July 26, 2017

For The First Time, a US Tech Company Is Going To Implant Employees With Microchips

A Wisconsin tech company called ‘Three Square Market’, also known as 32M, is soon going to offer employees implantable chips to open doors, log in to their office computers, pay for food and drink from office vending machines, use office equipment like copy machines, unlocking phones, and sharing business cards, among other purposes. Meaning employees would no longer need to carry around keys, ID cards, or smartphones to operate or authenticate with other systems.

Microchip implant (6)

The vending kiosk company had partnered with Swedish biohacking firm BioHax International for offering implanted microchips to all their employees. Interested employees will be chipped at the 32M inaugural “chip party” on 1st August, according to the company’s website. Although the program is optional, the company wants at least more than 50 of its employees to undergo the Biohacking procedure.

The chips, which use Near Field Communication (NFC) technology along with radio-frequency identification (RFID), will be implanted underneath the skin between the thumb and forefinger.

“Eventually, this technology will become standardized allowing you to use this as your passport, public transit, all purchasing opportunities, etc,” 32M chief executive Todd Westby said.

As for security concerns and whether people ought to be worried about their employer tracking their movements, Westby says the chips don’t include a GPS component and are secure against hacking.

“The chances of hacking into it are almost non-existent because it’s not connected to the internet. The only way for somebody to get connectivity to it is to basically chop off your hand,” Westby said.

Each chip costs about the US $300 – which the company says it will pay on the employees’ behalf.

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Chaitanya


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