U.S. SENATOR PATRICK LEAHY

The FDA recently approved the use of VeriChip, an implantable Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) microchip that stores a code containing patient-specific information that can be read when scanned. Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), the ranking Democratic member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has monitored closely the developments of RFID and the exciting possibilities the new technology presents. As a long-time privacy advocate, Leahy has also urged the Department of Health and Human Services to carefully consider the civil liberties implications of this new technology as its uses continue to evolve.  Below is Leahy’s statement on the FDA approval of the VeriChip.   

 Statement of Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.)
On FDA’s Approval of VeriChip
(Under-Skin Implantations For Health Care)
Calls For Dialogue On Privacy, Security Safeguards 

October 18, 2004 

“The FDA’s decision to approve VeriChip signals a watershed change in the way we identify, communicate and share medical information and is a reminder that with these new technological advances come significant privacy and security challenges that need to be effectively addressed sooner rather than later.   

“Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is an exciting technology that promises incredible opportunities and enhancements in fields as diverse as health care and retailing to law enforcement and agriculture.  The RFID technology employed by VeriChip raises unique concerns because of its tiny size, its likely ubiquity and its potential for surreptitious scanning.  The possibilities of vast networks of databases containing Americans’ medical records prompts serious questions about how much of that information will be stored and shared, about who will have access to that information, and about the conditions that will govern access to those records.  

“Unfortunately, the FDA and the Department of Health and Human Services have been silent on the extent to which these important security, privacy and civil liberties implications have been considered during the process of approving this new technology.  I know that I have been waiting since April for any response at all to my inquiries to Secretary Thompson about RFID privacy considerations like these.   

“As government agencies and the private sector progress together in today’s fast-moving information age to expanding their ability to gather, store and share private medical information, we will also need to remain diligent in balancing these important advancements with the privacy protections and civil liberties that all Americans expect and deserve us to defend on their behalf.”