Current Event Blog

Oops, didn't know that we had to blog about our current event presentations.

My current event was called "Where's Jimmy? Just Google His Barcode" by Gene Koprowski.
I found this article on FOXNews.com.
Basically, it's about the creation and wide spread use of RFID (radio frequency identification) tags. I have first heard about RFID tags a long time ago and I have decided to do a follow-up research on them because I was so outraged by this when I heard about it. RFID chips are being embedded in people's hands, arms etc and these chips store personal information about the beholder such as credit card usage, bank statements, tracker of whereabouts, etc. It also can be used as your car keys - just wave your hand on the handle of the car. It's amazing what technology could do but I think the advancement of technology went too far with RFID. I mean, there's chips for your dogs just in case they get lost or whatnot but for humans?! This is far too creepy - I imagine one of those science fiction movie going horribly wrong. And if RFID chips are being used as tracking devices... who's keeping track? Certainly not yourself.... parents? Personally, I think these chips are an invasion of privacy and a barrier to our freedom if it is being used as a tracking device. “RFID tags make the perfect tracking device,” Stanley said. 


“The prospect of RFID chips carried by all in identity papers means that any individual’s presence at a given location can be detected or recorded simply through the installation of an invisible RFID reader”(Koprowski). 

The article goes on to say that the staff of Mexico's attorney general has RFID embedded in their arms to ensure the safety of information, trespassing of drug lords and etc.

"Already, the government of Mexico has surgically implanted the chips, the size of a grain of rice, in the upper arms of staff at the attorney general’s office in Mexico City. The chips contain codes that, when read by scanners, allow access to a secure building, and prevent trespassing by drug lords" (Koprowski). 


Questions I thought about when reading this article were:
1. What would happen if someone (hypothetically) cut off the person's arm to use their identification?
2. In what ways could this be advantages/disadvantages to society?
3. Who controls RFID? maybe a government conspiracy?!