British parents want microchip to track their kids

Sun Sentinel ^ | August 2, 2002 | Jason Hopps

[GaryMontana]

LONDON -- A British scientist said on Monday he had been inundated with requests by panicked parents to implant a tracking microchip into their children after the recent murders of two 10-year-olds in a quiet English town. Cybernetics expert Kevin Warwick from Reading University near London believes he can allay parents fears with a tiny microchip that may prevent an abduction from becoming a murder. The controversial robotics scientist gained fame in Britain after he wired his own nervous system to a computer in an experiment he hopes will eventually give paralysed people more control over their own bodies. ``A number of families have contacted me after the murders of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman with the possibility of using an implant for their own daughter,'' Warwick told Reuters in a telephone interview. The bodies of the two friends were found in remote woodland two weeks after they went missing from their home town of Soham in eastern England on August 4. ``There are several options, including the possibility of using a mobile phone network to transmitting a signal and linking it to a Global Positioning System,'' he said. One family, the Duvals, has offered up their 11-year-old daughter Danielle as the first guinea pig to test the electronic tag, which Warwick said he hopes to perfect sometime before Christmas. The operation would involve implanting a small transmitter about one inch long -- the size of a lozenge, Warwick says -- either into the child's arm or stomach. ``A potential abductor wouldn't know the child had the device and it could be switched off to sleep mode when it wasn't needed and to conserve its battery,'' Warwick said. Watches that perform a similar function are already commercially available in the United States, but they could be too easily removed and discarded, Warwick said. Danielle's mother Wendy told the Daily Mirror newspaper on Monday: ``After the news of Holly and Jessica we sat down as a family and discussed what we could do...I know nothing is ever foolproof but we believe the microchip will go a long way to protecting her.'' A spate of recent abductions in the United States have put parents there on edge as they worry about their children, but Warwick believes it is for society to decide if a microchip implant is the ethical way to combat such fears. ``There are of course many more questions to be asked and I suspect there will be objections to an implant, but if the general trend in Britain is in favour of such an operation it will be ready to go by Christmas,'' he said.

[GaryMontana]

No thank you, I do not want my kid, pet, or anything else having a microchip implant.

[grobdriver]

Cybernetics expert Kevin Warwick from Reading University near London believes he can allay parents fears with a tiny microchip that may prevent an abduction from becoming a murder.

So much hooey.
If this were a James Bond flick, the story line would be that this guy has been paying degenerates to abduct children in order to stir the panic pot and get his product stuck into every kid in the country.
Then, as they grown into adults, he would be able to activate the "special program" that has been lying dormant in the chip all these years.
Kids become bankers would transfer millions to him.
Kids become CEOs would shower him with gifts and position.
This is the beginning of the take-over of the world!

But that's if it were a James Bond movie. As it is, it's just a sick idea to stick these things into your kids.

[droberts]

Well the British seem to want cctv surveillance, to give up guns, chip their kids, speed limiters in cars, no self-defence, etc. Sooner or later someone there will figure out just where this is going.

[Mr. Thorne]

Sometimes, I'd like a stun collar for my stepson...

"So, that leaves you and the dog. You're telling me the dog came into the kitchen, got out the peanut butter, opened the jar, got several spoonfuls (and left the spoon in the jar), and then went his merry way?"

"uhhhhh..."

(Abbreviation of an actual conversation, btw.)

[jd777]

Oh no they won't.

[MainFrame65]

I think somebody is selling vaporware here. Identity microchips are widely available for pets and livestock, but they are the size of a grain of rice, require activation from an external transmitter no more than a couple of feet away from the animal, and transmit (more likely, actually absorb from transmitted energy) a short, fixed code over a distance of a foot or two. The idea that a GPS receiver (with storage) a cell phone type transmitter, and a power source sufficient to keep them operating for an extended period could be easily implanted is beyond current technology. GPS signals require integration, so power is required for several seconds to operate correctly.

An internal battery could only work for a limited time, although it could be recharged externally. But a modern GPS needs 4 AA alkaline batteries to operate for about 16 hours. My guess is something like 10 watt-hours. And the transmitter needs power, as well. External power would be required, perhaps through an inductive loop. There is no method currently available to obtain sufficient energy from the body to run the unit. And I don't believe it can be built small enough to not require major surgery for implantation.

[Jzen]

AHh don't worry about that, batteries that is. In the near future when a kid is born the doctor will ask what options you want with your new kid. Like an alarm system, mute feature, extra memory and rechargeable batters with an extension cord you can plug into the nearest outlet.