[privacy] UK: Prisoners 'To Be Chipped Like Dogs'

[Paul Ferguson]

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Via The Independent.

[snip]

Ministers are planning to implant "machine-readable" microchips under the
skin of thousands of offenders as part of an expansion of the electronic
tagging scheme that would create more space in British jails.

Amid concerns about the security of existing tagging systems and prison
overcrowding, the Ministry of Justice is investigating the use of satellite
and radio-wave technology to monitor criminals.

But, instead of being contained in bracelets worn around the ankle, the
tiny chips would be surgically inserted under the skin of offenders in the
community, to help enforce home curfews. The radio frequency identification
(RFID) tags, as long as two grains of rice, are able to carry scanable
personal information about individuals, including their identities, address
and offending record.

The tags, labelled "spychips" by privacy campaigners, are already used
around the world to keep track of dogs, cats, cattle and airport luggage,
but there is no record of the technology being used to monitor offenders in
the community. The chips are also being considered as a method of helping
to keep order within prisons.

[snip]

More:
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/article3333852.ece

Hat-tip: Chronicles of Dissent:
http://www.pogowasright.org/blogs/dissent/?p=781

- - ferg



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--
"Fergie", a.k.a. Paul Ferguson
 Engineering Architecture for the Internet
 fergdawg(at)netzero.net
 ferg's tech blog: http://fergdawg.blogspot.com/