Microchips: Not Just for Fido Anymore
The British Ministry of Justice is considering a new solution to prison overcrowding: microchip implants that could be used to trace released offenders.
The chips would be linked to a satellite tracking system of the kind used to trace stolen vehicles, the Independent reports. The chips could be used to make sure the offenders are at home during curfew hours.
British officials are considering microchips because of failures with ankle bracelets. Almost 2,000 people each year tamper with the bracelets so they no longer work, the story says.
Civil liberties advocates decried the plan.
The idea has also been mulled by Oklahoma lawmakers. A bill there would have authorized microchip implants in those convicted of violent crimes, but it was sent back to committee amid questions about its constitutionality, the Associated Press reported.
VeriChip Corp. says it has already sold 2,000 microchips for use in humans, Global Research reports. They have been implanted in about 400 patients, including those with Alzheimer’s disease. They have also been used by VIP patrons of a Spanish nightclub who want to bypass entrance lines and by employees of a now-defunct company so they could access certain rooms.
Two states, on the other hand, are concerned about possible invasions of privacy from the use of microchips. Wisconsin and North Dakota have passed bills requiring consent before microchips can be implanted in people, according to the Global Research report.
A hat tip to the Sentencing Law and Policy blog, which posted the Independent story.
