Earth truly goes big brother as prospect of human micro chipping steps ever closer
Mobile technology has bought the prospect of implanting microchips under the skin of humans for tracking and identification purposes closer to a mainstream reality.
The highly controversial idea of human ID chips, implanted much like we do to our dogs today, is the subject of a study from Professors Nada and Andrew Kakabadse (from the UK Universities of Northampton and Cranfield respectively).
The Professors' research has revealed growing social unease over electronic tracking technology that monitors workers' activity, which may evolve into implants placed directly under human skin.
A study examined developments in tracking technology already linked to company vehicles and mobile communication devices, alongside employee attitudes towards the prospect of 'social tagging' through RFID chips.
However, human micro chipping is already occurring for entertainment purposes; following the 2004 US Food and Drug HeatherMcLeanistration approval of an RFID implant called VeriChip, about the size of a grain of rice, for medical purposes, nightclubs in Rotterdam and Barcelona already offer implants to customers for entry and payment purposes.
The Professors believe that human 'chipping' will become a part of everyday working and domestic life in the near future. They said that 'caution, naivety and fear' are the underlying reasons for society accepting RFID chips without question.
To top it off, analyst firm Berg Insight says that parents are now discovering free and low cost apps that can turn a smartphone into a location device that enable monitoring of family members, while the growing use of smartphones has also enabled rapid take up of business-oriented location apps.
The number of active users of family locator services in Europe and North America is forecasted to grow from 16 million in 2011, at a compound annual growth rate of 34%, to reach 70 million in 2016.
Smart Chimps thinks: Would you feel comfortable if your government or favourite nightclub asked you to have a microchip inserted under your skin? There are some that reckon Obama-care means all Americans will have to be implanted with a chip, but that seems to be the rumour mill in overdrive. However, this something that might be on the cards for us all. What do you think? Email the big Chimp <a href='mailto:heather@mclean-media.com'>here </a>and let us know!
