It may seem like a great idea: a grain of rice-sized microchipinserted just under the skin, capable of unlocking medical records,blood types and allergies. In the event of an emergency, a patientcan have the chip scanned, instantly enabling doctors access tovital information much faster than what it would take with a papertrail.
However, the potential uses for the chip do not have to stopthere, and that may be the chip's biggest problem.
Privacy advocates worry that such chips, despite their obviousperks, may have equal if not more plentiful downfalls withoutproper security precautions being put in place.
Imagine the shock and surprise for consumers and employees whenscanners are used to track their movements around a workplace or astore. If in the wrong hands, the scanners could be used to pick upidentifiable information without a person's consent. Just as easilyas a walk through a metal detector, a person's entire medicalhistory could fall into lurking hands after an innocent pass by ahidden scanner.
How comforting to ex-convicts or immigrants to know that theirmotions are being tracked by the United States government, Customsor parole officers.
Although the above situations are purely hypothetical, it stilldoes not change the fact that they could take place.
It should be added that the chips are not actually holdingmedical records, rather just password-like codes that would unlockaccess to that particular person's history. Although the masterdatabase of information, which is still mostly on paper anyway,will be secured and encrypted along with the chip, it does not meanit will stop hackers from finding their way in.
Credit card companies, online stores and a handful of otherdatabase-orientated companies have said the same in recent years;only later to discover a successful hack into some or all of theirrecords.
Should the chips develop a wide following, their uses should bemonitored, if not regulated closely - not just for the security andprivacy, but more importantly: piece of mind. Because when thistechnology falls into the wrong hands, it'll be anything but a chipoff the 'ol block.
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