This past week, media outlets around the internet were reporting that in the Obama Health Care Bill was a requirement that all US citizens and babies were to receive a RFID (radio frequency identification) microchip or Medchip implanted in them by 2013. The majority of these reports cite a reference to H.R. 3200 that establishes a “National Medical Device Registry” and a “class II device that is implantable, life supporting, or life sustaining.” These devices would then be used to harbor an individual’s identification and health information. This sent the online world into a frenzy with headlines popping up that read “Human Bugging Becomes Reality” to “The Mark of the Beast is Upon Us.” But there was one problem. That bill never passed. That bill was an early generation of the bill that did pass, which is H.R. 3590. So while the language has changed over the course since its inception, there are no plans for American citizens to line up and receive microchips injections as if they were getting their annual flu shot. Instead the federal government could only collect data pertaining to medical devices, not the person.
But like all bills and laws the terminology of the contents are not only vague but also quite overwhelming to someone that doesn’t have a degree in law or some higher schooling. But to get an understanding of the difference between H.R. 3200 and H.R. 3590, here’s an example. Had H.R. 3200 passed, every American could or would be implanted with an RFID microchip that contains your identification and health information. If you did not have said microchip, receiving medical attention would be extremely difficult because health providers would state that you would have to have it. But like all technology it could be used for or against you. These microchips, in theory, could also pinpoint your location or maybe even turn into a bugging device to find out what you shouldn’t be doing. And if the Patriot Act has taught us anything, it’s that to protect the country, the government can use whatever means necessary. Even if that means using a microchip implanted in your body against you.
But H.R. 3590 passed. This made sure that the Secretary of Health and Human Services would only collect data from medical devices, such as pacemakers, and not collect data from people.
But even though it looks like Big Brother has been thwarted, the door for this reality might have been just left wide open. Legal analysts state that the Secretary of Health and Human Services could argue that for the proper collection of data of medical devices they would also have to track the health and lifestyle of everyone with these medical devices. To make sure that the device is working properly it would then be necessary to monitor every aspect of a person’s life to rule out the chance that the device has been tampered. This would mean that collection of data would have to not only extend to the device itself but to the person themselves or even the people around them. And this creates a loophole that will make it legal to track an individual and document there activities.
The need for data collection has its ups and downs. Yes, we need it to take care of ourselves but also to take care of the people we care about. But at what cost? Having the government know every move a person makes and attribute it to collecting data for a medical device is not only unlawful but also mischievous. It goes against are Fourth Amendment right to privacy and illegal search and seizures. But would you gamble on your health or your child’s health if you were to have one of these medical devices? For the majority of us, we wouldn’t. Then the government can monitor and track us all they want as long as we can keep the ones we care about safe.