Microchipping People: The Rise of the Electrophorus

Automatic identification (auto-ID) is the process of identifying a living or non-living thing without direct human intervention. Before auto-ID only manual identification techniques existed, such as tattoos and fingerprints, which did not allow for the automatic capture of data. Many researchers credit the vision of a cashless society to the capabilities of auto-ID. Since the 1960s automatic identification has proliferated, especially for massmarket applications such as electronic banking and citizen ID. Together with increases in computer processing power, storage equipment and networking capabilities, miniaturisation and mobility have heightened the significance of auto-ID to e-business, especially mobile commerce. Citizens are now carrying multiple devices with multiple IDs, including ATM cards, credit cards, private and public health insurance cards, retail loyalty cards, student cards, library cards, gymnasium cards, driving licences and passports.