Medical students and doctors both recently received a new article encouraging them to assist with the rewriting some of the goals of military medicine and technology before people in our society begin losing their privacy. What, exactly, is the concept that is frightening people into pushing the medical community into action in order to maintain individual privacy?
Future of Newborn Babies
Newborn babies, according to a source from the EU, are set to be microchipped from December 2016 onward. The microchips, however, are in use for more than just tracking; apparently, the personal data of the children can also be recorded and maintained as an innovative record keeping practice.
The practice, set to start from December 2016 and to continue indefinitely, plans to place a subcutaneous RFID chip, comparable to a standard GPS sensor, powered by a micro-sized battery that requires changing every few years. Able to provide continuous status updates to modern smartphones for parents to monitor their children, the well-meaning intentions of caring parents behind this innovation masks some very serious concerns. While it is nice to be able to know where one’s child is and to status check him or her for location, the fact that the data is saved and maintained by others, and that there are no plans for removal of the chip, calls the use of that stored information into question. Will it be able to be used for anything else? The question concerns many, and remains unanswered.
Even more frightening, many individuals are not aware that such a technology is present in society, nor that the FDA implemented the plan for the microchips. Certainly, more education about how these items will be used, and assurances that they will not be improperly abused, needs to be on the forefront of the FDA’s radar.
(image source: healthexpertgroup.com)