The basic component of modern miniaturized electronics is The microchip and that is a series of electrical circuits built into a tiny wafer of silicon or another semiconductor. These circuits may be made by exposing the chip to a high temperature vapor of controlled composition. The vapor deposits a thin layer (sometimes only a few atom s thick) on the silicon. In this way complex layers of materials such as those found in transistors can be built up in a very small area. The VeriChip itself contains no medical records, just codes that can be scanned, and revealed, in a doctor’s office or hospital. With that code, the health providers can unlock that portion of a secure database that holds that person’s medical information, including allergies and prior treatment. The electronic database, not the chip, would be updated with each medical visit. The microchips have already been implanted in 1 million pets. But the chip’s possible dual use for tracking people’s movements — as well as speeding delivery of their medical information to emergency rooms — has raised alarm. “If privacy protections aren’t built in at the outset, there could be harmful consequences for patients,” said Emily Stewart, a policy analyst at the Health Privacy Project. To protect patient privacy, the devices should reveal only vital medical information, like blood type and allergic reactions, needed for health care workers to do their jobs, Stewart said. An information technology guru at Detroit Medical Center, however, sees the
