RFID tags in Humans Okay?
A company called CityWatcher.com has recently received some press (see article pasted below) after implanting RFID chips into two of their employees in order to restrict access to a highly sensitive vault.
This kind of application of RFID technology will undoubtedly raise new questions about the wisdom of the use of RFID in various applications and about the risks to personal privacy. The RFID industry needs to be able to answer, as an industry, how it feels about these kinds of uses and be able to address--from a policy and public relations perspective--whether there ought to be any limits or safeguards in place to address those concerns. A demonstration of self-regulation and self-control can go a long way toward addressing public policy concerns.
Surveillance Firm Implants RFID Tags In Employees
CityWatcher.com, a provider of surveillance equipment, attracted little notice itself -- until a year ago, when two of its employees had radio-frequency identification tags embedded in their forearms. AP reports that the company said the "chipping" of two workers with the tags was merely a way of restricting access to vaults that held sensitive data and images for police departments. "To protect high-end secure data, you use more sophisticated techniques," said Sean Darks, chief executive of the company. To some, the microchip was a high-tech helper that could increase security at nuclear plants and military bases. But to others, the notion of tagging people was Orwellian.
This is a viable option for Top Government Security places and Anti-terror.
Definitely regulations can contribute a lot in this process otherwise the debate would go on forever.
