Big Brother, eh?

I don't know what to make of this, it's weird:

Canadian coins containing tiny transmitters have mysteriously turned up in the pockets of at least three American contractors who visited Canada, says a branch of the U.S. Department of Defence.

Security experts believe the miniature devices could be used to track the movements of defence industry personnel dealing in sensitive military technology.

This seems like a pretty stupid way to track people. Unless there has been some major breakthrough in technology that I missed, a transmitter small enough to be hidden in a coin isn't going to have a great range. Combine that with the fact that Americans who have Canadian coins after visiting Canada tend to not carry it around with them, and you have a really poor attempt at spying.