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Wisconsin Company Will Let Employees Use Microchip Implants To Buy Snacks, Open Doors (theverge.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the inject-at-your-own-risk dept.

A Wisconsin company called Three Square Market will soon offer employees implantable chips to open doors, buy snacks, log in to computers, and use office equipment like copy machines. The chips use near field communication (NFC) technology and will be implanted between the thumb and forefinger of participating employees. According to The Verge, around 50 people are supposedly getting the optional implants. From the report: NFC chips are already used in a couple of workplaces in Europe; The Los Angeles Times reported on startup workspace Epicenter's chip program earlier this year. In the US, installing them is also a form of simple biohacking. They're essentially an extension of the chips you'd find in contactless smart cards or microchipped pets: passive devices that store very small amounts of information. A Swedish rail company also lets people use implants as a substitute for fare cards. 32M CEO Todd Westby is clearly trying to head off misunderstandings and paranoia by saying that they contain "no GPS tracking at all" -- because again, it's comparable to an office keycard here.

14 of 112 comments (clear)

  1. Maybe not by s.petry · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I think it's good to remind us of these Orwellian nightmare plots and schemes. IMHO this is an idiotic thing for anyone to do. Anytime it gets promoted people do, and should, push back.

    Burke "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."

    Sure, this company may not be evil. Who else can use these chips though? Are you sure they are all going to be altruistic?

    --

    -The wise argue that there are few absolutes, the fool argues that there are no probabilities.

    1. Re:Maybe not by stinerman · · Score: 2

      Sure, this company may not be evil. Who else can use these chips though? Are you sure they are all going to be altruistic?

      Certainly not. I have no idea what that has to do with anything. Technology can be good or bad depending on how it's used. I wouldn't get one of these, but if someone else wants to...sure, have at. I'm not going to stop you.

  2. Health Issues? by ELCouz · · Score: 4, Insightful

    What happen if health complications exist after implantation? Employer pay for that?

    1. Re:Health Issues? by Moof123 · · Score: 2

      Is removal covered/required when you leave the company?

  3. Severance? by duke_cheetah2003 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    So what happens when you're fired, quit, retire, or otherwise leave this company's employment? Surgery to remove the implant? Who pays for that?

    1. Re:Severance? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      There's no need to remove it. It's a string of numbers contained in a NFC chip. The head office just disables the clearance associated with that string of numbers.

    2. Re:Severance? by BitterOak · · Score: 2

      So what happens when you're fired, quit, retire, or otherwise leave this company's employment? Surgery to remove the implant? Who pays for that?

      Probably not necessary. Each chip has a unique ID number. Simply delete that record from the access control file and your chip will no longer open any doors. It's the same way card entry systems typically work. That's one of their big advantages over physical keys.

      --
      If I can be modded down for being a troll, can I be modded up for being an orc, or a balrog?
    3. Re:Severance? by mr_mischief · · Score: 2

      Then you get another RFID tag for your next employer, and the reader has to try to read them both and check them both every time you want a pack of gum. Then you go to a fourth and a fifth employer, and your doctor is getting concerned about the amount of foreign material in the limited space in your hand.

      My company uses a badge for doors and the snack machine uses that and a PIN. The same thing can be done with the card number, and it doesn't stay with me for life.

  4. Who in their right mind!? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Who in their right mind would let their employer implant them with a microchip of any kind. or implant them with anything at all

  5. Owned by major prison vendor. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    https://news.fastcompany.com/that-company-microchipping-its-employees-is-owned-by-a-major-prison-vendor-4044282

  6. Lower health insurance premiums by dlleigh · · Score: 2

    This will cut down on the company's health insurance premiums because the employees are no longer eligible for expensive MRIs.

  7. Re:Enough Already! by ma1wrbu5tr · · Score: 3, Insightful

    As long as it remains "will let" and does not transition to "will require", I have no problem with this.

    --
    Why can't we go back to using jumpers to configure slot adapter cards? Why? I say!
  8. Re: Enough Already! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    It's not required, it's just that you'll be shunned and blackballed for rocking the boat in essence since there are plenty of team players we could hire that would love to save the company money and aggregate thier authority to a plantable tracking, error I mean passive, ya that's right, I mean passive, device.

  9. Depends on the Job by Roger+W+Moore · · Score: 3, Informative

    There's no need to remove it.

    That depends on what your next job is. If it involves working in an environment which may contain strong magnetic fields e.g. NMR/MRI, particle accelerators etc you need that thing removed. Also, depending on how paranoid airport security becomes, travelling with it in the future may be problematic.