RFID Company: Let Us Implant Chips In Immigrants

Scott Silverman, chairman of RFID company VeriChip, wants to implant RFID chips in all immigrants so that their movements can be tracked, and would like to see the chips "used for enforcement purposes at the employer level". And you wonder why some people are frightened of the technology? The Register reports that Silverman appeared on the TV show Fox & Friends and suggested implanting RFID chips into "guest workers."

Silverman claims the idea is more than just a pipe dream, and said, "We have talked to many people in Washington about using it."

It would be easy to dismiss Silverman as a wacko self-promoter, except for this salient fact --- the former head of the Department of Homeland Security, Tommy Thompson, sits on the company's board. In fact, Thompson has publicy stated that he would be willing to "get chipped," that is, have an RFID implanted in him. Somehow, though, that's never happened.

Others are calling for chip implants into immigrants and migrant workers, says The Register, including Colombian president Alvaro Uribe who wants to implant chips into migrant workers, and then give them entry visas into the U.S.

The privacy implications of all this are frightening and obvious, and so I don't expect any of this to happen, luckily.But this kind of talk only does bad things for the technology. RFID, in fact, holds out tremendous promise for enterprises, particularly in supply-chain applications. Fears over privacy invasions may hold back its deployment, and so Silverman is doing the technology more harm than good.