The story of the office putting a chip under an employee’s skin certainly created a lot of hype and conversation in the corporate world. Any business wants to be technologically advanced, but is chipping employees perhaps going too far? The first centre to start ‘chipping’ staff members is a high-tech office block in Sweden where the chips have been offered to the 400 or so tenants. While more and more people are getting used to swiping a card to use the bus, gain entry into certain areas, hotel rooms and so on, the idea of waving your hand over a sensor has been received with mixed emotions.
Employees who work within the building in Sweden can be seen waving their hands to gain entry to the office block, their offices and even to work the photocopy machine. Soon it is expected that they will be able to purchase items at the building’s local cafe too – with the wave of a hand.
Chips the size of rice
The chip itself is said to be no larger than a grain of rice with radio frequency identification. Implanting the chip takes just a few moments and the pain to be expected is minimal, “not much worse”, according to BBC’s technology reporter and chip ‘implantee’, Rory Cellan-Jones, “than any injection. While only some tenants have been chipped within this particular office block, others are showing mixed emotions of enthusiasm and hesitance.
The chipping system, which has been created by a Swedish Biohacking group, is being designed for the future but at this point they are looking to understand the technology more, before the big corporates approach them. With the evolving technology and buzz of the “Internet of Things” – the complete connection of all one’s personal devices to the internet – there is no limit to what can be stored and accessed from the chip in an internet-enabled building, although at this point only specific information can be stored on the chip. Obviously with time and further development, it could be transformed into a complete system whereby chipped individuals no longer have to worry about carrying around cash, credit or even business cards, and can gain access to buildings and areas without the need for keys, access codes or similar.
Debatable
Our questions of course are numerous, and we’re not alone. Importantly, how will the information stored on these chips be kept safe and of course, is the data stored on a chip encrypted? Just how easy will it be for unscrupulous professionals to hack into the data that is stored on your hand chip?
At Soteria Cloud we understand the benefits of the technology, after all, animals have been chipped for years, but humans – that’s still debatable! To learn more about our thoughts on this and many other issues, and of course our services, check out our website or get in touch with us today.