New York State Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics & Life Sciences R T U Discovery Seminar /UE 141 MMM – Spring 2008 Solving Crimes using Referent Tracking The implanted chip Werner CEUSTERS Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics and Life Sciences Ontology Research Group University at Buffalo, NY, USA

New York State Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics & Life Sciences R T U Assignment three reasons why it would be a good idea, and three reasons why it would be a bad idea to have each human at birth being implanted with a chip that would identify him/her uniquely and that is readable by sensors within a distance of 35 feet.

New York State Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics & Life Sciences R T U RFID Identification Is Only Skin Deep It seems a week doesn't go by without a news story reporting on some aspect of RFID as if it was a newly-discovered technology—when in fact its origins date back to the 1940s. What is getting everyone's attention these days is how this well-engineered technology is being paired with modern computing and communication technologies to create applications for RFID that were—until just recently—unimagined. One such application is the use of an implantable RFID format for identification and medical information access in people. Scott Silverman, Chairman and CEO, Applied Digital Solutions

New York State Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics & Life Sciences R T U Response overview Rar1/29 (Ar)1/15 Ew1/15 (ja)1/14 Bhy1/11 Lt1/22

New York State Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics & Life Sciences R T U The good reasons Finding/tracking individual persons Better access to data Crime prevention Direct identification

New York State Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics & Life Sciences R T U  Finding/tracking individual persons everyone can always be traced even if they are lost, kidnapped etc. (rar) it could become a homing beacon for kids and adults who have been kidnapped or are lost for search teams (bhy) it would help in the arrest of criminals and terrorists (rar) find missing people (ra) government or law enforcement can ID suspects at a distance and without being spotted (ew) unlike security cameras that only show you a persons whereabouts, these chips can alert when a person leaves or approaches a certain area (ja) if they were to commit a crime it would be easy to find them (lt) they couldn't just change their appearance and hide from authorities, they would be found (lt)

New York State Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics & Life Sciences R T U  Better access to data patient identification in hospitals to have more reliable access to critical data (ra) it would help in the arrest of criminals and terrorists (rar) In the case of a medical emergency where the patient would not be able to relay specific medical history information, this could come in handy (ja)

New York State Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics & Life Sciences R T U  Crime prevention More difficult to commit crimes (ra)? Sense of responsibility so that people do not harm or corrupt the community (rar) Being able to track criminals and other offenders will give people a sense of security in exchange for giving up their privacy (ja)? It could provide security in banks, military bases, and nuclear plants by not allowing certain people into secure areas (bhy) Could aid in the capture and arrest of suspects, felons, and those running away from the law to better keep communities safe (bhy) if they were to commit a crime it would be easy to find them (lt)

New York State Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics & Life Sciences R T U  Direct identification (No use of fungibility) Reduce the need for carrying passports, birth certificates, ID cards etc. (ew) Quicker and easier identification i.e. reduced lines for international flights, borders checks etc (ew) If they put sensors in airports and on country borders, international travel would be near impossible, or at the very least it would be found out. (lt) ?

New York State Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics & Life Sciences R T U The bad reasons Too costly Privacy loss Health and well-being issues Potential for malfunctioning and abuse Legal issues

New York State Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics & Life Sciences R T U  Too costly Economically expensive cause it would be a very tedious and costly job to set up sensors around the world for the system to be efficient (rar) As of now there is not even a nationwide fingerprint database, so for doctors to spend time to try to implant a human chip in every human born may be impossible and can become very costly. (ja) Probably expensive and question of whether or not insurance companies will help pay for the new technology (bhy)

New York State Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics & Life Sciences R T U  Privacy loss It would invade an individual’s privacy (rar) It would be a huge privacy issue. (lt) This would be an Invasion of Privacy by placing a chip in each human at birth without knowledge of consent. (ja) encroaches on personal freedoms (ra)? Loss of privacy (ra) Government can monitor people without consent (ew) Anyone with the technology can read your personal info (ew) It takes away from the freedom that a person has to go and come as they please and do wherever they want without being tracked by a computer or a sensor (bhy) The people that don't do anything wrong but like to keep their lives private would have a very tough time since they could be detected from 35 feet away, and if they are doing nothing wrong that doesn't seem fair. (lt)

New York State Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics & Life Sciences R T U  Health and well-being issues The sensory waves and the chips could also have side effects on certain people (rar) It promotes more deeper distrust in individuals in the idea that they have to be electronically monitored (bhy)

New York State Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics & Life Sciences R T U  Malfunctioning / abuse Abuse of or damage of the chip (ra) Technology can be invented to scramble the sensors and give false readings of information or ID theft (ew) Today many people know how to invade and hack into online databases. If a person was able to hack into this particular database they could retrieve ones credit card information, address, social security number and other personal information that could lead to many problems. (ja)

New York State Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics & Life Sciences R T U  Legal issues They would need to pass a law to implement this, and that would be tough because many people would be against it. (lt)

New York State Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics & Life Sciences R T U Oddities Three reasons why it would be a good idea for babies to be implanted with a chip are: 1.If they were to commit a crime it would be easy to find them. 2.They couldn't just change their appearance and hide from authorities, they would be found. 3.If they put sensors in airports and on country borders, international travel would be near impossible, or at the very least it would be found out.

New York State Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics & Life Sciences R T U New assignment Propose an infrastructure for the implanted chip problem such that there is no privacy issue or loss of freedom without sacrificing any of the benefits stated under ‘good reasons’. Submit by on February 11 at the