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Comments on ‘Tag dementia sufferers, says minister’

'Freedom to roam'

Published Thursday 19th April 2007 11:15 GMT

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Minister in Sci-Fi land again 

By Name
Posted Thursday 19th April 2007 11:30 GMT

From the way the BBC article is written it certainly seems the minister favours some kind of GPS satellite tracking system which would suggest that he's yet another Government minister who has got the whole thing back to front and thinks the satellite does the tracking rather than the receiver figuring out where it is relative to the satellites.

If you're going to get any useful realtime data back from the tracking device it'll need some kind of transmitter - presumably a mobile phone type device. Which makes the device quite bulky and likely to annoy and confuse the already confused dementia sufferer.

Interesting idea 

By Anonymous Coward
Posted Thursday 19th April 2007 11:33 GMT

Malcom Wicks has been my local MP for a long time, and this might be the first time he's actually come up with a good idea.

Oooh isn't it pretty ! 

By Mark_T
Posted Thursday 19th April 2007 11:38 GMT

"Ooh Ethel, that nice young Neville Chamberlain has just given me a garter to put on."

"He says they don't need to pay for a home help now. Is that lovely?"

Free range OAP's? 

By Anonymous Coward
Posted Thursday 19th April 2007 11:55 GMT

Will they also be Organic?

What?! 

By Dan
Posted Thursday 19th April 2007 12:09 GMT

Quote "Wicks said that permission from the individual concerned should be sought before using such a device."

Er, is this the same people that, due to the awful effects of conditions such as Alzheimers, don't even know what day it is? This is no less dodgy than claiming 'informed consent' can be obtained to fingerprint a child in primary school.

I've got a better idea... 

By Anonymous Coward
Posted Thursday 19th April 2007 12:38 GMT

Perhaps we should tag all MPs instead. And wiretap their phones too.

Ooops, sorry I forgot, MPs have immunity from wiretaps. Perhaps they have something to hide.

Why stop at the demented...? 

By Anonymous Coward
Posted Thursday 19th April 2007 14:17 GMT

Just tag everybody.

Tagging 

By Alex Wood
Posted Thursday 19th April 2007 18:41 GMT

Oh, I thought this was Web 2.0-style tagging. Why not combine it and track anyone called "confused" (and mis-spellings of the same) more than ten times or so by passers-by?

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