Friday, September 10, 2004
Don't let them get under your skin!
One of the more insidious developments of the technological age is the Radio Frequency Identification Tag (RFID). You'll be hearing a lot about this one. Basically, it's a tiny chip that can be attached to a product on the supermarket shelf - or under your skin - allowing sensors to track every movement. (Shades of 666!)
But when it comes to radio frequency identification tags for humans, the people have spoken. They hate it.
Advocates say the tags could help paramedics deliver medical help to people in the field, reduce prison violence or give police a way to track victims of kidnapping, a major problem in Latin America.
Nearly every reader who wrote News.com about the story expressed outrage and disdain.
"I couldn't help but notice that one of the most effective uses for the RFID tags on humans was in a prison setting--which is exactly what society in general would become, if this particular technology were mandated somehow," Harold Davis of Syracuse, N.Y., wrote. More at CNET News.
One of the more insidious developments of the technological age is the Radio Frequency Identification Tag (RFID). You'll be hearing a lot about this one. Basically, it's a tiny chip that can be attached to a product on the supermarket shelf - or under your skin - allowing sensors to track every movement. (Shades of 666!)
But when it comes to radio frequency identification tags for humans, the people have spoken. They hate it.
Advocates say the tags could help paramedics deliver medical help to people in the field, reduce prison violence or give police a way to track victims of kidnapping, a major problem in Latin America.
Nearly every reader who wrote News.com about the story expressed outrage and disdain.
"I couldn't help but notice that one of the most effective uses for the RFID tags on humans was in a prison setting--which is exactly what society in general would become, if this particular technology were mandated somehow," Harold Davis of Syracuse, N.Y., wrote. More at CNET News.
