Bob

"...The national ID system is going to the dogs -- and the pigs, and the sheep and the cows and the chickens.

Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns this month released a government road map that would see most farmers voluntarily tag their animals with wireless radio chips by 2008 as part of an ambitious electronic disease control system to prevent outbreaks of hoof and mouth disease and avian flu, among other things. The system will not address the spread of "mad cow" disease, as it is transmitted through feed rather than animal commingling...."

http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0...l?tw=rss.index

So it seems that everything is going to get chipped at some point, so what do people think of that? For the animals and people? It's in your cars and will be passports...for the land of the free, good or a bad thing?

Celsius

What about rodents?

Endeavour2

It's a very bad thing. They want to use the same technology in UK passports and ID cards.

I know a thing or 2 about this technology and it's bad news. People will be able to steal your "data" just by standing next to you. Remember, anything readable bu a legal chip reader is also readable by some criminal's reader.

http://www.doxpara.com/read.php/security/rfid.html

Jerseygirl

Well I'm not going to get up close and personal with anyone.

Angry White Pyjamas

The only data an RFID chip has is a serial number. This is then linked to whatever data is on you in a central database. There is no actual data about you stored on the chip. So all a would be criminal could steal would be a serial number.

Pets are currently fitted with RFID chips in order to travel to and from the UK.

Celsius

Skimming already is a problem when one uses their credit card for transactions and one's card leaves one's sight. i.e. out of sight, the credit card can be skimmed.

Bob

that's in theory, but in reality it isn't really a problem, as AWP said, there's no real data on the chip, it's more about snoopy agencies keeping tabs on you...and it's in all new US made cars anyway, since 04 I think.

cabritpop

Humans are next for microchipping."A Mexican company has launched a service to implant microchips in children as an anti-kidnapping device." "VeriChip manufacturer Applied Digital Solutions said it plans to roll out the VeriKid service in other countries, including the United States, in the future." Tracking Junior With a Microchip

Sorry kids you won't be going to school one day without having your chip. Why call a register when you can just scan 'em on the way into class?

Wildandcrazy0525

hang on.... does that mean that next time I go through imigration, all I need to do is make moo'ing and baaah'ing noises and the guy will understand what I mean!!

Brings a whole new meaning to animal farm if you ask me lol

Wild

mozoo

That's too preshus!!!

User Name

I think Bush would block that.

User Name

The UK is collecting DNA data at a fair rate of knots.

Bob

it's amusing that, they've gone and grabbed a whole bunch of folks that have been picked up for minor offences that because of the DNA have been tied to cases going back around 30 odd years....very Cold Case ain't it

Endeavour2

Nope, sorry.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/05/20/us_passports/

RFID is a wireless barcode type technology. Just like 802.11 wireless networks it defines the communication system, not the data transported on it.

Besides, if the RFID tag contains a unique number and criminals can skim it, what makes you think that's not an issue? It's precisely the problem with SSNs already.

User Name

... very. I seem to recall a murder (might have been a rape/murder case) up in Scotland where they dug up a suspect to check if his DNA matched DNA in a "cold case". I suppose he did not commit more recent or later crimes and so his DNA was not on file. Cold/buried case indeed. On the other hand, had the suspect been cremated the cops could have searched through his former belongings (if they still existed) like old toothbrushes to get putative samples of his DNA.