Tracking kids via microchip 'can't be far off,' says expert

It's a thought that is just a little too Orwellian for most people -- putting a microchip inside your body. But there are people who are doing just that already.

For most of those who have, it's a matter of convenience. Now, they can log onto their computer, lock or unlock their front door, or even start their car with a wave of a microchip implanted in their hand.

Now let's take the technology one step further.

What if you could implant a chip in your child which could help bring him or her home in the event they were lost or worse -- kidnapped?

Experts are working on that possibility right now. There are already working on products you can buy, like watches or bracelets or tracking bug,s to drop into a backpack which can be tracked by GPS. But tracking a microchip, placed inside a human body is another matter.

"I just might be one of those mothers who would do it", says Trish Dickerson. Her 3 and a half-year-old son, Elliott, never stops.

"He has no fear, of anybody or anything. He has no stranger danger," Dickerson said.

Are human microchips in our future?

Dickerson said she though one day, "I microchip my dog, why couldn't I microchip my son?"

Stewart Lipoff said that's the "ick factor" most people cannot get over.

Lipoff is an electronics engineer who is an expert in Radio Frequency ID, or RFID, technology. RFID is what operates the chips in our pets, as well as the chips in our smart keys, credit cards, fobs for electronic locks, and dozens of other electronic devices.

Lipoff said right now the technology to track a microchip with GPS isn't available, but it can't be far off. He said you could track a human, with an implanted chip. All it would take is strategically placing scanners or portals at key locations like doorways, counters or even on street corners.

The readers or portals would decode the information emitting from a microchip by the RFID signal, if the individual passed close enough to a reader.

Right now, the technology is in it's infancy, which means parents like Dickerson will continue to have their hands full. "For now, I just have to keep my eye on him" says Dickerson, but i have to be honest I have thought about it." KENS5