be on the way out.

Where did this technology come from and where is it going? Apparently, the development of the RFID (radio frequency identifier) chip is based on research that’s an offshoot of radio broadcast and radar technology. The first research breakthroughs appear to have occurred in the late 1940’s. Research continued through the 1970’s. The technology was seriously tested in the 1980’s. Commercial development and usage came into the market place soon after the testing and was developed on through the 90’s. As the technology developed, so did the need for industry standards. By the year 2000, the RFID tag was becoming common and today it’s become quite a familiar and useful business tool used to track inventories. These tags are usually foil based and embedded into the first layer of the packaging on various items. Sometimes they appear to be simple printed sticker labels pasted onto an item or onto the package. These “spy chips” have also been adapted for certain marketing purposes so that companies can determine a unique consumers purchasing habits. Such expanded consumer targeted usage does in fact threaten our privacy. Adaptations of this sort of label are embedded into bracelets, pendants and watches too. There is of course the obvious usage of these tags in hospitals and other institutions for dealing with those whose judgments are impaired by age, immaturity or illness. None the less these simple chips are considered intrusive, but they probably are not yet a fatal threat to privacy.

It is the parallel development of sub dermal chips used to mark animals and humans that concerns civil libertarians the most. These chips can be injected directly into the body of an animal or a human. They are not easily removable, and they may even possibly migrate from the original insertion point due to muscle movement. Such RFID tags are already being used in several european night clubs to identify regular patrons, who have an account with the bar and the kitchen. By allowing these chips to be inserted, the patron can than pass through any check point or barrier in the club. The exclusivity appeals to the clubbers. Certainly it appears that the use of such ID chips will expand beyond our present level of comfort as time goes on.

There are many good reasons for RFID tags to be adapted for use on livestock and human beings. Digital Angel Corporation, a subsidiary of Applied Digital Solutions, first tested their chips in 2001. They were embedded in watches and pagers and given to volunteers for testing the readers. These devices were to be used for medical
emergencies and monitoring other activities as well. Apparently they succeeded in their trials because Digital Angel Corporation which has been selling a lot of sub dermal chips for pets world wide, is now producing similar chips for children and certain individuals with perilous medical conditions. While Digital Angel used sub dermal chips for the animals, for the human clients, they have so far chosen to use an adapted chip embedded into a pendent or a bracelet that could than be worn. Recently Digital Angel has entered into the asset location business. Their newest RFID chip has GPS capabilities, which works with satellite technology to help locate downed planes and lost soldiers. Recent sales to Oman, Sweden and the UK, indicate a strong international interest in such devices. These most recent devices are too bulky to be injected directly into a human, but with continuing developments in nanotechnology, I’m sure that a miniaturized version of their chip will soon be available. Just think your whereabouts will always be known to whoever is reading the information from the “reader”.

Another company, the Hitachi Corporation created useful super small RFID chips. The chips measure just 0.05 millimeter by 0.05 millimeter. This chip is nicknamed the powder chip and is expected to be available in 2009. Each of these tiny chips transmit a 38 digit ID number when stimulated by a reader. Because of the minute
dimensions of this particular chip, it would be possible to “mark” someone surreptitiously. Therefore, all privacy is lost. It is the recent accelerated pace of this technology development that concerns me. Why is there such a push to remove our anonymity? Who is behind this? In many cases it looks like the technology has caught the eyes of the military establishment. Of course it makes perfect sense because by having this technology available, makes it all about control and access. The existence of a device to both control the movements of individuals and prevent hostile incursions into certain high security areas has many implications for both the military and also for civil libertarians.

One company, CityWatcher.com is a government contractor that sells surveillance equipment to municipalities. Last year, they implanted two employees with RFIDs, which are microchips that are toothpick-thin and as long as two grains of rice. These chips provided access to certain secure areas and the company stated that these employees were volunteers and that it was all about security. Of course now that this technology is unleashed, the future chances for exploitation and abuse have most certainly increased. Verichip, a sister company to Digital Angel, and also owned by Applied Digital Solutions, is injecting chips into alzheimer patients in
Florida. Certainly, controlling the movements of the medically disabled seems to be a noble use for these new chips. Applied Digital Solutions owns both of these companies. They both produce a very similar product, so why are there two companies? And where will the line finally be drawn? Or will the line ever be drawn?

In the first paragraph of this article I refer to Shenzen, China. Their approach to civil population control is to use ID cards with chips. No, they are not yet injecting these chips, but won’t that happen soon enough? People will lose their cards, they will be stolen, the cards will be sold, they could be copied in some way. Arguably these problems may occur enough so that the next step will be similar to Digital Angels “mark of the beast” rfid chip, whereby people are permanently tagged like livestock.

An innovative new company, called Somark Innovations, has produced a rfid mark that can be applied directly to the skin like a tattoo. The mark can be “read” from a fair distance because it was created with frightened and milling animals in mind. Domestic animals behave in a somewhat erratic manner in their pens. They are not
cooperative candidates for someone trying to “scan them”. This new mark by Somark seems to address that problem. Such a permanent tattoo would make civil rights demonstrations and other politcal actions, dangerous for those who were so marked since the tag could be read from a distance. Is there a hidden agenda in all of this?

I wonder.

One last item that just came across my desk. Verichip has changed the name of it’s health care tracking products. Verichip is now called Xmark. Hmm.... is that like we say Xmas instead of Christmas? I mean what is that all about? I noticed that the small icon that now appears by the web links to many sites, appears in Xmarks case to be a christian cross. If you access the link let me know what you think. It appears to be an attempt to divert concerns about this technology away from the Biblical references to the “Mark of the Beast” in the New Testament chapter called Revelation.


We are living in perilous times my friends, indeed perilous times. I know most of us value our privacy and are concerned about the continuing erosion of this right. I will continue to report on these matters as new information reaches me. Thank You.