Taking an implant for the team
TECHNOFILE Tim Stackpool looks at the implantation of computer chips and warns – it could be closer than you think
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The gap between organic humans and manufactured technology is closing to the extent that people are now voluntarily implanting‘ RFID’ chips into themselves, partly for research purposes, but also for practical applications.
That’ s right, surgically or otherwise, silicon computer chips are being subcutaneously added to humans- and it’ s been happening for a while.
No, this is not the ravings of a conspiracy theorist. The implanted chips can be encoded in a similar fashion to the cards in your wallet or purse that you use to‘ tap and go’ when paying for groceries,‘ tap’ on or off when using public transport, or waving you ID pass in front of the sensor to gain access to your office or the building lifts. Using an implanted chip, you simple use the back of you hand instead. True‘ pay wave’.
In fact, at an official level, Mexico’ s top federal prosecutors and investigators began receiving chip implants in their arms back in November 2004 in order to get access to restricted areas inside their attorney general’ s headquarters. Each chip is around the size of a grain of rice or two. And, just like with the vet chipping your dog or cat, it is possible to have the implant inserted via injection.
There is still research being conducted as to how‘ harmless’ such implants are.
Essentially, the chip is encoded with a number, which is then read by external sensors linked to a database of information. That information could be related to security access in the case of unlocking doors, or it could be related to critical medical history and medical information.
“ It’ s like a MedicAlert bracelet on steroids,” Dr. Ian Kerr, an ethics specialist in Canada, told delegates at a privacy conference.
As such, the thought of being‘ chipped’ could be advantageous. It could mean the end of corporate ID
OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2016 | WWW. EXECUTIVEPA. COM. AU cards, physical credit cards, loyalty membership cards, bundy clocks and passwords for your computer, email access or online banking. It might also mean the end of the passport for travel.
But, with technology being as it is, advancements are continually made, and the capabilities of the implants improve each month.
“ Without question, there will always be legitimate and convenient uses for this kind of technology,” said Dr Kerr at the conference.“ But what we have to worry about are the same kind of problems we’ re currently having on the Internet, with credit card and identity theft. A chip could be sending information about my heart rate to my physician, but it could be intercepted …”
Opponents to the development of chip implants further cite the invasion of privacy, particularly when it becomes possible to track an individual’ s movements by GPS features built into the chip( not possible today, but likely soon). Although given the propensity for most adults to carry a smart phone all the time, the same is currently possible anyway.
And that’ s where much of the discussion regarding the ethics begins to stall. If our wallet or purse is stolen, loads of information regarding ourselves becomes accessible and‘ compromised’. Our phone as well generally contains plenty of information about ourselves, and the screen lock is easily cracked by the professional criminal. But an implanted chip can’ t be accidently left behind in the taxi or bus. It can’ t be forgotten in the seat pocket on a plane. An implanted chip can mean never having to retrieve a forgotten password, or cancel all your credit cards( or freeze your phone account) if lost.
Governments( and HR managers) will have considerable issues to think about in the near future, which( as with all technology) will come around very quickly. E