While berry chips offer great convenience in terms of personal data integration and crime prevention, they also have the potential to raise serious ethical issues of data leakage and invasion of privacy. Given the advantages and disadvantages of these technologies, we need to have a careful discussion and institutionalization of how far we allow them to go.
In recent years, the importance of personal information has grown exponentially in our society. With the rapid entry into the information society, personal information has become more than just a means of identification, but a social and economic value. The world we live in today is a world of information overload, where we choose only what suits us and make it our own. We shape our identity through this information and express it in various ways. For example, we share our interests on social media to showcase our personalities. This creates our own identity, which leads to the formation of personal information.
Unlike in the past, the formation of personal information is much more complex and sophisticated. In the past, personal information was stored in national ID cards, public certificates, and credit cards, but nowadays, location, browsing history, and even health conditions are easily collected through digital devices such as smartphones. This information is analyzed by companies and government agencies to tailor services and policies. But what if all of this could be integrated into a single tool?
The verification chip is the realization of this imagination. It’s a computer chip that was introduced in 2002 by the American company Applied Digital Solutions (ADS). It is 12 millimeters long and 2.1 millimeters wide and can be easily implanted under the skin with a syringe. It consists of a silicon memory and a wireless transceiver. This allows the information stored in the chip to be read by a scanner and transmitted to the outside world. The lifespan of the Berry Chip is expected to be 20 years. The information stored in the chip is either genetic information or a unique number that identifies the individual. As soon as the chip is connected to an external database where personal information is stored, all of the individual’s information is available. A person’s identity, financial transactions, biometrics, and medical information can be accessed with a single scan. In addition, if it is connected to GPS, it is possible to track a person’s location.
In addition to providing convenience in everyday life, berry chips can also be used in emergency or criminal situations. In May 2002, the Jacobs family of Florida, USA, became the first to have a berry chip implanted. The family was inspired to implant the Berry Chip after their father was taken to the hospital in a car accident and nearly lost his life because he was unable to explain his condition to the doctors. When treating patients who have difficulty communicating, the Berry Chip can be used to identify biometric information and medical records, allowing for faster treatment or surgery. Berry chips can also play an important role in large-scale disasters such as natural disasters and terrorism. If victims can be quickly located and their health status can be monitored in real time, life-saving and medical treatment can be much more efficient.
In the case of a kidnapping or abduction, the chances of saving a victim are significantly reduced after the golden hour. However, if the victim is implanted with a berry chip, they can be tracked using GPS, and the victim can be rescued quickly. It also helps prevent ex-offenders from re-offending. The company touts the chip’s practicality in protecting children from abduction and managing criminals. Technology like this can play an important role not only in crime prevention, but also in natural disasters and humanitarian crises.
However, with all these benefits, there is still a lot of controversy surrounding berry chips. The reason for this debate is paradoxically related to the benefits of berry chips. The medical records and automated payments that are available with a single scan mean that anyone can scan a berry chip embedded in someone else’s body and get all of their sensitive information. This leaked information is then used to compare each individual to others, which leads to discrimination. The crime and missing person tracking that GPS has been used to prevent is transformed into an invasion of privacy by tracking an individual’s movements. For example, privacy breaches in the workplace can expose workers’ identities, health conditions, and even their personal lives.
To realize the problem of privacy breaches, think of an insurance company. When an insurer wants to provide health insurance, they look at a person’s medical records and past medical history to determine whether or not to insure them, or to set premiums. This is how the human genome has now been mapped and analyzed. Therefore, it is possible to find out the probability of an individual getting cancer through genetic information. If a berry chip contains genetic information and it becomes mandatory to wear a berry chip, organizations such as companies will analyze genetic information to decide whether to hire or not. If these data are collected on a non-profit, non-governmental server, your life will always be under surveillance. Not only that, but this surveillance has the potential to be a serious violation of individual liberty. This could lead to serious problems that could threaten the very foundations of liberal democracy.
However, while the debate about berry chips continues, biometric chips are necessary for crime prevention and personal welfare. In recent years, heinous crimes have become more common in Korea, and it is becoming increasingly difficult to raise children without worry. Currently, only sexual assault offenders are required to wear electronic anklets, and people living within a certain distance of the offender are notified of the offender’s address. But with berry chips, we can track the location and behavior of people who have committed a certain level of crime and prevent them from committing further crimes. If a child is fitted with a berry chip, we will know where he or she is even if he or she disappears, as is the case now. Also, if we aim for a society without discrimination, we can utilize berry chips to make it easier for people with disabilities to receive medical treatment. In an emergency, most patients are unable to explain their condition. Pre-operative tests must be performed to determine the surgical site, and during these tests, the patient’s condition is bound to worsen. However, berry chips can be utilized to save the patient’s life in the nick of time. Furthermore, at the national level, a database utilizing biometric chips can be built to create an integrated system for crime prevention and social welfare. This will ultimately contribute to strengthening the social safety net and reducing the crime rate.
In this article, we have discussed the characteristics, advantages, disadvantages, and reasons for using berry chips. Although berry chips have the potential to invade an individual’s privacy. However, individuals should be able to see the history of their chip being scanned. And by limiting the scanners to government-authorized entities, you can minimize the privacy leakage of the chip. In this way, the use of berry chips with minimal disadvantages will make our society a better place to live. Of course, this will require not only technological development but also legal and ethical discussions and institutional arrangements. A social consensus is needed to ensure that berry chips are not just a technological innovation, but are utilized in a way that guarantees human dignity and rights.
