Is There an ID Chip in Your Future?
Pastor Dale Morgan
Is There an ID Chip in Your Future?*
By Heather Sells
CBN News
December 3, 2007
CBNNews.com - There's a growing movement to forcibly tag or chip your
animals with radio frequency identification devices. Many privacy
advocates believe this could lead to a scarier level: implanting you and
me. Now, there is an effort to stem the tide.
Introducing NAIS
Greg Niewendorp raises cattle in northern Michigan. Time in the saddle
is one of the best parts of the day for this fifth generation farmer.
But these days, he's spending lots of time holed up in his home office.
Why? Niewendorp and other small farmers are fighting the government's
plans to identify and track every single farm animal in the country.
Human Implants:
Are We Ready?
It's called NAIS or National Animal Identification System.
"Our primary interest is protecting the food supply by having a rapid
system that can reach out and address the needs for the primary food
animals," said USDA Undersecretary Bruce Knight.
On October 8, Michigan AG officials arrived on Niewendorp's farm with a
search warrant. But Niewendorp refused to allow them to put RFID tags on
his cattle and the state chipped his entire herd.
Pressure forced Niewendorp to give in that day, but his story spread
rapidly in farming circles -making him "the face" of a grass-roots
opposition movement.
"The tag goes in the ear. They give me a premises I.D. number. Now
they've got a national number on my cattle, a national number on my
land. I might still technically own the animal but they're controlling
what I can and can't do with it," he said.
While this may be the law in Michigan, Wisconsin and Indiana, the USDA
insists the federal identification program is not mandatory.
Knight said, "It can, it should and it will work on a voluntary basis."
Still, privacy experts say many USDA programs already require an NAIS
number. And small farmers like Virginian Scott Wilson worry about the
cost of buying tags and tracking animals.
"To be effective they're going to need 100 percent participation in this
program and that is really going to put an undue burden on us as small
farmers," Wilson said.
The USDA wants to be able to track animals quickly in the event of a
disease outbreak. It believes NAIS will do that and help encourage
confidence in the safety of our food supply - in the eyes of both
consumers and global markets.
Like It or Not, NAIS is Fast Becoming Reality
More than 1.5 million RFID tags are spread across some 400,000 farms
today.The USDA is now accepting bids for an additional million and a
half tags. The latest development:? The USDA has approved implantable
RFID devices for livestock.
Pets aren't supposed to be part of this program, but activist Barb
Haywood is not so sure. She and others in the dog world say mandatory
pet chipping is already happening in many communities.
"A microchip is not a benign device. A microchip is a data collection
device - a data collection device that's designed not just to collect
data on your dog - but you," Haywood said.
Haywood fears the government and pet companies will use the information
to enforce policies and sell products.
Right now, pet chipping is the law in places like unincorporated Los
Angeles country, Stockton, California and El Paso, Texas. Pet chip
companies emphasize the joy of chips helping to reunite lost pets with
their families.
But privacy expert Katherine Albrecht wonders how many pet owners know
about the cancer studies she recently uncovered. The studies show chip
implants that caused malignant tumors in lab rats and mice.
"It may not be such a good idea to force people to chip their family
companions when there may be even a slight chance that there's a cancer
link there," said Albrecht.
What about the 'Human' Implant Market?
Another concern is that animal implants may speed up the growth of the
human implant market. That's because Digital Angel, a major manufacturer
of animal chips, is owned by the same company that makes the human
implant, Verichip.
Since the FDA approved Verichip in 2004, it has set up shop in more than
900 hospitals. Verichip assures patients that in a medical emergency, a
simple wave of a scanner could correctly identify them and their medical
information.
But Verichip is working through health concerns of its own.
Susan Byrne received her chip in July, and says her arm still hurts.
"The next day, that's when I really felt discomfort. I felt like I was
having an injection 24/7 - like the needle was still in my arm," Byme said.
She says Verichip told her she was the first patient to ask that her
chip be removed. But Byme is skeptical, and Verichip did not respond to
CBN News' calls on the subject.
Opponents of the Verichip also worry that human implants will one day be
mandatory.
"There is actually a growing concern that an HMO or an employer could
actually require a person to be micro-chipped to get insurance or to
keep a job," Albrecht said.
So far, Wisconsin, North Dakota, and California have all passed laws
forbidding the mandatory chipping of people.
But for many animals, it may be too late.
"We're a very small voice right now going against the tide saying, 'Hey,
this doesn't make sense,' Wilson said.
What makes sense to both sides is safety. It seems, though, that no one
can agree. But at what price?