Implantable microchips arouse FDA suspicions of potential privacy threat
HIPAA Weekly Advisor, August 2, 2004
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Imagine a microchip no bigger than a grain of rice injected under your skin for identification purposes-sounds like the stuff of sci-fi flicks, right? Not anymore. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is currently pondering the privacy implications of these new products that rely on radio frequency identification (RFID) technology, reports The Washington Post.
The FDA is concerned that having medical and identification information under your skin could open the door to invasions of privacy if unauthorized individuals were to scan and access your information, says The Post.
VeriChip, a company specializing in the tiny tracking devices which slip under the skin on the recipient's arm, designed similar chips used to identify animals but now have one approved for human use. The chips are injected with a syringe and when passed before a scanner send a radio frequency reporting an ID number back to the scanner. Several people have already opted to have the device inserted, including a Mexican Attorney General, reports the online news outlet News.Com.
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