At first it seemed that Verichip would make it through the delicate unraveling of the stock market despite overwhelming concerns that its most controversial offering, implantable RFID chips for human beings, equates to little more than a wild game tracking system for people. Sure, RFID has legitimate technological uses, like tagging high-priced government-owned but easily movable items and loss prevention. But even its legitimate uses read like a bad how-to manual for potential misuse; tracking items from your local Walgreens to prevent theft is fine but what happens when the chipped product ends up in your home? The technology may not exist today but surely some brainiac will figure out a way to measure all sorts of invasive metrics using the accessibility offered by said products. Never doubt the power of technology.

It's called "uberveillance" according to Michael G Michael of the University of Wollongong's School of Information Systems and Technology in Australia and it may be coming to a human near you.

Sean Hannity has already suggested that RFID chips are a wonderful way for a parent to track their child in the event of a kidnapping. GPS through RFID used to be little more than a science fiction wet dream - now it is a reality being touted as the latest safety gadget. Then again, just a few years ago we might have scoffed at the technological implications of GPS-enabled wireless devices for the average American. Now we can plot our exact location through our iPhones and send out into the world wide intarwebz and coordinate dinner based on a Yelp/Tom-tom hybrid. This is partially the reason why I have such a distaste for Hannity, among other sins. To suggest that we tag our children like cattle bred for beef is not only barbaric but plain silly.

But RFID is a reality. New U.S. passports are already impregnated with radio chips, and though it's been proven that the technology is not secure and can be read by any nearby individual with the technology and desire to do so, the U.S. continues to crank out "modified" passports.

From Australia's NineMSN.com:

Dr Michael said the technology behind uberveillance would eventually lead to a black box small enough to fit on a tiny microchip and implanted in our bodies.

This could also allow someone to be located in an emergency or for the identification of corpses after a large scale disaster or terrorist attack.

"This black box will then be a witness to our actual movements, words — perhaps even our thoughts —-and play a similar role to the black box placed in an aircraft," he said.

He also predicted that microchip implants and their infrastructure could eliminate the need for e-passports, e-tags, and secure ID cards.

"Microchipping I think will eventually become compulsory in the context of identification within the frame of national security," he said.

While it is admirable of Dr. Michael to play up the potential positive uses for RFID technology, am I the only one completely disturbed by the concept of a chip beneath my skin which would hold my banking, personal, and health information? We have already moved towards a cashless society. Technology inevitably fails. What happens when it turns out RFID is the Windows Vista of tracking systems and an individual is effectively cut off from access to money? Or should one believe the movie Wake Up Call when it is pointed out that this may actually be the exact point of chipping humans?

Ironically, Wisconsin has already outlawed "enforced" microchipping of residents - the same Wisconsin which is home to ex Governor Tommy Thompson, who resided on the Verichip Board of Directors. That same Tommy Thompson, ex Secretary of Health and Human Services who sang the praises of RFID while never volunteering to be chipped himself. You want us to do it? Sure. You go first. Let us know how that works out.

This is a blatant violation of individual liberties but could work out to be an inevitable path for humanity. We're already tagged anyway; Social Security numbers (why have a number for something that won't exist when I need it?!), license plates, ID cards, the list goes on.

My $0.02? With all this health information technology upgrading OMGObama's stimulus will do here at Ground Zero, I can imagine Verichip ($CHIP) is going to make a market comeback (shares were trading at the low end of $0.30 at the time of this post) and finagle its way not only into your homes but under your skin.

And I'm sorry but that is just creepy.