The other day a reader of this blog asked a thought-provoking question: "If we can keep track of our hammers via RFID, why can't we keep track of sexual predators?"

Well, perhaps the following news report doesn't quite answer her question, but it is (1) an example of using RFID to tag people, in a way that I think no one would question or argue with, and (2) a way to thwart bad guys or gals preying on children.

The news report is about using RFID chips to prevent infants from being kidnapped from hospitals:

"VeriChip Corporation, a subsidiary of Applied Digital (NASDAQ: ADSX), a leading provider of security and identification technology, announced today that its 'Hugs' RFID infant protection system has prevented the abduction of a baby at Presbyterian Hospital in Charlotte, North Carolina.

On July 15, the Hugs system went into alarm when the infant was removed from the hospital's seventh-floor nursery. Staff quickly responded to the 'CODE PINK' alert, and security officials thwarted the abduction, recovered the infant unharmed and returned him to the safety of maternity ward staff.

The 'Hugs' Infant Protection System, part of a recent acquisition by VeriChip, contains a tiny radio transmitter designed to prevent infants from being removed from a healthcare facility without authorization. Every infant wears a Hugs tag on the ankle or wrist, and exit points throughout the hospital are electronically monitored to detect unauthorized removal of an infant."

Now, one thing I've learned by following the RFID space closely as I have the last year is this: a sure way to raise the public's hackles is to mention tagging people. (Remember the bruhaha about the California school that was tagging children?)

For a number of reasons, tagging of people seems threatening. I suppose it is the Big Brother implications of following our every move.

But I wonder if anyone would really object to using RFID chips to prevent infants from being kidnapped. It is hard to see a negative side to the practice. After all, the sole purpose is to keep infants safe and out of the hands of nuts.

Your thoughts? Is there a negative side to this infant tagging that I am not seeing?

Hat tip ZombieWire for the news report link.