~RFID Microchip......Mark of the Beast?~

RFID Microchips are microscopic information chips that can easily be implanted. These chips have the ability to hold large amounts of medical and personal information. There are many “pros” and “cons” to current-day microchip technology.

People in favor of it emphasize its convenience. An implanted chip would do away with the need for extra ID cards. All of the information you would ever need would be combined in one convenient microchip.

People who are against microchip implantation argue that their freedoms would be compromised. Concerns about the security of the data stored on the chips have been raised. How easily could this information be stolen or used against you?

Below, you will see a drop down menu which will give you a detailed description about RFID Microchips and their present-day societal influence.

(To view the menu, please click on the right arrow below to view the drop-down menu.)

~RFID Microchip Expose.....Mark of the Beast?~
(Material in this section copied directly from several sources, see sources below.)

This section will discuss the invention of a microchip, a tiny memory capsule that can conveniently be implanted inside of a person,animal, or object. This microchip can hold vast amounts of important information such as a person's medical history,lost animal's location, or be used to track specific object uses. This information can be read by simply scanner the implanted microchip. This section will discuss several aspects of this microchip: pros and cons, its uses, how people seek to implement the chips in their everyday lives and businesses, and how they will be used in the future. We will also ponder the Biblical prophecy of the "mark of the beast" and consider if the microchip is indeed what will be used to fulfill this prophecy.


RFID: Tracking everything, everywhere
by Katherine Albrecht, CASPIAN

[The following is an excerpt from: Albrecht, Katherine. "Supermarket Cards: The Tip of the Retail Surveillance Iceberg." Denver University Law Review, Summer 2002, Volume 79, Issue 4, pp. 534-539 and 558-565.]
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Supermarket cards and retail surveillance devices are merely the opening volley of the marketers' war against consumers. If consumers fail to oppose these practices now, our long-term prospects may look like something from a dystopian science fiction novel.


A new consumer goods tracking system called Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is poised to enter all of our lives, with profound implications for consumer privacy. RFID couples radio frequency (RF) identification technology with highly miniaturized computers that enable products to be identified and tracked at any point along the supply chain.

The system could be applied to almost any physical item, from ballpoint pens to toothpaste, which would carry their own unique information in the form of an embedded chip. The chip sends out an identification signal allowing it to communicate with reader devices and other products embedded with similar chips.

Analysts envision a time when the system will be used to identify and track every item produced on the planet.


A number for every item on the planet
What is RFID and how does it work?


RFID employs a numbering scheme called EPC (for "electronic product code") which can provide a unique ID for any physical object in the world. The EPC is intended to replace the UPC bar code used on products today.

Unlike the bar code, however, the EPC goes beyond identifying product categories--it actually assigns a unique number to every single item that rolls off a manufacturing line. For example, each pack of cigarettes, individual can of soda, light bulb or package of razor blades produced would be uniquely identifiable through its own EPC number.

Once assigned, this number is transmitted by a radio frequency ID tag (RFID) in or on the product. These tiny tags, predicted by some to cost less than 1 cent each by 2004 [Note: the one cent tag has proved unattainable as of late 2004. The cost of a passive RFID tag is currently between $0.20 and $0.80. -K.A. 9/04] are "somewhere between the size of a grain of sand and a speck of dust." They are to be built directly into food, clothes, drugs, or auto-parts during the manufacturing process.

Receiver or reader devices are used to pick up the signal transmitted by the RFID tag. Proponents envision a pervasive global network of millions of receivers along the entire supply chain -- in airports, seaports, highways, distribution centers, warehouses, retail stores, and in the home. This would allow for seamless, continuous identification and tracking of physical items as they move from one place to another, enabling companies to determine the whereabouts of all their products at all times.

Steven Van Fleet, an executive at International Paper, looks forward to the prospect. "We'll put a radio frequency ID tag on everything that moves in the North American supply chain," he enthused recently.

The ultimate goal is for RFID to create a "physically linked world" in which every item on the planet is numbered, identified, cataloged, and tracked. And the technology exists to make this a reality. Described as "a political rather than a technological problem," creating a global system "would . . . involve negotiation between, and consensus among, different countries." Supporters are aiming for worldwide acceptance of the technologies needed to build the infrastructure within the next few years.


History of the RFID microchip.
From where did the RFID microchip originate?

It’s generally said that the roots of radio frequency identification technology can be traced back to World War II. The Germans, Japanese, Americans and British were all using radar—which had been discovered in 1935 by Scottish physicist Sir Robert Alexander Watson-Watt—to warn of approaching planes while they were still miles away. The problem was there was no way to identify which planes belonged to the enemy and which were a country’s own pilots returning from a mission.

The Germans discovered that if pilots rolled their planes as they returned to base, it would change the radio signal reflected back. This crude method alerted the radar crew on the ground that these were German planes and not Allied aircraft (this is, essentially, the first passive RFID system).

Under Watson-Watt, who headed a secret project, the British developed the first active identify friend or foe (IFF) system. They put a transmitter on each British plane. When it received signals from radar stations on the ground, it began broadcasting a signal back that identified the aircraft as friendly. RFID works on this same basic concept. A signal is sent to a transponder, which wakes up and either reflects back a signal (passive system) or broadcasts a signal (active system).

Advances in radar and RF communications systems continued through the 1950s and 1960s. Scientists and academics in the United States, Europe and Japan did research and presented papers explaining how RF energy could be used to identify objects remotely. Companies began commercializing anti-theft systems that used radio waves to determine whether an item had been paid for or not. Electronic article surveillance tags, which are still used in packaging today, have a 1-bit tag. The bit is either on or off. If someone pays for the item, the bit is turned off, and a person can leave the store. But if the person doesn't pay and tries to walk out of the store, readers at the door detect the tag and sound an alarm.

The First RFID Patents

Mario W. Cardullo claims to have received the first U.S. patent for an active RFID tag with rewritable memory on January 23, 1973. That same year, Charles Walton, a California entrepreneur, received a patent for a passive transponder used to unlock a door without a key. A card with an embedded transponder communicated a signal to a reader near the door. When the reader detected a valid identity number stored within the RFID tag, the reader unlocked the door. Walton licensed the technology to Schlage, a lock maker, and other companies.

The U.S. government was also working on RFID systems. In the 1970s, Los Alamos National Laboratory was asked by the Energy Department to develop a system for tracking nuclear materials. A group of scientists came up with the concept of putting a transponder in a truck and readers at the gates of secure facilities. The gate antenna would wake up the transponder in the truck, which would respond with an ID and potentially other data, such as the driver's ID. This system was commercialized in the mid-1980s when the Los Alamos scientists who worked on the project left to form a company to develop automated toll payment systems. These systems have become widely used on roads, bridges and tunnels around the world.

At the request of the Agricultural Department, Los Alamos also developed a passive RFID tag to track cows. The problem was that cows were being given hormones and medicines when they were ill. But it was hard to make sure each cow got the right dosage and wasn't given two doses accidentally. Los Alamos came up with a passive RFID system that used UHF radio waves. The device drew energy from the reader and simply reflected back a modulated signal to the reader using a technique known as backscatter.

Later, companies developed a low-frequency (125 kHz) system, featuring smaller transponders. A transponder encapsulated in glass could be injected under the cows skin. This system is still used in cows around the world today. Low-frequency transponders were also put in cards and used to control the access to buildings.


Over time, companies commercialized 125 kHz systems and then moved up the radio spectrum to high frequency (13.56 MHz), which was unregulated and unused in most parts of the world. High frequency offered greater range and faster data transfer rates. Companies, particularly those in Europe, began using it to track reusable containers and other assets. Today, 13.56 MHz RFID systems are used for access control, payment systems (Mobile Speedpass) and contactless smart cards. They’re also used as an anti-theft device in cars. A reader in the steering column reads the passive RFID tag in the plastic housing around the key. If it doesn’t get the ID number it is programmed to look for, the car won't start.

In the early 1990s, IBM engineers developed and patented an ultra-high frequency (UHF) RFID system. UHF offered longer read range (up to 20 feet under good conditions) and faster data transfer. IBM did some early pilots with Wal-Mart, but never commercialized this technology. When it ran into financial trouble in the mid-1990s, IBM sold its patents to Intermec, a bar code systems provider. Intermec RFID systems have been installed in numerous different applications, from warehouse tracking to farming. But the technology was expensive at the time due to the low volume of sales and the lack of open, international standards.

UHF RFID got a boost in 1999, when the Uniform Code Council, EAN International, Procter & Gamble and Gillette put up funding to establish the Auto-ID Center at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Two professors there, David Brock and Sanjay Sarma, had been doing some research into the possibility of putting low-cost RFID tags on all products made to track them through the supply chain. Their idea was to put only a serial number on the tag to keep the price down (a simple microchip that stored very little information would be less expensive to produce than a more complex chip with more memory). Data associated with the serial number on the tag would be stored in a database that would be accessible over the Internet.

Sarma and Brock essentially changed the way people thought about RFID in the supply chain. Previously, tags were a mobile database that carried information about the product or container they were on with them as they traveled. Sarma and Brock turned RFID into a networking technology by linking objects to the Internet through the tag. For businesses, this was an important change, because now a manufacturer could automatically let a business partner know when a shipment was leaving the dock at a manufacturing facility or warehouse, and a retailer could automatically let the manufacturer know when the goods arrived.

Between 1999 and 2003, the Auto-ID Center gained the support of more than 100 large end-user companies, plus the U.S. Department of Defense and many key RFID vendors. It opened research labs in Australia, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Japan and China. It developed two air interface protocols (Class 1 and Class 0), the Electronic Product Code (EPC) numbering scheme, and a network architecture for looking up data associated on an RFID tag on the Internet. The technology was licensed to the Uniform Code Council in 2003, and the Uniform Code Council created EPCglobal, as a joint venture with EAN International, to commercialize EPC technology. The Auto-ID Center closed its doors in October 2003, and its research responsibilities were passed on to Auto-ID Labs.

Some of the biggest retailers in the world—Albertsons, Metro, Target, Tesco, Wal-Mart—and the U.S. Department of Defense have said they plan to use EPC technology to track goods in their supply chain. The pharmaceutical, tire, defense and other industries are also moving to adopt the technology. EPCglobal ratified a second-generation standard in December 2004, paving the way for broad adoption.


Influence of RFID Microchips

What is the probability of personal chip implants entering the mainstream consumer market? That was the question Social Technologies' Matthew Sollenberger worked to answer in a recent brief.

"Technology has advanced to the point where it is feasible to implant advanced microchips in humans," explains Sollenberger. "GPS, medical implant technology, and radio frequency identification (RFID) chips could be used for a variety of functions, from surveillance to identification. Chipping people would be simple, and could assist with child and elder safety, debit and credit payment, and personal medical records. However, consumer opinion is sharply divided on the merits of human microchip implants."

Drivers for inserting chips into people are diverse:

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Cheap implantable devices and quick, low-cost implantation have made chipping easy and affordable. It takes about 20 minutes, and doesn't require stitches.
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Chip tracking and scanning is becoming more robust, thanks to wireless, GPS, and RFID scanning networks.
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Parents are increasingly looking to technology to provide child safety solutions. In fact, 75% of parents in the UK say they would buy a child-tracking device.

But there are obstacles, he says. "The idea of implanting a chip with tracking functions in the body tends to evoke strong feelings--especially considering that RFID implants are considered highly vulnerable to hacking, and the long-term health effects are unknown."

In addition, privacy advocates warn that human chipping would let "Big Brother" run rampant. And, Sollenberger says, activist and legislative moves to restrict the use of human RFID implants are in motion, and several states already have laws prohibiting implantation of chips.


The implications of RFID


"Theft will be drastically reduced because items will report when they are stolen, their smart tags also serving as a homing device toward their exact location." - MIT's Auto-ID Center

Since the Auto-ID Center's founding at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1999, it has moved forward at remarkable speed. The center has attracted funding from some of the largest consumer goods manufacturers in the world, and even counts the Department of Defense among its sponsors. In a mid-2001 pilot test with Gillette, Philip Morris, Procter & Gamble, and Wal-Mart, the center wired the entire city of Tulsa, Oklahoma with radio-frequency equipment to verify its ability to track RFID equipped packages.

Though many RFID proponents appear focused on inventory and supply chain efficiency, others are developing financial and consumer applications that, if adopted, will have chilling effects on consumers' ability to escape the oppressive surveillance of manufacturers, retailers, and marketers. Of course, government and law enforcement will be quick to use the technology to keep tabs on citizens, as well.

The European Central Bank is quietly working to embed RFID tags in the fibers of Euro banknotes by 2005. The tag would allow money to carry its own history by recording information about where it has been, thus giving governments and law enforcement agencies a means to literally "follow the money" in every transaction. If and when RFID devices are embedded in banknotes, the anonymity that cash affords in consumer transactions will be eliminated.

Hitachi Europe wants to supply the tags. The company has developed a smart tag chip that--at just 0.3mm square and as thin as a human hair -- can easily fit inside of a banknote. Mass-production of the new chip will start within a year.


Consumer marketing applications will decimate privacy

"Radio frequency is another technology that supermarkets are already using in a number of places throughout the store. We now envision a day where consumers will walk into a store, select products whose packages are embedded with small radio frequency UPC codes, and exit the store without ever going through a checkout line or signing their name on a dotted line." Jacki Snyder, Manager of Electronic Payments for Supervalue (Supermarkets), Inc., and Chair, Food Marketing Institute Electronic Payments Committee


Microchips are turning up in some computer printers, car keys and tires, on shampoo bottles and department store clothing tags. They're also in library books and "contactless" payment cards (such as American Express' "Blue" and ExxonMobil's "Speedpass.")

Companies say the RFID tags improve supply-chain efficiency, cut theft, and guarantee that brand-name products are authentic, not counterfeit. At a store, RFID doorways could scan your purchases automatically as you leave, eliminating tedious checkouts.

At home, convenience is a selling point: RFID-enabled refrigerators could warn about expired milk, generate weekly shopping lists, even send signals to your interactive TV, so that you see "personalized" commercials for foods you have a history of buying. Sniffers in your microwave might read a chip-equipped TV dinner and cook it without instruction.


RFID would expand marketers' ability to monitor individuals' behavior to undreamt of extremes. With corporate sponsors like Wal-Mart, Target, the Food Marketing Institute, Home Depot, and British supermarket chain Tesco, as well as some of the world's largest consumer goods manufacturers including Procter and Gamble, Phillip Morris, and Coca Cola it may not be long before RFID-based surveillance tags begin appearing in every store-bought item in a consumer's home.

According to a video tour of the "Home of the Future" and "Store of the Future" sponsored by Procter and Gamble, applications could include shopping carts that automatically bill consumers' accounts (cards would no longer be needed to link purchases to individuals), refrigerators that report their contents to the supermarket for re-ordering, and interactive televisions that select commercials based on the contents of a home's refrigerator.

Now that shopper cards have whetted their appetite for data, marketers are no longer content to know who buys what, when, where, and how. As incredible as it may seem, they are now planning ways to monitor consumers' use of products within their very homes. RFID tags coupled with indoor receivers installed in shelves, floors, and doorways, could provide a degree of omniscience about consumer behavior that staggers the imagination.

Consider the following statements by John Stermer, Senior Vice President of eBusiness Market Development at ACNielsen:

"[After bar codes] [t]he next 'big thing' [was] [f]requent shopper cards. While these did a better job of linking consumers and their purchases, loyalty cards were severely limited...consider the usage, consumer demographic, psychographic and economic blind spots of tracking data.... [S]omething more integrated and holistic was needed to provide a ubiquitous understanding of on- and off-line consumer purchase behavior, attitudes and product usage. The answer: RFID (radio frequency identification) technology.... In an industry first, RFID enables the linking of all this product information with a specific consumer identified by key demographic and psychographic markers....Where once we collected purchase information, now we can correlate multiple points of consumer product purchase with consumption specifics such as the how, when and who of product use."

Marketers aren't the only ones who want to watch what you do in your home. Enter again the health surveillance connection. Some have suggested that pill bottles in medicine cabinets be tagged with RFID devices to allow doctors to remotely monitor patient compliance with prescriptions.

While developers claim that RFID technology will create "order and balance" in a chaotic world, even the center's executive director, Kevin Ashton, acknowledges there's a "Brave New World" feel to the technology. He admits, for example, that people might balk at the thought of police using RFID to scan the contents of a car's trunk without needing to open it. The Center's co-director, Sanjay E. Sarma, has already begun planning strategies to counter the public backlash he expects the system will encounter.


RFID Linked to Cancer

Are there health risksassociated with their use?

A number of studies have revealed that the wireless microchips implanted under the skin of many pets to stop them becoming lost can significantly raise their risk of developing cancer.

Millions of pets worldwide have the wireless chips implanted under the skin of their neck with details of home and owners should they get lost.

The microchips which have been used so successfully to reunite lost pets with their owners are even used with some people for medical monitoring purposes.

However new studies have found that mice implanted with the wireless microchips have developed cancer at an alarming rate.

A recent French study found that 4.1% of mice out of a total of 1206 mice, developed cancer after being implanted with the devices and the researchers say the microchips were the cause of the tumours.

The results of that study supports earlier research by both U.S. and German teams yet the FDA has approved the use of such microchips for humans.

The manufacturers say they stand by their products but many cancer experts have expressed concern about their use in humans.

A report by the Associated Press (AP) reveals that cancer experts were concerned when they reviewed a collection of animal studies suggesting that implanted RFID microchips may cause cancer.

Although the experts said there is a considerable difference between humans and animals (it's easier to cause cancer in a laboratory mouse than a human said one veterinary oncologist for example), there was sufficient concern for them to call for more long term controlled studies to be done on larger animals and possibly humans as well.


A Failed Attempt to Microchip Alzheimer's patients


The well-known company, Verichip,attempted to conduct a medical study; 200 Alzheimer’s patients would be implanted with these microchips. The chips would be injected into their flesh and they would be monitored for 2 years for ‘research purposes.’ People had an immediate reaction to this proposed trial. They quickly pointed to all the evidence aswell as the proven fact that thesechips were known to cause cancer.Also pointed out was the fact that most Alzheimer patients do not possess themindset to make a clear decisionregarding the acceptance or refusal ofthe chip. They said it was unethicaland morally wrong to implant a possiblecancer-causing chip intocognitively-impaired persons who were not aware of the full ramifications of the microchips. Thankfully, this ‘research’ experiment was not allowed to occur.

Who is Katherine Albrecht?

Dr. Katherine Albrecht is the director of CASPIAN (Consumers Against Supermarket Privacy Invasion and Numbering), an organization she founded in 1999 to advocate free-market, consumer-based solutions to the problem of retail privacy invasion.

Katherine Albrecht is on a mission from God.

The influential consumer advocate has written a new book warning her fellow Christians that radio frequency identification may evolve to become the "mark of the beast" -- meaning the technology is a sign that the end-times are drawing near.

"My goal as a Christian (is) to sound the alarm," said Albrecht, in a conversation over tea at a high-end grocery store.


Katherine is widely recognized as one of the world's leading experts on consumer privacy. She regularly speaks on the consumer privacy and civil liberties impacts of new technologies, with an emphasis on RFID and retail issues. She has testified on RFID technology before the Federal Trade Commission, state legislatures, the European Commission, and the Federal Reserve Bank, and she has given over a thousand television, radio and print interviews to news outlets all over the world. Her efforts have been featured on CNN, NPR, the CBS Evening News, Business Week, and the London Times, to name just a few.

Executive Technology Magazine has called Katherine "perhaps the country's single most vocal privacy advocate" and Wired magazine calls her the "Erin Brockovich" of RFID". Her success exposing corporate misdeeds has earned her accolades from Advertising Age and Business Week and caused pundits to label her a PR genius.

Katherine is co-author of "Spychips: How Major Corporations Plan to Track your Every Move with RFID." Two days prior to its release, Spychips flew the top of the Amazon bestseller charts, hitting number one as a "Mover & Shaker," making its way to the top-ten nonfiction bestseller list, and spending weeks as a Current Events bestseller. Within its first four weeks alone, the book sold thousands of copies, and the journalistic and privacy communities called it "brilliantly written," "stunningly powerful," and "scathing." In a nod to the book's focus on freedom, Spychips was awarded the prestigious Lysander Spooner Award for Advancing the Literature of Liberty and named "the best book on liberty" for 2005.

Katherine is a highly sought-after public speaker, informing audiences across Europe and North America with her well-researched, compelling, and often chilling accounts of how retail surveillance technology threatens our privacy. She is a frequent guest on radio programs worldwide, logging over 500 hours of airtime with her proven ability to entertain an audience and generate listener calls.

Katherine graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration with a concentration in International Marketing. She holds a Doctorate in Education from Harvard University with a research focus in consumer education, privacy and psychology.


Radio Interview with Katherine Albrecht reveals unauthorized use of RFID microchips

In the scrollbox below, there are 12 links to 12 different videos. These videos provide a revealing interview with Katherine Albrecht. She provides disturbing results of in-depth research on the use of RFID microchips in present day society.


The content of the interview can be summed up below in a question/answer FAQ page. (8)


Frequently Asked Questions About RFID

Q. What is RFID?
A. Radio Frequency IDentification is an automatic data capture technology that uses tiny tracking chips affixed to products. These tiny chips can be used to track items at a distance--right through someone's purse, backpack, or wallet. Many of the world's largest manufacturing companies would like to replace the bar code with these "spy chips," meaning that virtually every item on the planet--and the people wearing and carrying those items--could be remotely tracked. There is currently NO REGULATION protecting consumers from abuse of this technology. >> Learn More about RFID

Q. What do RFID chips and tags look like?
A. RFID chips are usually attached to antennas. The chip and antenna combination is called a "tag." RFID tags vary widely in size, shape and color. We have pictures of several of these chips online:
Click here for images of RFID tags
Click here for images of an RFID tag used in a Gillette Mach 3 Razor package

Q. What companies make or use RFID devices?
A. We have a list of 103 companies that were sponsors of the MIT Auto-ID Center as of June 25, 2003. The MIT Auto-ID Center is the organization that developed the infrastructure for RFID with the help of global businesses like Gillette, Unilever and Procter & Gamble. We expect that these companies will be among the first to adopt the technology.

Q: How can I tell if there's an RFID chip in my ____?
A: Since no law requires manufacturers to tell you when they've put an RFID chip into a product or its packaging, the only way for an average consumer to know if a product contains a chip is to see it with his or her own eyes. (Or you can invest in an electronics lab and costly RFID readers.) The good news is that most RFID devices in commercial use today have a fairly conspicuous antenna, ranging from the size of a fingernail to the size of a full-sized sheet of paper. If you suspect that an item contains a hidden RFID chip, here are a few search tips: Look closely at any paper labels or stickers on the object. Peel them off and hold them up to the light. Do you see flat, dark or metallic lines converging on a central point? If so, you may be looking at the antenna of an RFID chip. The least invasive ways to check for RFID chips in shoes is to pull back the inner pads and look around or have the shoes X-rayed. The problem with RFID chips is that they can be embedded in plastic, foam, rubber or other materials at the manufacturing plant. Short of destroying the shoes or having them X-rayed, it would be hard to find deeply embedded chips. We are still researching the use of RFID chips in shoes to determine the extent of any chipping. (See the Q & A on shoes below for more information.) If the item is made of cardboard, first scan its surface. Do you see a small, clear, flat plastic housing the size of a match head stuck anywhere onto the cardboard? If so, is it hooked up to a flat, metallic antenna or to matte grey spray-on ink? If so, you are most likely looking at an RFID tag. Pull the cardboard layers apart and look for a tell-tale antenna embedded inside. It is rumored that International Paper, an Auto-ID Center sponsor that makes packages for consumer goods, among other things, may be devising ways to embed RFID tags directly into paper and cardboard packaging. If you have access to an X-ray machine (say, if you're a veterinarian or a chiropractor) you can X-ray the item to see if it contains an RFID tag. Since most antennas are metal-based, you should be able to spot an RFID tag in this way.* Again, you are looking for an antenna converging on a central dot-sized chip. If you find something unusual and would like us to take a look, drop us an email. *Note that some highly advanced defense department and academic research chips do not have a "tell-tale antenna" since they combine the antenna within the chip itself. These devices can be so small they would be nearly impossible to find.

Q: What do I do if I find an RFID chip? Can I kill or disable it?
A: You can disable a chip for all practical purposes by disconnecting it from its antenna. It is usually pretty obvious where the chip is located in an RFID tag (all the antennas will run to it). Once you find the tiny black square you can use a pair of scissors or a knife to cut it off. To ensure that the tiny chip cannot later be read (assuming anyone could even find a device so small), you can puncture it with a straight pin, crush it, or pulverize it. (Note: While burning or microwaving can destroy a chip, we do not recommend these methods because of fire risk. See the Q & A below.) Do not try to "drown" it, since water does not generally destroy RFID chips. Running a magnet over the chip will not work, either.

Q: Can I microwave products to kill any hidden RFID tags they might contain?
A: While microwaving an RFID tag will destroy it (a microwave emits high frequency electromagnetic energy that overloads the antenna, eventually blowing out the chip), there is a good chance the the tag will burst into flames first. The difficulty of destroying a hidden RFID chip is one reason we need legislation making it illegal to hide a chip in an item in the first place.

Q: Are there some products that can't be RFID chipped?
A: Items containing LIQUID or METAL are especially hard to chip. Liquids tend to absorb the electromagnetic energy needed to power the chip, while metal tends to reflect it and bounce it around in unpredictable ways. Both problems can cause interference in the RFID signal sent by a chip to the reader. These bugs are still being worked on. You can use this information about metal to your advantage. Has your store recently remodeled, replacing traditional metal shelving with new-fangled plastic shelves, to prevent interference with RFID transmission?

Q: Will a magnet erase an RFID chip?
A: No, the chips are not magnetically encoded. Running a magnet over the chip or using a tape eraser will not affect the chip.

Q: Can chips in clothing survive the washer and dryer?
A: Yes. Many RFID tags are designed to withstand years of normal wear and tear, including washing and drying. In fact, we know of at least one uniform rental company that uses RFID chips to keep track of its inventory. The chips hold up under the rough handling and commercial washings.

Q: Is it true there are plans to put RFID chips in Euro banknotes?
A: Hitachi has been working with the European Central Bank on the idea of putting RFID chips into Euro banknotes. This would eliminate the anonymity of cash by making it trackable. In essence, it would "register" your cash to you when you get it from the teller or take it out of the ATM. Euro banknotes could be RFID tagged as early as 2005. See: "Euro Notes May be Radio Tagged" at http://news.zdnet.co.uk/story/0,,t295-s2135074,00.html for details.

Q: Does U.S. currency contain RFID chips?
A: To the best of our knowledge, US currency does NOT currently contain RFID chips.

Q: What's the read range of these chips? Can they be tracked by satellite?
A: There are two types of tags: "passive" (no independent power source) and "active" (containing a battery or attached to one). Depending on a number of factors (antenna size, RF frequency, environmental conditions etc.) a passive tag can have a range of anywhere from 1 inch to 40 feet. Active tags can have a read range of miles or more. Most tags being considered for use in consumer products are passive.

Q: Is CASPIAN aware of any RFID tags in shoes?
A: We are aware of at least one company that uses embedded RFID technology in shoes for security purposes. According to the shoe company, the RFID labels they use do not contain unique product information. Rather, the RFID labels reportedly serve only to trigger an alarm if a consumer leaves the store without paying for the shoes. (Note that at a June 2003 RFID conference in Chicago, Alien Technology displayed a Wal-Mart Athletic Works® running shoe with an Alien RFID tag inserted under the insole. Alien said that the shoe was for display purposes only and that there were no planned/current trials or applications in those shoes. However, there was much excitement at the conference over the possibilities for RFID chips in shoes. Their stated reason for wanting to chip shoes was to keep shoe sizes together and match pairs. In our opinion, pervasive RFID chipping of shoes will become a frightening reality unless we tell companies that we will not buy products with chips!)

Future Developments and Expectations of RFID

*FBI Aims to Create World’s Largest Biometrics Database.The FBI’s Criminal Justice Information Services Division, which is located in Clarksburg, West Virginia, has launched a $1 billion effort to build the world’s largest computer database of people’s physical characteristics, termed “biometrics.” These include digital images of faces, fingerprints, and palm patterns. It is easy to see that RFID could also be used in the implementation of this database. An RFID chip could be used to transmit more specific information about a person's fingerprints, facial features, and palm patters. For instance, a RFID could provide a list of locations that a person had been based on what their fingers touched. The RFID could store a historical list of these locations.


Not only is the FBI looking to build a huge database, so is European Parliament. The European Parliament has backed proposals to set up a European Visa Information System (VIS) and create the world’s largest biometric database, holding 70 million sets of fingerprints.

The database will also allow police across the European Union to pool and share DNA records.

The new system advances the ‘Big Brother’ threat to civil privacy and the Conservatives have condemned the reports as an invasion of privacy rights and called for Britain to opt out. RFID could be used in this database in exactly the same ways it will be used in the FBI database mentioned previously.


In Las Vegas, one of the most recent mega casinos, the Wynn, uses casino chips with an RFID chip embedded inside them. These chips offer many benefits such as making it harder for cheats to use counterfeit chips. In addition, these chips have the added bonus of offering the casino an ability to track the betting habits of certain high rollers. The Wynn can then use this information to find the best way to wring more money out of these patrons.


RFID has progressed to the point where a cooperative of makers of Parmesan have found a way to embed the technology in their wheels of cheese to better track it throughout the long process of making their product. The chips, embedded in the crusts of the wheels, work far better than the old method of branding for tracking purposes.


Some consumer goods companies could greatly benefit from the use of RFID technology, especially those with hard to track items, like Gillette. The razorblade company ships small, easily lost or stolen products all the time. It estimates that around thirty-five percent of their products between the factory and the store are lost. Knowing exactly where all parts of a shipment are at all times would be a great benefit to this company.


the industry that will perhaps see the biggest growth in the use of RFID technology over the next few years will be the financial sector. Already major financial institutions such as JP Morgan Chase, Citibank, and MBNA have been developing RFID technology to add to their credit cards. These cards can then be used by customers to pay for goods and services in a form of contactless payments. Cardholders simply have to swipe the card past a reader and the system automatically charges them.


a great deal of retail chains and restaurants are embracing this technology. Restaurants such as Arby’s, Carl’s Jr., Cold Stone Creamery, and McDonalds all have chains throughout the country that accept this type of payment method. Convenience stores such as 7-11 have also joined the growing number of establishments allowing the payment via RFID systems. Those using these payment methods can save between three and seven seconds per transaction. From the viewpoint of the merchants, this can greatly increase their efficiency and customer satisfaction. This is especially true for types of businesses that rely on heavy traffic such as quick service restaurants, gas stations, convenience stores, and coffee shops. Additionally, an added component that is driving the adoption of this feature is the ease of use for the merchants. All the RFID cards tied to American Express, Visa, or MasterCard use the same reader. That is because the company all adapted the same standard for card readers. A gas station would only need to have one reader and it would be able to interact with all types of cards.


People having trouble enjoying sex will soon have reason to celebrate. A new brain chip may be used one day to stimulate the pleasure center of the brain and deliver orgasms. Researchers at Oxford University have come up with a device nicknamed the “sex chip”, which may be able to stimulate orgasms in people.



Professor Calls For "Google Type" Brain Chip Implants. "This in turn would allow us to search our own memories — not just those on the Web — with something like the efficiency and reliability of a computer search engine." he postulates. "How much would you pay to have a small memory chip implanted in your brain if that chip would double the capacity of your short-term memory? Or guarantee that you would never again forget a face or a name?"


Pentagon to Study Microchip Implant for Battlefield Casualties. A new Defense Department-funded study is aimed at developing a microchip the size of a grain of rice that would be implanted in soldiers wounded on the battlefield. A wounded soldier could benefit from a battlefield surgeon's or medic's immediate knowledge of information like known allergies, medical histories and family histories.



Churches with large numbers of people use RFID to keep track of the number of church members who are absent or in attendance. RFID can be used to direct children to the correct Sunday school while keeping a tally of who is where at the same time. RFID can be used to keep detailed records such as the monthly spending for a church. A lot of large churches will have a fingerprint scanner in which people will scan their fingers so that they can be marked in the attendance roster. If the children are too young to scan their fingerprints, their parents are given an RFID card to scan so that their children are accounted for.

RFID is currently being accepted by hospitals for a wide range of tasks. Hospitals are tagging babies with RFID chips without informing the parents beforehand. RFID can be used to store important medical information, making hospital admission a much less tedious task.


Does RFID pose a threat to personal freedoms?

RFID microchips are able to hold tons ofmedical info and personal info. Many people are very much in favor of these chips. Many people, however, are not infavor of the chips because they felt that their freedoms were being compromised. People in favor ofthe chips like them it for their convenience. If you had one of these chips implanted in you, you would do away with the need for extra ID cards. All of the information you would ever need would be placed on these chips. One of the big appeals of the chips is that they do away with the need for a separate driver’s license, a separate credit card, etc.All of this identifying information would be combined in one convenient microchip. People against the microchip argue that their freedoms would becompromised all in the name of "convenience". Since these chips contain so much personal information, who is to say that someone would not find a way to invade or ‘hack’ into the chip and steal your information? Identity theft is a big concern Who is to say that the chips wouldnot have health consequences due to them being implanted in the human body? What if the government would gain access to the information in these chips? Would it make it easier for the government to become *too* involved and *too* controlling of our lives- all in the nameof convenience? This 'invention of convenience’ started a trend. The use of microchips is still seen by many people as a lucrative market.


RFID....Mark of the Beast?



Is the RFID microchip the “Mark of the Beast?” Only God knows for sure. Consider the following verses of the Bible: “He [World Dictator, also known as the AntiChrist by some] forced everyone whether small and great, rich and poor,free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead. "And that no man might buy or sell, save he thathad the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name." (Revelation 13:16-17) (4) In fact, there is a plan underway to develop a Global Biometric Database which would ‘keep better track of criminals’by establishing a collective, centralized database which would hold *all* information for each and every one of the peoplein the world. The database would hold fingerprint information, DNA profiles,and facial recognition data. The database would be linked to all of the World's governmental agencies and airports. Did you notice that the databasewould be holding information from the FINGERPRINTS *and* FACIAL recognition data? Is it so far-fetched, especially giventhe unlimited capabilities of today’s modern technology, that a microchip implanted in one’s hand could easily transmit fingerprint data back to the centralized, global database? What about a chip implanted in one’sforehead...could it not also be used to easily and conveniently transmitfacial recognition data back to this centralized, global database? The verse above states that each man will have to receive a mark in theirhand or in the forehead. The global tracking system that the database willdepend on will be the information on a person's fingerprints and facial recognition. I do not think it is a coincidence that the Bible, nearly 2000 years ago, accurately predicted the rapid, present-day, propheticfulfillment that we so clearly see. As scary as such a thing may sound, it is important to remember that the God Who so accurately predicted future events that are occurring *exactly* as the Bible predicted...also is just as accurate and consistent in HisPromises ‘to never leave us or forsake us’. (Hebrews 13:5). Or His Promise that nothing can separate those who seek Him fromHis Love? (Romans 8:38-39), “For I am convinced that neither deathnor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor any powers, neitherheight nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” For those who do not seek Him, He has promised Judgment. I personally think that this is a shame because God has allowed everyone by this point to know thatHe allowed His Son to come and die so that we did not have to face His Judgment; God never intended for us to receive condemnation. He says that He is willing that “none should perish but that all would be saved.” (II Peter 3:9) God does not condemn us to Judgment; our choice to rejector to accept Him will determine this. He certainly has made every effort to demonstrate His Love for mankind. What kind of Judgment await those who willingly chose to reject God? Please consider the following verses. ”And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast,and upon them which worshiped his image.” (Revelation 16:2) Logically speaking, having a microchip to buy, sell, or live day to day seems to be a very good *possibility* due to fact that there is such a strong push toimplement RFID chips into everyone...all for the 'supposed'reasons of convenience. What about the second verse where it says 'that the men who who have the mark of the beastwill develop a noisome and grievous sore'? Could this be the cancer that is has been directly linked to microchip implantation? Based on my research, I personally have not seen any other invention or technological creation thatmatches what the Bible says so closely. But all things are possible in this technological age; just when you thought that the most technologically advanced invention has been created, someone comes along and createsone that is more advanced and capable of more. Whatever the case, these RFID microchips do present a threat to our security and freedom (in my personal opinion) because the developers and the governmentare aggressively trying to get people to accept the ‘ease and convenience' that these chips ‘supposedly’provide. What they don’t tell you is that this 'convenience' will come at the cost of our freedoms and liberties. Who is naive enough to thinkthat ‘someone’ who has enough knowledge to break through the ‘security’ of these chips will not take advantage of people's personal info. What if someone in a position of power wanted to control people? How easy would that be if all they had to do was go to a Government ‘RFID Database’ and obtain all of the information about these people or anyone else they choose??? For whatever reason they choose?? All of the information is in one place so it would not bethat difficult in my honest opinion. Articles provided in the first section give the invention history of the microchip via Digital Angel. The otherarticles show how the microchip is or will be implemented in our daily lives.



Thank you for reading this information. It is my sincere hope that this section has provided a revealing look into the current and possible future uses of the RFID chip.


Sources:
(1)http://changewaves.socialtechnologies.com/home/2007/12/12/chipping-people-rfid-implants-and-more.html
(2)http://www.rfidjournal.com/article/view/1338/1/129
(3)http://www.katherinealbrecht.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13&Itemid=46
(4)http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/UK-News/Global-Biometric-Database-Interpol-Wants-To-Track-Criminals-Using-Fingerprint-Data/Article/200810315125741?f=rss
(5)http://www.spychips.com/katherine-albrecht.html
(6)http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2006/06/70308
(7)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katherine_Albrecht
(8)http://www.spychips.com/faqs.html
(9)http://www.spychips.com/rfid_overview.html
(10)http://www.antichips.com/
(11)http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2004151388_apchippingamericaiii29.html?syndication=rss
(12)http://www.news-medical.net/?id=29675
(13)http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/82032.php
(14)http://operationawakening.wordpress.com/2008/01/11/fbi-aims-to-create-worlds-largest-biometrics-database/
(15)http://rinf.com/alt-news/surveillance-big-brother/worlds-largest-biometric-database-given-go-ahead/453/
(16)http://www.ciadvertising.org/sa/spring_06/adv391k/mspurlin/RFIDuses.html
(17)http://inventorspot.com/articles/new_device_may_stimulate_brain_sexually_21481
(18)http://www.infowars.net/articles/april2008/140408Chip.htm
(19)http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,291587,00.html
(20)http://www.cioinsight.com/c/a/Trends/Megachurch-Megatech/
(21)http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=59690

Thank you for reading!

The first scrollbox provides articles expounding on the possible uses of RFID Microchips. The second scrollbox contain 12 segments that focus on the rapid development of microchips.....and our growing dependence on them.

(To view the articles please scroll down, click on the green links, and you will be directed to another page which will allow you to view the material.)

~RFID MicroChip Articles~

~Excellent Site for Up-To-Date RFID Info!!~

~Developments underway to create a 'Global Biometric Database' which will hold information for each and every world inhabitant.....the information held will be fingerprint, DNA, and facial recognition data.~

~~Professor discusses brain chip similar to google~

~MicroChip Beginnings...General Info~

~Pentagon studies Microchip for soldiers~

~CHURCH MicroChipping!~

~Debit and Credit Cards to have RFID Chip~

~Hospital IDs babies with electronic RFID chips~

~Hidden Surveillance Cameras in the Workplace~

~Spyware in the workplace~

~MicroChip......Digital Angel.....Past Articles.....Part 1~


~MicroChip......Digital Angel.....Past Articles.....Part 2~


~Is the BioChip the Mark of the Beast?..Part 1~

~Is the BioChip the Mark of the Beast?...Part 2~

~Is the BioChip the Mark of the Beast?...Part 3~

~Is the BioChip the Mark of the Beast?...Part 4~

~*Revealing* 12 part radio broadcast of rapid RFID Microchip developments~

~REVEALING Radio Broadcast about Microchip RFID chipping......Part 1~


~REVEALING Radio Broadcast about Microchip RFID chipping......Part 2~


~REVEALING Radio Broadcast about Microchip RFID chipping......Part 3~


~REVEALING Radio Broadcast about Microchip RFID chipping......Part 4~


~REVEALING Radio Broadcast about Microchip RFID chipping......Part 5~


~REVEALING Radio Broadcast about Microchip RFID chipping......Part 6~


~REVEALING Radio Broadcast about Microchip RFID chipping......Part 7~


~REVEALING Radio Broadcast about Microchip RFID chipping......Part 8~


~REVEALING Radio Broadcast about Microchip RFID chipping......Part 9~


~REVEALING Radio Broadcast about Microchip RFID chipping......Part 10~


~REVEALING Radio Broadcast about Microchip RFID chipping......Part 11~


~REVEALING Radio Broadcast about Microchip RFID chipping......Part 12~

Thank You for viewing this material!