First it was cattle. Then it was pets. Now it's Mexicans.

Will Americans be next?

In Mexico, implantable and trackable micro-chips for humans, which can be used to store personal information, like medical, military, criminal and credit history, have been introduced by Applied Digital Solutions of Palm Beach, Florida.

Its brand name is Verichip, and it's a tiny microchip the size of a grain of rice that is implanted under the skin.

In Mexico, which is suffering an epidemic of kidnappings for ransom, the device may be touted as "LoJack for People."

After the chip is implanted, government and hospital officials use a
scanning device to download a serial number to access the name, ID and personal history of the individual on their computer.

Applied Digital Solutions, which produces the controversial "Digital Angel" tracking device, as well as the "Verichip," also claims it is developing technology to use satellites to track people.

For government officials, the implications are obvious.