The British government is developing a plan to track current and former prisoners
by means of microchips implanted under the skin, drawing intense criticism from probation
officers and civil rights groups.
As a way to reduce prison crowding, many British prisoners are currently released under
electronic monitoring, carried out by means of an ankle bracelet that transmits signals
like those used by mobile phones.
Now the Ministry of Justice is exploring the possibility of injecting prisoners in the
back of the arm with a radio frequency identification (RFID) chip that contains information about
their name, address and criminal record. Such chips, which contain a built-in antenna,
could be scanned by special readers. The implantation of RFID chips in luggage, pets and
livestock has become increasingly popular in recent years.
In addition to monitoring incarcerated prisoners, the ministry hopes to use the chips on
those who are on probation or other conditional release. By including a satellite uplink
system in the chip, police would be able to use global positioning system (GPS) technology
to track subjects' exact locations at all times. According to advocates of such a measure,
this could help keep sex offenders away from "forbidden" zones like schools.
Harry Fletcher, assistant general secretary of the National Association of Probation
Officers, blasted the measure as degrading to the people chipped and of no benefit to
probation officers.
"Knowing where offenders like pedophiles are does not mean you know what they are
doing," Fletcher said. "Treating people like pieces of meat does not seem to
represent an improvement in the system to me." (naturalnews, 6.21.2008)
Shami Chakrabarti of the civil
rights group Liberty had even stronger words:
"If the Home Office doesn't understand why implanting a chip in someone is worse than
an ankle bracelet, they don't need a human-rights lawyer; they need a common-sense
bypass."Saturday, June 21, 2008 by: David Gutierrez
Key concepts: Microchipping, Civil rights and RFID. http://www.naturalnews.com/023481.html