micro-chipping people?!

Swedish company is playing big brother as envisioned by George Orwell in his book, 1984...

Epicenter implants microchips into employees
Mimmi Nilsson
April 4, 2017

SOME workers have been implanted with microchips that allow the companies that employ them to track their every move.

Swedish company Epicenter will embed a chip into about 150 workers, so bosses can monitor toilet breaks and how long they work.

The workers volunteered to have the microchip, which is about as big as a grain of rice, implanted for free.

Patrick Mesterton, co-founder and chief executive of Epicenter, an innovation and technology company, told the ABC the microchips inserted into employees’ hands would simplify life.

With the radiofrequency identification chip, they’ll be able to open doors and use office technology like photocopiers and it can even pay for lunch at the office cafe.

“You can do airline fares with it, you can also go to your local gym ... so it basically replaces a lot of things you have other communication devices for, whether it be credit cards, or keys, or things like that.”

Two years ago, Mr Mesterton told news.com.au many of Epicentre’s employees had already been chipped and used the technology in their everyday life.

“It’s an implant in the hand that enables them to digitise professional information and communicate with devices both personal and within Epicenter. Once ‘chipped’ with this technology, members can interact with the building with a simple swipe of the hand. Chips can also be programmed to hold contact information and talk to smartphone apps,” he said.

These types of microchips have been used in humans and animals before and means people don’t need to keep track of multiple passwords and PINs because it will all be installed on the inserted chip.

Emilott Lantz had a microchip implanted under her skin about three years ago and told Swedish newspaper The Local it wasn’t the future.

“This is the present. To me, it’s weird that we haven’t seen this sooner.”

Mr Mesterton told the ABC the idea wasn’t that far-fetched, as people had been implanting devices under their skin for decades, including things like pacemakers.

“That’s a way, way more serious thing than having a small chip that can actually communicate with devices,” he said.

Microbiologist Ben Libberton, from Swedish university Karolinska Institute, told the ABC the chip could compromise security and hold a lot of private information.

“Conceptually you could get data about your health, and you could [get] data about your whereabouts, how often you’re working, how long you’re working, if you’re taking toilet breaks and things like that,” he said.

“All of that data could conceivably be collected.

“So then the question is: What happens to it afterwards? What is it used for? Who is going to be using it? Who is going to be seeing it?”

http://www.news.com.au/technology/science/human-body/swedish-company-epicenter-implants-microchips-into-employees/news-story/5c48700ebb54262ae389db085593ab12
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'I'm among the first Swedes with a microchip'

Sweden has a global reputation as a leader in developing innovative technologies. But will a trend for inserting microchips in the human body catch on? The Local spoke to one of the first Swedes to choose an implant to unlock her office door.

Emilott Lantz, 25, from Umeå in northern Sweden, got a microchip inserted into her hand last week.

She became a guinea pig during Sime 2014 in Stockholm – a conference about digitalism, the internet, and the future. In line with the goals of the event, participants were offered to get a microchip fitted for free – an opportunity Lantz jumped at.

“I don’t feel as though this is the future – this is the present. To me, it’s weird that we haven’t seen this sooner,” she tells The Local.

There is evidence that the number of chip-wearers in Sweden is growing rapidly.

"This has very much been an underground phenomenon up until now, but there are perhaps a 100 people with the chip in Sweden," says Hannes Sjöblad from the Swedish biohackers group BioNyfiken.

In the last month alone 50 people from the group underwent the procedure.

The technology has previously been used for key tags or chips in our pets’ necks to let them through cat flaps. What is relatively new is inserting the chip in human hands.

The idea is that instead of carrying keys or remembering pins or passwords for our phones or doors, people fitted with microchips can use them to unlock rooms or lockers, by placing their hand against a machine that reads the information stored in the chip.

It was the appeal of minimizing the number of keys she needed to carry around that was the deciding factor for Lantz.

But her decision to go through with the procedure has brought mixed reactions from her friends and family, some saying she’s been foolish while others argue it’s a cool idea.

“The technology isn’t new but the subject becomes sensitive just because it’s in the human body,” she says.

The chip, which is the size of a grain of rice, has been designed to stay in Lantz’s hand for the rest of her life.

“I’m not surprised that people think it’s a big deal – it’s not that common yet, but I think it will be. We’re already modifying our bodies, why should this be different?”

Lantz first came in contact with the idea while attending the conference Geek Girl Meetups last year, where she heard speaker Carin Ism talk about transhumanism.

Transhumanism is a movement that explores science and technology innovations and their relationship to humanity. Its goal is to challenge humanity by using emerging technologies that enable humans to go beyond their current limitations.

“I’m super stoked to have had this done – I can’t wait for the property agent to get back to me about letting me into the system so that I can use my chip instead of my keys to get into the office,” says Lantz.

BioNyfiken's Hannes Sjöblad says it makes sense that Sweden is starting to embrace the technology.

"There's a reason that this is happening in Sweden first and not anywhere else. Swedes have a proven track record of being very early adapters of new technologies and the current mood is very conductive to this type of experimenting," he says.

Lantz adds: “besides having a chip in my hand, I’m a pretty normal person."