[Previous entry: "Ted Kennedy and the no-fly list"] [Main Index] [Next entry: ""The Barbarian Invasions""]

08/19/2004 Archived Entry: "RFID to keep track of all the government-controlled serfs"

THESE TWO ITEMS ARRIVED SIDE-BY-SIDE IN MY MAIL QUEUE. Creepily fascinating coincidence, although in another sense it's no surprise that two such similar items covering the march of Big Brotherdom should spew down together.

In Ohio "inmates will wear 'wristwatch-sized' [RFID]transmitters that can detect if prisoners have been trying to remove them and send an alert to prison computers."

And in Washington, DC, "The Washington Hospital Center will use two types of UWB [ultra-wideband] RFID active tags. Asset tags are 1-inch cubes that can be screwed or glued to equipment; patients and medical staff will wear credit card-size tags. Each tag can be detected by the readers at a range of 600 feet."

The first item came from Katherine Albrecht of CASPIAN. The latter came from my RN friend Pat who added, "That's the day I leave nursing -- if I haven't before!!"

Of course nobody asked the prisoners if they consented to have their every step tracked. Who would? But it appears that doctors and nurses now have no more rights to privacy than do father stabbers and mother rapers.

Yes, yes, I'm sure all kinds of arguments can be made for the "practicality" and "security" of knowing which orderly is taking a 20-minute break instead of 15 or where Doc So-and-So may be catching a quick one when he's wanted in the OR. But where's the argument for treating human beings like human beings, instead of like mindless resources?

Docs, nurses, physical therapists, and all: When the government Big Bro and corporate Little Bro establishment get to be too much for you, remember you'll always have a place of honor in the free-market (by which I mean black market) economy.

Posted by Claire @ 07:11 PM CST
Link