School: St. George's University
Lecturer: Mr. Michael Roberts MSc.
Student: Shevon Licorish
Course: Computer Ethics
ASSIGNMENT:
Final Term Paper:
Identification and Biometrics
A company announced plans to sell an identification chip that is implanted under a person's skin. About the size of a grain of rice, it could contain personal information and emit a radio signal that identifies the person. Discuss beneficial uses, potential problems and abuses, and appropriate guidelines for use of such a chip and other identification technologies, including various biometrics.
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The topic of identification and biometrics involves solely the behaviors of humans and the special ways/characteristics of identifying them. Identification has always been and will always be a serious aspect of human beings; from the unique identity through property, or the amount of females one can "bounce" on.
Well, at present and as the time passes these are more and more becoming irrelevant thanks to the further study of biometrics and researchers that 'can't satisfy'.
Just after the operation to insert the RFID tag wa...
Figure 1
Figure 2Now people are not concerned really with proclaiming the amount of assets they have, but more so, they are concerned with 'being found' and 'easy access credit'. A new development which eliminates the necessity of using currency, or credit cards is now in the making. Motorola is the company producing the microchip for MONDEX SMARTCARD. They developed several implants for humans using the "Bio-Chip". The "Bio-Chip" measures 7mm of length and .075mm wide, as large as a grain of rice. It contains a transponder and a rechargeable Lithium battery. The battery is rechargeable by a thermocouple circuit that produces an electrical current with the fluctuation of body temperature.
Transponder is a system of storage for reading information in microchips. Reading occurs in waves like a remote control.
It is already being used by the wealthy as a tool to help prevent kidnapping. You will use it for its advantages and to help prevent fraud and identity theft, but are these benefits enough to out weight the harm this "development" will cause.
Before we indulge ourselves in futuristic developments, let us first investigate. What are the potential problems and abuses? What are the appropriate guidelines for the use of such a chip and are they being followed properly? What are the advantages and disadvantages of using such an instrument? Is there someone pushing this with a hidden agenda? What about end of times, is it here?
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The term "biometrics" is derived from the Greek words "bio" (life) and "metrics" (to measure). Automated biometric systems have only become available over the last few decades, due to significant advances in the field of computer processing. Many of these new automated techniques, however, are based on ideas that were originally conceived hundreds, even thousands of years ago.
One of the oldest and most basic examples of a characteristic that is used for recognition by humans is the face. Since the beginning of civilization, humans have used faces to identify known (familiar) and unknown (unfamiliar) individuals. This simple task became increasingly more challenging as populations increased and as more convenient methods of travel introduced many new individuals into- once small communities. The concept of human-to-human recognition is also seen in behavioral-predominant biometrics such as speaker and gait recognition. Individuals use these characteristics, somewhat unconsciously, to recognize known individuals on a day-to-day basis.
Biometrics is the science and technology of measuring and analyzing biological data. In information technology, biometrics refers to technologies that measure and analyze human body characteristics, such as fingerprints, eye retinas and irises, voice patterns, facial patterns and hand measurements, for authentication purposes.
Authentication by biometric verification is becoming increasingly common in corporate and public security systems, consumer electronics and point of sale (POS) applications. In addition to security, the driving force behind biometric verification has been convenience.
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Biometric devices, such as finger-scanners, consist of:
* A reader or scanning device
* Software that converts the scanned information into digital form and compares match points
* A database that stores the biometric data for comparison
To prevent identity theft, biometric data is usually encrypted when it's gathered. Here's how biometric verification works on the back end: To convert the biometric input, a software application is used to identify specific points of data as match points. The match points in the database are processed using an algorithm that translates that information into a numeric value. The database value is compared with the biometric input the end user has entered into the scanner and authentication is either approved or denied.
Biometrics can run into scores of products and functions; identification, payment, diagnosis, medical treatment, data security at work, tracking, general data storage, a bit of agriculture and the list goes on. But what happens when they take the chip from the cards and make our natural identification pieces, like finger prints, faces, voice etc non-existent; through the development of a chip to be implanted under the skin.
A human Microchip Implant is an integrated circuit device or Radio Frequency Identification tag encased in silicate glass and implanted into a human's body. Such implants can be used for information storage, including personal identification, medical history, medications, allergies, and contact information.
The first reported experiment with a Radio Frequency Identification implant was carried out in 1998 by the British scientist Kevin Warwick. As a test his implant was used to open doors, switch on lights and cause verbal output within a building.
In chorus, CityWatcher, an unnoticed provider of surveillance equipment, attracted notice to themselves, when two of its employees had glass-encapsulated microchips with miniature antennas embedded in their forearms.
"The "chipping" of two workers with RFIDs -- radio frequency identification tags as long as two grains of rice, as thick as a toothpick -- was merely a way of restricting access to vaults that held sensitive data and images for police departments, a layer of security beyond key cards and clearance codes, the company said." - CityWatcher
"To protect high-end secure data, you use more sophisticated techniques," Sean Darks, chief executive of the Cincinnati-based company, said. He compared chip implants to retina scans or fingerprinting. "There's a reader outside the door; you walk up to the reader, put your arm under it, and it opens the door."
The VeriChip! This chip is the center attractor and final product that contains controversy, advantages and misjudgments. VeriChip is the first Food and Drug Administration, FDA, approved human implantable Radio Frequency identification (RFID) microchip. It is marketed by VeriChip Corporation, a subsidiary of Applied Digital Solutions, and it received United States FDA approval in 2004 to promote its device in the U.S. within specific guidelines. About twice the length of a grain of rice, the device is typically implanted above the triceps area of an individual's right arm. Since its approval, about eighty (80) hospitals and two hundred and thirty two (232) doctors have designated to use the system.
Once scanned at the proper frequency, the VeriChip� responds with a unique sixteen-digit number which can correlate the user to information stored on a database for identity verification, medical records access and other uses. The insertion procedure is performed under local anesthetic in a physician's office and once inserted, is invisible to the naked eye. �
In the beginning of 2007, VeriChip Corporation created Xmark, its corporate identity for healthcare products. Xmark incorporates the Hugs and the Halo system of infant protection; the RoamAlert system of wandering protection; the MyCall emergency response system; and the Assetrac asset tracking system.
By implanting such a chip with a patient's medical record, hospitals and emergency workers can immediately gain access to an ill or injured person's medical history regardless of location. Implanted chips are impossible to lose, which could reduce the chances of information theft. Homes and automobiles could be equipped with scanners for microchips, making house and car keys obsolete - although a Radio Frequency Identification lock requires a working power source to function. Locks and ignition switches would only work for persons with an appropriately programmed chip.
Readily enabling the secure access to patient clinical information, identify patients, improving the safety and efficiency of patient care, positive cashless societies, security from identity theft, easy diagnosis and medical treatment are all beneficial uses of this product as depicted above, but what happens when it is taken too far. What happens when thieves now want your arms and head instead of your cars and rims?
As an implanted device used for identification by a third party, it has generated controversy and debate. Some people have put forward "the big questions", while others have stated, most emotionally, the obvious ills.
Many wonder:
Do the current chips have global positioning transceivers that would allow the government to pinpoint a person's exact location, 24-7?
Could a 'tech-savvy' stalker rig scanners to video cameras and film somebody each time they entered or left the house?
What's the average lifespan of a microchip? About 10-15 years? What if you get tired of it before then -- can it be easily, painlessly removed?
How about thieves? Could they make their own readers, aim them at unsuspecting individuals, and surreptitiously pluck people's IDs out of their arms? (Will spoofing be at a minimal rate?)
A great deal of concern arises as we indulge this "development". Many concerning factors are of importance to us and mandates immediate and close investigate and consideration. Some of these include; Sociological, privacy, security, health risk etc in naming only some. Follow, as the paper outlines the misuses as well.
As technology advances, and time goes on, more and more private companies and public utilities will use biometrics for safe, accurate identification. However, these advances will raise many concerns throughout society, where many may not be educated on the methods. Here are some examples of concerns society has with biometrics:
Physical:
Some believe this technology can cause physical harm to an individual using the methods, or that instruments used are unsanitary. For example, there are concerns that retina scanners might not always be clean.
Personal Information:
There are concerns whether our personal information taken through biometric methods can be misused, tampered with, or sold, e.g. by criminals stealing, rearranging or copying the biometric data. Also, the data obtained using biometrics can be used in unauthorized ways without the individual's consent.
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When thieves cannot get access to secure properties, there is a chance that the thieves will stalk and assault the property owner to gain access. If the item is secured with a biometric device, the damage to the owner could be irreversible, and potentially cost more than the secured property. In 2005, Malaysian car thieves cut off the finger of a Mercedes-Benz S-Class owner when attempting to steal the car.
If the microchips are completely unencrypted, they would be extremely vulnerable to hacker attacks and interception by third-party scanners. By scanning secretly, someone could steal all of the information on a chip and could clone the signal, possibly leading to criminal misuse of medical files and insurance information. For example, a patient's list of known allergies could be altered maliciously, causing injury or death, or his/her insurance could be copied for another unrelated person to use.
According to the FDA, implantation of the chip itself poses some health concerns. A patient could react adversely to the chip itself by infection or allergy, or it could be implanted improperly. It could dislodge itself and move to a different part of the body than where it was first implanted. The implant could fail on its own at any time, and the information contained in it could be lost.
More serious trauma could occur if the chip reacts to outside source, such as a strong electrical field, or a Magnetic Resonance Imager (MRI) machine. The strong magnets used in an MRI scanner could destroy the implant and cause serious burns, both internally and externally.�
Privacy advocates have protested the VeriChip, warning of potential abuse and denouncing these types of RFID devices as "spy chips," and that use by governments could allow the tracking of citizens, increasing any moves towards a police state.
In addition, privacy advocates state that the information contained in this chip could easily be stolen, so that storing anything private in it would be to risk identity theft. As the human-implantable microchip only contains a unique 16-digit electronic identifier, the unique number is used only for such purposes as accessing personal medical information in a password-protected database or assessing whether somebody has authority to enter into a high-security area. Although the company that makes VeriChip claims that it does not contain any other information beyond this unique 16-digit number, it could be scanned and used to access the databases.
According to Wired News online and the Associated Press, in reference to health risk, there have been research articles over the last ten years that has found a connection between the chips and possible cancer. A series of research articles spanning more than a decade found that when mice and rats were injected with glass-encapsulated RFID transponders, like those made by VeriChip, they developed malignant, fast-growing, lethal cancers in up to 1% to 10% of cases. The presented tumors originated in the tissue surrounding the microchip. Several other documents were written before the FDA approved the implant to be used in humans, which showed a causal relationship between microchip implants and cancer in animals.
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In conclusion, personal convenience is a commodity valued by everybody, but what happens when the value is at a cost un-payable by all. What happens when we get into sins of the world?
We've seen how personal information can be protected. We've seen how medical information, diagnosis and treatment can be improved to help patients and in the same breath be misused. What we have not seen is the truth. What is the truth behind this new development; is it monetary profits, worldly power, Big Brother scam, government tracking, or just good old invention?
Human beings are what we are. At the beginning these devices were used to tag goats and sheep and cattle. These devices were also used to brand food inventory and supply. Are we of the same quality? Are we of the same stature? No. Humans, put here by God, to be free and good willed, not to be tracked, hunted and caged by government agencies or anybody else.
In addition, the book of Revelation [13: 16 - 18] gives one of the most famous passages from the Bible, the section thought to be prophecies of the end of times.
And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding reckon the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred and sixty six.
As Christians come out against the device, with speculations that it might be the fulfillment of a prophecy where each person is marked for identification by the corrupt government headed by the Antichrist. This concern is compounded by the fact that, according to a recent ABC News article, there have been reports of other chips being implanted in their right hand. Don't "spy us", tell us the truth. While the idea of convenience is gladly accepted, the asymmetrical comparisons of benefits/advantages and misuses/disadvantages are clear as day and we the people will not be "chipped ".�
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WWW.WIKIPEDIA.ORG. Date last accessed: Sunday, 9th, Dec. 2007
WWW.YAHOO.COM . Date last accessed: Saturday, 8th, Dec. 2007
WWW.GOOGLE.COM. Date last accessed: Sunday, 9th, Dec. 2007
WWW.WHATIS.COM . Date last accessed: Monday, 3rd, Dec. 2007
Baase, Sara. GIFT OF FIRE, 2ND EDITION. Prentice Hall. 2002
HANDOUTS, Computer Ethics, fall 2007, MR. MICHAEL ROBERTS
WWW.CNN.COM/IT . Date last accessed: Sunday, 9th, Dec. 2007
WWW.CITYWATCHER.COM . Date last accessed: Saturday, 8th, Dec. 2007
WWW.VERICHIPCORPORATION.COM .Date last accessed: Wednesday, 21st, Dec. 07
WWW.WALTDISNEY.COM Date last accessed: Saturday, 1st, Dec. 2007�
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At Walt Disney World biometric measurements are taken from the fingers of guests to ensure that the person's ticket is used by the same person from day to day.
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Hand with the planned location of the RFID chip
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Just after the operation to insert the RFID tag was completed
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Topic
Identification and Biometrics:
A company announced plans to sell an identification chip that is implanted under a person's skin. About the size of a grain of rice, it could contain personal information and emit a radio signal that identifies the person. Discuss beneficial uses, potential problems and abuses, and appropriate guidelines for use of such a chip and other identification technologies, including various biometrics.
Layout
Introduction:
Definitions: Biometrics, Identification Technologies (Identification Chips), Radio Signals, Ethical Issues
Examples: Biometrics, Radio Signals, Identification Technologies
Short Background: associated companies, origin of idea, short history of identification technologies
Why identification technology was developed: state/outline main reasons for development
Briefly outline what will be discussed in the body of the paper: beneficial uses of identification technologies, costliness towards the usage and development of identification technologies, find out whether or not there is a hidden agenda behind this method (religiously), advantages and disadvantages of this method, potential problems and abuses that can occur from this method (cutting out of body parts to obtain use and increased murder), appropriate guidelines for the use of such a chip, point out other identification technologies including various biometrics, what bodily effects will be experienced, what are/will be the global effects, is this the mark of the beast and a sign to end of times.
Body:
Filter and discuss briefly mentioned subtopics from introduction:
beneficial uses of identification technologies
costliness towards the usage and development of identification technologies
find out whether or not there is a hidden agenda behind this method (religiously)
advantages and disadvantages of this method
potential problems and abuses that can occur from this method (cutting out of body parts to obtain use and increased murder)
appropriate guidelines for the use of such a chip
point out other identification technologies including various biometrics
what bodily effects will be experienced
what are/will be the global effects
is this the mark of the beast and a sign to end of times
Conclusion:
Conclude on whether this method is going to make a difference or just add to already stirring turmoil
� Destron Fearing, a subsidiary of Applied Digital Solutions, initially developed the technology for the VeriChip.
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