From the March 2006 Idaho Observer:

The biochips are coming—first to animals, children, homeless, elderly

Welcome to our brave new world. The RFID age is upon us and our resistance at this time is crucial or this brave new surveillance world is inevitable. When you read bills before the U.S. Congress and bills before the legislatures of the several states, you can see that the lawmakers of this land are in favor of plans to plant biochips in every wild and domesticated animal, every human being and in every product in commerce. In each proposed application of RFID technology—pets, livestock, products, children, the homeless, the elderly—we are being sold on the advantages. Never seriously considered by RFID proponents are the opportunities for abuse or the probabilities for unintended consequences; never intelligently discussed are the health effects upon creatures being bathed in radiation wherever they go. The process is going forward at lightspeed regardless now that electronic hardware and software are coming online with the wi-fi world (The IO, Feb., 2006). If you need proof beyond the snippets gracing this page, just open your eyes: There are RFID readers everywhere now—in stores, public buildings and on the roads of America. Pretty soon there will be an electronically-retrievable record of every place we go and everything we purchase.

RFID for students:

InCom® Corporation has a vision for school children:

"InCom Corporation is the exclusive developer and manufacturer of the InClass™ attendance taking, reporting and security system. The Company’s founders have extensive teaching, educational technology and network administration experience. The Company has developed the first complete RF based system for taking, recording and reporting attendance in schools. We look forward to working with schools across the country to install the InClass® system and liberate staff and teacher time in the process." (www.incom.com)

By the close of the 2006 legislative session in Idaho, lame duck Governor Kempthorne is expected to sign into law HR 752—The Student Information Management System (SIMS). This law will compel Idaho schools to collect data on students per "Idaho’s State Data Dictionary" where there are categories, subcategories, and elements as revealed in thousands of entries on countless pages of coded information collected on children and families. Under elements and status in the National Center for Education Statistics codes, each element is identified as part of the U.S. Department of Education’s Student Data Handbook. Identification numbers are assigned to each student, child, and the information is recorded with the intent to warehouse this data with the State Board of Education. These data profiles are extensive and include private and personal information such as medical codes for evaluation and diagnosis, illness, dental conditions, immunizations, gestational periods, birth records, birthmarks, social security, household income, home visits, retirement, geographical designation, public school residence, and whatever else nosy bureaucrats can conjure. If this type of bill is passing in Idaho, then it’s probably passing in your state as well. ~from Jane Lesko, Idaho Eagle Forum

RFID goes 4-H

Idaho State Department of Agriculture (ISDA) is working on a STATEWIDE pilot program for 4-H steers this year.

According to the Canyon County Extension Office this will be mandatory for Canyon County 4-H and all steers at the "beef weigh-in" will be given a RFID tag in their ear. This tag will have information on the steer and personal information about the owner. The owner (children) will have to register their premises.

ISDA reportedly purchased this RFID tags from the Allflex Company with grant money. The ISDA is giving these to the 4-H program and some counties are on a voluntary basis the first year.

They wanted to start with the beef first in Idaho. This is all part of the USDA’s National Animal Identification System, it will be for all farm animals and an injectible micro chip RFID will be required.

I guess they did not care if this caused 4-H children to drop out of the program. I have heard that there are children that are not going to do this.

~Jane Lesko

Idaho Eagle Forum

RFID and the homeless

WASHINGTON (UPI) — The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said Thursday [April 1, 2004] that it was about to begin testing a new technology designed to help more closely monitor and assist the nation’s homeless population. Under the pilot program.... homeless people in participating cities will be implanted with mandatory Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags that social workers and police can track their movements..."This is a rare opportunity to use advanced technology to meet society’s dual objectives of better serving our homeless population while making our cities safer," HRSA Administrator Betty James Duke said.

RFID and the elderly

Researchers at Intel Research in Seattle and the Georgia Institute of Technology believe that receiving data via the Internet from RFID readers can monitor seniors’ daily activities by recording which tagged items they have picked up and when. By comparing real-time data with a record of an individual’s normal daily routine, caregivers can easily spot any significant changes. Changes in an individual’s daily routine often signal the onset of illness and cognitive decline, according to physicians and experts on aging.

~Wired News, March 19, 2004