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Comment by jaclaz | Hacker News Reader

They look like the ones that are commonly in use (mandated by Law) for dogs and (I believe optional) for cats here in Italy since years.

Besides the moral and psychological implications of being "marked" for life (not entirely unlike the numbers tatooed on forearms of concentration camp prisoners) and the (obvious) privacy and security concerns, I am failing to see the actual advantages (no risk of losing your card or keys)?

So, let's say, instead of having to give your money and keys to someone holding a knife to your throat, you will be given a small sample of on the field micro surgery.

In any case having them inserted just over the (left) thumb doesn't seem to me such a good idea.

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What are the moral implications of doing this voluntarily?

This seems "easily" reversible by just having the chip removed.

It's voluntary today, when it's a rarity. If they become wide-spread companies and governments will inevitably start tying services to chips, which will drive adoption even more, and eventually you will not be able to get those services in any other way.

This story unfolds over, and over, and over again, and it seems people never learn. SSNs went through this exact process. Credit cards became a required piece of information for transactions not involving credit. There are places in the wold now where simply not carrying an ID is effectively illegal. You are not allowed to not have an email anymore.

You either can wait for this to happen and then hope certain misuse get eventually outlawed, or simply push back from the very beginning so that adoption does not reach a critical mass.

And no, I am not going to respond to inevitable apologists who will reply to this post. Not because I have no arguments, but because I have no time to argue with yet another person smugly telling me that I'm "free" to avoid civilization if I don't like creepy, covertly totalitarian stuff.

> If they become wide-spread companies and governments will inevitably start tying services to chips

Yes, Christians have long thought a chip will fulfill this prophecy: "Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave to be marked on the right hand or the forehead, so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark," --- The Revelation

I wasn't thinking of the moral implications for the individual (which is of course volunteering) I was thinking of the moral implications for the society.

Of course it is removable, the "easily" is debatable.

In a society where many (most) people have this chip implanted a small scar just over your left thumb is a signal you have something to hide (or if you prefer you are "different").

On the other hand if many (most) people have this chip implanted those that decide to have it NOT implanted from the beginning will be seen as "queer" (or however again "different").

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