Brussels: 'Implants to track people are OK'

From RFID implants for Spanish club-goers to cybernetics for academics, human beings are ever more keen to blur the line between man and machine - and the EU has something to say about it.

Currently, no legislation governs the implanting of technology in the human body and, according to the European Group on Ethics in Science and New Technologies (EGE), an advisor to the EC, it's a situation that needs to be addressed.

The European Commission this week adopted an opinion on the ethical aspects of ICT implants in the human body, declaring they should only be given to those in need rather than those who wish to enhance their faculties.

"Efforts should be made to make sure that such ICT implants are not used to create a two-class society," the EC said. "Access to ICT implants for enhancement should only be for the purpose of bringing children or adults into the 'normal' range for the population... A second permissible purpose would be to improve health prospects, such as enhancing the immune system to be resistant to HIV, for example."

What, however, is not acceptable is using such implants to track individuals or to discover data about them.

"ICT implants due to their network capability could be misused in several ways for all kinds of social surveillance or manipulation... In some cases, the implantation of microchips with the potential for individual and social forms of control is already taking place.

"The EGE stresses the importance that not only the individual has the right to protect his or her own personal data but that society should take care that online and surveillance systems, where they are permitted, should not become systems of untenable restriction."

The EC, however, believes that using implants as surveillance tools is acceptable, as long as government has legislated for it first.

"The EGE insists that surveillance applications of ICT implants may only be permitted if the legislator considers that there is an urgent and justified necessity in a democratic society and that there are no less intrusive methods."

The EGE also recommends that an independent adjudicator be appointed to monitor rulings in such cases.

And while the organisation foresees the use of subcutaneous technology implants as a tracking device, it does believe one use of implants is unacceptable in all cases: using tech to turn people into zombies.

"The use of ICT implants in order to obtain remote control over the will of people should be strictly prohibited."