Person A, perhaps going for a quick stroll, walks around unknowingly with a small radio frequency chip; it might be in a bank card, a new passport, a swipe card to unlock doors – even implanted under their skin.

Person B walks by, several feet away, possibly carrying a briefcase or backpack. The strangers smile briefly as they pass each other, never coming into contact, and in that fleeting moment an identity has been stolen.

It’s a scenario that worries State Rep. Jim Guest (R-King City).

The theft was made possible because of a radio frequency identification device, or RFID chip. The thief, with instructions available on the Internet, built a battery-powered device capable of scanning the chip at a distance and walked away with enough information to open doors that once only opened for person A.

Depending on what devices the first person had that contained such chips, the thief could have gained access to bank accounts, EZ pay cards, and even the fact that the person was a U.S. citizen if they carried a new passport.

If the person had an implanted chip that contained information about their identity, the thief could now make a duplicate and pass himself off as person A.

In an effort to stop such a situation, Guest has sponsored House Bill 550, making it illegal for “coerced subcutaneous implantation of an identification device.”

The scenario may seem like science fiction, but the technology exists and is being used.

“Most people are not aware that this implanting chips into humans is out there and is on the verge of being done on a wide scale,” Guest said. “It’s a matter of educating people who say ‘surely this is not taking place.’ When they realize it is, they become real concerned about it.”

Guest said an initial concern was hospitals encouraging parents to have the chips implanted in their newborns. The chips put in humans are usually small vials, a little larger than a grain of rice. Once a chip is implanted, it can be programmed with personal identification information, and can even be programmed to serve as a “swipe card” capable of unlocking certain doors.

“Other people with a little reader can come by and steal your identification,” Guest said. “They can clone that chip and they can pass themselves off as you, especially if you were using it as a security device for entering secure areas.

“I’m concerned that once you start doing that it sets in motion the fact that the government or Big B rother can start tracking you through this if you have a RFID device in there that can remotely identify you.

Cancer is another concern with the implantation of the chips.

“When this is implanted in pets or in lab animals it has caused some cancerous tumors,” Guest said.

Guest said when approaching a reader, a signal is sent to the chip to energize it so it can send a signal back, causing the chip to heat up, like a microwave.

“It has to have some energy in it to send back whatever data that’s in there,” he said.

VeriChip, maker of an RFID chip for humans, lists several benefits for having such a device on its Web site. Among them, having medical information programmed in the chip to help hospitals in case of an emergency, and also for identifying remains after a natural disaster or accident.

“About the size of a grain of rice and inserted just under your skin in the back of your right arm, each VeriMed microchip contains a unique identification number that emergency personal may scan to immediately identify you and access your personal health information – facilitating appropriate treatment with less delay,” the company’s site says.

The company says the technology was used during H urricane Katrina to identify remains and deliver them to the correct families.

“When disasters occur, the VeriTrace system can work with VeriChip’s other implantable applications (VeriMed) to aid in response and recovery efforts.”

It’s the ease of stealing that information that Guest is worried about.

“They’re in the business of selling this,” he said. “They can make a lot of money if they can get people to accept this as the device they want implanted in them.”

Guest put an amendment in a bill last year to make it illegal for an employer to force an employee to implant a chip as a matter of employment.

“Some employers have required employees to have a little chip implanted so they have access to secure areas instead of using a card because they think that makes it more secure,” Guest said, “but as I pointed out, I can take a remote reader and clone that device then pass myself off as being them.”

After a woman’s son was being encouraged by the military to have a chip implanted instead of wearing dog tags, she called Guest to ask about the device.

“The downside of that is if the enemy knows our soldiers have an identifying device and we are going to rescue them because we know where they are, then the enemy can sit and wait for us,” he said.

Guest said 11 states have passed similar legislation, and he’s hopeful his bill will pass this session, or at least make it to the floor for action. Even though the practice if implanting the devices isn’t widespread in Missouri, he said he wants to be proactive on the issue.

“When most people really understand how serious this is they are very understanding and supporting of it,” Guest said. “They have a little bit of trouble in the beginning believing this is out there and they say ‘do you know of a lot of cases in Missouri?’ and the answer is no.

“Just like three years ago in Wisconsin when they passed it they didn’t see it as being a real problem at that point, but it’s about being proactive and stopping this before it starts.

“Sometimes you see the potential for a problem out there.”