[EAS]Chip Implants

[pjk]

Subject:   Chip Implants

(from NewsScan Daily, 27 February 2002)
<http://www.newsscan.com/>

CHIP IMPLANT COMPANY SEEKS FDA APPROVAL
A Florida company that has developed a computer ID chip suitable for 
implanting in the human body has applied to the Food and Drug 
Administration for approval of its product. The VeriChip, as it's
called,  can be used to store information, such as medical records,
which could be  accessed by emergency medical personnel in the event
of an accident.  Applied Digital Solutions says it plans to limit its
marketing of the  VeriChip to companies that ensure its human use
voluntary. A person or  intermediary company would buy the chip for
about $200 and have it encoded  with the desired information. The
person seeking the implant would then  take the chip -- about the size
of a grain of rice -- to a doctor, who  would insert it under the skin
with a large needle device. Meanwhile,  privacy advocates have
expressed doubts about the VeriChip: "The problem is that you always
have to think about what the device will be used for tomorrow. It's
what we call function creep. At first a device is used for 
applications we all agree are good but then it slowly is used for more
than  it was intended," says Lee Tien, an attorney for the Electronic
Frontier  Foundation. (AP Feb 27 2002)
http://apnews.excite.com/article/20020227/D7HUDV3O0.html