Brian Deller pointed me at this:<\/p>\n
FDA approves computer chip for humans<\/p>\n
Devices could help doctors with stored medical information
\n The VeriChip, the size of a grain of rice, is inserted under the skin with a
\n needle in a procedure that takes less than 20 minutes.<\/p>\nThe Associated Press<\/p>\n
Updated: 1:55 p.m. ET Oct. 13, 2004<\/p>\n
WASHINGTON –<\/p>\n
The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday approved an implantable
\n computer chip that can pass a patient\u2019s medical details to doctors, speeding
\n care.<\/p>\nVeriChips, radio frequency microchips the size of a grain of rice, have
\n already been used to identify wayward pets and livestock. And nearly 200
\n people working in Mexico\u2019s attorney general\u2019s office have been implanted
\n with chips to access secure areas containing sensitive documents.<\/p>\nDelray Beach, Fla.-based Applied Digital Solutions in July asked the FDA for
\n approval to use the implantable chip for medical uses in the United States.
\n The agency had 60 days to reply to the \u201cde novo\u201d application.<\/p>\nIt\u2019s the first time the FDA has approved the use of the device, though in
\n Mexico, more than 1,000 scannable chips have been implanted in patients. The
\n chip\u2019s serial number pulls up the patients\u2019 blood type and other medical
\n information.<\/p>\nWith the pinch of a syringe, the microchip is inserted under the skin in a
\n procedure that takes less than 20 minutes and leaves no stitches.<\/p>\nSilently and invisibly, the dormant chip stores a code \u2014 similar to the
\n identifying UPC code on products sold in retail stores \u2014 that releases
\n patient-specific information when a scanner passes over the chip.<\/p>\nAt the doctor\u2019s office those codes stamped onto chips, once scanned, would
\n reveal such information as a patient\u2019s allergies and prior treatments.<\/p>\nThe FDA in October 2002 said that the agency would regulate health care
\n applications possible through VeriChip. Meanwhile, the chip has been used
\n for a number of security-related tasks as well as for pure whimsy: Club
\n hoppers in Barcelona, Spain, now use the microchip much like a smartcard to
\n speed drink orders and payment.<\/p><\/blockquote>\nPart of me is like, sweet, I’ll never have to remember all kinds of information again. I won’t have to carry credit cards, or IDs, or wallets ever again. But, the other, more realistic, part of me realizes that the draconian implications of this are terrifying. If these ever become mandatory, or people become too apathetic about this, the ability to maintain any kind of anonymity or privacy is pretty much out the window. The fact that people are installing these things whimsically is both frightening and heartening. If this becomes very accessible and common place, the technology will become easily hackable and people will be able to decide for themselves the functionality of these devices – taking advantage of some of the convenience maybe while protecting some shred of privacy. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Brian Deller pointed me at this: FDA approves computer chip for humans Devices could help doctors with stored medical information The VeriChip, the size of a grain of rice, is inserted under the skin with a needle in a procedure that takes less than 20 minutes. The Associated Press Updated: 1:55 p.m. ET Oct. 13,… Continue reading chipping humans<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-627","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4wnIz-a7","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blogs.terrorware.com\/geoff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/627","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blogs.terrorware.com\/geoff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blogs.terrorware.com\/geoff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.terrorware.com\/geoff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.terrorware.com\/geoff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=627"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.terrorware.com\/geoff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/627\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blogs.terrorware.com\/geoff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=627"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.terrorware.com\/geoff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=627"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.terrorware.com\/geoff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=627"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}