Katrina Corpses Get ‘Chipped’: Verichip implanting RFID tags in corpses in Mississippi

Red Herring
Sep. 16, 2005

A company that makes ID chips for humans said Friday it has started “chipping” corpses in the Katrina-ravaged region of Mississippi to help expedite the identification process.

Florida-based VeriChip said it has already implanted radio frequency identification (RFID) tags into 100 corpses in the state for the Mississippi State Department of Health.

The company, which is a subsidiary of publicly traded Applied Digital Solutions, said it is also in talks with Louisiana health authorities, though no agreement has been reached.

“These bodies are in an advanced stage of decomposition,” said John Procter, VeriChip’s director of communications. “Many of them have no identification marks, no wallets, no IDs. In some cases a toe tag is not even viable.”

Mr. Procter said the procedure costs $200 to tag each corpse, though the company is providing the service for free.

The death doll in the Gulf Coast from the storm has risen to more than 700.

FDA-Approved

Using RFID tags to ID corpses is the company’s latest move in the growing field of RFID, which is expected to one day replace barcode technology. The RFID market, which commonly tracks goods in a supply chain and streamlines factories, is estimated to become a multibillion-dollar industry over the next five years.

Last October, the company received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for a rice-sized chip that’s implantable in humans. The company implants the device with a syringe under the skin of its customers.

The chip can then be read by a reader enabling applications in fields that require location tracking and quick identification. The company sells its service to the security and health industries.

For example, several Mexican government officials received the chip for security purposes to combat kidnapping attempts.

In a healthcare setting, hospital staff could use a patient’s RFID chip to quickly pull up the patient’s information quickly, even if the patient were unable to communicate with the caregiver.

Chipping Controversy

But chipping people remains highly controversial.

Critics say privacy concerns are a big issue because the radio signal emitted from the tag could be tracked by any unknown source. An implanted chip could potentially expose the wearer to anyone looking to use the information for harm, if the chip could unlock personal or medical information.

Critics also point to the fact that millions of pets already have a similar system with implanted ID tags. As the critics see it, implanting chips in humans could lead to negative associations and might deter customers from getting chipped.

If the past is any guide, it’s likely that tracking corpses will also raise ethical concerns. For instance, would the person consent to disclosure of personal information contained in the chip after the death?

But the company is no stranger to high-profile public moves.

On September 19, the company plans to publicly chip a “senior executive” of the investment bank Merriman Curhan Ford in downtown San Francisco.

In July, the former head of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Tommy Thompson, joined the company’s board to back the chip company and promote its health and security applications.

Though Mr. Thompson has not been chipped yet, VeriChip said he is “trying to schedule the procedure between his travel and his other commitments.”

VeriChip debuted its technology by chipping clubbers at a bar in Spain, enabling customers to use a bar tab by swiping their arms under an RFID reader.