Big Brother Is Watching You

LONDON, Nov. 2, 2006 — -- Humans becoming bar-coded products -- within 10 years will we all be chipped "like dogs?"

Alas, this is not as far-fetched or as futuristic as it sounds.

This Orwellian "Big Brother" Police State concept of surveillance chips being installed in human beings could soon cross over from the realm of science fiction into reality.

The state could track our every move and store our personal information, with chips implanted under our skin.

A report published this week for Britain's information commissioner, Richard Thomas, who enforces the Data Protection Act, considers the spread of surveillance technology.

The study, drawn up by a team of respected academics, says that by 2016 almost our every movement, purchase and communication could be monitored by a complex network of interlinking technologies.

However, there is a concern that we are already "sleepwalking" into a surveillance society, and Jonathan Bamford, assistant information commissioner, explained to ABC:

"There is suspicion of surveillance that erodes privacy, but not all of it is a bad thing. But some is worrying. Microchipping is not that far a jump from the current tagging of defendants. Now is the right time to think about this seriously and foster public debate."

But Big Brother actually already has you microchipped.

In October, the Food and Drug Administration approved computer chips for humans.

With the pinch of a syringe, the microchip -- the size of a grain of rice -- is inserted under the skin in less than 20 minutes and leaves no stitches.