Skin Deep Storage

The process sounds simple but how safe is it? At least when your personal details are stored in your head, there is little chance of them being revealed, except through brute force or on a drunken night out. Although more than one chip can respond to the same frequency, the information stored on each one is unique, as are the codes required by an individual reader. Someone would have to guess a password to break into a system, the same chance you run if a password is stored in your head.

Although they sound safe enough, it still begs the question of how useful these chips really are. The potential of this technology, however, stretches beyond personal use since the chips are not only capable of storing ID numbers but also other read-only information. They have already been suggested as a means of combatting identity fraud, to store medical records and in law enforcement for the authorities to track individuals. Protesters in the U.S. are already referring to such tags as 'spychips', with even the use of tags on consumer products being boycotted because of worries over privacy and civil liberties.

But health issues related to the implants exist, such as the possibility of them migrating around the body or interfering with equipment like MRI scanners. Skeptics are quick to point out that conductive metal implants in the body could result in burns if a tagged person was to undergo an MRI scan, though there is no evidence of this occurring and RFID implants have been approved by the FDA.

Apart from tech geeks, most people may have to be convinced that there are more benefits to this technology than drawbacks. If the controversy over basic biometric ID cards in the U.K. is anything to go by, where civil liberties campaigners protested that too many establishments would have access to a person's private details, it will be awhile before we're all walking around with chips and opening doors with the wave of a hand. For the meantime, most of us seem to be satisfied with storing our personal information mentally, and not being the hot conversation piece at dinner parties.

For more info:

Tagged forum
http://tagged.kaos.gen.nz/

Consumer concerns over RFID tags
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4247275.stm

RFID tags: Big Brother in Small Packages
http://news.com.com/2010-1069-980325.html