More than 4,000 Swedes are being implanted with a microchip that contains details about their identity and between 2,000 and 3,500 people in Germany have implanted a microchip under their skin — but not all sales come from him; Germans also get chips implanted abroad (Euronews, June 6, 2018).
The miniature technology bypasses the need for cash, tickets, access cards and even social media.
“The chips are designed to speed up users’ daily routines and make their lives more convenient — accessing their homes, offices and gyms is as easy as swiping their hands against digital readers.
They also can be used to store emergency contact details, social media profiles or e-tickets for events and rail journeys.
Proponents of the tiny chips say they’re safe and protected from hacking, but one scientist is raising privacy concerns around the kind of personal health data that might be stored on the devices.
Around the size of a grain of rice, the chips typically are inserted into the skin just above each user’s thumb, using a syringe similar to that used for giving vaccinations. The procedure costs about $180 (NPR October 28, 2018).
Also, a Wisconsin – U.S. company is offering to implant tiny radio-frequency chips in its employees – and it says they are lining up for the technology, following Swedish companies initiatives that began this practice. Now, the company is facing questions about safety and privacy – for example, whether the technology could be used in invasive ways, like tracing employee whereabouts and monitoring the length of breaks. (The two ways. July 25, 2017).
A legal and ethical consideration about chip implants for workers has been made
The European Parliament Commission on Employment and Social Affairs study titled, The Use of Chip Implants for Workers ( Juanary 2018) affirms, “It appears that such implants would encounter significant legal challenges in respect of current EU law, in particular relating to data protection and human rights (including the sanctity of the human body). Clearly, although laws can be changed or amended, the current uncertainties over the health implications of such implants and the wider security issues of RFID chips tend to run counter to any such use that could be sanctioned at present (Read HERE entire study).
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