Scan me at the border

In high school, a friend of mine got a tattoo of a barcode over his left wrist. \nWhen I asked him why he tattooed himself like a piece of merchandise, he responded by saying that eventually, human beings would be just another commodity for sale by "The Man," or something like that. \nI never totally paid attention to his police state theories. That wouldn't happen here. Human beings are never going to become merchandise. Society would never hit that point where people would be branded with tiny strips of their personal information.\nMorgan, if you're reading this: you were right. I was wrong.\nOn Jan. 18, the school board of rural Sutter, California, pushed our society one step closer to George Orwell's "1984." The elementary school introduced mandatory "radio frequency" badges for all of its students. The badges, worn around the neck, use technology similar to that for tracking livestock and consumer goods. Radio frequencies are used to determine the location of every student on grounds. The I.D. badges can be used for simplifying attendance procedures, improving student safety and preventing vandalism. If the badges are deemed successful, then a barcode will be added to simplify checking out library books and paying for school lunches. \nThe entire situation seems like something out of a Philip K. Dick novel. But it's not the only instance of scientists and corporations using genetic barcodes to identify living things. \nAccording to The Associated Press, The University of California may soon barcode the dead in an attempt to stop the black-market sale of human body parts. An international group of scientists are attempting the ambitious project, called the Barcode for Life Initiative, to label and categorize every animal and plant on the planet through its genetic structure. \nHuman beings are not items on a list. Some identification procedures, like those used to track cadavers in order to make sure they reach the proper area, seem useful at first glance. Identification tags on accident victims can prevent confusion in accidents. A body identification tag will be able to correctly identify victims without gruesome autopsies. The person's entire medical history can be implanted underneath the skin and easily scanned at the hospital. Doctors can quickly find out about allergic reactions that might prove fatal to a patient.\nThat's the reasoning behind Applied Digital Solutions and its product the VeriChip. The VeriChip, which is implanted voluntarily, contains enough information to keep medical and personal history safely under the skin. So far, Applied Digital Solutions has placed 1,000 VeriChips in humans across the country. Users who have implanted VeriChips under their skin have suffered no health detriments, says the company. It is, for all purposes, a technological fingerprint.\nEven though there may be benefits for permanently identifying ourselves with chips or barcodes, the potential for misuse is still there. First, a person's privacy is being invaded by allowing a corporation or government to mark them permanently. Complete trust has to exist between the patient and those branding them. In the end, we may not really know what these identification badges are used for, or who is using them. While the VeriChip and others claim to help prevent identity theft, there is the potential that they could be used for the opposite. The wrong information could easily be placed inside a chip or barcode, either through hackers or lazy technicians.\nAllowing others to brand us, whether government or business, gives them power over us. Our life story could literally be in their hands.\nWe may be a long way away from permanent wrist tattoos containing our genetic information, but we're on the way. With the willingness to give our identities away, we're one step closer to giving away ourselves.