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Personal security: microchip your doll?

May 3, 2010

    1. Kiyakotari, yes, she is a 1/4 scale doll. Thank you for the links!

      I will definitely have to invest in one.
       
    2. Yup, microchipped animals, whether domestic or wild, have to be scanned by a special handheld unit. Actual tracking units that emit a signal are much larger and usually kept on with a collar of some kind (trying to minimize the annoyance to the animal, which might then try and remove it. Which does happen sometimes anyway.). But "lo-jacking" a doll's clothing is no guarantee, so unless you get a unit stuffed up into the torso somehow -- and then figure out (if not before) which company will agree to do that kind of tracking for you.... It's a specialized kind of tracking, really. (Unless you just stuff a whole cellphone on standby up into the doll, and keep track of it like they show parents doing with their kids in those ads - Verizon? ATT?)

      Even with a glass or plastic case on the bridal table (depends on the place you're having your reception, but a gift table might be way off to the side), it would be well to have a couple of close friends keeping an eye on it so they can also take turns enjoying themselves at the event! Unless you're planning on holding onto the doll during the ceremony and right up to the time you enter the reception hall, you also need someone to handle the doll's presence and removal from the various sites. Don't underestimate how fuzzy-headed and rushed you'll get just from all the stress of the event, being shoved around for photo ops, greeting people, being taken for photos between ceremony and reception, etc., never mind the celebrating itself!
       
    3. When I saw this at first I thought I was reading it wrong... the microchips they use in pets are only readable when scanned and do not provide any tracking capabilities. Of course if someone were to invent a "Lo-Jack" for a doll then maybe it could be traced with GPS abilities. Now that might be a sellable idea. And if it was not too expensive, then I might even look at that for ALL my kiddos.

      - SHadowHawke -
       
    4. This made me laugh XD

      "ringring Sorry, I have to take this. holds doll to ear." LOL
       
    5. Addressing the individuals above:
      As a side note, and slightly off-topic, do you have a cellphone? Cellphones are required by law in most countries to include a GPS feature. This is there to allow emergency services (911) to locate callers who need assistance, but the database can also be accessed by law enforcement/government (and presumably others, if they were determined enough) to pinpoint the location of the cellphone (and the person carrying it). The cellphone does not have to be actively transmitting (making a call) for this feature to work, it simply has to have battery power. So basically, if you have/carry a cellphone, you're already trackable, and very easily to anyone who authority to access the database.

      What you're talking about is called an RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tag. Some of them DO require a power source (they're "active," and actually transmit a signal a short distance), which needs to be either recharged or replaced on occasion, but the more common "passive" RFID tags (the kind used in proximity reader ID badges for access control in many places of employment, at the doors to many retail shops to alarm when things are stolen, and in those proximity-capable credit and debit cards that have been introduced over the last few years) are not powered at all, and are simply read by the device they're designed to work with. This device (whatever it happens to be in a given application) checks the tag's ID against its database, and if it finds a match it does whatever it's designed to do, whether it be open a door, set off an alarm if someone walks through before it has been "deactivated," look up someone's identity and citizenship information (electronic passports do this), allow someone through a tollbooth (this is how "fast lanes" work, though they're probably battery-assisted passive RFID's, not truely passive, since they need to transmit over a slightly greater distance than passives are capable of), clock someone in or out of work, identify a pet and pull up contact information on the pet's owner, or create a link to a bank account and allow a purchase to be made using the funds there. What it does depends entirely on the database.

      I work with passive RFID's in my job (the unlocking-doors and clocking-people-in-and-out-of-work) kind, and while they can be damaged, they're fairly durable and very small (the largest part is the antenna, and its size AND shape are both variable), and it would be very, very easy to conceal one inside a doll, either by casting it into the resin or simply by adhering it to the inside of the doll itself. However, as others have said, it would be useless without a database to check it against (which would require maintenance, and considerable funding) and also someone who had both access to the database AND an RFID-reader that was compatible with it, and also had the inclination to use them to check it. Also, it would require that the person with all this access and equipment have the doll actually in their possession. Essentially, they could be used for identification, but not for tracking and location.
       
    6. Kiyakotari It's so cool that you know all of that! It's interesting to know that it's possible albeit probably not useful.

      *pictures dolls being used as means to open restricted areas instead of a pass card* XD Can you picture someone holding a doll, dressed in a little suit and tie, FBI style, up to a scanner in some very serious, secretive type job? Hahahahaha.
       
    7. I do know about that annnnddddd.....

      ....it doesn't make it right. I am not going to go along with microshippping just because the cell phone company conditioned me to think it is normal. It is not normal. I think it is an invasion of privacy. The excuse about 911 calls is ridiculous and honestly I can't believe how asleep the citizens of this world are to allow this type of thing to go on. Also, to answer your question, no I don't carry a cell everywhere because I don't like them. I have an old phone with no GPS tracking. But that is all about people and this conversation is about dollies :)

      It holds true for me no matter what. I don't like the idea of tracking devices being something we happily opt in for because we are afraid of losing something. I just think we are opening the door to something that can turn to the dark side in the future. :aninja:
       
    8. Oh, please don't mistake my intention! ^_^ I wasn't suggesting that the prevalence of tracking capabilities in cellphones (and other things) makes that kind of tracking good or even really acceptable. I was just pointing out that, for the majority of the people on this board, it's something that's already happening, and they tend to be largely unaware of it.

      Your cellphone must be a real brick, though, since GPS/locator capabilities were introduced/made mandatory for cellular devices in the US in 2005, and I imagine that most cell manufacturers just incorporated them into all their designs from around that point forward, even for those phones distributed to countries where tracking is not mandatory. It's cool that you have such an old phone.
       
    9. I see nothing wrong with having your girl at your special day, and the idea of the laptop cable, the card and a case sounds like it would help deter anyone from walking off with her.

      I say, between you and your friend, you could give it a try.

      Personally, I think that microchipping something as expensive as a BJD is worth the expense. I'd put it inside of their body vs their head, and if its ever found, you can have it scanned.

      We have these technologies for a reason, and if someone's willing to do so for expensive items, then I say "why not use it that way?" Maybe, if there's a big enough market for them, people will improve upon them for things such as BJDs, laptops, TVs, whatever.

      Oh, and omedeto [congratulations] on your special day!:)

      Ryu
       
    10. ^this.

      If there is no convenient way to keep your doll safe at your wedding, you probably better don't take her with you on this day.
       
    11. HAHAAH You would LAUGH to see my phone! It is actually a very cute "vintage" Nokia. God knows I need GPS to keep myself from getting lost but still...I don't have it. You have no idea how often I need to explain myself because I work in a high tech industry! Oh well. I am becoming a fossil I guess.

      It is good that you pointed out the cell phone GPS capabilities! I might be paranoid but I am just unable to see any good out come for us in the future if we are all traceable. It disturbs me. They are starting to make GPS jammers for phones but naturally they are illegal in some countries. :doh
       
    12. If I were you, I would take a photo of your doll, put that into a locket, and wear it as a good luck piece..."something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue, and a sixpence for your shoe". If you don't want to wear a locket as a necklace, you coulc always pin it somewhere discreetly on your wedding gown. Much safer and less distracting for you then worrying over who was or wasn't keeping an eye on your doll. Think about it, weddings always go by in a flash and you'll have plenty on your mind without adding extra concerns to this special day. I've been involved in the planning of more than a few weddings, including my own, and take it from me, something always goes...if not exactly wrong...let's just say really different from what the Bride (and Groom) planned. Anyway, best wishes to you, and congratulations to your groom! :aheartbea

      Juli DC :)
       
    13. how about an alarm?
      like it screams until you turn it off (only the owner knows how)
      or I just whack someone on the head whomever touches them lol
       
    14. The idea sounds good, but, really, who's to say whoever takes the doll won't check her for a chip, and remove it? You can't embed it into the resin, so whether you put it in her head or body, someone can still spot it and yank it off if they open her up.

      If it were me, I just wouldn't bring a doll to my wedding, honestly. It's not really necessary, and it's definitely not impossible to survive not seeing your doll for one day. True, it is an important day; but, as rowdy as weddings can get, it's just not the place for a BJD. There will be alcohol, maybe kids running around, and partying. Resin, sadly, doesn't do well with wild partying. I would just focus on having a great time and celebrating, instead of having to worry about how the resin baby is. :]

      A good option, as some suggested, would be to display her on a locked plexiglass case (so no one can just smash it, like with real glass.) That way, you won't be worrying about whether she's OK or not, nor would you have to make someone miss all the fun to be a doll-sitter. It's not 100% foolproof, but it's probably the best way to have her there if you are set on that plan.
       
    15. yeah a case would make sense, and kind of neat too, and rids the need of a doll sitter
       
    16. I think microchipping pets is a good thing to do, and perhaps putting some kind of a locator in an automobile as well, but I have no desire to microchip all of my important possessions in case of theft or loss. When you have numerous dolls or other collectibles, it would get to be an expensive pain in the butt. There is also such a thing as being a little too hung up on one's possessions, and if my doll is going to be in danger of someone walking off with it, I would rather just not take it to wherever the dangerous place is.

      Edited to add, instead of having the doll at your wedding, why not just get the photographer to snap some pictures someplace else, like your house, featuring your doll with you in the wedding dress, or your doll with you and your spouse, or your doll sitting by some wedding-y props? Then you have a nice memory of your doll being "included" in things without you having to take it to the event. I had the photographer take a picture of me and my husband on our wedding day, with our pets at the time, at our house. Obviously there's no way I was going to take the pets to the reception - just a bad idea all around - but I wanted them included in our day so a photo was a great way to do it.

      If you did put the chip in the doll it would be silly to have it anywhere but the head sculpt as that's normally the most valuable and unique part, in case the thief decided to disassemble the doll. And as people have pointed out the head has magnets in it. Plus what's to stop a thief who's aware from simply trying to drill the chip out or drill it dysfunctional? You can't very well cut the microchip out of a stolen pet, and it normally wouldn't happen because the chips are more likely to identify the pets who run away or get lost and are picked up by animal control. But I can see some thief trying to cut the chip out of a stolen doll if he had any idea where it might be in the doll.