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Skriven 2007-12-24 02:56:34 av FidoNews Robot (2:2/2.0)
Ärende: FidoNews 24:52 [02/05]: General Articles
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                        GENERAL ARTICLES
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              528219000098937

         By Michiel van der Vlist, 2:280/5555


A fifteen digit number for the title of an article? What's that? Surf
to http://www.ndg.nl/eng_index.html and enter this 15 digit number in
the search window. It will lead you to my phone number.

It is the serial number of the RF-ID chip that was injected a month
ago in my then 10 week old kitten by the name of Tijger. If she strays
anyone who finds her can take her her to a vet or any other place
where there is a reader, and have her traced back to me in a matter of
minutes. One of the blessings of the hi-tech society that we now live
in. Downside is that it is not only the age of high-tech but also the
age og Big Brother. These chips have become so cheap that it has
become affordable to embed them in almost everything, even
disposables. Passports, credit cards, library subscriber cards,
clothing, books and even banknotes. Very convenient but also very Big
Brother. Contrary to the conventional card with a magnetic strip or
contact chip that has to be inserted into a reader, the RF-ID chip can
be read from a distance without the bearer being aware of it. So Big
Brother can follow your every move whenever you carry one of those
chips with you. And likely you will soon carry one or more without
even being aware that you do. Earlier this year, the Dutch railroads
introduced a new discount card that replaces the old card with photo
ans signature. What they did not tell the customers is that it
contains an RF-ID chip. The traveller can be credited every time he
enters or leaves a train. And logged. In the not too distant future
the same card will be used as a debit card for all public transport in
The Netherlands. It will replace the classic bus and train ticket. No
more cash end no more anonymous travelling. Big  Brother knows where
you go. Of course the transport companies promised it would only be
used for payment and nothing else and that the data would only be
stored as long as needed for that purpose. Yeah, the telephone
companies said the same for their billing data. The data would be
erased when the bill was settled and any queries resolved. And once
they got that running the law was changed so that the Telcos were
forced to keep the data for at least 10 years and make them available
for law enforcement.

Tijger does not worry about these thing. It was a big needle for a
small kitten and it hurt, but that was a month ago and she has long
forgotten. If she lives all of her nine cat lives, she will live them
in blissful ignorance of what she carries under her skin. But I know
and I fear that I may live to see the day my great grandson will have
a similar - but compulsory - implant that will see to it that he can
never be truly alone....

Michiel van der Vlist
December 23, 2007

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