In Response to: Letter to the Editor Regarding: “A Security Analysis of the Verichip Implantable RFID Device”
- Correspondence and reprints to: Dr. John Halamka, 1135 Tremont Street, 6th Floor, Boston MA, 02215. (Email: jhalamka{at}caregroup.harvard.edu)
- Received 27 November 2006
- Accepted 12 December 2006
To the Editor,
In our article, we cited a book co-authored by Katherine Albrecht entitled Spychips: Why Christians Should Resist RFID and Electronic Surveillance. We made the citation in support of our statement that, “Religious groups have gone so far as to claim that the VeriChip may be a realization of the Mark of the Beast as described in the New Testament.” We believe that our citation was appropriate. Even in Ms. Albrecht’s largely identical, secularly-oriented book, SpyChips: How Major Corporations and Government Plan to Track Your Every Move with RFID, there is a sidebar entitled, “Payment Implants and the Mark of the Beast.” It reads: The RFID implant device, [sic] known variously as the VeriChip, or VeriPay, sets off alarm bells for a lot of Christians. Many believe it may be the fulfilllment [sic] of a prophecy made back at the time of Christ. Revelation, the last book of the Bible, describes a time when all people will have to take a mark in order to buy or sell …
Our article and citation made no reference to Ms. Albrecht’s own religious or political beliefs or practices, nor are they germane to our research results or writings. Our citation sought to draw attention to the nature of some public concern about the VeriChip. Indeed, one of us, due to public knowledge that he had an identification chip implanted in his arm, received e-mail from several people alleging that he had received the Mark of the Beast.
We offer our sincere apologies for the lapse in careful scholarship that led to our incorrectly citing Ms. Albrecht’s book; we traced the source of our incorrect citation to the Barnes and Noble web site www.bn.comfile://www.bn.com. At the time of writing of this letter, that site cites the book as, The Spychips Threat: Why Christians Should Resist RFID and Computer Tracking. We thank Ms. Albrecht for pointing our then erroneous citation, and will correct it in any future articles referencing her work.
Yours sincerely,
John Halamka and Ari Juels
