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This Company Embeds Microchips in Its Employees, and They Love It (technologyreview.com)

Last August, 50 employees at Three Square Market got RFID chips in their hands. Now 80 have them. From a report: The idea came about in early 2017, president of Three Square Market Patrick McMullan says, when he was on a business trip to Sweden -- a country where some people are getting subcutaneous microchips to do things like enter secure buildings or book train tickets. It's one of very few places where chip implants, which have been around for quite a while, have taken off in some fashion. The chips he and his employees got are about the size of a very large grain of rice. They're intended to make it a little easier to do things like get into the office, log on to computers, and buy food and drinks in the company cafeteria. Like many RFID chips, they are passive -- they don't have batteries, and instead get their power from an RFID reader when it requests data from the chip.

A year into their experiment, McMullan and a few employees say they are still using the chips regularly at work for all the activities they started out with last summer. Since then, an additional 30 employees have gotten the chips, which means that roughly 80 of the company's now 250 employees, or nearly a third, are walking, talking cyborgs. "You get used to it; it's easy," McMullan says. As far as he knows, just two Three Square Market employees have had their chips removed -- and that was when they left the company.

153 of 250 comments (clear)

  1. walking, talking cyborgs by Errol+backfiring · · Score: 5, Insightful

    They're not "walking, talking cyborgs". They are just chipped like cats and dogs.

    --
    Nae king! Nae laird! Nae yurrupiean pressedent! We willna be fooled again!
    1. Re: walking, talking cyborgs by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      It's easy! So why not?

      Because this is how you secure property. People can't be secured so it will just be unfair always on monitoring.

    2. Re:walking, talking cyborgs by The+Original+CDR · · Score: 1

      They are just chipped like cats and dogs.

      So they're neutered, had all their shots and kept on a short leash?

    3. Re:walking, talking cyborgs by nospam007 · · Score: 1

      "They're not "walking, talking cyborgs". They are just chipped like cats and dogs."

      Sure, but those cats and dogs can enter the house through the electronic flap and the automatic feeder gives them food and the vet knows their name, owner, their allergies and medications.

      I just don't understand the reluctance, people have had radio-playing tooth fillings for decades. :-)
      If you don't want one, don't get one, use a card, a ring or your phone, but these can be lost and stolen.

    4. Re:walking, talking cyborgs by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

      The article didn't mention anything about them being married... or were you referencing a different type of leash?

    5. Re:walking, talking cyborgs by careysub · · Score: 1

      They're not "walking, talking cyborgs". They are just chipped like cats and dogs.

      Sssh... my cyborg cat will hear you!

      --
      Starships were meant to fly, Hands up and touch the sky - Nicky Minaj
    6. Re: walking, talking cyborgs by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Livestock might be a better description

    7. Re:walking, talking cyborgs by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      If you don't want one, don't get one, use a card, a ring or your phone, but these can be lost and stolen.

      Do you even see your own ignorance here? You just described the very excuses businesses will use (loss/theft) in order to take away the option of choice. And at this rate of blind acceptance, it won't be long before getting chipped will be a condition of employment. Don't like it? Don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out. I mean after all, it only took you 3 months, 200 resume submissions, and 4 interviews to land a job...you can easily decline the offer, right?

    8. Re: walking, talking cyborgs by MakerDusk · · Score: 1
      Birth control and more permanent proceedures are common these day. If you have a child that you don't have the time to raise, nannies and governesses aren't affordable for most. So neutering is common.

      When it comes

    9. Re: walking, talking cyborgs by MakerDusk · · Score: 2
      *when it comes to shots... they're mandatory in a lot of countries. As for leashes... try leaving your post and walking around the building all day instead. The door swipes plus the cameras will catch you. And as for the leash restraining you from entering places you're not allowed to go... the swipe won't work.

      So yes, I can understand that point of view.

    10. Re:walking, talking cyborgs by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2

      At least it is less invasive than what we have to go through at the airport.

    11. Re:walking, talking cyborgs by cfalcon · · Score: 2

      > They are just chipped like cats and dogs.

      Correct. For "cyborg" to be applied, you have to either regain abilities or gain new ones via integration with something external. If you have some tail that is reading tiny muscle movements or even nerves, that would count. Some kind of bone conduction thing might work. Even something that pricked your skin slightly in the presence of magnetic fields is arguably counting, because it lets you "feel" magnetism (some people did this via implanting small magnets in their fingers).

      Having a mark in your right hand that allows you to purchase goods arguably lines up with elements of a famous book, but it isn't one about cyborgs. Either way, being tagged like chattel isn't futurism, it's submission.

    12. Re:walking, talking cyborgs by Howitzer86 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      If that's your standard of tolerance you're essentially broken.

    13. Re:walking, talking cyborgs by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      At the airport dig through my stuff, and sometimes feel me up. They don't break my skin though, no needles.

    14. Re:walking, talking cyborgs by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      You just described the very excuses businesses will use (loss/theft) in order to take away the option of choice.

      Sweden is not the third world. Employees have rights and protections.

    15. Re:walking, talking cyborgs by scottrocket · · Score: 1

      Yes. Can't you read? The very first sentence of the summary clearly states that they're from Sweden.

      Yes, obviously they're BjornBorgs. Let me go get some more beer...

  2. In the Future... by Zorro · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Everyone in the concentration camp will get a chip.

    1. Re:In the Future... by Parker+Lewis · · Score: 1

      Everyone in the country will get a chip.

      Fixed!

    2. Re:In the Future... by Attila+Dimedici · · Score: 1

      Oh no, everyone will get a chip. That is how they will determine, and locate, who goes into the concentration camps.

      --
      The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted. James Madison
    3. Re:In the Future... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      Liberals, leftists, communists, socialists, terrorists, antfa thugs, feminists. Such a list!

    4. Re:In the Future... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Liberals, leftists, communists, socialists, terrorists, antfa thugs, feminists. Such a list!

      Don't forget that the communists (who were liberals, leftists, socialists, etc.) had the Gulag "Corrective Labor Camps".

    5. Re:In the Future... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Everyone in the concentration camp will get a chip.

      I fear that we will ALL be chipped eventually, JUST like the mindless population cattle that we truly are! ... Aaand we will be told to LIKE it..

  3. As long as it's voluntary by hymie! · · Score: 1

    As long as it's voluntary, then more power to 'em. It's not something I would choose, but if they're happy, then I'm happy for them.

    1. Re:As long as it's voluntary by avandesande · · Score: 3, Insightful

      then I'm happy for them.

      not me, with potential for mob rule making this a requirement

      --
      love is just extroverted narcissism
    2. Re:As long as it's voluntary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Voluntary at first, followed a few years later by mandatory, and after that followed by attached C4 charges that will detach your noggin from your neck if your boss chooses to remotely detonate it.

    3. Re:As long as it's voluntary by lucasnate1 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      If I put a gun to someone's head and tell them "either you obey or you die", is that voluntary? If I put an economic system to someone's stomach, and tell them "either you obey or you can't feed yourself", is that voluntary?

    4. Re:As long as it's voluntary by Austerity+Empowers · · Score: 1

      Voluntary is a scary word.

      Voluntary as in it's totally up to you to have this convenience, or else we give you a badge like everyone else, is fine.

      Voluntary as in you can take this RFID or you can find another job is not. This is the one I see on the road ahead, and the laws need to get ahead of it. This is voluntary only for lunatics.

    5. Re:As long as it's voluntary by Merk42 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      not me, with potential for mob rule making this a requirement

      But then it's not voluntary, which was GPs stipulation.

    6. Re:As long as it's voluntary by markdavis · · Score: 1

      >"As long as it's voluntary, then more power to 'em. It's not something I would choose, but if they're happy, then I'm happy for them"

      The problem is that it really isn't truly "voluntary" if there is pressure, coercion, discrimination, etc to comply. The more people that can be convinced into doing it, the more it becomes "normalized" and expected. At some point there will be "rewards" to those who comply, and those rewards exclude those who don't.... which essentially becomes a punishment. I am not saying it should be outlawed- we have enough laws restricting freedom. But I am saying that it is degrading and it can become a dangerous thing; especially when people don't understand all the implications of what they are getting themselves into.

    7. Re:As long as it's voluntary by bob4u2c · · Score: 1

      Wow, you go dark fast!

    8. Re:As long as it's voluntary by careysub · · Score: 2

      Ah, the Ed Meese school of employer rights (employees have none). Everyone who is employed should routinely have their body fluids screened for whatever substances employers choose to test for (goodbye medical privacy), and employers can and should monitor what employees do outside the place of employment and make employment decisions based on these words and deeds.

      --
      Starships were meant to fly, Hands up and touch the sky - Nicky Minaj
    9. Re:As long as it's voluntary by avandesande · · Score: 2

      So are you happy for the people if 75% percent of them accept this? What's the chances of this becoming law? Slippery slope and all but I am disappointed when people accept something like this and am not happy for them.

      --
      love is just extroverted narcissism
    10. Re:As long as it's voluntary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Critical thinking.

      Don't worry, it's not infectious, you won't be questioning anything or tracing motives or extrapolating patterns or referencing demonstrated history any time soon.

      You'll be able to continue posting non-sequitur blurts.

    11. Re:As long as it's voluntary by Kjella · · Score: 1

      But then it's not voluntary, which was GPs stipulation.

      Well he didn't say by law, he did say mob rule which can be a lot more subtle. For example say you want to buy your groceries in cash, well there's four self-checkout lanes (electronic only), two card-only registries and one cash registry. Which always has a line. Or they want you to pay for an electronic ticket on the bus, it starts as an alternative. Then you start getting a rebate on electronic tickets. Then you start selling period cards only electronically. Then the physical ticket machines start disappearing or not get repaired when they're vandalized. And so it goes until you're either paying electronically or you're paying cash for a ridiculously overpriced single-ride ticket only tourists would use.

      The other obvious alternative is to offer convenience, like nobody would carry a cell phone if it was marketed as a radio buoy. Nobody would make GPS tracking of your car compulsory, but you'll probably take it if it's a condition for a self-driving car. Or simply make perks a bonus thing if you register as a customer and use our smartphone app, then make the "perk" level the new normal and the rest effectively penalized. There's lots of subtle and not so subtle ways the government and big business could make it convenient to be chipped and inconvenient not to be, without making it a formal requirement. And that's before you start going Chinese with the "social credit" system...

      --
      Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
    12. Re: As long as it's voluntary by datavirtue · · Score: 1

      I would take a chip in a heart beat if it replaced my badge and RSA token.

      --
      I object to power without constructive purpose. --Spock
    13. Re:As long as it's voluntary by Obfuscant · · Score: 1

      For example say you want to buy your groceries in cash, well there's four self-checkout lanes (electronic only), two card-only registries and one cash registry. Which always has a line.

      Grocery stores have a vested interest in making checking out easy. If there is one lane that "always has a line" then they'll be looking at how to solve that problem. Most likely there will be NO "electronic only" or "card only" lanes, just as there are no such "only" lanes at any of the groceries I shop at now.

      Then you start selling period cards only electronically.

      This would be a huge benefit to society as a whole. If many women could not get their "period card" except "electronically", then there'd be fewer unwanted pregnancies. I expect, though, it would just become another embarrassing errand for the boyfriend to do. "Honey, can you run out to the store and pick me up some tampons and a period card?"

      then make the "perk" level the new normal and the rest effectively penalized.

      You don' t need an "app" for this to happen. The local Safeway has about 90% of the items on the shelf with yellow shelf tags "club price". Those club prices are still much higher than the other major store in town, and I have to imagine that Safeway stays in business by predating on carless college students.

  4. Cold day in hell by OrangeTide · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It'll be a cold day in hell before I get chipped.

    Chips are for pets and property. Get one if you're looking to join the 21st century chattel slavery.

    --
    “Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
    1. Re: Cold day in hell by OrangeTide · · Score: 1

      Can you hold on to your quaint sensibilities when being chipped means a fast track to the job you covet?

      I can, because I'm old enough that I can retire by the time that day comes.

      The next generation will have to decide to either accept this as beneficial technology, or actively work against this as invasive and unnecessary. And form legislation to limit it.

      --
      “Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
    2. Re: Cold day in hell by OrangeTide · · Score: 1

      I don't have my ID permanently inserted into my body. Nor am I'm going to get my driver's license number tattooed on my arm for example.

      Also realize I do not carry my ID everywhere. I have no interest in providing identification to authorities when I legally travel within the borders of my own country.

      If I were forced to get a subcutaneous RFID tag I would considered that to be assault. And I'd definitely talk to a lawyer in order to proceed with both civil and criminal charges. But realistically I think the forcing of RFID tags onto people to be a very unlikely scenario in the US.

      --
      “Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
    3. Re: Cold day in hell by kaatochacha · · Score: 1

      You could always replace it with that grain of rice they're always talking about. ...

    4. Re: Cold day in hell by OrangeTide · · Score: 1

      Unless I'm black or wear sunglasses.

      --
      “Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
    5. Re:Cold day in hell by BrianMarshall · · Score: 1

      Fuck No

      The standard answer to a lot of Slashdot stories lately.

      --
      "When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro" -- HST
  5. I did the same to my dogs. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    They have a reader-powered dog door, can go in and out at any time. They love it, I love it, it is a win-win situation.

    Good boys!

  6. 80 out of 250 employees? by b0s0z0ku · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Translation: 170 employees out of 250 told him to take his idea and get buggered.

    1. Re:80 out of 250 employees? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      or, perhaps those employees don't 'need' them because they don't work in highly-secured environments or with sensitive data and/or they don't have any other job functions that could use the chips to enhance efficiency or increase security

      Highly-secured environments? Three Square Market provides vending machine and business kiosk solutions. Let's dial back the James Bond bullshit already.

  7. Best implanted... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    ... in the forehead or in the hand.

    1. Re:Best implanted... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Smash head into keyboard to log in.

    2. Re:Best implanted... by Austerity+Empowers · · Score: 2

      Nah, right around the jugular vein or carotid artery will have the most fun returns on the law of unintended consequences.

  8. rfid reader - rfid writer - OH SHIT by wizkid · · Score: 1

    Hmmm. Have they attached rfid readers to atm's yet?
    I wonder how much there trade secrets are worth?
    And traveling around the country on someone else's dime?
    KOOL!

    Keep your damned chips

    --
    I take no responsibility for what I say. Even though I'm never wrong :)
  9. I foresee a future by mysidia · · Score: 2

    Where implanted microchips will be so ingrained into society that you must have one in your right hand or on your forehead as your government id to drive your car, or to buy, sell, or perform any other kind of business transaction ---- all the functions of your driver's license, car keys, house keys, debit card terminals, etc, will be implemented so that they use the chip to identify you.
    With maybe a slight complication of you type a 3-digit number and push the "Visa" or "Paypal" button to identify which of your credit cards you intend to use for a purchase, etc.

    1. Re:I foresee a future by Austerity+Empowers · · Score: 1

      And the number of typing shall be 666.

    2. Re:I foresee a future by cmdr_klarg · · Score: 1

      I shall take 668: The Neighbor of the Beast.

      --
      THE SOFTWARE, IT NO WORKY!!!
    3. Re: I foresee a future by hackwrench · · Score: 1

      6 is the number of man, that is the body of man, 6 three times is the importance of the body taken to its utmost.

    4. Re:I foresee a future by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 1

      I think you mean "668: The neighbor of the neighbor of the Beast."

      --
      #DeleteFacebook
    5. Re:I foresee a future by Alypius · · Score: 1

      I'd take 669: The Beast's HOA Board President.

  10. Something like this usually is "voluntary" by rsilvergun · · Score: 5, Insightful

    with great big quotes. You don't want to be a spoil sport, do you? Be a team player and get chipped like everyone else.

    I'm left thinking of Hijabs and how they're voluntary in a lot of countries, even though there's enormous societal pressure for women to wear them. I've been watching a lot of Genetic Skeptic on youtube, hence the thought train, but there are other examples. Like "indentured servitude" where you sell yourself into slavery or for a slightly less controversial aspect how about standing for the national anthem. There's just lots and lots of things that are technically voluntary but very much not.

    --
    Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
    1. Re:Something like this usually is "voluntary" by nazrhyn · · Score: 1

      Well, in this case, since 2017, only "80 of the company's now 250 employees" have opted in. That's not to say that it couldn't be exactly as you describe; though, it looks like at least they did an okay job with it.

    2. Re:Something like this usually is "voluntary" by Scarletdown · · Score: 1

      80 people out of 7 billion; one company out of countless. That is a pretty small and insignificant sample size.

      --
      This space unintentionally left blank.
    3. Re:Something like this usually is "voluntary" by nazrhyn · · Score: 2

      Most studies/trials/prototypes/etc. start with a smaller sample than "everyone". Then we use what we learned there to expand or extinguish.

    4. Re:Something like this usually is "voluntary" by Scarletdown · · Score: 1

      Yeah, true true, but there is the possibility that out of 250 employees; 170 declared right up front, "Fuck this shit."

      --
      This space unintentionally left blank.
    5. Re: Something like this usually is "voluntary" by datavirtue · · Score: 1

      Agreed. Another way is to make it really hard to get into work or get on the VPN without your card/chip. Leave your card at home once and you will be begging for the chip.

      --
      I object to power without constructive purpose. --Spock
    6. Re:Something like this usually is "voluntary" by Alypius · · Score: 1

      I think this is more like the fitbits that some companies made their employees wear to get "discounts" on their health insurance. Sure it's "voluntary," but if you don't wear one, your premiums doubled.

    7. Re: Something like this usually is "voluntary" by reboot246 · · Score: 1

      If I get to work and can't get in, or get somebody to let me in, I'm assuming it's a holiday and I'm going back home. If they don't want me to work that day, that's their decision, not mine.

    8. Re: Something like this usually is "voluntary" by Corbets · · Score: 1

      If I get to work and can't get in, or get somebody to let me in, I'm assuming it's a holiday and I'm going back home. If they don't want me to work that day, that's their decision, not mine.

      And in my shop, you might be fired for it. It’s one thing to forget your card and call your supervisor, go through the appropriate process and get in with a delay; it’s another to “assume it’s a holiday” and go home.

      But hey, whatever works for you...

  11. Reminds me of grandma's stories by lucasnate1 · · Score: 2

    She was a jew.

    1. Re:Reminds me of grandma's stories by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      She also barcoded herself for her own convenience?

  12. Why not simply bracelets? by TheDarkener · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I'm sure there are a few industries where shoving a microchip under your skin would be "better" than simply wearing a bracelet with the same chip...but, I mean, why implant it? Sure it won't get lost, but seriously. Take some responsibility of your secrets and wear it instead of injecting it semi-permanently. I just don't see the point (aside from the aforementioned few industries).

    Give the user the choice to take it off.

    --
    It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.
    1. Re:Why not simply bracelets? by CaptainDork · · Score: 1

      Give the user the choice to take it off.

      1.) They did.

      Two took advantage.

      2.) If they can take it off, they can give it to someone else.

      --
      It little behooves the best of us to comment on the rest of us.
    2. Re:Why not simply bracelets? by TheDarkener · · Score: 1

      1a) Yeah but you can't take it out yourself, can you? You need to have your employer do it for you. What if they have an issue with taking it out?

      2a) This is true. But again, as I said, take some responsibility for your secrets. They can just as easily walk with the other person up to that soda machine and use their chip.

      --
      It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.
    3. Re:Why not simply bracelets? by Aaden42 · · Score: 1

      If the only way you can trust your employees not to give their access credentials to someone else is by implanting them, you need better employees (or less paranoia in management), not implants.

    4. Re:Why not simply bracelets? by Aaden42 · · Score: 4, Informative

      Come on... We all watch sci-fi here. All you need to remove your own tracking implant is a dirty mirror, a dull butter knife, a bottle of vodka, and a lighter to cauterize the wound.

      That said, I'm sure any doctor would remove a foreign body from your hand without needing your employer's approval.

    5. Re:Why not simply bracelets? by CaptainDork · · Score: 1

      The issue does have an element of distrust.

      I had a card that I had to display to human or machine many times a day.

      How cool would it be to just tool around without those speed bumps, especially in the cafeteria??

      The need for security and validation exists, no matter what.

      I see this more as a convenience to the employee.

      --
      It little behooves the best of us to comment on the rest of us.
    6. Re:Why not simply bracelets? by CaptainDork · · Score: 1

      What if they have an issue with taking it out?

      Then they don't have an issue with giving you a paycheck.

      If they don't want to give you money, then they have to deal with you having unobstructed access, even though you don't work there.

      You could have thought of that.

      --
      It little behooves the best of us to comment on the rest of us.
    7. Re:Why not simply bracelets? by TheDarkener · · Score: 1

      That said, I'm sure any doctor would remove a foreign body from your hand without needing your employer's approval.

      Still to great inconvenience vs. simply removing a bracelet and putting it somewhere safe. What if your doctor is out for the week? Why have to spend 1-3 hours at the hospital or M.D. office? Seems like a silly argument to me. People would have to be pretty darn incompetent to require it to be embedded in their own bodies for the sake of "not losing it" or something.

      --
      It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.
    8. Re:Why not simply bracelets? by TheDarkener · · Score: 1

      If they don't want to give you money, then they have to deal with you having unobstructed access, even though you don't work there.

      You could have thought of that.

      No, that's a silly assumption. They would revoke your secret from the systems that give you access. You don't change access rights to a system by removing a chip from the user, you change or disable the secret on the authentication back end.

      --
      It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.
    9. Re:Why not simply bracelets? by chispito · · Score: 1

      I'm sure there are a few industries where shoving a microchip under your skin would be "better" than simply wearing a bracelet with the same chip...but, I mean, why implant it? Sure it won't get lost, but seriously. Take some responsibility of your secrets and wear it instead of injecting it semi-permanently. I just don't see the point (aside from the aforementioned few industries).

      Give the user the choice to take it off.

      Too big. A ring is better.

      --
      The Daddy casts sleep on the Baby. The Baby resists!
    10. Re:Why not simply bracelets? by CaptainDork · · Score: 1

      Then how would this work?:

      1a) Yeah but you can't take it out yourself, can you? You need to have your employer do it for you. What if they have an issue with taking it out?

      2a) This is true. But again, as I said, take some responsibility for your secrets. They can just as easily walk with the other person up to that soda machine and use their chip.

      --
      It little behooves the best of us to comment on the rest of us.
    11. Re:Why not simply bracelets? by TheDarkener · · Score: 1

      I don't follow. What I said would work.

      --
      It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.
    12. Re:Why not simply bracelets? by TheDarkener · · Score: 1

      Too big. A ring is better.

      A ring would be awesome too.

      --
      It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.
    13. Re:Why not simply bracelets? by Whorhay · · Score: 1

      First of all the implant is stuck into the loose bit of skin between the thumb and forefinger, just under the skin. It would be trivially easy for you to remove on your own and patching it up would probably involve some antiseptic, super glue, and a band-aid. Sure it's probably safest to have a doctor remove it since they'll have clean implements and local anesthetic, but by no means required.

      If I was offered to have an implant like this I'd very likely take it. As it stands if I misplace or lose my RFID chipped access card I could end up having to take a week or so of leave. I've only ever lost track of it once in the last decade but I'd be much happier just not having to worry about it at all. The bracelet is no better than having a card, it's a physical item you have to keep track of at all times.

      The one realistic downside I can think of is that you might have to remove the chip prior to having an MRI. But like I said, taking it out is trivial.

      The only other downside that some might worry about at all is the potential to use it to track you outside of work. And that concern is relatively easy to mitigate by designing the RFID chip to transmit with an exceptionally weak signal. Some of the cards I work with can be recognized by the door readers from nearly a foot away or through thick materials. The newer chips have to be placed almost flush to the part of the reader that has the antenna in it. You could possibly make them even more difficult to read from a distance by making the antenna directional and implanting the chip such that it can only be read from a specific angle.

    14. Re: Why not simply bracelets? by MalaysBowman · · Score: 1

      Or you can wear a tin-foil glove :)

    15. Re:Why not simply bracelets? by ceoyoyo · · Score: 1

      "As it stands if I misplace or lose my RFID chipped access card I could end up having to take a week or so of leave."

      Why?? The point of RFID is that the things are basically disposable. Lose the card? Okay, we'll cancel that number in the database and here's a new card. Be more careful.

      Last time I locked my hotel RFID card in the room they made me one in about ten seconds.

    16. Re: Why not simply bracelets? by datavirtue · · Score: 1

      Dude. Responsibility is soooo out. Our tech has shifted to removing that inconvenience. It didn't really hit me until I saw you whining about it and I realized how much you sounded like a troglodyte.

      --
      I object to power without constructive purpose. --Spock
    17. Re: Why not simply bracelets? by TheDarkener · · Score: 1

      Your statement directly contrasts your sig.

      --
      It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.
    18. Re:Why not simply bracelets? by Obfuscant · · Score: 1

      I see this more as a convenience to the employee.

      And more of convenience to the employer than of distrust. They already "trust but verify" by having key card access to places. What they save is the cost of most of the employees who have to do the "verify" part, and training/supervision/management of them.

    19. Re:Why not simply bracelets? by CaptainDork · · Score: 1

      So would what I said.

      How many times have you swiped someone else in?

      --
      It little behooves the best of us to comment on the rest of us.
    20. Re:Why not simply bracelets? by CaptainDork · · Score: 1

      Yeah, because the rice-grain implant is like, totally free and stuff.

      --
      It little behooves the best of us to comment on the rest of us.
    21. Re:Why not simply bracelets? by TheDarkener · · Score: 1

      I've never used that technology, besides a colocation RFID badge at the datacenter where my servers are. I wouldn't ever use it to get anyone else in, that's just dumb and could get me kicked out for good.

      --
      It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.
    22. Re:Why not simply bracelets? by CaptainDork · · Score: 1

      You are not the demographic here.

      You don't matter.

      We're talking about reality, not perfection.

      --
      It little behooves the best of us to comment on the rest of us.
    23. Re:Why not simply bracelets? by TheDarkener · · Score: 1

      Whatever you say.

      --
      It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.
    24. Re:Why not simply bracelets? by TheDarkener · · Score: 1

      People will always game the system. Shoving a chip under their skin isn't going to make much of a difference. Fire their asses and find better employees. Or find out why they feel the need to steal from the company and try to make them more honest. Idealist, I know. But still.

      --
      It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.
    25. Re:Why not simply bracelets? by CaptainDork · · Score: 1

      Thanks.

      --
      It little behooves the best of us to comment on the rest of us.
    26. Re:Why not simply bracelets? by fido_dogstoyevsky · · Score: 1

      ...They can just as easily walk with the other person up to that soda machine and use their chip

      Or just the other person's hand...

      --
      It's NOT a conspiracy... it's a plot.
    27. Re:Why not simply bracelets? by Whorhay · · Score: 1

      The cards we use are apparently $60+ per card, and they like to push the point that you've been careless. Additionally all our cards are issued out of one central office which is chronically understaffed and probably supports 3000+ people. If you need to go to that office you have to call ahead for an appointment and hope they can see you in the next few days. I'm pretty sure this is all pretty deliberate to motivate people to take very good care of their cards, and I guess it works, it's just stressful. The one time I lost track of my card it turned out the family cat had dragged my lanyard outside and left it in the backyard, I only ended up losing a half day of work while I searched for it.

    28. Re:Why not simply bracelets? by ceoyoyo · · Score: 1

      I understand motivating people not to lose cards, but having them lose time over it seems pretty counter productive.

      Apparently corporate bureaucracy is just as bad or worse than the government kind though, so I guess this isn't terribly surprising. If your company would like to hire an efficiency consultant for a review, I'd be happy to do it. Only $1 million.

    29. Re:Why not simply bracelets? by Obfuscant · · Score: 1

      Yeah, because the rice-grain implant is like, totally free and stuff.

      Who said it was? I said they save the cost of employees. That's a much larger cost than a couple of dollars for an RFID thing. Getting rid of just one employee at $100k cost (remember benefits and taxes before you complain that he's only paid $50k) would pay for 5000 RFID things at $20 each. And that's a one-time cost, where the employee is recurring.

    30. Re:Why not simply bracelets? by CaptainDork · · Score: 1

      I totally agree that the best way to cut costs is to fire people and I agree that take-home pay should be at least doubled to account for the savings.

      I did my research and what little information I got says it's way more than $20, but I'll give you one that, to be fair, because I can't refute it.

      The part I have issue with is: How deep a cut in headcount does the RFID chip implant give us, and why?

      The article talks about convenience.

      No one mentioned downsizing.

      These things have to be registered, deregistered, replaced if damaged, or by way of failure.

      That sounds exactly like what I did as part of my IT work managing pass codes and swipe cards.

      Our headcount did not change because of the implementation of card scanners or digital locks, but the administrative work did.

      --
      It little behooves the best of us to comment on the rest of us.
    31. Re:Why not simply bracelets? by Obfuscant · · Score: 1

      I totally agree that the best way to cut costs is to fire people and I agree that take-home pay should be at least doubled to account for the savings.

      I don't know who you are agreeing with, but if you are pretending that it's me, you're being really dishonest here. I said neither thing.

      The article talks about convenience.

      Yes. And I pointed to the convenience of not having to pay several people or manage them.

      No one mentioned downsizing.

      I did.

      These things have to be registered, deregistered, replaced if damaged, or by way of failure.

      So do ID and other access cards. so this is a wash. Same for both.

  13. Re:cancer anyone by OrangeTide · · Score: 5, Informative

    The materials used to encapsulate these is quite well understood., often it is glass. Cancer risk seems low as this material has been used in humans and animals for many decades.

    If you were serious about preventing cancer you'd end the use of gasoline powered vehicles in major cities (benzene, etc), stop using those plug-in air fresheners (Acetaldehyde and 1,3-Dichloro-2-propanol), regulate ingredients in sunscreen (oxybenzone), etc.

    --
    “Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
  14. What is the matter with by bobstreo · · Score: 1

    putting the chip on their company ID badges?

    I really don't like having things put in my body that will need to be removed when I rage quit the job. /s

    It's just a matter of "convenience" or laziness when you can't even keep track of a lanyard with a badge on it.

    1. Re:What is the matter with by CaptainDork · · Score: 1

      ... when you can't even keep track of a lanyard with a badge on it.

      That's the point.

      A badge is portable.

      Embedded iRice isn't.

      --
      It little behooves the best of us to comment on the rest of us.
    2. Re:What is the matter with by Aaden42 · · Score: 1

      Don't forget the human element of the badge either. If you're wearing an ID badge that looks passably genuine with your picture and name on it, I can be reasonably assured you belong here and know what name to call you. I can't eyeball your hand from across the room. Are you new? Somebody snuck in, got lost, etc.? Plankton here to steal the top secret crabby patty recipe???

    3. Re: What is the matter with by datavirtue · · Score: 1

      You can walk up to you boss's desk, slit your hand open, and pinch out the chip. How is that for a rage quit?

      --
      I object to power without constructive purpose. --Spock
  15. WATCHES? Did people forget about them? by bussdriver · · Score: 1

    RFID bracelets and watches and smart watches should have been a thing long ago. Medical ones exist but they lack RFID. This is an ACTUAL PRACTICAL USE for the watch or wrist band.

    Hell, rings with RFID data in them should be the next big thing. wedding rings with wedding photos in them and pointless crap like that... but then everybody must think "Why would I wear anything with data in it because I'm attached to my phone anyway."

    Those people too lazy to pull out the phone now just look at their wrist...

    Yuppies won't adopt it unless it's in a smart device. But the rest of us would like a dumb watch again if it could contain practical ID and KEY information. I would love to give up my wallet and keychain. Water proof, no battery (solar powered watch) I'd probably never take the thing off... yes it would be like a chip... but I have the FREEDOM to remove it myself. Plus there are STILL risks for those things.

    1. Re: WATCHES? Did people forget about them? by datavirtue · · Score: 1

      Thievable, losable, and/or requires charging.

      --
      I object to power without constructive purpose. --Spock
  16. It's a reference to "Captain Cyborg" by rsilvergun · · Score: 2

    an old meme from Ars Technica I think about a sort of "Trans Humanist" fellow who put a chip in and called him himself a cyborg.

    --
    Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
    1. Re: It's a reference to "Captain Cyborg" by Tuidjy · · Score: 1

      Don't minimize Project Cyborg.

      The array implanted in his arm allowed him to use a mechanical manipulator to perform some non-trivial work over a significant distance. He was also receiving tactile feedback. This was far from just implanting a chip under one's skin.

      I mean, Kevin Warwick may have made some embarrassing predictions, and participated in some ill-advised publicity stunts, but Project Cyborg was a legitimate proof of concept, both science- and engineering- wise.

      --
      No good deed goes unpunished...
  17. Re:Mandatory chips for UBI. by cayenne8 · · Score: 4, Insightful
    Actually, think about it....

    If they do force everyone into a "cashless" society, and your money is tied to you and your chip, well, then they have FULL control on you.

    Act in a manner that doesn't suit the govt....you are cut off from money and you possessions, and finally, your rights.

    Yeah, what could possibly go wrong?

    And you start voluntary, maybe with a carrot in front of you.....and as the saying goes:

    "What one generation accepts.....the next generation embraces".

    --
    Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
  18. Sunny Day Scenarios by PerlPunk · · Score: 1

    I don't know the security features of this system, but it sounds like something that can be easily hacked. If you meet someone at a bar and have with a concealed RFID reader, you could get the information of the chip, encode your own chip, and have access to the facilities. With a card on a lanyard, you can at least keep the card in some place safe. And a remote RFID reader can't read it.

    1. Re:Sunny Day Scenarios by Whorhay · · Score: 1

      Businesses and governments have been using these things for decades now. The RFID chip usually acts as a username and you still have to enter a PIN or password to actually access anything. I'm pretty sure there are also more complicated setups using encryption for query and response.

      The newest thing I've observed myself thought that largely negates people scanning it covertly is that the RFID chips transmit antenna being made weaker. Older chips had out sized antennas and could be ready from a foot or more away. The newer ones you have to put your chipped card up flush against the reader, and positioned directly over the spot where its antenna is. This could be further complicated I suppose by using a directional antenna in the chip so that a reader would only work from as specific side or angle.

      Using cards on lanyards is actually likely to be less secure. People don't carry them on their person all the time so they end up left unattended for extended periods of time. You could likely "borrow" one for most of a weekend without the owner realizing it and have a lot more time to actually crack any security involved.

  19. Surgery just to start a job (and surgery again when you leave the job?) seems a bit extreme.

    which means that roughly 80 of the company's now 250 employees, or nearly a third, are walking, talking cyborgs.

    Wha? If this makes you a "cyborg", then a cochlear implant must make you The freakin' Borg ...

    1. Re:dang by fazig · · Score: 1

      If I remember correctly the definition of cyborg is so loose that technically something as simple as a tooth filling makes you a cyborg. This makes it pretty much useless as a descriptive expression.

  20. "You get used to it" by IWantMoreSpamPlease · · Score: 4, Insightful

    And therein lies the path to slavery and servitude...

    --
    So rise up, all ye lost ones, as one, we'll claw the clouds.
  21. read-only? for now. by Thud457 · · Score: 1

    A man has a chip, the gubbamint knows who he is.
    A man has two chips, the gubbamint can never be sure.

    They need a version of this with a hole in it and a way to coax your body to grow a nerve connecting to it. Then the games can begin!

    --

    the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

  22. Convenience for rights? by sjbe · · Score: 1

    One day, while it might not be mandatory, there will be so many advantages in being chipped vs many disadvantages in not being, that it will become essentially mandatory.

    That presumes that people would be willing to go along with the action politically. I think that is unlikely to be the end result.

    Can you hold on to your quaint sensibilities when being chipped means a fast track to the job you covet?

    Probably. I'm certainly willing to take the challenge.

    When not being chipped means having to sacrifice time and effort to do what the chipped achieve effortlessly?

    My time and effort would be spent lobbying the government to make this an illegal practice. Possibly futile but I doubt I'd be alone.

    You might think it would be cool to defy the "system" when you're young and single, but what will you do when you have a family to feed, hmmm?

    If you aren't willing to fight for the civil rights of your children then you have no spine whatsoever. I'd fight this tooth and nail so my daughter wouldn't have to deal with it. I have a hard time envisioning a scenario whereby this would be acceptable to me. If I cannot win I'd be willing to move somewhere it isn't a concern.

  23. There is a name for this! by gerald.edward.butler · · Score: 1

    >> when he was on a business trip to Sweden -- a country where some people are getting subcutaneous microchips to do things like enter secure buildings or book train tickets.

    STOCKHOLM SYNDROME! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

    Leave it to da Svwedish!

  24. Good that they don't cut off your arm when you by devslash0 · · Score: 1

    leave the job.

  25. Re:cancer anyone by jellomizer · · Score: 2

    There is a much higher chance of infection then Cancer. But over the last hundred years or so, we have learned what type of stuff when implanted in the body doesn't hurt us.

    --
    If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
  26. Re:Mandatory chips for UBI. by jellomizer · · Score: 2

    How is this any different from normal black listing?

    Blocking Credit Cards, telling business to reject your services? Heck if they want to make it easy they just arrest you and put you in Jail.

    What I find more concerning, is the ability to scan an RFID chip get its number and make a new one with the same number and implant it in someone else.
    You will still need a secondary form of authentication.

    --
    If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
  27. What happens when.... by Heebie · · Score: 2

    What happens when they have something in their office that is worth a criminal chopping off an employee's hand to get the chip?

  28. Re:Mark of the Beast by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    "It also forced all people, great and small, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads, so that they could not buy or sell unless they had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of its name."

  29. Re:Mandatory chips for UBI. by careysub · · Score: 2

    How is this any different from normal black listing?

    Blocking Credit Cards, telling business to reject your services? Heck if they want to make it easy they just arrest you and put you in Jail.

    Valid points, but the lower you place the bar for ease of abuse, the more often that abuse will occur. Arresting and jailing is the hardest and most expensive approach, giving authorities easier options for control mean those will be used, and far more often.

    --
    Starships were meant to fly, Hands up and touch the sky - Nicky Minaj
  30. Revelation 13:16-17 by swm · · Score: 1

    It causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead, so that no one can buy or sell who does not have the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name.

    1. Re:Revelation 13:16-17 by jschultz410 · · Score: 1

      So, if they put it in the left hand, does that get around this prophecy?

    2. Re:Revelation 13:16-17 by gachunt · · Score: 1

      That's why I got mine implanted in my left hand.

      Well, I put it in my left hand because I'm right handed. So, if I got an infection/cancer, I'd only lose my non-dominant hand.

    3. Re:Revelation 13:16-17 by Voyager529 · · Score: 1

      See, the whole "implantable computer chip" thing has been a recurring thing since the late 1970's; the movie "A Thief in the Night" was the first to widely circulate the idea.

      However, on the topic of "the Mark of the Beast", implantable RFIDs aren't what worries me. China is currently doing the heavy lifting.

      Instead of FICA scores, China's got social credit scores through Alibaba. One person not paying their bills affects everyone else who does, so they are far more likely to be ostracized. Many places won't rent you an apartment without a social credit score, and not having one can impact even your social circle.

      By time chip implanting becomes mandatory, social credit scores will be the foundation of trust upon which buying and selling is founded. It's Social Credit that is truly the Mark of the Beast. The implanted chip will simply be the final step.

    4. Re:Revelation 13:16-17 by TheDarkener · · Score: 1

      President Trump, is that you?

      --
      It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.
  31. Re:Mark of the Beast by Scarletdown · · Score: 1

    No need to drag Christian mythology into this. We can fuck up our society enough by ourselves without the help of the Christian Cosmic horror (or its so called Devil).

    --
    This space unintentionally left blank.
  32. Re:The right way to do this.. by JackieBrown · · Score: 1

    I can't tell if this is a joke or not. In case it's not, then no. I don't want the government doing this. I really don't want employers doing this either.

  33. Will they pay doctor bills if it goes bad for life by Joe_Dragon · · Score: 1

    Will they pay doctor bills if it goes bad for life? Or will you have to use the workers comp system to get them paid?

  34. mark of the beast when the government forces you t by Joe_Dragon · · Score: 1

    mark of the beast when the government forces you to have one.

  35. Well... technically... by cshark · · Score: 1

    A chip like that only accounts for losing two, maybe three humanity points. So they're all good. Now pacemakers on the other hand...

    --

    This signature has Super Cow Powers

  36. Re:cancer anyone by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Also, Research has been shown to cause cancer in lab rats.

  37. Re:WATCHES? Did people forget about them? by OrangeTide · · Score: 2

    You can get ID cards and bracelets with QR codes on them today, mostly to hold contact information rather than medical records. RFID ones probably exist too but I don't think paramedics or nurses are normally looking out for them. But if you get into a car accident someone will flip through your personal belongings after you've been admitted and attempt to contact your family.

    Within a hospital it is normal for patients to wear disposable bracelet, and RFID patient ID bracelets are now readily available to hospitals. But they are not really usable outside of a hospital and tend to be locked in to a particular vendor or hospital database, rather than something you might wear daily. I think the intention of RFID bracets is to avoid the wrong treatment being given to a patient, rather than to access information in an emergency situation. (database look-ups are slow and not reliable)

    --
    “Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
  38. They love it, huh? by MalaysBowman · · Score: 4, Insightful

    ...or is this a case of "You better pretend to love it, and say that you love it- OR ELSE!" I don't believe for a second that each and every one of those employees 'love' it, and not one thinks otherwise.

    1. Re:They love it, huh? by strikethree · · Score: 1

      Eh? I have no doubt that some people actually will love it. The convenience alone is enough.

      That being said, this should be made immediately illegal in every section of the world. This is one dark alley that we should never enter. Of course, that means we will enter it. I feel bad for the upcoming generations. Life is going to get psychotically bizarre before we ended up extinguishing ourselves. :(

      --
      "Someone needs to talk to the tree of liberty about its ghoulish drinking problem." by ohnocitizen
  39. Re:Mark of The Beast by DigiShaman · · Score: 1

    Revelation 13:16 - 13:18

    [16] And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: [17] And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. [18] Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number [is] Six hundred threescore [and] six.

    The "Beast" being the system / government; and just as soulless.

    --
    Life is not for the lazy.
  40. Re: Mandatory chips for UBI. by datavirtue · · Score: 1

    Unless the cash is on a block chain that is not controlled by government computers.

    --
    I object to power without constructive purpose. --Spock
  41. Re: Mark of the Beast by datavirtue · · Score: 3, Insightful

    One has to wonder what prompted this passage in revelation though.

    --
    I object to power without constructive purpose. --Spock
  42. i hate this by kaatochacha · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Company presidents come up with stupid ideas and justify them all the time by saying nobody objects.
    You're the president, you moron. Nobody is going to object to your pet project unless they want to get fired, demoted, or put on the eternal "troublemaker" list.

  43. Re: cancer anyone by ooshna · · Score: 1

    Yeah if those stupid Tasmanian Devils stopped raiding candy factories maybe they wouldn't be going extinct from cancer

  44. Re: cancer anyone by OrangeTide · · Score: 2

    If the body is fed well and devoid of excess sugars toxins are easily dealt with

    What is a sugar toxin?

    and cancer is next to impossible.

    A bold claim. My pet mouse got tumors and he never ate white foods or refined sugar.

    You are misinformed.

    In my previous post I didn't order anything in terms of most likely cause. My intention was to list a few alternative things to worry about that seem more significant than a glass capsule. If you have new information that is relevant and based in reality, that's great.

    Please save yourself the embarrassment if it's pseudo-science crackpot stuff collected through hours of internet "research". Because no thanks, we're all quite capable of doing our own amateur confirmatory bias research via Google's sophisticated sub-string matching.

    But it's hardly fair of you to criticize me for not mentioning whatever articles happened to be on your mind today, articles that I may or may not have read.

    --
    “Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
  45. One hundred percent. by Hallux-F-Sinister · · Score: 1

    That is the proportion of that digestive waste material with which they may, as far as I'm concerned, fornicate.

    In plainer English, fuck ONE HUNDRED PERCENT of that shit.

    --
    Our reign has gone on long enough. Indeed. Summon the meteors.
  46. Re: Mark of the Beast by Isaac-Lew · · Score: 1

    Mushrooms, or some other hallucinogenic material.

  47. Re: /. NAZIS MODDING DOWN TRUTH by lucasnate1 · · Score: 1

    I think grandma would approve modding you down.

  48. Re: Mark of the Beast by buravirgil · · Score: 1

    Frontline has a respectable documentary some four hours long: From Jesus to Christ: The Early Christians. I've not found better interviews with academics citing archeology and textual/pragmatic interpretation of extant documents. The short answer to what inspired Revelations is Rome-- repeated uprisings and Rome's violent suppression of Judea. The earliest scrolls were not casting to some distant future, but their present. After Constantine, all that was recast.

    A fun speculation I had heard as a kid (but reinforced by the Frontline documentary) is adding up all the Roman numerals except for 'M'-- D-C-L-X-V-I.

    --
    Would were! Should is! Could be! And live a hundred times three.
  49. Upgrade by manu0601 · · Score: 1

    Once the security protocols implemented in your RFID implant are obsolete, how do you upgrade it?

    For instance, the best the original MIFARE DESfire (not EV1) can do is 3DES. It cost a few pennies to replace a RFID badge by a newer DESfire EV1 that supports AES 128, but an implant?

  50. Re:cancer anyone by OrangeTide · · Score: 1

    If you think non-ionizing radiation causes leukemia, then you really have to first eliminate known environmental factors like benzene exposure. Any power line EM study that doesn't do that is probably garbage.

    --
    “Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
  51. They love it eh? by DrXym · · Score: 1

    More likely theyre in fear of their jobs either by speaking out about this bs or from lost business if they do. There is virtually no situation that I can think of where it wouldn't be easier and far less invasive to just use an rfid card or a fingerprint reader. Any company which even offered as an option to embed something in your skin should be told to go fuck itself.

  52. Great points! by sgt_doom · · Score: 1

    These so-called "trends" tend to follow similar patterns: as soon as enough people are chipped, and that method is used in financial transactions, then everyday activities such as public waste disposal [throwing away a tissue in the street bin] will automatically be billed against the individual via their embedded chips; billings us for virtually everything!

  53. DO NOT WANT by Miser · · Score: 1

    The only way I'd be OK with this here in the USA is if this were to be misused, the person misusing the technology (tracking you when not authorized, accessing whatever data is had on you, etc) gets the death penalty. There has to be SEVERE consequences for mis-use of the data gathered if you expect this to take off. IMHO of course.

  54. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 1

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  55. Re:What about the sociopathy that decided this? by OrangeTide · · Score: 1

    We live under capitalism, not only is sociopathic behavior not a crime, it's actively encourages.

    Those managers can expect raises during their next performance review.

    --
    “Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire