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Politech is the oldest Internet resource devoted to politics and technology. Launched in 1994 by Declan McCullagh, the mailing list has chronicled the growing intersection of culture, technology, politics, and law. Since 2000, so has the Politech web site.
--- Date: Wed, 13 Feb 2002 11:05:02 +1100 From: Nathan Cochrane <ncochrane@theage.fairfax.com.au> Organization: The Age newspaper To: Declan McCullagh <declan@well.com> Subject: ADS pushes ahead with human implants despite earlier denials Hi Declan From the "I-told-you-so" department. Destron-Fearing/Applied Digital Solutions/Digital Angel/Verichip is pushing ahead with its implantable tracking chip in a human test in Florida, despite earlier denials it would. What's the betting ADS will have its path smoothed by a paranoid Administration? How much longer before implants are mandatory by law for all American citizens, and those in the rest of the world? As I said eight months ago, you don't spend $US130 million acquiring intellectual property and then not use it. I'd like to see ADS spin itsway out of this one. It will be something along the lines of: "Digital Angel is not pursuing it, but our new company/subsidiary/licensee, VeriChip, is". -- Family volunteer to be first for microchip implants A Florida couple and their teenage son are volunteering to become the first family to be implanted with identification microchips. The chip, which is smaller than a vitamin pill, can be scanned for medical and personal information. Jeff and Leslie Jacobs say the technology is like something from Star Trek. Their 14-year-old son, Derek, says he is looking forward to "riding the wave of the future". He already uses his home computer to listen for extraterrestrial life. The chips, which are implanted in the arm, are made by Florida company VeriChip. MORE http://www.ananova.com/yournews/story/sm_519410.html --- Richard M. Smith (rms@computerbytesman.com) December 27, 2001 Applied Digital Solutions faces a very tough sell for its new VeriChip implant ID system for human beings. A VeriChip is a small radio transmitter about the size of a piece of rice that is injected under a person's skin. It transmits a unique personal ID number whenever it is within a few feet of a special receiver unit. The technology is designed to replace ID systems such as company ID cards and medical emergency ID braclets. In the future VeriChips may also be used like driver licenses, passports, and credit cards. MORE http://computerbytesman.com/privacy/verichip.htm --- The First Denial Digital Angel® is no longer pursuing implant technology for humans, a spokesman for the company said yesterday. Dr. Lawrence Webber of Digital Angel Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of Applied Digital Solutions, told WorldNetDaily the company has "no plan at this time for implant technology." Rather, the company's patented sensor technology is being used in externally worn devices only, such as watches and pagers. --- A Subsequent Denial "We appreciate the opportunity to issue a statement about Digital Angel to your readers. We have studied the marketplace for emergency location and medical monitoring devices and we're convinced there is a huge potential market need for a wearable, external device. That is our sole focus. Let there be no mistake or confusion about this. Digital Angel is being developed as a wearable, wristwatch-type device that will, among other things, help save lives by locating lost or missing children or at-risk patients who may require emergency medical attention. We are not now developing, nor do we have any plans to develop, anything other than an external, wearable device." --- Original articles More on Digital Angel, chip implants, and human tracking The "Mark of the Beast" tag is very accurate, given the circumstances. Digital Angel owns patents on implanted transmitter technology following Applied Digital Solutions' $130 million acquisition September 2000 of Destron Fearing, a company that specialises in implanted animal trackers. The CEO is trained vet and patent holder, Dr Randolph K. Geissler. MORE http://www.politechbot.com/p-02154.html --- Digital Angel launches human, animal GPS tracking system Palm Beach, Fla.-based Applied Digital Solutions Inc. now is offering details of its rollout plan for Digital Angel, which it touts as the "first-ever combination of advanced biosensor technology and Web-enabled wireless telecommunications linked to GPS." The first target market appears to be Florida. The company says that by using advanced biosensor capabilities, Digital Angel will be able to monitor key body functions, including temperature and pulse, transmitting that data along with accurate location information to a ground station or monitoring facility. Potential applications include locating lost or missing individuals, locating missing or stolen household pets, monitoring parolees, managing livestock; pinpointing stolen property and preventing the unauthorized use of firearms. MORE http://www.politechbot.com/p-02876.html ------------------------------------------------------------------------- POLITECH -- Declan McCullagh's politics and technology mailing list You may redistribute this message freely if you include this notice. Declan McCullagh's photographs are at http://www.mccullagh.org/ To subscribe to Politech: http://www.politechbot.com/info/subscribe.html This message is archived at http://www.politechbot.com/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------