Microchip Implants
Media Articles Reveal Information on Microchip Implants

Note: For an excellent list of excerpts from key media articles on microchip implants, click here.

Dear friends,

The technology to implant microchips and track people's movements and even their bank accounts with these chips is now being publicly acknowledged. The below two articles on microchip implants from the CNN and CBS websites cause one to pause and think. I am a big supporter of truth and transparency on both global and personal levels, but microchip implants under the skin is an invasive procedure for which I have no interest. Some fear this technology may eventually lead to mass microchipping of the human population for reasons of "national security." This would clearly be a gross invasion of privacy. Notice how both articles below seem to be subtly trying to convince the public that this is a beneficial technology, already accepted by people outside of the US.

For a wealth of other information on microchip implants reported in the major media with links for easy verifiaction, see https://www.WantToKnow.info/microchipimplants. Together, we can make a big difference. By choosing to educate ourselves and to spread the word, we can and will build a brighter future.

With best wishes,
Fred Burks for WantToKnow.info
Former language interpreter for Presidents Bush and Clinton

http://edition.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/europe/06/09/spain.club/

Technology gets under clubbers' skin

By Chetna Purohit
Wednesday, June 9, 2004 Posted: 1324 GMT (2124 HKT)

(CNN) -- Queuing to get into one nightclub in Spain could soon be a thing of the past for regular customers thanks to a tiny computer chip implanted under their skin.

The technology, known as a VeriChip, also means nightclubbers can leave their cash and cards at home and buy drinks using a scanner. The bill can then be paid later.

The system is also designed to curb identity theft and prevent fraudulent access to credit card accounts that is increasingly common in crowded restaurants and clubs.

Clubbers who want to join the scheme at Baja Beach Club in Barcelona pay 125 euros (about US $150) for the VeriChip -- about the size of a grain of rice -- to be implanted in their body.

Then when they pass through a scanner the chip is activated and it emits a signal containing the individual's number, which is then transmitted to a secure data storage site.

The club's director, Conrad Chase, said he began using the VeriChip, made by Applied Digital Solutions, in March 2004 because he needed something similar to a VIP card and wanted to provide his customers with better service.

"I believe we should use new technology to provide our customers with the best service and entertainment," Chase told CNN.

He said 10 of the club's regular customers, including himself, have been implanted with the chip, and predicted more would follow.

"I know many people who want to be implanted," said Chase. "Almost everybody now has a piercing, tattoos or silicone. Why not get the chip and be original?"

In the wake of the Madrid train bombings that killed 190 people in March, Chase said VeriChip could also boost security by speeding up checks at airports, for example.

He denied the scheme had any drawbacks. The VeriChip is an in-house debit card and contains no personal information. It is made of glass so poses no health risk, Chase said.

But Dr. Arun Patel, a general physician in Los Angeles, warned that placing an electronic device inside the body could be problematic.

"From a medical standpoint, obviously you worry about radiation with any electronic device," Patel said.


(The following article by Associated Press is posted on the CBS news website)

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/07/17/tech/main563819.shtml


A Real Chip On Your Shoulder

MEXICO CITY, July 17, 2003

(AP) Borrowing from an idea that allows pet owners to track their dogs and cats, a U.S. company launched Thursday in Mexico the sale of microchips that can be implanted under a person's skin and used to confirm everything from health history to identity.

The microchips, which went on sale last year in the United States, could tap into a growing industry surrounding Mexico's crime concerns. Kidnappings, robberies and fraud are common here, and Mexicans are constantly looking for ways to stay ahead of criminals.

The microchip, the size of a grain of rice, is implanted in the arm or hip and can contain information on everything from a person's blood type to their name. Hospital officials and security guards can use a scanning device to read the chip's information.

In a two-hour presentation, Palm Beach, Florida-based Applied Digital Solutions Inc. introduced reporters to the VeriChip and used a syringe-like device and local anesthetic to implant a sample in the right arm of employee Carlos Altamirano.

"It doesn't hurt at all," he said. "The whole process is just painless."

Another chip user, Luis Valdez, who is diabetic, said the chip is "as innovative to me as the cell phone."

Antonio Aceves, the director of the Mexican company charged with distributing the chip here, said that in the first year of sales, the company hoped to implant chips in 10,000 people and ensure that at least 70 percent of all hospitals had the technology to read the devices.

One chip costs $150 and has a $50 annual fee. The scanning device and related software is $1200. Users can update and manage their chips' information by calling a 24-hour customer service line.

Similar technology has been used on dogs and cats as a way to identify the pets if they are lost or stolen.

The VeriChip can track subjects who are within 5 miles, but officials want to develop a new chip that can use satellite technology to track people who are farther away and may have been kidnapped.

While the idea of using the chip to track people has raised privacy concerns in the United States, the idea has been popular with Mexicans, who have been contacting Aceves and asking when the new global positioning chip will be available. The company hopes to have the new anti-kidnapping chip developed by 2003.