In the face of raging immigration debates across the nation, Applied Digital Corp.’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Scott Silverman suggests “chipping” immigrants to help gain control of the situation.
Appearing last Tuesday on FOX News’ FOX & Friends, Silverman suggested that guest workers coming into the United States could be chipped at the border as a means of registration. In addition, Silverman said the chipping of guest workers could also aid enforcement of immigration laws at the employer level.
Applied Digital is the parent company of VeriChip, maker of the FDA-approved VeriMed Patient Identification System, a human-implantable microchip equipped with passive RFID technology designed to accurately identify patients as they arrive in emergency rooms.
Silverman explained that the microchip contains a 16-digit identification number, which can be viewed only when the chip is scanned by a reader device placed within about three inches from the chip. Normally, the chip is injected below the skin into fat tissue above the triceps muscle on a person’s upper right arm.
Silverman said he has been chipped and equated the process to “a simple injection process just like getting a shot of penicillin.”
Though the chip itself does not have capabilities other than identifying the chippee, Silverman said, “Through a serial port, it attaches to a computer, where a database would pull up and the medical application-your medical records.”
When asked about whether immigrants ought to have a choice about whether or not to have the chip implanted, Silverman responded quickly with “Absolutely. It’s an election on the part of the immigrant, or an election on the part of the government, when we ultimately define what that technology is that no one has defined yet.”
Though nothing is official, Silverman said his company is in talks with Washington officials, but pointed out that no decisions have been made by the government. Interestingly, Tommy Thompson, former Secretary of Health and Human Services, joined VeriChip’s board after leaving his post in the Bush administration. Thompson has suggested chipping military personnel as a means of replacing dog tags.
Of the chip’s use as a tracking device, Silverman said, “This is not a locating device; this has no GPS capabilities in it whatsoever. It is purely an identification device that reads a unique 16-digit identifier with a proprietary scanner within a very short range. It’s a passive device with no power source under the skin that ties to a database where the relevant information is stored.”
Yet privacy groups insist otherwise. Nonetheless, Silverman said of chipping immigrants, “It’s a benefit to the person that’s in the guest-worker program, because if you leave your card at home, or you leave it at your work, you’re not going to be able to go back and forth across the border.”
There have also been unexpected applications of chipping technology. A spokesman from Applied Digital said VeriChip assisted FEMA in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina by chipping about 300 dead bodies for identification purposes since mortuary facilities were in short supply. Information about the bodies, such as ethnicity, hair color, birth marks, tattoos and other identifying features, was entered into a database that families could access as they struggled to locate lost loved ones.
Overall, VeriChip has sold about 3,000 chips worldwide, many of which are being used overseas as access control devices for companies with high-level security needs. The company said removal of the chip is a simple procedure that can be performed in a doctor’s office, much like having a splinter removed.
In the United States, about 100 people carry the VeriMed chip under their skin. The hospital program that gives medical professionals access to the database of patient records via RFID chip identification numbers is still being developed, and chipping for medical use is expected to increase as more hospitals are outfitted with the database access.
However, Applied Digital said at least 30 million pets are already chipped with Digital Angel’s Home Again Pet ID Microchip. Digital Angel is one of eight subsidiaries of Applied Digital.
VeriChip’s recommended fee for humans getting chipped is about $200 and soon may be covered as a class II medical device by Medicare as well as by private medical insurance coverage plans. Hospitals must buy a $600 chip-reader device to scan for the chips.
Though privacy activists see human-chipping as the ultimate invasion of privacy, VeriChip thinks otherwise. Having applied for an initial public offering, VeriChip expects to begin trading under the ticker symbol “CHIP” sometime in June or July.
