The technology has been around for a few years now, but the use of RFID (radio frequency identification) chips and other subcutaneous implants has only recently become widespread.
A high-tech office complex in Sweden is now offering tenant staff the option of having a small RFID chip implanted in their wrist that allows them to perform certain functions within the building with a wave of their hand, such as opening doors and operating photocopiers.
Office building developers Epicenter are supporting the implant program, which is being made available by a Swedish biohacking group. The group promotes the use of bioenhancement technology and predicts a future in which sophisticated implant systems will closely monitor multiple data transmitted by body sensors while interacting with the “Internet of Things.”
In other words, we will soon have the ability to be physically connected to the Internet as well as to an increasingly widespread network of smart devices.
For many, the idea of having an implant containing personal information inserted under the skin is unwelcome. Not only is there something perhaps creepy about it to begin with, but the fact is that many of us feel our privacy and autonomy have already been compromised enough without willingly becoming transmitters of our personal data.
Some predict that one day it won’t be a matter of choice, or that the use of implants and other types of bioenhancement and connectivity will have become so commonplace that we’ll find it normal, even necessary. The fear is that we’ll lose our freedom and privacy.
Others welcome the prospect of becoming physically connected to the Internet of Things, such as the biohacking group responsible for the office building RFID program.
A BBC News presentation profiled Hannes Sjoblad, a biohacker who organizes “implant parties” where volunteers are implanted:
He’s starting small, with a goal of enrolling 100 volunteers in the next few months, with 50 already on board. But his vision is much bigger.
Then there will be 1,000, then 10,000. I am convinced that this technology is here to stay and we will think that there is nothing strange about having an implant in your hand.
Although the RFID chips in use today are capable of little more than opening doors and operating photocopiers, the potential is much greater. RFID chips are likely to become increasingly sophisticated devices, capable of a wide range of interactions.
Continued on the next page
