-=-
Date sent:         Thu, 24 Oct 2002 09:35:44 -0400
To:                politech{at}politechbot.com
From:              Declan McCullagh 
Subject:           FC: More on FDA permitting use of implantable 
                   ID chips in humans
Send reply to:     declan{at}well.com

Previous Politech message:
http://www.politechbot.com/p-04095.html

---

Date: Thu, 24 Oct 2002 10:49:37 +1000
From: Nathan Cochrane 
Organization: The Age newspaper
To: declan{at}well.com
Subject: Re: FC: FDA permits use of implantable ID chips in humans

Hi Declan

I think ADS's bald faced lies to you and the members of your list about its 
plans in the past should send off warning flares about its intentions and 
the ethical foundation of its culture. Given concerns recently over 
corporate governance among businesses, ADS needs to answer its critics.

This is Trustworthy -- or Treacherous -- Computing at its very most intimate.

But I wonder what role the FDA has -- an implantable chip for e-commerce 
applications is not a food, drug or medical prosthetic as far as I can see?

As I said back in February, "What's the betting ADS will have its path 
smoothed by a paranoid Administration?"

With any decision as controversial and of such profound significance as 
this, it is beholden on a federal government department in a liberal, 
transparent and open democracy to release the full details of its 
deliberations, including any conversations of both a formal and informal 
nature. That includes intragovernmental and interdepartmental transactions. 
There can be no confidence in the decision until this is done and scrutinised.

But it further begs the question I also asked back then of "How much longer 
before implants are mandatory by law for all American citizens, and those 
in the rest of the world?"

Denials {at} http://www.politechbot.com/p-03135.html
"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."

Nathan Cochrane
Deputy IT Editor
:Next:
The Age and Sydney Morning Herald
http://www.next.theage.com.au

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Date: Thu, 24 Oct 2002 14:53:16 +1000
From: Nathan Cochrane 
Reply-To: ncochrane{at}theage.fairfax.com.au
Organization: The Age newspaper
To: declan{at}well.com
Subject: Re: FC: FDA permits use of implantable ID chips in humans

Hi Declan

WorldNetDaily (WND) broke the Digital Angel story. Its reporter was 
subsequently castigated by the company, allegedly for twisting a 
spokesman's words, but it appears the news service was on the money all 
along. WND has done an excellent job of tracking this implant tracking 
company's machinations.

If I was the WND editor, I would demand a written apology from ADS on 
behalf of my staff.

I was chilled when I read in WND's story below that ADS's CEO, Richard 
Sullivan, had suggested all foreign nationals in the US should be implanted 
to replace green cards (which you don't need just to visit the US, anyway). 
I suggested this tongue in cheek on Dave Farber's IP list last November, 
but I never expected anyone to take me seriously.

Subject: IP: Re: New law contains ID-card proposal
http://lists.elistx.com/archives/interesting-people/200111/msg00014.html

Disclosure: both Declan McCullagh and Nathan Cochrane are referenced in the 
story.


YOUR PAPERS, PLEASE ...
Press coverage of implanted chips distorted?
Tech experts warn real threats go unreported by 'mainstream' media
Posted: May 10, 2002
12:43 p.m. Eastern

By Sherrie Gossett
- 2002 WorldNetDaily.com

As "Good Morning America," "Inside Edition," and
"The CBS Evening News" 
televise the much-hyped "chipping" of eight individuals starting
today, Lee 
Tien, the senior staff attorney for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, is 
speaking out passionately about what many experts believe are serious 
threats posed by implanting chips in humans - threats he says are not being 
adequately portrayed by the major media.

...

Tien is speaking out because he believes the media are doing a poor job of 
reporting the threats that the chip can propose to individual rights, as 
well as the technical security weaknesses inherent in the Digital Angel 
technology delivery system.

"The impression I'm getting is that the implantation thing has a 'gee-whiz' 
factor that the media seems to like," Tien told WND. "But ever since Sept. 
11, reporters have been less aggressive about challenging the privacy 
implications of the technologies or the practices."

Tien is especially concerned over involuntary uses of the chip and the 
company's intentional strategy to "handle" the public and media, so they 
are gradually accepting of a more dangerous form of the chip - the 
GPS-tracked "Digital Angel" chip.

CEO Sullivan has suggested that all foreigners entering the U.S. should be 
injected with the company's chips, which he said should replace green cards.

...

"They're doing the frog in the water trick - getting the memo out that this 
is voluntary, making it hard for civil liberty advocates to counter it," 
Tien explains. "But no matter what great uses are promised by the company, 
it is just part of an overall, larger trend - a movement toward the much 
bigger location tracking development of the chip."

MORE
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=27584


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Cheers, Steve..

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