How Long Before We're All Forced to be Microchipped?
We've talked about microchipping here before, and when we have, readers have responded with everything from "the end is near" to "you're a paranoid conspiracy theorist." Since the last time we discussed the topic almost two years ago (
"Chipping Away at your Rights," May 2, 2006), the march of technology has gone on.
At that time, RFID tags in livestock was already routine and many people were starting to get their pets "chipped." Voluntary chip implants in humans were available and being used by bars and private clubs for payment, and a few companies were experimenting with chipping their workers who needed access to secure facilities.
Last week, microchips made the news again in a big way when the Daily Mail reported that the London Metropolitan Police will be implanting chips in all police officers so administrators can monitor their movements. It's being touted as an officer safety measure, but it's not making all officers feel safer. Officers are already tracked by GPS devices in their radio headsets, but under-the-skin implants will take that to a whole new level. Some have raised concerns that the terrorists and other bad guys will be able to hack into the devices despite encryption, and know exactly where the cops are at any given moment.
Met Police officers to be 'microchipped' by top brass in Big Brother style tracking scheme | the Daily Mail
Maybe it's because I was once a cop that this particular implementation of microchipping hits home so hard. In the U.S., if you've been a police officer (just as if you've been in the military) your fingerprints are on file with the FBI forever. That seems intrusive enough, but cops accept it as a price that has to be paid if you want the job. If (or should I say "when"?) microchipping becomes mandatory for the police on this side of the big pond, will American cops accept that with no more than a few grumbles, or will they protest? I suspect we would see a few resignations and the rest would go along.
At this point, the chipping can still be seen as "optional." If Met police officers don't want it, they can always quit their jobs and do something else. Of course, for folks who have been cops all their lives and don't know how to or want to do anything else for a living, that's not really much of an option.
For governments that are ultimately determined to exert maximum control over their citizens, it makes sense to start with their own employees. But it's hard to believe the trend will stop with government workers.
After all, if chipping can increase officer safety, then wouldn't it also increase the safety of those in other high risk groups? And who's at higher perceived risk than children - especially with all the media attention these days on pedophiles and similar predators?
Of course, once you chip all the little ones, all you have to do is wait for them to grow up and you have a chipped population. There's really no need to force the microchips on adults who might be resistant. If kids grow up with the technology from the beginning, it will seem as natural and normal to them as computers do to today's children.
When we read "1984" as kids, such a future seemed far away and/or impossible in the free world in which we lived. Perhaps we didn't realize was that 1984 does not suddenly come into full blown fruition at midnight on New Year's Eve of whatever year; the elimination of privacy and the domination of Big Brother are part of a gradual process. Like the frog placed in the pan of water with the heat turned up a little at a time, we accept small and incremental steps toward that Brave New World without thinking about where it's all leading - until finally the water is boiling and we're all cooked.
Or not.
The other side of the argument says all the fuss over this new technology is an overreaction of Luddites who are just afraid of anything new or religious fanatics who see the chip as the mark of Beast. And it's true that most people, especially as they get older, are uncomfortable with new and unfamiliar technology, even if it's beneficial. The telephone, television, automobiles - all were condemned and/or resisted by many when they were introduced. Space travel was looked upon with disapproval by some folks, often on religious grounds.
