From:

<http://observer.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,1734263,00.htm>

***BEGIN ARTICLE 1***

How we'll keep tags on the old folk 

Cristina Odone
Sunday March 19, 2006
The Observer 


Your widowed father is elderly. He is past the Saga cruise holidays and
slow-motion games of golf and is often confused. You don't live around
the corner and it's a worry. If he should slip, break his hip and be
taken to hospital, will he be able to tell them his medical history or
remember his GP's name?
You've considered all kinds of scenarios, from a live-in nurse (too
expensive) to moving him in with you (he refuses to be uprooted). Now,
another option is at hand - a patient-data chip implant. Tiny as a
tablet, less expensive than dinner out for the family and no more
uncomfortable than a blood-pressure test, the new chip is taking root in
America.

Eighty hospitals across the north-east of the US already have the
capacity to read the chip implants and, by the end of the year, VeriChip
Corporation, the manufacturer, hopes that this will have risen to 200. A
VeriChip spokesman tells me it is keen to export its 'lifesaver' abroad.
As investments go, it is affordable even by NHS standards: the hospital
needs only a hand-held scanner (£340) and dedicated laptop to be able to
read all your medical data, including allergies, your agreement to be an
organ donor and the contents of your living will.

I asked Roxanne Fischer, who lives in Washington DC and persuaded her
mother to have a chip implanted, whether she felt her peace of mind had
come at a price. 'Have you ever waited for eight hours in an emergency
room?' she counters. 'No one has the time to ask questions about medical
history then. You're protecting your mom from that.' Better a live
mother than an independent one.

Fischer didn't need to coerce her parent into going through with the
procedure - her doctor recommended it - but what about those concerned
children whose parents have Alzheimer's or are very confused? Can you
bully parents into being tagged for your benefit?

And what follows? Once you've sorted the elderly, you could move on to
troublesome teenagers and their behaviour. Same technique, different
application. Anxious parents could have chips implanted to help
authorities as well as hospitals identify their children and -why not? -
their drug use or sexual history. Yes, there is a risk that data could
become more widely accessible, but if it means you will know when your
loved ones are in trouble, what does it matter that a host of others
will, too?

VeriChip is cashing in on our desperate yearning for a sense of
security. Whether it is fear of terrorist attack or fear of a medical
emergency, if the company plays on our anxiety, we are putty in its
hands. We will put up with the Orwellian in order to fabricate the
Disneyland, where only pastel-coloured certainties apply.

[...]

***END ARTICLE 1***


From:

<http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,1391545,00.html>:

***BEGIN ARTICLE 2***

This chip makes sure you always buy your round 

Lorna Martin
Sunday January 16, 2005
The Observer 

The old excuse 'I've left my wallet at home' will soon no longer hold
when it's your round. A nightclub is about to offer its regulars the
option of having a microchip implanted in their arm that will obviate
the need to carry cash or plastic.

Queuing for entry or a drink at the bar would also become a thing of the
past when the 'digital wallet' is introduced by Bar Soba in Glasgow. The
chip is already proving popular with VIP members at two nightclubs in
Barcelona and Rotterdam. 

While the concept strikes critics as Orwellian, others believe that, as
we stride ever-closer towards a cashless society, it is only a matter of
time before the chip becomes a method of fraud-proof common currency. 

Brad Stevens, owner of Bar Soba, said his motivation for introducing the
technology was to be cutting-edge and to reward loyal customers. He said
he had received a surprisingly enthusiastic response from regulars. 

'There are a number of advantages from instant access to one of our many
exclusive DJ and VIP nights and not having to carry money or credit
cards to letting bar staff know a customer's name and favourite drink.
By the time you walk through the door to the bar, your favourite drink
is waiting for you and the bar staff can greet you by name.' 

However, he also recognised the risks. 'There is a danger that, if a
person's not carrying cash, they could just keep on drinking. But we're
looking at ways of setting a limit on how much can be spent.' 

The VeriChip is the size of a grain of rice, does not set off airport
scanners and contains no power supply. It is encased inside a glass and
silicone cylinder and implanted by a medical professional, under local
anaesthetic, between the layer of fat and skin on the upper arm. 

The chip, which has a life span of about 20 years, lies dormant until a
scanner is passed over it, sending out a low-range radio frequency. It
responds to the signal and supplies the scanner with its unique ID
number. How that number is used depends on the database the scanner is
hooked up to. In the case of Soba, it will be the balance on a person's
bar account. 

Steve van Soest is one of more than 100 people who have been 'chipped'
at Baja Beach Club in Barcelona since it became the first to offer the
procedure in March. 

'The main benefit is that you can go out without having to carry a
wallet, which can get easily lost in a nightclub,' he said. 

He said he had no reservations about having the chip implanted, adding
that he can only feel it when he stretches his arm. 

'It would be great if this catches on and you could put all your
personal details and medical records on it. If I was involved in an
accident, doctors could simply scan me and find out my blood group and
any allergies.' 

The chip is similar to more than 25 million already embedded in animals
across the world acting as 'pet passports'. Before being used in humans,
it has undergone stringent tests and doctors say it is extremely safe. 

But critics regard this technology as a growing threat, giving
potentially dangerous new power to businesses and government. A recent
report by the American Civil Liberties Union said: 'Scarcely a month
goes by in which we don't read about some new high-tech way to invade
people's privacy, from face recognition to implantable microchips, DNA
chips, and even brain wave fingerprinting.' 

***END ARTICLE 2***

-- 
banana     "The thing I hate about you, Rowntree, is the way you
            give Coca-Cola to your scum, and your best teddy-bear to
            Oxfam, and expect us to lick your frigid fingers for the
            rest of your frigid life." (Mick Travis, 'If...', 1968)