A computer company has devised a 12mm chip, the VeriChip, which can be implanted in to people. The device — the name of which is derived from the Latin word for truth — veritas —has been condemned by some as an invasion of individual freedom and praised by others as a life-saving tool in the war against terrorism. “It is a very, very small identification technology that allows for multiple applications,” says the chief technology officer of the company which manufactures the VeriChip.

The pill-shaped gadget holds an antenna and microchip encased in silicon to prevent rejection. “Implanting takes about two minutes,” says the officer. The chip sits in the head of the needle which can inject it under the recipient's skin, deep enough to require surgery for its removal from any area of fatty tissue. “It is safe and hidden in the body and the information will always be there,” the chief technology officer says reassuringly. The VeriChip lies dormant in the body, without batteries, until it is scanned by a special reader which sends an electromagnetic pulse that charges the embedded device's tiny power systems. The chip then transmits its encrypted data by radio waves that are decoded and displayed on the reader. The current VeriChip holds only two or three lines of text but that is enough to save lives, according to the manufacturer.

Key words:

reassuringly: an aerial used for receiving or sending radio and television signals embed to fix something firmly in a surface or object

dormant: something that is not active or developing now, but that may become active or develop in the future

encrypt: to put information into code

So far, the VeriChip is being marketed primarily for medical uses. The device can, for example, hold an implanter's pacemaker identification number, the name and phone number of its manufacturer, the settings and even the medicines to which a patient is allergic. “All that information could be pulled up quickly during a medical emergency,” says the manufacturer's technology expert. “The next step is to put a patient's complete medical history on the VeriChip. With a few minor design changes we could store pages and pages of data. Today, every time you go into a hospital you give the same information. With the VeriChip patients would be able to have the nurse simply zap out the information. No more problems with insurance, medications, allergies or past medical problems. Doctors could get the information quickly and save lives. We hope to see this type of technology be as common as X-ray machines in hospital.”

Key words:

pacemaker: a small piece of electronic equipment connected to someone’s heart to help the muscles move regularly 

allergic: suffering from a medical condition in which you become sick or your skin becomes covered in red marks as a reaction to something you eat, breathe, or touch 

zap out: very informal way of referring to moving or sending something very quickly 

The other clear and immediate application is security. “You would need the right VeriChip to enter areas like nuclear power plants, military bases or cockpits of airliners,” says the expert. According to its manufacturer, the VeriChip is the perfect way to prevent a disaster similar to 9/11 from happening again. Some of the hijackers who crashed planes into New York’s World Trade Centre and the Pentagon in Washington had criminal records. If they had been chipped when they were picked up by the police the first time they might not have been allowed to enter the United States or board an aircraft there.

Key words:

hijacker: persons who illegally take control of a vehicle, especially a plane, using violence or threats 

Until now, the VeriChip has been implanted mostly in animals. By 2005 over eight million dogs and cats had been chipped in the Home Again Project. “Lost animals brought to veterinarians are scanned and their owner is called. It has become standard procedure,” says the manufacturer, who claims that the world is ready to begin implanting VeriChips into people too:" we are vulnerable to terrorists and after 9/11, the VeriChip does not seem such a wild idea.” The first human to inject himself with a VeriChip did so as a response to the terrorist attacks. He is a doctor who worked on the VeriChip project. He says that if on 9/11 firemen and police had had VeriChips, rescue workers would have been able to scan through the rubble to find them or at least identify their bodies.

Key Words:

veterinarian: animal doctor 

vulnerable: weak or easily hurt physically or mentally

rubble: broken pieces of brick and stone from buildings that have been destroyed 

The manufacturer's other project, the Digital Angel, is the smallest identification device to date and clips on to the wearer's belt like a pager. Designed to monitor a person who can easily become lost, the Digital Angel can be attached to a child or an elderly grandparent suffering from Alezheimer's disease. “If little Susie or grandma wanders off, you are alerted. You can then log on to our website and get a map and directions to her location.” You can then log on to our website and get a map and directions to her location.” Police are interested, too. “We have a contract with the State of California to design the Digital Angel as a lockable device that will monitor the behaviour of parolees and offenders,” says the manufacturer. “It will warn authorities if they go near children or the person they were stalking.”

Key words:

monitor: to regularly check something or watch someone in order to find out what is happening 

Alezheimer's disease: a serious illness which affects the brain and makes it difficult to remember things and becomes worse as time passes 

wander off: to move away from a place where you are usually or where people expect you to be 

parolees: a person allowed to leave prison before the official time if they promise to obey particular rules 

stalk: to follow and watch someone all the time in a threatening manner because of a strong interest in them 

The manufacturer plans to combine the Digital Angel and VeriChip in “a very small chip that would transmit from a person's belt or watch. Later we would develop a slightly larger device which could be embedded in the body. The first will be sold in Latin America as a protection against kidnapping. We see a billion-dollar market in Latin America, where privacy regulations are less stringent.”

And privacy of the individual is a problem for the VeriChip's manufacturer. A number of concerned individuals believe that wearing a VeriChip will become a legal requirement. This would mean that an individual's location could be established at any time, thus limiting his or her freedom. A critic of the VeriChip even claimed, “There's a reason we keep our identities to ourselves and don't walk around wearing name tags. It's called freedom.”To which a possible response might be: “Freedom for what and from what exactly?” Few critics explain just why total freedom is so desirable, if a person has nothing to hide. Other people believe that it is morally wrong to implant devices in the bodies of humans. But as the manufacturer of the VeriChip points out, these are the same people who would be very happy to know that everyone aboard their flight had passed the VeriChip scan test!

According to the VeriChip's manufacturer, many children like the device. “We believe that many young people think it is fun to get chipped. You've got a generation that's already piercing themselves. Of course kids are going to put electronics under their skin — it's just the next step in human's interaction with technology.”

It's surely exciting to think that in the not-too-distant future, you will approach the locked front door of your home or office and it will automatically open because of the chip in your body. There will be no need for keys to start a car. Eventually you might be able to control your computer just by thinking about it. The VeriChip may also hold all our personal preferences. At our approach, our favourite music will play on the stereo, the car seat will adjust to fit us automatically, the oven will automatically cook our favourite dishes, and hot and cold water will always be available.