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Q. Does the VeriChip raise privacy issues? Yes, there are serious privacy concerns associated with remotely-readable microchip implants, including the risk that the implant could be surreptitiously used for tracking purposes through a network of local readers.  Although the VeriChip does not contain an individual's name, it does contain a unique ID number that can be easily matched to the person. If every time Joe Smith appears, the number #1234567 also appears on a scanner, it can be deduced that #1234567 means "Joe Smith." When that number is later seen at a different location, say, walking through a doorway equipped with an implant reader, an observation can be made that Joe Smith just passed by. Q. How easy is it to read the information on someone else's VeriChip? It is actually quite easy. The data on a VeriChip implant is transmitted through the air via radio waves and can be easily picked up by anyone who holds a reader device within a few inches of the implant. A hacker with an electronics background can make such a reader using readily available electronic parts. The VeriChip Corporation acknowledges that its database could fall prey to hackers, and that such an attack could "have a negative impact on our revenue, damage our reputation and expose us to litigation." The company's SEC registration statement also expresses the concern that  "we could face damage to our business reputation and litigation" if "the firewall software protecting the information contained in our database fails or someone is successful in hacking into the database."76 Q. Why does it matter if a hacker or a criminal gets a 16-digit number? Criminals or stalkers wouldn't need access to the VeriChip database of information to track people through their implants. They could simply skim people's VeriChip ID numbers and create their own database of information about the chipped individuals. "Compromised information security" was one of the risks the FDA identified in relation to the VeriChip. To understand why it's not a good idea to beam out a unique and persistent ID number, it's helpful to think of the social security number (SSN). You wouldn't print your SSN across the front of your T-shirt because you know the number is uniquely linked to you and can be used to access personal information about you. You would not want a VeriChip implant beaming out a unique personal ID number for the same reason. What's more, if hackers can read the 16-digit number from a person's implant, they can duplicate it and begin emitting the same number for their own use in a high-tech form of identity theft. Q. Could a criminal really duplicate the information on someone else's VeriChip? Yes. After skimming the information with a hand-held reader, it would be possible to  duplicate the signal and then pose as the chipped individual for criminal purposes. Two separate security researchers, Jonathan Westhues (in 2006)77 and Adam Laurie (in 2007)78, have demonstrated this capability in public. Q. Could the VeriChip help secure office buildings and nuclear power plants? No. Though the VeriChip Corporation has marketed its product as a way to secure sensitive facilities like nuclear plants, it would be a very bad idea. As discussed earlier, a criminal could rather easily exploit the vulnerabilities of a VeriChip-based security system to duplicate an employee's chip signal and gain access to a secure facility. For this reason, it is inadvisable to use a VeriChip implant device for building access or other security purposes. Q. Could the VeriChip prevent kidnappings, find lost hikers, or rescue captured soldiers? No. The VeriChip system is not an "eye in the sky" that can remotely pinpoint someone's location. The read range on a VeriChip implant is typically less than 12", so a scanner would have to be very close to a chipped person to read his or her implanted chip. Not only could a VeriChip not be scanned from a satellite, it couldn't even be scanned from across a room.
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