UPDATE: Looks like we were late on this one. The RFID dog tags have already been cloned. Twice! Here’s the poop on it.
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And what happens when the soldier comes home. Will it be removed? Will they have to keep them in because they might be unexpectedly recalled as they’re doing now when enlistments don’t keep up? Will they have to have them until they are too old to be recalled? What happens when they’re inevitably hacked and their identities stolen a week after the program starts?
Implanted Chips in Our Troops?
A Florida company wants to get under the skin of 1.4 million U.S. servicemen and women.
VeriChip Corp, based in Delray Beach, Fla., and described by the D.C. Examiner as “one of the most aggressive marketers of radio frequency identification chips,” is hoping to convince the Pentagon to allow them to insert the chips, known as RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) chips under the skin of the right arms of U.S. servicemen and servicewomen to enable them to scan an arm and obtain that person’s identity and medical history. The chips would replace the legendary metal dog tags that have been worn by U.S. military personnel since 1906.
In an e-mail to the Examiner, Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., wrote: “If that is what the Defense Department has in mind for our troops in Iraq, there are many questions that need answers. “What checks and balances, safeguards, and congressional oversight would there be?” Leahy asked. “What less-invasive alternatives are there? What information would be entered on the chips, and could it endanger our soldiers or be intercepted by the enemy?”
31: I see no need for them to be implanted vs smart dog tags. The difference between the two is that implantation a lot more invasive and it is posible to copy RF (and LF) from a close proximity. Such proximity could be provided, given that many troops spend time in the cities making null the need to bend the laws of physics. The two technologies could carry the same information so that isnt much of a benefit and the dog tag could carry printed (or stamped as it were) information reverse of the contacts. The RFID tags does make it harder to lose the physical device itself but that doesnt stop replication or removal by a third party. Im not quite sure of the price but I would have to thing that the LF RFID tags would be more expensive to make and implement compared to a few K of ROM (flash or not) just hanging around ones neck.
32: I don’t know if this is the right technology for the job, I’m with you there. Contact-based chips (as opposed to contactless RFID) may or may not be more expensive. As a baseline I can get my dog implanted for $20 retail.
I don’t see where cloning an implanted tag, which contains blood types, serial numbers, and such, has any copy value. The data they contain is used to identify casualties, it won’t open doors.
The verichip tags that have been cloned use public tech standards. And obviously they didn’t test it well. The military must use top-secret proprietary standards and codes. I assume the tags would be designed only to respond when they receive the proper code, generated by a highly-regulated reader.
At the distances implanted LF tags work, pinging to identify troops is, well… if you can ping me then you can smell me and touch me, and you don’t need toys to locate US troops at those distances.
Going back to moneymaker’s point. Why can’t medical alert bracelets be made to hold flash memory. While I would still prefer to see the vital info printed on the bracelet, more complete information may be held on the flash memory. This could also include next of kin, do not resuscitate, allergies, current meds, physician and contact number, etc. All of that information might be very important within the first few minutes with a comatose patient.
But you ain’t sticking no stinking microwave transmitter into my head !!!