Randolph Tim Buckley, the creator of the online comic Ctrl+Alt+Del, has asked an interesting question on his website: should humans be embedded with microchips in the same way that pets are, for identification purposes?
Personally I think this is a great idea. The only problem with it is that the religious nuts will get on the bandwagon and declare the end of the world, the mark of the beast, and so on. But they aren't thinking this through properly!
What's the big deal anyway? If my cellular phone is turned on, then my location can be calculated by triangulation. I don't even have to be making a call. This can be cross-referenced to the service provider's database, which contains my ID number, my date of birth, my physical and postal address, my bank details, and mother's maiden name.
What about carrying my ID book or driver's licence around with me wherever I go? It's against the law to drive without a licence, and that contains my ID number, my date of birth, a photograph of me AND my personal signature.
I've also heard that the new EU passports are being chipped anyway, so when you get on a plane, they can follow you from country to country and you won't need a visa anymore. So what's wrong with a personal microchip?
So why shouldn't I be chipped? All it should give is my ID number and my date of birth. In South Africa, the ID number is generated from the date of birth anyway, so that's even less info to store. Our National Traffic Information System (NATIS) already can search driver information based on our ID numbers, so you don't even need to carry a driver's licence.
The only drawback I see is if the chip is embedded in your hand – unscrupulous individuals would chop off hands to get the chip. Then again, I'd be a lot less worried about someone trying to steal my ID book, and dedicate more brain activity to avoiding being attacked in a dark alley for my thumb, for example.
The conspiracy theorists who say that the government can use it to track you obviously have something to hide. How the HELL is the government going to track 45 million people in South Africa alone, not to mention the 60 million in UK and 300 million people in USA? For the same reason that the FBI simply does not have the manpower to listen to your phonecalls unless they specifically target you, there are just too many people to "track".
Think about this: if you're paying tax, the government is already watching you. How is wearing a microchip going to make it worse? It's just for identification purposes. If you're in a car accident and unconscious, and someone pinches your wallet before the paramedics can recover your medical aid card, you'll thank me when you wake up again.