The
VERICHIP
Prophecy News
Watch
The purpose of this site is to monitor the
development of the Verichip/Digital Angel and other Advanced
Technologies in relationship to Bible Prophecy.
What is the Verichip?
The VeriChip is an implantable, 12mm
by 2.1mm radio frequency device about the size of the point of a
typical ballpoint pen. Each VeriChip contains a unique
identification number and has the potential to hold many different
forms of critical data. Utilizing an external scanner, radio
frequency energy passes through the skin energizing the dormant
VeriChip, which then emits a radio frequency signal transmitting the
identification number and other data contained in the VeriChip. The
scanner will display the identification number, but the VeriChip
data can also be transmitted, via telephone or the Internet, to an
FDA compliant, secure data-storage site. It will then be accessible
by authorized personnel. Inserting the VeriChip device is a simple
procedure performed in an outpatient, office setting. It requires
only local anesthesia, a tiny incision and perhaps a small adhesive
bandage.
Verichip - fulfilling the need for
security?
Personal identity verification technology has gained considerable
interest recently. A great deal of focus has been trained on
so-called “biometric” technologies – which identify individuals by
their unique biological or physical characteristics, such as
fingerprints, voiceprints, retina characteristics, and face
recognition points. VeriChip, by contrast, relies on imbedded,
tamper-proof, microchip technology, which allows for non-invasive
access to identification, medical and other critical data. Use of
advanced VeriChip technology means that the threat of theft, loss,
duplication or counterfeiting of data is substantially diminished or
eliminated. Specific application areas include: enhancement of
present forms of identification, search and rescue, and various law
enforcement and defense uses.
Verichip and the Digital Angel - No
Place to hide?
VeriChip is also commonly referred to as the Digital Angel. The
Digital Angel represents the first-ever combination of advanced
biosensor technology and Web-enabled wireless telecommunications
linked to Global Positioning Systems (GPS). By utilizing advanced
biosensor capabilities, Digital Angel will be able to monitor key
body functions – such as temperature and pulse – and transmit that
data, along with accurate location information, to a ground station
or monitoring facility.
Verichip - What does this have to do with Bible
Prophecy?
Revelation 13 describes a mark, in the right hand or
forehead that will enable people to buy or sell items - in fact you
can't conduct commerce without it. Almost all experts agree
that the next step in RFID technology is to combine such devices as
the Verichip with financial transactions so that the chips act as a
virtual debit card - see related article below.
So is the Verichip the famous "mark of the beast"? No, we don't
believe so as the mark of Revelation has as much to do with
religious worship as it does economic function.. However, we
do believe that the Verichip is but the tip of the iceberg in
developing technology that could eventually fulfill the role of
Revelation 13. For that reason we want to monitor it's
development along with other advancing technologies.
Related Story:
Bio-chip implant arrives for cashless
transactions
At a global security conference held today in Paris, an American
company announced a new syringe-injectable microchip implant for
humans, designed to be used as a fraud-proof payment method for cash
and credit-card transactions.
The chip implant is being presented as an advance over credit
cards and smart cards, which, absent biometrics and appropriate
safeguard technologies, are subject to theft, resulting in identity
fraud.
Identity fraud costs the banking and financial industry some $48
billion a year, and consumers $5 billion, according to 2002 Federal
Trade Commission estimates.
In his speech today at the ID World 2003 conference in
Paris, France, Scott R. Silverman, CEO of Applied Digital Solutions,
called the chip a "loss-proof solution" and said that the chip's
"unique under-the-skin format" could be used for a variety of
identification applications in the security and financial worlds.
The company will have to compete, though, with organizations
using just a fingerprint scan for similar applications.
The ID World Conference, held yesterday and today at the Charles
de Gaulle Hilton, focused on current and future applications of
radio frequency identification (RFID) technologies, biometrics,
smart cards and data collection.
The company's various "VeriChips" are RFID chips, which contain a
unique identification number and can carry other personal data about
the implantee. When radio-frequency energy passes from a scanner, it
energizes the chip, which is passive (not independently powered),
and which then emits a radio-frequency signal transmitting the
chip's information to the reader, which in turn links with a
database.
ADS has previously touted its radio frequency identification
(RFID) chips for secure building access, computer access, storage of
medical records, anti-kidnapping initiatives and a variety of
law-enforcement applications. The company has also developed
proprietary hand-held readers and portal readers that can scan data
when an implantee enters a building or room.
The "cashless society" application is not new – it has been
discussed previously by Applied Digital. Today's speech, however,
represented the first formal public announcement by the company of
such a program.
In announcing VeriPay to ID World delegates, Silverman stated the
implant has "enormous marketplace potential" and invited banking and
credit companies to partner with VeriChip Corporation (a subsidiary
of ADS) in developing specific commercial applications beginning
with pilot programs and market tests.
Applied Digital's announcement in Paris suggested wireless
technologies, RFID development, new software solutions, smart-card
applications and subdermal implants might one day merge as the
ultimate solution for a world fraught with identity theft,
threatened by terrorism, buffeted by cash-strapped governments and
law-enforcement agencies looking for easy data-collection, and
corporations interested in the marketing bonanza that cutting-edge
identification, payment, and location-based technologies can
afford.
Cashless payment systems are now part of a larger technology
development subset: government identification experiments that seek
to combine cashless payment applications with national ID
information on media (such as a "smart" card), which contain a whole
host of government, personal, employment and commercial data and
applications on a single, contactless RFID chip.
In some scenarios, government-corporate coalitions are advocating
such a chip be used by employees also to access entry to their
workplace and the company computer network, reducing the cost outlay
of the corporations for individual ID cards.
Malaysia's "MyKad" national ID "smart" card is the foremost
example.
Meanwhile, privacy advocates have expressed concern over RFID
technology rollouts, citing database concerns and the specter of
individuals' RFID chips being read without permission by people who
have their own hand-held readers.
Several privacy and civil liberties groups have recently called for
a voluntary moratorium on RFID tagging "until a formal
technology assessment process involving all stakeholders, including
consumers, can take place." Signatories to the petition include the
American Civil Liberties Union, the Electronic Frontier Foundation,
the Electronic Privacy Information Center, Privacy International and
the Foundation for Information Policy Research, a British think
tank.
Commenting on today's announcement, Richard Smith a computer
industry consultant, referred to what some "netizens" are already
calling "chipectomies": "VeriChips can still be stolen. It's just a
bit gruesome when to think how the crooks will do these kinds of
robberies."
Citing MasterCard's PayPass, Smith pointed out that
most of the major credit-card companies are looking at RFID chips to
make credit cards quicker, easier, and safer to use.
"The big problem is money," said Smith. "It will take billions of
dollars to upgrade the credit-card networks from magstripe readers
to RFID readers. During the transition, a credit card is going to
need both a magstripe and an RFID chip so that it is universally
accepted."
Some industry professionals advocate having citizens pay for
combined national ID/cashless pay chips, which would be embedded in
a chosen medium.
Identification technologies using RFID can take a wide variety of
physical forms and show no sign yet of coalescing into a single
worldwide standard.
Prior to today's announcement, Art Kranzley, senior vice
president at MasterCard, commented on the Pay Pass system in a USA
Today interview: "We're certainly looking at designs like key fobs.
It could be in a pen or a pair of earrings. Ultimately, it could be
embedded in anything – someday, maybe even under the skin."
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