The decision of two employees and the chief executive of an Ohio-based video surveillance company to implant into their forearms electronic tags that control access to the secure room that holds their highly confidential video footage has prompted considerable debate over surveillance and civil liberties.

The Financial Times yesterday reported that the company, CityWatcher.com, was the first private company in America known to have implanted such technology in its employees for security purposes. About 70 people in America have the chip, known as a VeriChip, in their arms so that doctors can access their medical records even if they are unconscious, according to a spokesman for the VeriChip Corporation, John Proctor.

The VeriChip, a type of Radio Frequency Identification technology, works essentially as a remote key card that is implanted into a person's body. The chip is about the size of a grain of rice and carries a unique 16-digit code that can be read by radio transmitter. It does not emit a signal on its own.

CityWatcher.com installs surveillance cameras for the government, corporations, and schools. Its clients access the video footage over the Internet. The chips grant access to the room where the video footage is stored, Mr. Darks said.

The chief executive of CityWatcher.com, Sean Darks, said in a telephone interview that his company would never require an employee to have the chip implanted. One staffer carries his on a key chain, he said.

Nevertheless, for some, CityWatcher.com's use of the chip to tag its employees has raised the specter of Big Brother.

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