DJ Co Implants Identity Chips In Workers For Security Access
I bet the bible thumpers will love this - hehe
CINCINNATI (AP)--A company that sells surveillance equipment has begun implanting tiny identifying devices in employees to allow them access to its secure vaults.
The program is voluntary and is believed to be the first of its kind in the United States, Sean Darks, chief executive of CityWatcher.com, said Monday.
Darks said three of the 3-year-old company's seven employees, including himself, have been implanted with radio frequency identification devices - known as RFIDs - about the size of a grain of rice.
"I have one," Darks said of the implants, first reported by the Financial Times. "I'm not going to ask somebody to do something I wouldn't do myself. None of my employees are forced to get the chip to keep their job."
CityWatcher.com has contracts with six cities to provide cameras and Internet monitoring of high-crime areas, Darks said. The company instituted the RFID program to restrict access to vaults where data and images are kept for police departments, he said.
"We've had it for a few months. We're testing it to see the effectiveness," Darks said.
The technology predates World War II, but has appeared in numerous modern adaptations, such as tracking pets and vehicles. The Mexico attorney general's office implanted RFIDs in some employees in 2004 to restrict access to secure areas.
The implants don't enable CityWatcher.com to track employees' movements, Darks said.
"It's a passive chip. It emits no signal whatsoever," Darks said. "It's the same thing as a keycard."
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 13, 2006 12:43 ET (17:43 GMT) |
