In 2004, the human microchip was advanced and approved by Food and Drug Administration and utilized by medical science to assist in the safe location and treatment of Alzheimer patients. The human microchip was inserted under the skin using a procedure that takes less than 20 minutes and leaves no stitches. By mid-2004, the human microchip technology was formally introduced for use on children as a prevention method against child abduction.
In January 2005, “students at a school district in Northern California, were forced to wear RFID-enabled ID badges as part of an “RFID test” done with the support of a company developing and manufacturing attendance reporting and security systems. The badges were issued without the parents’ consent, and allowed the school to track and maintain records of students’ movements on campus.”
Human microchip technology has had many roadblocks since the incident in Northern California, because the RFID monitors movement of a child and vital record. Civil liberties argue that the ability to track people would create “a world where law enforcement officials could read the contents of a person’s handbag, without a person’s knowledge, by simply installing RFID;” indicating the abusive nature of the technology.
However, there are also limitations in frequency ranges provided by the technology which may prohibit proper localization of a child in a situation of abduction. For example, at 128 frequency levels a child could not realistically be located if abducted within 10 miles from a system reader.
The RFID system reader relies on a scanner similar to the ones found in a grocery store when implanted under the skin. Additionally, various reports returned on the testing of animals indicate the human microchip can be expelled or cause infection, scarring and even cancer.
In 2019, the human microchip technology still exists in medical science, as does its privacy breach concerns for use. There were in 424,066 NCIC entries for missing children reported in 2018; as a double-edged sword, human microchip technology fails us based on the same reasons for which it was built. The question of whether human microchip technology can effectively assist in child abduction investigations has not yet been answered.
