The company is testing the VeriChip ID tags as a way of controlling access to physical locations: in the case of CityWatch.com, a room that holds security video footage for government agencies.

Sean Darks, Chief executive of CityWatcher, stated his belief that the chips, which are encased in a special glass to make them human-implantable, are really no different than any other identity cards. Placed in the upper right arm, they are scanned by a device which is essentially the same as an RFID card reader.

“There’s nothing pulsing or sending out a signal,” said Mr Darks, who has had a chip in his own arm. “It’s not a GPS chip. My wife can’t tell where I am.”
(From Us group implants electronic tags in workers)

The basic technology is more than thirty years old; it has been used for almost a generation as a way of providing a permanent ID for animals, including farm animals and pets. It is in wider use for people in other countries. More than 2,000 nightclub patrons in Barcelona, Spain and Rotterdam, Netherlands have been chipped, using the implanted RFID tags to order with the wave of a hand.

If you'd like to get one (just to be on the cutting edge) doctors tyically charge a $200 fee for implantation, a relatively simple procedure involving a needle slightly larger than the diameter of the device itself. Science fiction writers have been working with this idea for a while. In his 1984 book Neuromancer, William Gibson wrote about executives who had special chips implanted not only for identiification, but other purposes as well.

Friday night on Ninsei...

He stepped out of the way to let a dark-suited saraiman by, spotting the Mitsubishi-Genentech logo tattooed across the back of the man's right hand.

Was it authentic? If that's for real, he thought, he's in for trouble. If itt wasn't, served him right. M-G employees above a certain level were implanted with advanced microprocessors that monitored mutagen levels in the bloodstream. Gear like that would get you rolled in Night City, straight into a black clinic.

Read some of the other stories about this technology:

• Veripay Credit-Card Implant
• Zombie RFID Tags Arise To Face Privacy Advocates
• VeriChip Tag Patient Implant Badges Now FDA Approved
• RFID Tags Proposed To Halt Blackmarket Cadaver Trade