The Digital Angel Implant (From a SSPX Catholic POV)

Catholic Family News ^ | August 2001 | John Vennari

[Aliska]

The Digital Angel Implant Beware of Geeks Bearing Gifts

by John Vennari, editor of Catholic Family News On October 30, 2000, Applied Digital Solutions Inc., [ADS] successfully unveiled in New York a prototype of the Digital Angel; a microchip designed to be implanted under the skin, capable of tracking the location and vital signs of humans anywhere on the globe.

During the invitation-only demonstration, the temperature of a man about 50 miles from Manhattan was monitored before a large crowd of analysts, journalists and potential investors.

On June 8, 2001, ADS announced that it has begun its first production run of Digital Angel devices.

Delivery and beta testing was scheduled to commence around July 15, and planned to enlist the support of a limited number of pre-registered subscribers in other "key vertical markets."

This test group will have access to Digital Angel technology for a full 90 days ahead of the general population and will provide input from real-life situations and experiences. General delivery for Digital Angel is scheduled for October 2001.

Digital Angel bills itself as "the first-ever combination of advanced bio-sensor technology and web-enabled wireless telecommunications linked to Global Positioning Systems." [G.P.S.- military satellites positioned around the globe.]

In May 2000, former president Clinton ordered the military to stop scrambling the satellite signals civilian G.P.S. products used. Now consumer G .P.S. devices are as accurate as the military units, with the ability to locate positions within 1 to 3 meters.

Along with pinpointing a person's location, Digital Angel utilizes advanced bio-sensor capabilities. This enables it to monitor key bodily functions-----such as temperature and pulse----- and transmit that data, along with accurate location information, to a ground station or monitoring facility.

According to Business Week, Digital Angel is expected to tap into an addressable North American marketplace estimated to exceed 70 billion.

US soldiers were also thought of as a potential client.

The device was originally touted as a dime-size device to be implanted inside of humans between the muscle and the skin on the forearm. Various writers, both Catholic and Protestant, observed that the implant bears a disconcerting resemblance to the "mark" predicted in Apocalypse 13:16-18: "And he [Antichrist] shall make all, both little and great, rich and poor, freemen and bondmen, to have a character in their right hand, or on their foreheads. And that no man might buy or sell, but he that hath the character or the name of the beast, or the number of his name."

The American Family Association, a Protestant group, recently denounced the invention as the biblical "mark of the beast." One report said this negative "right-wing" reaction was probably responsible for a plummet in ADS share price. As of July 1, its shares, traded on NASDAQ, had fallen from a high of $5.00 to just 50 cents.

For the moment, the company is playing down the human-implant side of its technology. Instead, ADS plans to release the chip inside of a wristwatch in October of this year. The package also comes with a device like a beeper which clips to the belt and holds the technology linked to the G.P.S. Each device will cost $300.00 plus a monthly fee which is based upon the level of service.

If this is successful, according to the London Independent, the company intends to start implanting them inside humans next year.

Because Digital Angel monitors a person's whereabouts and vital statistics, it is marketed as something that could be implanted into children so that parents would know where they are, to heart-patients, and to those who suffer from Alzheimers Disease. In fact, the chip can send an automatic 911 alert if the vital signs become alarming.

Employing cutting-edge G .P.S. technology , the device relays information over the Internet so that "authorized users" [or anyone clever enough to gain access] can monitor a person's location and physical health. The information can be viewed on a PC or laptop computer.

One writer noted, "the angel pinpoints your whereabouts so that you could even be found in a cave in South America."

There is also talk of placing the device inside items such as valuable paintings and expensive racehorses to transmit their whereabouts if stolen.

Christina Wood, writing in the June 26 PC Magazine had her druthers about the futuristic technology.

"Call me a cynic," she said, "but I can't help wonder: If I can track my child and my stuff, what's to stop someone else from tracking me? At the moment, very little. And that's the rub. The Wireless Communications and Public Safety Act of 1999 applies here and requires 'express prior authorization' before any data can be collected about you, but there are no clear rules governing the act's enforcement."

She continued, "Even if you put aside your various fears, such as hostile government agencies, stalkers, mob hit men, jealous spouses, and other paranoid delusions, it still seems likely that some aggressive merchants would pay dearly to know that you drive past their stores every day."

The Center for Technology and Democracy [and other civil-rights groups] has petitioned the FCC to implement regulations governing "location information" practices, but in the meantime, "what happens to the juicy knowledge about your activities is up to the company that sold you the service."

In fact, James X. Dempsey from the Center for Democracy and Technology lamented "there are no laws on the books" regarding a standard for government access to location information and that "we need to have some clear-cut privacy rules."

Laws protecting an individual's privacy, however, will only be honored in a country fortunate enough to have a law-abiding government.

At present, the implant chip is powered by a special battery. In the near future ADS hopes to perfect technology wherein the chip will run off body heat.

Peter Zhou, the chief scientist for development of the implant, tries to disparage the chip's Apocalyptic semblance. "There are different interpretations of the Bible. Anything to improve the quality of life is from God." So goes his shallow reassurances.

He also claims that wearing the device is optional. It is not unthinkable, however, that it can become compulsory. For starters, what's to stop powerful Insurance Companies from forcing the implantation of the device into the elderly or chronically ill as requirement for medical coverage?

What will prevent these companies from coercing parents to implant the chip into their sons and daughters as a prerequisite for the children to be included in family medical policies?

Zhou also said "This is not a tracking device, this is not 'big brother,' and it is only used as a monitoring device."

PC Magazine noted, however, that tracking is exactly what these devices will do. Speaking of another wristwatch/G.P.S. gadget called "Wherify" the magazine said that these new chips "will be able to tell you where your kid, notebook, or shipment has been. For example, you can have Wherify follow your daughter's movements after school to be assured she's on track."

"Will Big Brother one day monitor your every move?" asks Business Week magazine. It then alleges "we are a long way from that point." Nonetheless, it admits, "for the first time it is starting to become technologically and economically feasible to track people down at all hours."

Sent to us by Gary Morella and reprinted from the August Issue of Catholic Family News. Complied from "Big Brother Calling," Business Week, Sept. 25, 2000; "Futuristic Digital Angel Chip Can Track People Via Satellite," The Atlanta Journal and Constitution, Oct. 31, 2000; "Digital Angel Watches over New Product Launch," Long Island : Business News, May 25, 2001; "Digital Angel Commences First Production Run," Business Wire June 8, 2001; "Digital Angel," Fortune, June 25, 2001; "Track it Down," PC Magazine, June 26, 2001; "Digital Angel Implant Technology Designed to Thwart the Evil Spirits," London Independent, July 1, 2001.

[Aliska]

Recent related thread that ties in Baja Beach Club, Barcelona, Trial Run, March 2004

Catholics don't seem to want to look at this. While they engage in sparring over the liturgy and troublesome clergy and laity, this new technology is bearing down on us which will alter the way business is conducted. What is Rome likely to say about this, if anything? Will they dismiss it as fundie false prophecy not relevant to our times?

I don't know if any mainstream catholics in union with Rome deal with the subject. Father Vincent Miceli, S.J., in his book, "The Antichrist" touches on it somewhat in comments regarding worldwide electronic banking, etc. He died before the latest devices were invented and patented. Was he a priest in union with Rome? I can't think of any other catholic writers addressing this.

[Aliska]

ping

[sinkspur]

With all due respect, Aliska, this is tinfoil, kookville stuff.

It's no surprise that the conspiratorial ultra-trads buy into this bizzarino nonsense.

There is no "digital angel."

[Canticle_of_Deborah]

My brother just bought a new car with On Star tracking. He said if you lock the keys in the car you can call a number and the company unlocks it via remote. Lots of convenient little features but too creepy for me. I would not give up privacy for a little extra security.

I wouldn't sign up for GPS tracking services, but what if the car comes with it and others can activate it if they so choose?

There is no way I would submit to digital implants in my body. The problem is, the way healthcare, businesses, etc are headed, a person might not be able to function in society without it. I don't know how many people will resist vs. how many will submit.

My personal plan is to become as self-sufficent as possible.

I don't know why Catholics don't focus on Apocalypse as much as Protestants. Some with a Protestant background like Gerry Matatics and Robert Sungenis do, but when I was growing up (post VII), I was simply told that only God knows the end of time and we should behave as though each day is our last.

I'm looking for more traditional material on the subject but haven't found anything yet.

[Canticle_of_Deborah]

sink, this isn't an ultra right wing paranoia. These companies are putting the chips in animals, and marketing it for soldiers, the elderly and children. This is a real problem on the horizon. Religion has nothing to do with it.

[gbcdoj]

I'm looking for more traditional material on the subject but haven't found anything yet.

Trial, Tribulation & Triumph: Before, During, and After Antichrist

[Aliska]

There is no "digital angel."

Google on applied digital solutions digital angel applied digital solutions veripay applied digital solutions amex and tell me all those pages are hoaxes.

Google on Jacobs digital angel and it will take you to a Miami Herald Article.

I'm getting too many pages not found tonight or I would post some links myself.

From the Miama Herald cached copy, March 10, 2002:

"The $200 microchip can be encoded with information such as a person's name and Social Security number and a list of medical allergies, then injected under the skin. Emergency room workers would then use scanners to read the chip."

I believe the Jacobs family has now been implanted with the medical version of the chip.

[Aliska]

They run commercials for On Star all during the day on my local radio station. It is probably only installed and operative for expensive cars, but it is here now.

The problem is, the way healthcare, businesses, etc are headed, a person might not be able to function in society without it

I know. Insurance companies may require it to the extent that people who opt against the medical version will be up a creek.

That Baja Beach Club scenario I thought might be tinfoil, but they have a website, unless it is a hoax, that tells how it has already been done to "buy and sell". Just an exclusive club for now, but that is the first time I ever heard it being experimented with for actual purchasing goods.

The one problem I have with it is I can see how it could become compulsory in some countries, but the logistics of implementing it world wide on a compulsory basis kind of stretches things, for now at least.

No, debit card is as far as I plan to go with this. I don't want myself or my family to use any injected chip for buying and selling, or rather not for medical purposes or getting lost, even if it might not be what some people think it is.

Now technically, there are already pacemakers, etc., which are installed in the body, but that is a different animal imo.

[Aliska]

Do they talk about chipping in the book? I doubt it. Most catholic end-time prophecy revolves around Mary and the era of peace, etc. I've studied some of it.

[Revenge of Sith]

Catholic Family News is Feeneyite. They're not SSPX.

[sinkspur]

Sorry, Deborah, but this "digital implant" stuff is foolishness.

I have digital implants in my three dogs so I can locate them if they get lost.

Nobody's implanting chips in human beings.

[Aliska]

They're not SSPX

Sorry, I thought they were SSPX. They don't announce what they are on the paper I get in the mail where I could tell anyway. I guess they finally gave up on getting a subscription out of me, but I used to get them in the mail.

[Canticle_of_Deborah]

I'll give you the medical perspective. I am a RN and I have worked ER. A friend of mine who I used to work with recently told me how everything is completely electronic now, no books, paper charts, etc. The entire hospital environment is computerized.

Some years back one of the nurses was talking about a system where a patient's thumbprint could be scanned and the patient's entire history could be brought up on a central computer from any hospital. From a ER standpoint this is great when an anonymous, non-responsive patient comes in. From a patient standpoint this is a confidentiality nightmare.

Our docs used to talk about all the new technologies which pose a threat to patient confidentiality. The threat is very real.

[the gillman@blacklagoon.com]

...Laws protecting an individual's privacy, however, will only be honored in a country fortunate enough to have a law-abiding government...

Name one.

[dsc]

"Our docs used to talk about all the new technologies which pose a threat to patient confidentiality."

I really don't get why I should care about patient confidentiality.

[Desdemona]

I'm putting my George Orwell books in the safe deposit box. Oops. Everything in there has to be listed in the bank's computer. Nevermind. I'll have to find another safe place for them.

It was bound to happen sooner or later and someday might actually be mandatory. In the meantime, I use plastic to protect myself in case of being accused of a crime. If that aspect wasn't there (and the convenience of pay at the pump), I'd be paying cash. Be wary, but don't let paranoia about it all rule your life.

[ksen]

Nobody's implanting chips in human beings.

That means it'll never happen? Do you think that no person has ever been chipped?

[netmilsmom]

To be quite honest with you, if they allowed me to chip my girls or an elderly parent, I would do it in a heartbeat. Especially my children. If the girls would like to have it removed at 18, that is their business. I just can't imagine the heartbreak of a lost child.

[Canticle_of_Deborah]

Patient confidentiality is privacy. Your health problems are between you and your doctor, no one else. Insurance companies should be on a need to know basis.

Within the hospital setting, confidentiality is breached mostly through carelessness. This might result in nothing more than gossip which spreads outside the hospital setting. Beyond that the issue is much more serious. If the government, insurance companies, pharmaceutical companies, etc can access your records, all the information can be used against you. The government, particularly one moving towards socialism, does not need to know any of your personal business. No good can come from it.

[asformeandformyhouse]

I was simply told that only God knows the end of time and we should behave as though each day is our last.

That's the best advice I could give.

I'm looking for more traditional material on the subject but haven't found anything yet.

Most of what you will find is modern false teaching. Try reading "Worthy is the Lamb" by R. Summers for an explanation of what the book of Revelation meant to first century christians.