Sorry Stan, I got to disagree on a few points.

As to range, he indicated that the non powered ones could be up to 40', while powered up to a couple of miles. Guess what, he's right, and it doesn't take doormat/lamp post sized devices. Haven't you ever seen the gear they use to track wildlife? 30 years ago it was small enough to be placed on a lion and tracked for over a quarter mile. Everything has gotten smaller and lighter since then, including antennas. Go buy an FRS Radio you can stick in your pocket with a 3 mile range that costs only $20. (Probably 20 pounds in the UK, they get ripped on electronics prices.) Ok, that's powered. Unpowered has the same situation, and yes, those pet tags have antennas built in, can be read about 5 feet away, and are the size of a long grain of rice. Technology only gets better.

I don't recall any mention of storing medical records in this article, but it sure could store some vital emergency medical data. Aka, Blood type, Birthdate, Any pertinent conditions (diabetes, pennicillin allergy, etc). And it can do so really small by using standard flags. One kilobyte of info can be a whole lot of data like that.

As to tracking someones car by it's tags, why bother with every lamp post, just stick em in the intersections with the car sensors. Unless the person is offroading, they'll get tracked every block.... And the sensor gets to be within about 6' (2m appx) every time!

I'm wondering how they'll be able to tell if those jeans you are wearing were paid for already... Do they have unique ids? Is the chip reprogrammable? If it can be reprogrammed, imagine some jerk on the street with a homemade box that resets all chips in range to 'not paid for'. Could make you're next visit to the store really ugly.

Well, anyhow Stan, don't underestimate the technology, it's already there and getting better. Also don't assume the technology won't be misused, it always has and always will...

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