-------- Original Message -------- Subject: Re: [Politech] HHS announces program to implant RFID tags in homeless [priv] Date: Thu, 01 Apr 2004 11:13:21 -0800 From: John Gilmore <gnu@toad.com> To: Declan McCullagh <declan@well.com> CC: politech@politechbot.com Last year I found it almost impossible to adopt a kitten or cat that didn't have an RFID tag implanted under its skin. The city animal shelter and the SPCA both "chip" all their animals -- and pet hospitals who offer adoption get all their pets from these shelters. The people we spoke with in the shelters were confused by our opposition to their "safe, sane, and humane" policy of RFID-tracking every animal that came within chip-gun range of them. When a cat is lost, they scan 'em like a bag of potato chips, pull 'em up in the database, and call their owner. Eventually by reading the bulletin boards in pet stores, we found a local Mexican family who had two litters of kittens. They had been born at home and never subjected to "chipping". Our kittens are now grown and healthy (and untracked). I would not be a bit surprised to see bureaucrats at any level advocating RFID tracking of the homeless. They're already taking blood samples of every newborn, storing them away "just in case we ever need to check their DNA". And giving every infant their own Social Security Number, just to make sure they get tracked from birth to death. A kitten or an infant who comes to the attention of the authorities can't tell you who they are or where they belong. So why not chip the homeless, who frequently can't or won't answer the same question? It's a fair question. What's YOUR answer? John PS: If Larry Hiibel had had a chip implanted in him, Deputy Dove wouldn't have had to arrest him. This would have saved the Supreme Court some work. http://hiibel.com _______________________________________________ Politech mailing list Archived at http://www.politechbot.com/ Moderated by Declan McCullagh (http://www.mccullagh.org/) --- end forwarded text -- ----------------- R. A. Hettinga <mailto: rah@shipwright.com> 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA 'Maybe we should just brand all babies.' -- Ronald Reagan, sarcastically, on the subject of a national ID card.