Big potential for misuse!!

Please read carefully. This is not a joke or a hoax as far as I know. It is mentioned in the business press releases filed at Yahoo back on August 7,2000. If I am wrong please let me know. Update ... I have also found it mentioned in a CNN article from December 1999. Tiny human-borne monitoring device sparks privacy fears

Slashdot | Human ID Chip Implant Prototype Unveiling.

Welcome to ADS Digital Angel press releases.

"Digital Angel[trademark] Breakthrough Technology Goes Live!" .

The prototype ... to be unveiled at an invitation-only, New York City event this October ... represents a major communications technology breakthrough -- the first-ever operational combination of bio-sensor technology and Web-enabled wireless telecommunications linked to GPS location-tracking systems.

In December of 1999, Applied Digital Solutions announced that it had acquired the patent rights to a miniature digital transceiver -- which it has named Digital Angel. In some of its applications, the tiny device is expected to be bonded closely to the body or implanted just under the skin. The Company believes Digital Angel will be able to send and receive data and be located by GPS (Global Positioning System) technology. In addition to monitoring the location and medical condition of at-risk patients, the Company believes Digital Angel could have other applications that will prove to be extremely popular in the marketplace. These applications include locating lost or missing individuals or household pets; tracking endangered wildlife; managing livestock and other farm-related animals; pinpointing the location of valuable stolen property; finding lost airline baggage and postal packages; managing the commodity supply chain; preventing the unauthorized use of firearms; and providing a tamper-proof means of identification for enhanced e-commerce security.

The idea behind Digital Angel[trademark] . is to build a microchip that can be either implanted in or closely bonded to the body. This microchip will include biosensors that will measure the biological parameters of the body and store this information.

It will also have an antenna that will receive signals from GPS satellites. The geological locator of the chip can be derived from these signals. The antenna also communicates with ground stations. It will receive commands from the stations and will send the biological information and location data to the ground station. This could take the form of a distress signal sent to a monitoring facility when the unit detects a medical emergency.

The chip will be equipped with a micro battery. This battery will be self-rechargeable taking energy from the body or from its surroundings. All these components will be combined into a unit the size of a dime.

Digital Angel[trademark] will remain dormant most of the time. It will only be activated by the wearer or by commands from the ground station. The purpose is to save battery energy and to avoid interference with other devices, such as medical equipment or airplanes.

The unit can be turned off by the wearer, thereby making the monitoring voluntary. It will not intrude on personal privacy except in applications applied to the tracking of criminals.

Welcome to ADS -- Applied Digital Solutions. The creators of Digital Angel[trademark].

Yahoo - Applied Digital Solutions Postpones Its Special Meeting of Shareholders. Monday August 7, 3:02 pm Eastern Time
Press Release

ABOUT DIGITAL ANGEL

In December of 1999, Applied Digital Solutions announced that it had acquired the patent rights to a miniature digital transceiver - which it has named Digital Angel - implantable within the human body that could be used for a variety of purposes, such as providing a tamper-proof means of identification for enhanced e-commerce security, locating lost or missing individuals, tracking the location of valuable property and pets, and monitoring the medical conditions of at-risk patients. The implantable device sends and receives data and can be continuously tracked by GPS (Global Positioning Satellite) technology. For more information about Digital Angel, visit http://www.digitalangel.net .

Yahoo! Finance - ADSX - Applied Digital Solutions.

Some comments:

At first I thought that this might be one of those elaborate hoaxes which had just gone to a lot of effort to provide supporting documentation (ie WWW sites). Then I checked out the Yahoo finance site and didn't notice any movement in the stock. I would think that a development like this would definitely cause an upward move in the stock price. Then I started going over the old press releases that Yahoo had (see above) ... Now I'm nervous. Maybe scared is a better word.

Yes this technology does have its good uses. Actually I can think of quite a few. But it also has a enormous potential for misuse. Just think of the opportunities it presents for anyone who wants to track your movements or surreptitiously identify you. You laugh, but think of cookies and web bugs and how they have been used by companies like DoubleClick and RealNetworks. As soon as they had the technology they started trying to track the web surfers every movement and tying it into their real world credit profile. Is there any reason to think that they won't try the same thing with this chip?

I know that the info says that the chip can be turned off, but it does not say how. After all this is not an external box that you can just leave at home like your cell phone. Its implanted under your skin so how do you receive indication that it has been turned off or on?? Since it mentions that it can communicate with ground stations (and receive signals from GPS satellites) I assume that the activation/deactivation signal will be supplied by some sort of radio signal. How many folks are going to walk around with a small (I assume) box just so they can activate/deactivate this thing for the short times that they want to broadcast a signal for something innocent like making a purchase, or gaining access to their office building (security). If you don't carry your own activation/deactivation control can you use someone elses?? If so what's to stop them from activating your implant without your knowledge? After all its not like a little red light is going to come on. Can it be locked into the off position?

Some older links I found via TopClick/Google:

CNN (December 20, 1999)- Tiny human-borne monitoring device sparks privacy fears.

"I think the use of implants for tracking is crossing into a new territory," Rotenberg said. "It gets us closer to an Orwellian '1984.'"

BTW, Marc Rotenberg is director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center(EPIC) in Washington

Patent documents refer to the device as a "personal tracking and recovery system." But ADS said the device, named the Digital Angel, could also have non-human applications. For example, it could be secretly hidden on or in valuable personal belongings and works of art.

Cox News Service(Star Tribune Minneapolis - St Paul) - New Digital Angel is Big Brother under your thumb. Published Monday, December 27, 1999

There were a few articles about a computer game but many followed the direction of the two below. I am NOT pushing the religious aspect, just mentioning what is out there. Many of these articles mentioning Digital Angel seemed to pop up around December 1999. They aren't the vague Revelation 13:16-18 rants. These were specifically kicked off by the mentioning of this company, Applied Digital Solutions.

Martin Wohlgemuth  - Meet the 'Digital Angel' - from Hell - Rev. 13?. Bible Gateway Revelation 13:16-18 from KJV.

A new government-approved standard for telecommunications equipment violates the Fourth Amendment's prohibition against unreasonable searches and seizures, critics say.

The standard, released in updated form last week by the Telecommunication Industry Association, instructs telecommunications hardware manufacturers on how to build their equipment so that it complies with a federal wiretap law passed by Congress in 1994.

DenverPost.com - Business NewsCalling all consumers: Privacy at risk . The same technology that will soon allow you to find the nearest automated teller machine using your cellular telephone could also track your indiscretions.

"It's like someone following you around with a very big clipboard," said Jason Catlett, a former direct marketer who founded junkbusters.com, a company devoted to "freeing the world from junk communications." Companies working to develop such technology, such as Boulder-based SignalSoft Corp., say they are building privacy protections into their systems.

Privacy advocates such as Richard Smith, chief technology officer of the nonprofit Denver-based Privacy Foundation, say they hope so. But laws might be necessary to make sure companies don't misuse the information.

Times Union - 'Cellphone tracking sounds privacy alarm'.

In what privacy rights advocates say is a significant threat to civil liberties in the digital age, law enforcement agencies may soon be able to turn the cellular phone into a ready-made tool for nosing around in private lives.

If a federal rule stands up to a court challenge here, the FBI and local police will be allowed to track a cellphone user's location while monitoring bank and data transactions made with the device -- all without the need for a court-ordered wiretap.

ZDNet: InterActive Week: State Department Gets In Your Face. "You are building the capacity to record the faces of every American citizen who walks into a [State Department] building or who gets a passport," said Andrew Shen, a policy analyst at the Electronic Privacy Information Center(EPIC). "Any time you build in such a technical ability to track people unawares, you are also creating the possibility for abuse in the future. I'm not confident any such database is going to stay confined to a narrow purpose."

EO News - Workers express fears over loss of privacy. According to the Intrusion versus Desirability report released this week by Embedded Solutions (ESL), UK professionals are increasingly wary of mobile technology and fear intrusion into their personal lives. Of the 500 workers surveyed by ESL, 55 per cent believed that mobile technology is an intrusion into home life, while 54 per cent believed that creating mobile applications would enable employers to place unfair demands on the time of employees. According to the report, women are more likely than men to find such devices intrusive.

Techweb > News > Data Privacy > Privacy: Do You Know Where Your Data Is?. "Companies are being tempted to sell valuable information at their disposal because there are no set legal ramifications for doing so," according to Andrew Shen, policy analyst at the Electronic Privacy and Information Center(EPIC), a Washington privacy watchdog group. "Right now, a lot can be bought and sold rather freely."