Worried about increasing kidnapping rates, some affluent Mexicans have reportedly figured out a way to fight the crime.
They are embedding tiny, crystal-encased chips under their skin in hopes of making themselves easier to find after an abduction. Mexican security firm Xega, which has designed the system, says it is gaining popularity among users.
The chip, supposed to be no bigger than a grain of rice, is usually injected in the arm.
A transmitter in the chip communicates with a small GPS-enabled box that is carried by the client, says Xega. And it is the box that reports the GPS coordinates to the company when the panic button is pressed. It's a bit similar to GPS-tracking systems currently being marketed to pet owners.
What's not clear is how the embedded chip helps in the process or what will happen if the kidnappers throw the GPS box out.
Still Xega's sales have jumped 13% this year, says Reuters. That's not surprising considering that kidnapping jumped about 40% between 2004 and 2007, according to some estimates.
Xega, which is based in the city of Quererato in Mexico, originally designed GPS systems to track stolen vehicles. But after a company owner was kidnapped in 2001, it adapted the technology to track people.
Mexicans get microchipped over kidnapping fears [New Scientist]
