posted on Nov, 13 2009 @ 11:19 PM
Please note all of the following information is off the top of my head and may be subject to change
As I understand it, there are two types of chips, active and passive.
The active chips are self-powered (one way or another) and transmit a unique identifying number. They can be read from further away than passive
chips. An example of this type of RFID transmitters is toll-booth 'chips' which contain a battery and usually have to be placed on your
windshield.
The passive 'chips' contain a circuit which resonates at a particular (unique) frequency in the presence of an external magnetic field. Because they
need to be excited by a magnetic field the distance from which they can be read is limited. An example of this type of RFID is store theft prevention
stickers, which look like a square pattern (about 2 inches in diameter) made out of a strip of aluminium.
AFAIK neither type of chip in its implantable form can be 'hacked'. Both should be able to be damaged though, in the presence of a strong field
(microwave perhaps? lol). The passive type would be harder to damage I expect.
EDIT: Forgot to add that neither type of chip contains any information other than a unique identifier, so therefore all information will be in a
database (or various databases), with the chip linking you to the information in the database.
EDIT2: Punctuation and clarity.
EDIT3: Actually, there is a type of active 'chip' which contains more information then just an identifying number. I would guess these type of
chips are a OTP (one-time programmable) type and cannot be changed once programmed. The same rules of damaging them apply as to other active chips.
This type is usually used in passports and contains the same information which is on the passport page (eye color and DOB and such).
There, that should be enough edits.
[edit on 13/11/09 by GobbledokTChipeater]
[edit on 13/11/09 by GobbledokTChipeater]
[edit on 13/11/09 by GobbledokTChipeater]