WTF?

For a while now I've had this starter idea for a sci-fi story - where in the 'day-after-tomorrow' future - the country will be so over-crowded there would be state-imposed limits have been put on who can be out and about and who can't, and even how much time they're allowed outside. So every time someone wants to go out - they have to swipe their id card in a reader inside their front door - to be granted permission to go out - once outside their ID card starts a whole automatic process where their every last movement is tracked and recorded by CCTV and card readers etc.

This is based on already existing proposals for cars - so it's only a short hop from there to monitoring people.

Then I read this:

Ministers are planning to implant "machine-readable" microchips under the skin of thousands of offenders as part of an expansion of the electronic tagging scheme that would create more space in British jails.

So now I'll have to update my idea and replace ID cards with chip implants.

Of course if they do get away with this for prisoners - next off they'll probably go on to the next step - the 'Fortress' concept - where the RFID chip will come with an explosive device and if any 'prisoner' strays anywhere they shouldn't. BOOM!

This'll all probably happen too - y'know, to keep us all safe from crime and terrorists and paedophiles and bird flu and global warming etc.