The rise of the microchip

An intense debate is underway over the benefits and drawbacks of human microchips. They’re already used to identify ranch animals and pets, but the practice of implanting chips in people is also on the rise. Those who embrace the idea say they see it as a way to take back control of their personal data, but others are worried about how that data could be used.

Individuals in Sweden, a country supposedly leading the microchip revolution, — some having high-tech futuristic microchips implanted into their skin to help them carry out everyday activities and replace credit cards and cash — Like glorified smartwatches, the chips help Swedes monitor their health and even replace keycards to allow them to enter offices and buildings. On Swedens high-speed rail lines, for the past 18 months implanted passengers have put their travel payment on the chip. The rail company is now stopping the experiment. The number of implanted passengers is relatively small, and it wants to pursue other forms of ticketing. “This is not a setback….” insists Sweden’s microchip pioneer Jowan Osterland — a former body piercer “….We can do easier travel, we can do faster and safer payments. We can do something as mundane as opening a door, the opportunities are endless….”

Unfortunately innovators don’t always think of the political ramifications. In today’s world we have to imagine how governments, how ambitious politicians and even how ambitious corporate executives will try to imagine putting this type of technology into you so that they can exploit your data and ultimately exploit you. Already governments are keen to capture your fingerprints. They are keen to capture your iris scans and want to be able to do this at a distance, so they can identify you as you walk through areas, they’re using facial recognition — these are all fallible technologies. But the idea they can actually embed you, it is the modern form of tattooing bar codes on people and we’ve seen governments do that in the past, this is just the next generation.

DARPA already has a plan to implant a device in soldiers’ brains to let them communicate with computers and digital sensors. The brain-computer interface would allow soldiers to communicate with sensors to more effectively track enemies or sense the surrounding terrain. The program is called Neural Engineering System Design. The device would be about the size of two nickels stacked together. If successful, the small device would represent a huge breakthrough in neural communications.

Steven Northam, the co-owner of British implant company BioTeq, believes fears are exaggerated. BioTeq offers a range of human implantable devices implanted in the flesh between the thumb and forefinger and are similar to those for pets. They enable people to open their front door, access their office or start their car with a wave of their hand, and can also store medical data. Northam believes that these devices allow individuals to act more efficiently and effectively.

There’s an argument that microchips can have huge potential especially in the medical field. In the future, medical microchips could be used to treat epilepsy, to regulate hormones, and to conquer bodily paralysis. While the technology isn’t there yet, the medical field is well on its way to once again stepping up patient treatment and improving quality of life.

Every technology that comes along has to be treated with complete suspicion until we’re able to sort out the ethical barriers around our actions. As this technology improves, the debate will intensify as to whether implants generate or diminish freedom, as well as the many shades of grey in between.