The current system, with a number and a database, has been deployed in
several countries and in various U.S. hospitals, particularly in
emergency rooms. Both implantable and wearable microchips are a reality.
In fact, the largest VeriChip security system in the country was
recently installed in the Washington Hospital Center in Washington D.C.
The goals of such technology certainly are laudable. They seek to
prevent medical mistakes, to protect Alzheimer's patients and others who
are often unable to speak for themselves. But once again, how this
system is implemented and how quickly it is being accepted is a problem
that will undoubtedly lead to unintended consequences.
To date, there either has been no risk assessment study as to whether
the database used in the VeriChip systems or the microchips themselves
are corruptible or if there have been studies they apparently have not
been made available to the healthcare professionals who have requested
them. Let me repeat that: the FDA approved this program, which is now
going along at great speed, and there has been no study about whether
this sensitive data is safe from intrusion and/or theft. And if there is
anything we have learned in the computer era it is that where there is a
will there is a way. The criminals who invent malicious viruses or steal
information always seem to find a way in to a database, especially when
there is money to be made.
I suppose it is too much to expect that Congress anticipate new
technology, but at least Congress might try to keep up with what already
is available when drafting legislation. Plans were under way for
micro-chipping medical records when the original HIPPA laws were passed
and their existence certainly might have been considered in the seven
years it took HIPPA to be enforced. Now the law must once again try and
catch up with what already is happening around us.