Injected chip plan to track offenders

5:00AM Tuesday January 15, 2008

Britain is planning to implant "machine-readable" microchips - like those used on pets - under the skin of thousands of offenders as part of an expansion of electronic tagging.

Because of concerns about the security of existing tagging systems and prison overcrowding, the British Ministry of Justice is investigating the use of satellite and radio-wave technology to monitor criminals.

But, instead of being contained in bracelets worn around the ankle, the tiny chips would be surgically inserted under the skin of offenders in the community, to help enforce home curfews.

The "radio frequency identification" tags, as long as two grains of rice, can carry information about individuals, including identities, address and offending record.

The tags, labelled "spychips" by privacy campaigners, are used to track dogs, cats, cattle and airport luggage, but there is no record of the technology being used to monitor people.

A senior Ministry of Justice official said the department hoped to go even further, by extending the geographical range of the internal chips through a link-up with satellite-tracking similar to the system used to trace stolen vehicles.