in reply to Re: (OT) Implantable ID chips
in thread (OT) Implantable ID chips

We already have something that is nicely compressed and easily readable: dna. Rather than implant something that can be ripped out or counterfitted, just go with some kind of fast dna scanners. There's fun for ya! Just spit at the ATM for your money! Or use your friend's spit!

On a similar note, does anyone know anything about retinal scanning? I can think of some fairly gruesome scenarios there. Does the eye actually have to be attached to a body?

Ah well, the old numeric tattoo is still an option. Seems like just about every other idea from the 3rd Reich has been brushed off and used by someone. There's a war on, after all. This is no time to get squeamish!

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Re: Re: Re: (OT) Implantable ID chips
by jepri (Parson) on Dec 22, 2001 at 16:27 UTC
    Apparently gouging out someone's eye a la Demolition Man does not work. In retinal scanning the device looks for a pattern of blood vessels on the back of the eye. Without bloodflow, the pattern will look different. How different, I don't know and really don't want to find out.

    The trouble with using such systems to auhorise transfers of money is that no system can prevent someone holding a gun to the back of your head and forcing you to authorise the transfer.

    Rubber hose cryptanalysis - it's a winner, every time.

    I actually thought that the ID stuff was more to do with tracking peoples movement, although tracking their purchases is practically the same thing.

    ____________________
    Jeremy
    I didn't believe in evil until I dated it.

[reply]
      Well, it depends. There are passive and active implants. The passive kind can only be scanned at a very short distance, say a few centimeters or even direct contact like an ATM card. Active devices could be made in lots of different distance categories, but probably with a corresponding tradeoff in size. If you want to find someone in the mountains, you are going to need something like a Lojack butt plug pushing out, I don't know, 20-30 watts? I suppose it could be lots smaller if it just sent out a coded ping every minute or so. If you just wanted a bluetooth king of thing, it might even be possible to have something that runs off the natural potential in the body.

      And yeah, I guess the eyeball thing wouldn't work, but like you, I really don't want to know. Same with those fingerprint keyboards. It doesn't take any great imagination to realize that it probably wouldn't require the actual removal of the "part."

      Anyway, there are, and always will be, really good reasons to like cash and barter. And really good reasons not to be "findable." (eg your .sig file!)

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Re3: (OT) Implantable ID chips
by belg4mit (Prior) on Apr 19, 2002 at 23:03 UTC
    Gattaca

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