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From The Guardian:
Britain's biggest employer organisation and main trade union body have sounded the alarm over the prospect of British companies implanting staff with microchips to improve security.
UK firm BioTeq, which offers the implants to businesses and individuals, has already fitted 150 implants in the UK.
The tiny chips, implanted in the flesh between the thumb and forefinger, are similar to those for pets. They enable people to open their front door, access their office or start their car with a wave of their hand, and can also store medical data.
[...] Steven Northam, the founder and owner of Hampshire-based BioTeq, told the Guardian that most of its 150 implants have been for individuals, while some financial and engineering firms have also had the chips implanted in their staff.
BioTeq has also implanted them in employees of a bank testing the technology, and has shipped them to Spain, France, Germany, Japan and China.
We recently covered similar technology being used in Sweden but the idea of implanting a tracking chip in a human for identification is nothing new.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 13 2018, @08:16AM
Maybe they could implant them in newborns. What a great solution for the modern State that needs to manage its livestock.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 13 2018, @08:27AM (7 children)
...take on of those chips, the only place i would fight a little less would be the middle finger. That way i could always flip the bird every time i needed to do something with the chip.
Boss or whatever: "Did you get the chip implanted?"
Me: Flip the bird and say "yes sir it was implanted alright"
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 13 2018, @09:19AM (6 children)
You likely already have one - in your cell phone.
And the thing now is that people have been re-programmed to think that having a cell phone is mandatory. Of course nobody will tell you this directly. However, I tried to make a call without cellphone many times and it failed. It is just not possible to do it like in pre-cellphone era, that you went with a small fee to entrance of any larger company and made a quick call in need.
So this is only extension of existing conditions. As we got used to cameras everywhere (because fighting with criminals ordinarily may hurt them) we will got used to chips.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 13 2018, @12:21PM (5 children)
Well, for what it's worth, i do have everything disabled in my phone. I only have GPS on when i need it, i have disabled all and every "service" and stuff that i don't want. Obviously it does not prevent everything still, but for now it is that way. I'm always looking for more ways to disable all extra crap.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 13 2018, @12:36PM
You need an explicit "chip enable" on modem chip too, or better, a hardware killswitch for it. I have never seen such thing in commercial cellphone.
That's why I better stick to two devices - one is PDA, second is a beacon.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 13 2018, @12:45PM
We already knew all that, mate.
Thanks,
Your Government
(Score: 4, Insightful) by RS3 on Tuesday November 13 2018, @04:39PM (2 children)
> i do have everything disabled in my phone.
Very compliant of you; that's what they want you to think. Years ago when I learned about how computer viruses can hide themselves inside of otherwise necessary running processes, I figured any kind of spying process can do that- either after the fact, or baked-in.
Also, I wouldn't be surprised if most phones have "management engines" or some other potentially nefarious activity physically outside of the main CPU.
If you monitored the phone's RF activity, fully decoded all transmitted data, and can prove it's not some encoded personal data, I might begin to believe it.
But the basic RF and control circuits have a cell RF transponder (tower pings) that track you in the cell network anyway.
Powering the phone off is the only way I know to stop the tracking. That and not driving a car which has a cell network module. Or finding that thing and disabling it somehow. Some of them use obvious antenna connectors and cables. Some are simple PC board etched antennas that would be difficult to find up under a dashboard and by now are likely integrated into a necessary controller module.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 13 2018, @09:47PM (1 child)
When is off truly off? (clue: lack of blinkenlights is not a good indicator), removing the battery is the only sure way, but that's not an option for a lot of people.
(Score: 2) by RS3 on Wednesday November 14 2018, @07:30AM
Absolutely agree. My main phone is an early smartphone (Samsung) that has an easily opened back and removable battery. I also sometimes carry an Android with no SIM, to use as a computer, camera, etc. Its battery is not removable, but since I had it apart to replace the digitizer, I noticed it would be easy to splice a power switch into the battery wires.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 13 2018, @08:39AM (19 children)
16 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:
17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.
(Score: 1, Flamebait) by PiMuNu on Tuesday November 13 2018, @09:51AM (15 children)
Revelations... Presumably you believe all the drek about sheep and seals as well?
(Score: 5, Touché) by The Mighty Buzzard on Tuesday November 13 2018, @12:06PM (14 children)
No need to go believing things to accept a perfectly decent warning.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2, Disagree) by ledow on Tuesday November 13 2018, @12:29PM (1 child)
I believe the book also warns of diety-based retribution on an almost per-page basis, but that singularly fails to materialise too.
Just because someone's warning you of something doesn't mean it has any relevance to reality at all.
Currently, it's illegal to require someone to undergo surgery for anything but absolutely necessary medical procedures ordered by a court after a long, long, long legal battle (e.g. when doctors say a child must be treated against parent's wishes etc.).
Until that changes, the story is nothing but hyperbole.
Even if we all "need" to have a chip to pay our way, you still can't force people to have it implanted inside their own bodies against their will. And given that "being in your body" is not a requirement in any way, shape or form for such chips to operate and perform their function, you have a seriously long and expensive legal battle until anything like a dystopian, Biblical enforcement of such could ever take place.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by The Mighty Buzzard on Tuesday November 13 2018, @12:48PM
You can't force people to get a state ID or driver's license either but it's all but impossible to live in modern society without one. Same thing here.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 1, Troll) by OrugTor on Tuesday November 13 2018, @04:18PM (11 children)
Well, no, if you don't believe things it's not a decent warning, just gibberish.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by The Mighty Buzzard on Tuesday November 13 2018, @04:34PM (10 children)
You've just relegated all parody, satire, and a bloody lot of generic fiction to the rubbish bin.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by cmdrklarg on Tuesday November 13 2018, @06:08PM (4 children)
Most parody, satire, and generic fiction isn't touted as "proof" of an imaginary sky fairy that billions of people blindly follow.
The world is full of kings and queens who blind your eyes and steal your dreams.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Thursday November 15 2018, @07:30PM (3 children)
You're still trying to say the book's all or nothing. Doesn't work like that unless you care to say we should go around murdering, stealing, etc... also since not doing them is in there as well.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by cmdrklarg on Thursday November 15 2018, @10:38PM (2 children)
Granted, though I don't need said book to tell me not to murder, steal, etc. Though I'm pretty certain that there are other passages in that book that advocate killing, stealing, rape, etc if I recall my studies from long ago (was raised Roman Catholic. I got better).
The world is full of kings and queens who blind your eyes and steal your dreams.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Thursday November 15 2018, @11:02PM (1 child)
If you were raised any flavor of christian (thus have experience from which to speak) and don't see any value in the source material, you're having to put a lot of effort into not seeing it. You don't gotta worship or even believe but lose the chip on your shoulder and you'll be happier. Oh, and fewer people will think you're a jackass.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by cmdrklarg on Monday November 19 2018, @05:02PM
Nah, no chip on my shoulder. I have no qualms about someone else's beliefs provided they aren't affecting me. And like yourself, I could give a flying fuck about who thinks I am a jackass.
And yes, I do see the value in parts of the bible. It is the other not-so-good parts that diminishes that value. That and those who thump it repeatedly.
The world is full of kings and queens who blind your eyes and steal your dreams.
(Score: 2) by PiMuNu on Wednesday November 14 2018, @11:04AM (4 children)
I agree that the bible is parody, satire, or generic fiction.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Thursday November 15 2018, @07:34PM (3 children)
Your jokes are going to fall flat like that most every time you try shitting on a big chunk of the nation out of pure spite. Religious tolerance works for Christianity too or it doesn't work for any religion.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by PiMuNu on Friday November 16 2018, @01:12PM (2 children)
Sorry , it was just a throw away comment and I didn't mean to cause offence.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Saturday November 17 2018, @11:07PM (1 child)
No worries. Dick jokes seem to be all that're left lately. The ones where you're being a dick rather than making a jokes about dicks, I mean. When the entire culture is on the bandwagon, it's understandable to occasionally fall prey to it.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by PiMuNu on Monday November 19 2018, @10:33AM
You got an apology, don't push it!
(Score: 2) by PinkyGigglebrain on Tuesday November 13 2018, @10:06PM (2 children)
a bit off topic but does the original Hebrew version really spell it out like that?
Because when you think about it it reads like it is saying "600 of something plus 6".
Like "10 dozen 6 packs plus 3 loose cans" (total 75 cans)
So in this case the something is "threescores". A "threescore" is equal to 60.
Which would make the "Number of the Beast" = 600 * 60 + 6 = 36,006
Maybe we have had it wrong all this time?
"Beware those who would deny you Knowledge, For in their hearts they dream themselves your Master."
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 13 2018, @10:27PM (1 child)
This part of "Lord of the Cross" was written in Greek.
(Score: 2) by PinkyGigglebrain on Wednesday November 14 2018, @12:18AM
Thank you for the correction.. I thought it was part of the Dead Sea scrolls or some such.
"Beware those who would deny you Knowledge, For in their hearts they dream themselves your Master."
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Subsentient on Tuesday November 13 2018, @09:07AM (2 children)
It's really not hard to imagine how this can end in absolute disaster. Tagging people like cattle and pets.
The security issues will be horrifying in the end, and you'll need surgery to fix a good number of them.
Not to mention you'll likely have radio embedded at some point, so the government can track you if you do something they don't like.
Watch, China's government is going to push for these first. Mark my words.
"It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society." -Jiddu Krishnamurti
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 13 2018, @12:37PM
Why would they want to do such a stupid thing?? You already have your face, your height and the way you walk - much more unique and difficult to fake
It's already embedded. It's called a cell phone.
To me the idea is stupid and just something that is clickbait, nothing else. Better solutions already exist for the "government" anyway. This just looks like stupid idea that some moron came up with and wants to make money on.
(Score: 3, Informative) by MadTinfoilHatter on Tuesday November 13 2018, @04:45PM
I believe the security issues will pale in comparison with the authoritarian issues. China is showing the way with a move to an all but cashless society, which they are already using to reboot the largest scale persecution of religious people*, since the days of chairman Mao. And if there's something we all ought to take home from the Snowden revelations, it's the fact that the so called "Western democracies" are not to be trusted either.
*) A person who usually spends his money at bars in the evening stops doing that, and just before Sunday he buys 100 paper cups... Maybe someone just converted to Christianty and is attending an illegal unregistered church? Flag him as suspicious and send him to a "re-education camp". Yes, this shit is already happening - and it goes to show that the true enemy here is not the implants (not that I'll want any of that either, thank you very much) but the cashless society...
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 13 2018, @11:16AM (3 children)
It's easier to keep your access cards in faraday sleeves which make it harder for hackers to do relay attacks on them. Not so convenient to do that with body implants.
For places where security really matters, you'd have people entering pins or similar, with guards and cameras around to discourage people from trying anything strange...
For other places security doesn't really matter, just the appearance of security to satisfy regulators, auditors etc.
2) It's easier to change your card and get a different potentially incompatible one from a different vendor whenever you change employers.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by acid andy on Tuesday November 13 2018, @01:11PM (2 children)
Yeah, it's the worst gimmick ever. I can imagine managers will just think the flashy tech is cool and not care about the human rights angle at all. About the only way it improves security is it stops someone lending their card to someone else, or, even more unlikely, someone stealing or finding it and knowing where to use it and it not being canceled before they get a chance to exploit it. If the employee is going to lend their access card to someone untrustworthy then there are bigger problems because that employee will probably find other ways to compromise security. Anyway, if the access system is anything like the ones I've seen, people will still be able to piggy-back into the building by following an employee quickly through the door.
Also, will the employer pay for removal of the chip when the employee quits or is fired? If not, how many such chips will accumulate under someone's skin over the course of their lifetime?
If a cat has kittens, does a rat have rittens, a bat bittens and a mat mittens?
(Score: 3, Interesting) by VLM on Tuesday November 13 2018, @01:53PM (1 child)
Who pays when the chip fails? Who pays when the part time no bennies no insurance workers get MRSA from the implant or after the removal?
If corporate anti-industrial espionage regulations prevent people with walmart tags from working at / shopping at Target and vice versa... I suspect you'll see tags used not as ID cards but as generic tags... this tag class means someone had a DUI once in their life and the tag reader at the bar will prevent sales. Or the tag reader at church, or the voting registration office.
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Tuesday November 13 2018, @03:38PM
We will see that. We already do see that to an extent, with convicted felons being barred from voting. We have recently seen people blacklisted from posting on social media. People have been fired for social media posts; others have been denied employment because of inappropriate photos when they were young at parties.
The tendrils of control are all around us. They are not even as bad as they will become, as scientists master control of genomes and as AI and robotics improve. It would be super if they perfected faster-than-light travel first, so the freedom-minded can light out for the new frontier.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 2) by acid andy on Tuesday November 13 2018, @12:28PM (2 children)
I forgot to capitalize the article title. Sorry about that. Can it be edited?
If a cat has kittens, does a rat have rittens, a bat bittens and a mat mittens?
(Score: 2) by takyon on Tuesday November 13 2018, @01:30PM (1 child)
ok
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by acid andy on Tuesday November 13 2018, @01:39PM
Nice, thanks for that! I love this place.
If a cat has kittens, does a rat have rittens, a bat bittens and a mat mittens?
(Score: 2) by VLM on Tuesday November 13 2018, @01:51PM
I wonder how good the range can be under carefully engineered circumstances (directional aftermarket antennas and so on).
There was a lot of talk around "RFID passport" time where you can make an IED that goes off when a device is in range on the assumption that locals won't have RFID passports but westerners will.
Obviously you can leave your RFID passport at home or shield it to prevent IED detonation, but its harder to do with a hand implant.
My prediction is ID implants will be a bar to military service rather soon for infosec reasons.
(Score: 2) by Hartree on Tuesday November 13 2018, @10:01PM
Goldfinger: "Now, don't be coy, Mister Bond. We already know who you are and that you're a licensed to kill agent."
Bond: "Ah, so you have a mole in British intelligence."
Goldfinger: "No, Mister Bond. We just scanned your microchip!"
(Score: 2, Funny) by ShadowSystems on Wednesday November 14 2018, @12:30AM
Some National Geographic goon with a tranq dart gun hit me when I wasn't lookin'.
I woke up with one of those damned radio ear tags.
I turned my earlobe into a Moebious Strip, the tag fell off, I stuck it to the back of a passing African Swallow, & I thwarted their efforts to track me.
Someone told me TheVet was for grooming my pelt & giving me treats.
The bastard injected something between my shoulderblades.
My body expelled the intrusion, I slipped the chip into a passing taxi, & thus I thwarted their efforts to track me.
My (now Ex)Wife told me the ring was a sign of her love as she slipped it around my neck.
I heard the radio bursts, detached my head, removed the ring, & reattached my head.
The ring went on a passing hoola hoop sellers van, thus I thwarted their efforts to track me.
I refuse to wear pants, I keep my FeaturePhone clenched firmly between my buttocks, nobody ever asks to borrow my phone, & thus the GPS tracking isn't worth shit.
I win!
=-D
/wanders off to go talk with TheVoicesInMyHead some more. They assure me we're sane...