A tech company in Wisconsin will become the first ever to microchip its employees.
Three Square Market is offering to implant the radio-frequency identification (RFID) chip which is the same size as a rice grain, into all employees hands for free during a ‘chip party’ on August 1, BBC reported.
The program is optional and the company says at least 50 staff members have already signed up to be voluntarily chipped between the thumb and forefinger underneath the skin.
What is the point of this? According to the company, the chips will allow employees to pay for food, drink in the company’s break room, open doors, login to computers and use the copy machine all with the use of just one finger.
Employees will also be able to share business cards, unlock phones, and store and share health details.
The chips will use so-called near-field communications – or NFC – which is the same technology used in contactless credit cards and mobile payments, The Independent reported.
The company builds and manages break room vending machine systems that utilize kiosks and software for purchases.
The company’s chief operating officer, Patrick McMullan, believes that soon everyone will want to microchip themselves.
“The international market place is wide open and we believe that the future trajectory of total market share is going to be driven by whoever captures this arena first,” McMullan said.
The people behind this program said that they got inspired by a micro-chipping program that is already happening in Sweden where “bio-hackers” have been inserting the tiny devices into willing participants for at least three years, BBC reported.
Although, the trend might be catching up in the technology market, fears regarding security and privacy are not surging down anytime soon.
Out of 85 employees at the company s head office, 50 have come forward, vice-president of international development Tony Danna told the BBC.
Employees are concerned about being monitored and tracked with the chip being used for surveillance purposes however, the company clarified that the chip does not contain GPS tracking system.
While addressing concerns regarding the installing procedure, Danna said that it takes two seconds to install the chip and also two seconds to pull it out, like getting a shot using a syringe.
