Mexican microchips may not be on every one's menu

With kidnappings in Mexico ranking up there with Iraq and Colombia, wealthy Mexicans are spending thousands of dollars to have microchips embedded under their skin.

The tipping point in Mexico seems to have been the recent brutal murder of Fernando Marti, the 14 year old son of a wealthy Mexican family. The badly decomposed body of Fernando was found in the boot (trunk) of a car, even though his family had paid the ransom. With an estimated rise of 40% in kidnappings between 2004 and 2007, anyone who is perceived as being wealthy becomes a target for kidnappers. The tiny devices, about the size of a grain of rice are inserted by syringe, usually in the arm between muscle and skin. The procedure costs $4,000, with a $2,000 annual licence fee. Originally designed as a GPS tracking device for vehicles by a company called Xega, located in the central Mexico city of Quererato, the miniature tracking device evolved from desperation. The owner of Xega was kidnapped in broad daylight back in 2001. His family felt powerless to find him. The microchip, which Xega claims can be tracked even if the victim is in the trunk of a car, is all part of what is now a growth industry in Mexico and around the world. Xega want to leverage their success and have plans to offer their services in Brazil, Colombia and Venezuela. In the United States, a company called Verichip Corp, has a similar service for tracking people. The technology is not new and is based on Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) originally discovered in 1946 as an espionage tool for the Soviet Union. Miniaturization has enabled the technology to propagate into a myriad of applications. But not everyone is happy with the surveillance technology. Katherine Albrecht a consumer privacy activist in the USA is the Founder and Director of Consumers Against Supermarket Privacy and Invasion and Numbering (CASPIAN) , feels that the technology is invasive, unproven and a gimmick. Known as the "Erin Brockovich of RFID" Ms Albrecht wants RFID tracking of consumers / people stopped. The consumer surveillance industry, now a $10 Billion a year growth industry is much too invasive for Ms Albrecht President Felipe Calderón of Mexico is under tremendous pressure to stop the kidnappings. His views on the importance of RFID tracking are broader than the invasion of consumer tracking. Nevertheless, microchips are not on every ones menu.