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The syringe slides in between the thumb and index finger. Then, with a click, a microchip is injected in the employee's hand. [...]
What could pass for a dystopian vision of the workplace is almost routine at the Swedish startup hub Epicenter. The company offers to implant its workers and startup members with microchips the size of grains of rice that function as swipe cards: to open doors, operate printers, or buy smoothies with a wave of the hand.
[...] "People ask me; 'Are you chipped?' and I say; 'Yes, why not,'" said Fredric Kaijser, the 47-year-old chief experience officer at Epicenter. "And they all get excited about privacy issues and what that means and so forth. And for me it's just a matter of I like to try new things and just see it as more of an enabler and what that would bring into the future."
The implants have become so popular that Epicenter workers stage monthly events where attendees have the option of being "chipped" for free.
Full article here:
http://www.cnbc.com/2017/04/03/start-up-epicenter-implants-employees-with-microchips.html
AC: There are so many things wrong with both the article and with those people I wouldn't know where to start.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by archfeld on Tuesday April 04 2017, @02:19AM (4 children)
First thing I did when I got a new passport in January, was put it in the microwave for 5 seconds, to kill the chip. Now when I cross the border into Mexico they try and scan it once or twice then just open the thing pass it over the bar code reader before checking the picture against my actual face. The result is a second or two delay but no one has ever said anything to me.
For the NSA : Explosives, guns, assassination, conspiracy, primers, detonators, initiators, main charge, nuclear charge
(Score: 4, Informative) by frojack on Tuesday April 04 2017, @05:59AM (1 child)
The result is a second or two delay but no one has ever said anything to me.
That's because the chip is merely a convenience device at the moment. And enough of them get accidentally damaged that State Department regulations specifically still honor the passport.
However, a passport is only good for 10 years. They started the RFID program in 2007, so after this year there should be no valid passports without the RFID chip. So given the current propensity for security theater, you might find they will stop honoring destroyed chips.
State Department says:
What will happen if my electronic passport chip stops working?
The chip in the passport is just one of the many security features of the passport. If the chip fails, the passport remains a valid travel document until its expiration date. You will continue to be processed by the port-of-entry officer as if you had a passport without a chip.
https://travel.state.gov/content/passports/en/passports/FAQs.html#ePassport [state.gov]
You have to open the passport to read the RFID chip. There is metal in the cover of the passport specifically to ensure this. So they would already have it open when scanning for the chip. Saves them fumbling for the photo id page.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 2) by archfeld on Tuesday April 04 2017, @08:31PM
Just because I am paranoid, doesn't mean they aren't after me.
For the NSA : Explosives, guns, assassination, conspiracy, primers, detonators, initiators, main charge, nuclear charge
(Score: 2) by Wootery on Tuesday April 04 2017, @10:22AM (1 child)
How does this benefit you over just putting your passport in a foil-lined folder?
Government databases might be something to worry about. Electronic components in your passport are not.
(Score: 1) by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us on Tuesday April 04 2017, @04:58PM
How does this benefit you over just putting your passport in a foil-lined folder?
It's cheaper?
This sig for rent.