Posted on 06/30/2009 6:49:24 AM PDT by BGHater
It works for Fido, so why not you?
The same RFID implants used to identify lost pets are now being adapted for use on you and me, and not how one might have originally expected. As with all pioneering technologies, it's leisure pursuits that are getting the first stab at the tech.
Specifically: One beach-oriented Barcelona nightclub, the Baja Beach Club, is using the implants to free customers of the burdens of having to carry their purses or wallets. Makes sense: When you're spending the day in a bikini and flip-flops, where do you keep your ID? Instead, the bouncer just scans your arm with an RFID reader, and you're in. And since you can't carry a credit card or cash either, the implants do double duty: You can pay for drinks with a quick scan of the chip. Chipped patrons also gain access to VIP areas of the club.
The implant procedure is simple and mostly painless (except for all the legal paperwork required): The area where the chip is injected is thoroughly numbed, then the glass capsule is injected beneath a layer of skin and fat on the arm.
It's an interesting experiment, and I'm intrigued to see whether the idea will catch on. The catch, of course, becomes what will happen if a lot of clubs in one area decide to do this. One RFID chip under the skin is probably an interesting conversation piece. A dozen in one arm might make you walk funny. Obviously the one-chip-per-establishment system isn't really sustainable in the long run.
Could someone come along and develop a broad human RFID chip standard? Such plans have been being talked about for years, but nothing much has ever come of it.
(Excerpt) Read more at tech.yahoo.com ...
Ping to watch the "Mark of the Beast" folks come out...
Coming to a government mandate near you.
You can accomplish the same thing with a waterproof bracelet containing the chip.
Great now they can charge your credit card with a microchip under your skin. Someone will try to pay with someone’s sawed-off arm. Identity theft!
Bracelets are too easily lost, stolen, etc. ID and cash cards are getting smaller and smaller but our ability to track tiny things remains the same. Something like this will eventually be microdot sized.. I’ll look back into it 15 years or so.
I don’t like government intervention in much, but it would really be nice not to have to deal with any id’s and other cards. Can you imagine how easy it would be to update a driver’s linsence? This could be a great idea if it worked right which of course is the question.
I’m not generally the “mark of the beast” type, but I had a “mark of the beast” gut reaction to this story. Yikes.
You could do the same with a swipe of a thumb, just as is used for security on some laptops. RFID implants are overkill for this application. You should always use the right technology for the job.
Now, RFID can be checked from a distance and that CAN be a good use for it. But allowing an implant means you can’t choose to NOT be identified — even while walking down the street well away from this nightclub.
Driver licenses that can be pinged at a distance would be a potential solution to illegal aliens. Scan every vehicle as it passes a street corner, check the validity of the license, and alert a squad car to pull over the vehicle if the RFID check fails. The computer system replying to the RFID query can easily determine if the RFID is valid and has not been cloned; just based on checking the distance to the last place and time the RFID got pinged. Make it tough for illegals to hold a job.
Same thing with vehicle registration — verify at a distance that its fees are current, it’s insured, parking tickets are paid up, it hasn’t been reported stolen, etc.
At the same time, the RFID should have no information other than the unique number to check against a database. There have been plans for ID’s that embed a bunch of information on the card itself, which is just stupid. Information belongs in a database, not on an RFID card that can be snooped.
Maybe he needs a hand.
I see. I’ll keep and eye out for that.
I got my eye on you!
“RFID can be checked from a distance...”
I use to be an Inventory Manager & researched RFID tagging for equipment at the university where I worked. There are two kinds, active & passive. Active could be scanned at a distance (the tag itself sends out a signal), but passive you have to be up close to it (the scanner provides the power for reading). The problem with Active RFID is that it needs a power source, a battery. Batteries would have to be replaced every 2 years or so. I think they’re talking about passive RFID here. I don’t think anyone wants to have to have that tag dug out & then replaced every couple of years! So no worries about being ‘read’ by scanners in the vicinity.
“Now, RFID can be checked from a distance and that CAN be a good use for it. But allowing an implant means you can’t choose to NOT be identified — even while walking down the street well away from this nightclub.”
Just think what it could do for national security. For example, scan everybody at a Tea Party and note them for further “investigation”.
I wonder what they could do with this in Tehran right now if they had it.
I’m not sure what the technology is called, but there is a “security ID badge” that contains a non-powered device that can be pinged from at least 6 feet away by the door you are approaching. The door automatically unlocks or not after checking the security system — while you are still walking toward it.
I also recall seeing an example of how proposed credit cards with embedded RFID were actually snooped while they were still in a guy’s wallet in his pants, but I think that might have been within inches so it could be inductively powered as you say.
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