Guardian (Digital) Angel
Source: The Daily Express
September 4, 2000
A REVOLUTIONARY human implant which can track the
position of the wearer and relay vital medical information via
satellite will be unveiled this autumn.
Scientists hope the Digital Angel could save thousands
of lives by sending early-warning signals to those with known medical
conditions or help rescuers to track victims of accidents or
disasters.
The implant is a miniature sensor, the size of a 5p
piece, equipped with a tiny antenna, which can be inserted under the
skin. Using satellite and wireless technology, it can pinpoint the
location of the wearer to within 50ft, record the body's vital signs
and pass the information on to a monitoring station.
Chief project scientist Dr Peter Zhou told the Daily
Express:
"The name should say it all. Digital Angel's purpose is to
save life."
As well as monitoring patients with medical conditions
such as heart disease or diabetes, the device could be used to track
missing persons such as victims of mountaineering accidents, soldiers
lost during missions, or
missing and kidnapped children.
Applied Digital Systems, the Florida-based parent
company, also see benefits for e-commerce, allowing firms to verify
the identity of those using online services such as banking.
The device will capture and transmit a person's vital
body-function data, such as temperature, blood pressure or blood sugar
levels, to an Internet-integrated ground station.
The device is powered through movement of muscles and
can be activated by the wearer or a monitoring facility.
Dr Zhou said:
"It will be a connection from yourself to
the electronic world. It will be your guardian and protector."
But concerns have been raised about personal privacy,
especially as the device can store the history of a person's
whereabouts.
With the integrated technology, a person's location,
health status and other personal data will be transmitted and
available via the Internet. Civil liberty campaigners warned of
problems and the UK's privacy watchdog
called for a thorough scrutiny of the way the technology would be
used, transmitted and stored.
Ian Bourne, of the Data Protection Office, said:
"We
would want to be certain that people signing up to the implantation of
such a device were clear about its strengths and weaknesses.
"Information transmitted over the airwaves and stored in
computers is not always secure. In the case of medical records, the
information stored on the chip could be very personal and private. The
last thing the wearer would want is for other people, or organisations
such as insurance companies, to have access to it.
"Another example is that of a celebrity wearer. Perhaps
the celebrity has a history of drink or drug problems. If that is on
the chip you can imagine how unscrupulous people may try to make use
of it for their own nefarious purposes.
"The manufacturers would also have to answer questions
as to how secure any data would be and who would have access to it.
There would also be the issue of any widening of the use of the
microchip. If it was to be used to track people's whereabouts, most of
us would think that was Big Brother gone
too far."
A spokesman for the human rights organisation Liberty,
said: "For us the issue is what is done with the information gathered
and the security of it." Professor Ross Anderson, of the Foundation
for Information Policy Research
in Cambridge, described Digital Angel as a "load of rubbish".
He said:
"The most compelling reason against it is how
information on the chip will be accessed by those who do need to
know - like doctors.
"Anyone can read a donor card or a Med Alert bracelet
but not everyone is going to have access to a scanner or computer.
Imagine if a person collapses on a plane. Both the air hostess,
trained in first aid, or a foreign-speaking doctor can recognise a Med
Alert bracelet which tells them the patient is an insulin-dependent
diabetic.
"That will not be possible if
there is a microchip hidden under the skin with the information on it
not accessible."
by Kathy Moran
© Express Newspapers, 2000
http://www.lineone.net/express/00/09/04/news/n0620-d.html