----Microchip implants not just for your pets and children anymore...
Mexico's attorney general and other senior staff have had computer chips implanted in their arms to serve both as an identity device and a tracking
mechanism should they be kidnapped.
Rafael Macedo de la Concha said similar non-removable chips had been inserted under the skin of senior staff in his office and the 160 employees of a
new state-of-the-art crime database.
The attorney general did not seem particularly concerned about getting his arm chopped off in consequence, perhaps because he already believes he is
risking his life.
Two weeks ago hundreds of thousands of people marched through the capital demanding more action to bring down rampant levels of kidnapping and other
violent crime and the new information centre is part of the government's efforts to show it is responding to public concern.
The primary function of the chip, Mr Macedo said, was to control access to the centre in order to reduce the risk of sensitive information being
leaked to criminal gangs. Widespread corruption is considered the main reason why many victims do not report crimes, particularly kidnapping, which
further complicates the task of combating the phenomenon.
In remarks taken to mean that he himself could be kidnapped, Mr. Macedo also said that in his case the chip would have the added benefit of ensuring
he could be "found wherever I am".
Anti-kidnap microchips are already part of crime mythology in Mexico, where international security firms estimate there are as many as 3,000
kidnapping cases a year.
Max Morales, a private lawyer who advises families negotiating with kidnappers, said many people believe such chips are already generally available in
Mexico, which is not the case and is unlikely to be so for some time.
One consequence of this, he said, was the emergence of a gang nicknamed "el chip" for its habit of stripping its victims and violently demanding to
know where on their body they have a locating device.
Mr Morales stressed that such threats of mutilation mean that if chips do go on the market in the future the worst thing a wearer could do is
advertise the fact - as the attorney general had just done.
"It is very dangerous to go around showing off about it," he said. "Chips would require absolute confidentiality."
