The FDA has granted market approval for the VeriChip created by Applied Digital Solutions. This is a microchip that is implanted under human skin. The VeriChip holds a code that unlocks a patient’s medical data in a hospital database.

This chip is already being used to track the movement of pets, help track down government workers in Mexico should they be abducted, and speed up payment for drinks in a bar in Spain. As par for the course with new technology these days, the debate has already begun about potential privacy concerns and the ethics of merging humanity with technology.

There are those that strongly oppose such intimate use of technology in humans, those that advocate restrictions, and those that hope to use technology to transcend human weaknesses. Regardless, the accelerating rate of technological progress is beginning to outpace the debate. Perhaps it is too late to stop such technology, but not too late to start thinking about where you stand as an individual. Without such introspection, you may soon find upcoming life-altering decisions already made for you.