scary..

One in four Germans wants microchip under skin: poll
March 2, 2010 - 1:20AM
It sounds like something from a sci-fi film, but one in four Germans would be happy to have a microchip implanted in their body if they derived concrete benefits from it, a poll Monday showed.

The survey, by German IT industry lobby group BITKOM, was intended to show how the division between real life and the virtual world is increasingly coming down, one of the main themes of the CeBIT trade fair that kicks off Tuesday.

In all, 23 percent of around 1,000 respondents in the survey said they would be prepared to have a chip inserted under their skin "for certain benefits".

Around one in six (16 percent) said they would wear an implant to allow emergency services to rescue them more quickly in the event of a fire or accident.
news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-technology...l-20100302-pdss.html

you know I wonder what the results would be of a similar poll here. One part of me says there would be a small minority who would come out in favour.

however, when you think of the incredible intrusion into our private lives by CCTV and the number of times you here people say 'well, if you haven't done anything wrong you haven't anything to fear..... it rings a similar bell to me.

<<< One in four Germans wants microchip under skin >>>

I wonder how many members of the Labour Government are in favour too ?

They've taken every other freedom away from us but probably didn't dare to get this one so quickly !

A few years ago school kids were asked how they felt about having chips implanted "for their own safety". I'll always remember the one boy who asked if it would be easy to have it removed once he was older, and how worried he looked when he couldn't get a straight answer.

Thankfully the child protection chip was never introduced (so far as we know).

I'm in 2 minds over the chip for kids..wonderful if one goes missing and they could be tracked easily. With friends who had a child kidnapped and murdered-the after efects on a family are just too horrible. But in retrospect a chip posibly wouldn't stop a murderer anyway.

I know people in New York who had their child kidnapped 25 years ago when he went to a bus with his mother watching..she turned for a second and he's never been seen again. It became a hugely famous case and it devestaed the entire family..they split up..other kids went haywire etc. A chip still may not help but you always think..if it saves one !!

but a government will abuse anything..

To be fair, there will soon be tremendous medical advantages of having microelectronics becoming part of our bodies.

And those advantages will probably mean that nearly everybody will soon get used to the idea.

For example, diabetes patients are already having 'microchips' inserted into their bodies which can monitor their insulin levels.

Of course, when we are talking about being shocked by a story like this, we have in mind things like electronic tagging and Big Brother surveilance.