2004/10/15
In the newspaper today it says that the US FDA approved the marketing of RFID devices implanted in humans for medical purposes. The devices would be used solely to identify a patient, at which point the relevant medical details could be retrieved. So it is all about the unique ID. This made me think, aren't there alternatives?
The first one that springs to mind is the 'Med-Alert' dog-tags that many kids at school had when we were growing up. Especially the diabetics or bee-sting allergics had them. One could have a chip or code in there with an ID. But they can be lost or forgotten or torn off or whatever. So we need something more permanent. What about a tattoo? You could have a bar-code or even a alphanumeric SHA-hash on the back of the neck or somewhere unobtrusive. But that smacks too much of the horrific practices of the Holocaust.
So my last thought was, what if you could make DNS analysis really-really fast, and portable. Something like one minute, in a small appliance, and have a unique ID spat out. So no more devices implanted, and you just need it done and registered and there you are. Of course this is the ultimate biometric, and probably is impractical as I do not have a clue what is actually involved in doing a proper DNA analysis. But the thought intrigues me.
