Applied Digital Addresses Privacy Concerns of VeriChip Technology

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) got a big boost a while back from the FDA, which approved the use of RFIC microchips for medical uses in the US. People can now have their medical records on such a chip and have in implanted under the skin so that in the event of an accident or sudden illness, medical staff have access to as much information as possible. While a fine idea, there are matters of privacy that must be addressed, and at a conference in Barcelona last week, Scott R. Silverman, Chairman and CEO of Applied Digital, spelled out what his company is doing to deal with the ethics of such technology.

His six-point plan provides the basis of discussion, and he understands his company’s role. In Barcelona, he said, “"It is our duty educate and unite rather than isolate and divide...We as leaders in the RFID industry must be proactive in our privacy efforts...We must engage, and, in turn, educate and unite world leaders, privacy groups and, most importantly, the world population." He knows that fear can kill off what is potentially a life-saving device. And he appears to know that the abuses that are possible make his company’s product a potential source of pure evil.

First among his platform’s six planks is his belief that VeriChip, his firm’s brand name for its sub dermal device, should only be voluntary. In a press release, Applied Digital said, “No person, no employer, no government should force anyone to get ‘chipped’.” One can expect prisoners to be forcibly chipped, but for the rest of the population, there is some hope that it will stay voluntary. A related point, fourth in the press release, says that Verichip subscribers should be able to discontinue the service and have the chip removed at any time. It begs the question of a one-year contract and the cost of removal, but the point is there.

Most interesting, though, is the appointment of a Chief Privacy Officer, “who, with privacy experts, will be charged with addressing the day-to-day global evolution of this technology.” This ensures that privacy will be taken seriously because someone’s reputation and career on the line. Nothing is more prone to failure than a business initiative with no one in charge.

The sensitivity of medical records merits the attention, but if VeriChip and its competitors are to be used for other things, credit cards, ID at bars (one club in South Beach, Miami, Florida, already uses it for admission), identity theft matters must get sorted out immediately. Anti-terror issues make this technology more, rather than less, inevitably part of the modern world. Mr. Silverman deserves credit, if not for solving the ethical issues raised by the technology he offers, then for being open in confronting the questions.


© Copyright 2004 by The Kensington Review, J. Myhre, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent.


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