Implant a Chip; Save a Child?

 As a parent, one of my worst nightmares involves some predator snatching my child.  Television shows like Law and Order SVU and America’s Most Wanted, don’t help either but the official statistics are even more horrifying.  According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, nearly 800,000 children younger than 18 are reported missing each year – that’s an average of 2,185 children reported missing each day! In addition, more than 58,000 children are abducted by nonfamily members.  It is no surprise then, that I, like many parents, have explored ways to protect or keep track of our children.  Global Positioning Systems and Radio Frequency Identity Devices already help us keep track of objects and pets, why not children?   And I don’t mean give them tags or tiny trackers that can be embedded in objects the children carry, I mean something that can really help us “keep digital eyes” on our kids at all times.

In 2004, a Florida based company called Applied Digital Systems (ADS) won FDA approval to use its tiny VeriChips in humans for medical applications.  The same company also created a GPS implant for humans – the Personal Location Devise (PLD).   The PLD is about the size of a grain of rice and can be injected in any individual without leaving any marks or big traces.   According to ADS, “once inserted into a human, the device can be tracked by Global Positioning Satellite technology and the information relayed wirelessly to the Internet, where an individual’s location, movements, etc.” can be recorded.

Needless to say there are challenges and a lot still has to be done to “perfect” these chips.  There are concerns about privacy; about the ability to detect and remove the devises; about the ability to clone the ID associated with the chip; about making sure the implant works reliably in environments where GPS may be impaired – like subways; about whether implanting a chip into the body of a minor is considered “forcible”; about the health of the child with the implant; about societal and religious reactions; and the list goes on. But I say bring it on. And bring a creative digital marketing campaign with it.    

If there is a safe way for me to be able to keep track of my child, I’ll take it!

Sources:

http://www.liveviewgps.com/gps+tracking+kids.html; http://www.boston.com/community/moms/blogs/in_the_parenthood/2010/06/would_you_implant_a_microchip_in_your_child.html; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microchip_implant_(human); http://www.ncmec.org/missingkids/servlet/PublicHomeServlet?LanguageCountry=en_US;

http://targetedindividualseurope.wordpress.com/2011/04/17/the-verichip-rfid-and-gps/