# Japan: Schoolkids to be tagged with RFID chips

- Author: Joichi Ito
- Date: 2004-07-13T22:46:40Z


CNETAsiaJapan: Schoolkids to be tagged with RFID chips

Japanese authorities decide tracking is best way to protect kids

The rights and wrongs of RFID-chipping human beings have been debated since the tracking tags reached the technological mainstream. Now, school authorities in the Japanese city of Osaka have decided the benefits outweigh the disadvantages and will now be chipping children in one primary school. This reminds me of the lyrics to the Suicidal Tendencies song Institutionalized, "Wait, what do you mean, what are you talking about, we decided!? My best interest?! How can you know what's my best interest is? How can you say what my best interest is?"

I know people are going to scream "tin foil hat" at me again, but I really don't like the idea of tagging people and the idea of national ids. It really is a slippery slope which will always look rather innocent at the beginning but will lead to a stifling of freedoms and an ability to profile and control people. I believe this is true especially in Japan, there are not enough people who argue against the "oh it's going to just be so convenient" side of the argument.

Interestingly, the "oh so convenient" national ID card that I was protesting has only had a 0.2% uptake by the population in Japan so I guess if you give people a choice, they'd rather not waste their time, money and privacy.





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#### Categories

Japanese Politics, Privacy